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I agree...  I think that google is looking at your overall "link profile".  If that profile is made up completely of link drops on blogs, low-value directory submissions and links that look like they are "paid"... then your rankings are on risky ground.

I would rather have a dozen good natural links than 1200 low-value links from spamming and automatic directory submissions.

If you are spending serious money for the domain you might want to read this post...  http://www.seomoz.org/blog/ten-tips-for-buying-a-website

I would keep the "daily deals" at MyBrandName.com/daily-deals

Registering a new domain and redirecting it will accomplish nothing.

Great generals will tell you that "divide and conquer" is a great strategy to use.  So if you post your deals on a second domain you will then have two sites splitting the value of your incoming links.  You divided yourself for the enemy!

So, posting the "deals" in a folder on your site might attract links that will benefit your entire site.

If you have a great blog post or new article that is successful at Reddit, Slashdot and other community sites you could naturally get a lot of high PR links in a single day.

However, when I read your post I see..... "Should i keep building those high PR links in the same fast pace, should i slow down?"....  That statement sounds like you might be getting unnatural links which to Google could be seen as manipluative - and run the risk of being devalued.  That will be a loss in the time required to acquire them and possibly the cost if they are purchased.

So, maybe your better question should be... "Will this high PR links be a long term asset to my site?"..... vs... will they be a spend that brings zero value.

Thank you.  I really like this subject and enjoyed preparing that answer!

Links in .pdf documents will be displayed in your Google Webmaster Tools Backlinks, they will accumulate pagerank (I have some PR6 pdf documents), and they will pass pagerank.

It is a good idea to place links into .pdf documents that you give away on the web not only for pagerank reasons but also to give users an easy link to visit your site for more information.  Think about usability when you create .pdf documents in the same ways that you think about usability for your website.

Also, if you complete the "properties" attributes of .pdf documents you can give them a title that will appear in the SERPs like a title tag on an .html webpage.  I get lots of traffic from the SERPs that come straight into my .pdf documents and then click a link in the document that takes them to a relevant page on my website.

Finally... in addition to .pdf documents you can also get viable backlinks and clickthroughs from .ppt (PowerPoint) .xls (Excel) and other types of files.  Consider allowing other webmasters to include them on their site.  That way they can bring you links from other domains.

On my blog I link out to six to ten websites every day.  I believe that those links do very little damage to my rankings.  In fact, I believe that making my website a great source of information is far more valuable for attracting links and repeat visitors.

Also, if google would compare two identical pages, one with links out to great sources of supplemental information and one without, which do you think would rank higher?  My vote is  for the page with the outlinks.

I believe that linking out is powerful and it often add keyword rich anchor text to your pages.  Whatever you might lose in linkjuice comes back to you in many other forms.  "The Web" is all about links, not hoarding.

If you have the blog on a separate domain then links into the blog will not benefit your main site (except in just a small way through links between the blog and the main site).

However, if the blog is on the main site then links into the blog will empower both the blog and the main site.

The result will be like uniting the clans. 

"The campaign has been very successful in getting high ranking for several targetted terms.  However, I am seeing zero impact on our site traffic or sales."

Something is wrong here.  Does analytics say that you are getting traffic for these new terms?

Your statements address total traffic.  The traffic through these terms might be up but down elsewhere.

It depends upon how many very similar pages you are going to have.  If you have dozens or more then a cannibalization potential is very real.  However, if you only have two, three, four then that gives you the potential to have multiple pages in the SERPs.  Nothing like having #1, #2, #3 and #4 for a query.

For small numbers it is more of an opportunity than a problem.

Can use use the actual URL?  That would get you a direct link.

Or, your idea of a permanent short URL that is 301 redirected on your main site would be a good alternative.

Links from tweets are sometimes used elsewhere and getting that linkjuice would be nice.

Also, if you use the actual URL or have complete control over the shortened URL you don't have to worry about it being changed on you.

Alan has given a good answer...

... but in addition.... why not give them the URL of the keyword tool and let them go at it?

I don't think that a pipe or dash or any other character adds or subtracts any SEO value.  Certainly what you type after it is more important.

If your brand is widely known and respected then adding it might help increase your clickthroughs or conversions.

If you don't have a popular brand then "free shipping"... "learn the secrets!"....  or a kickass price in the title tag will pull the visitors in.

... and if you have something that everyone wants such as "free beer" then you might want to included it in CAPS.

"Kitchen Appliances.....  the keyword is extremely competitive.... doing this for around 3 months....  the site is a page rank 2 BTW)... "

This is like attacking the US Navy with a slingshot.

Your competitors, have been out there working (with teams of expert people) for the past ten years and some of them are billion dollar brand names, so it is unlikely that a one-man-band is going to get traction in a couple of months.

I think that you need to ask yourself if you have the resources to compete for fast results in this niche.  I don't think that submitting stuff to article sites is going to be competitive.

Consider making a detailed plan with best-on-the-web content that will enable you to penetrate a specific niche in this broad market.

Google currently ranks multiple pages from the same site so if you have mojo for "blue widgets" you can get #1 and #2 in that SERP.  I have seen four or five pages from a single domain ranking for a single keyword.

IMO cannibalization is an opportunity for me and a problem for my competitor.

Don't fear competition because where there is competition there is also (usually) a lot of search volume and a lot of money changing hands.  Instead attack with long, diverse copy to pull in the long tail queries.

I don't think that the number of sites competitng or their pagerank or  keyword tool scores are 100% reliable.

Instead look at WHO is competing and the content that they have on their pages.

If you can beat their content then you have a really good chance of defeating them.... but if you are going up against the manufacturer on their branded products they will be hard to beat... but then you can put a discount price in your title tag and steal their sales.