1. By "write great content" are you talking about the blurbs involved in my actual commerce product ads or in our blog that is integrated with our website?
You need several content pages that talk about your product. Check that PDF for proper usage of h1 and h2 tags.
Then make blog posts and your product, stuff in your segment, etc. that links and talks about the target market you are going after. Again, GOOD content with lots of ACTUAL information is key here. Google is dropping the hammer on these SEO link farms with little useful content.
2. How do I get linked by popular sources?
Have popular sites that cover your product segment write up reviews and articles talking about your product, how great it is, etc. Sometimes these are paid, sometimes people will do it for free samples, sometimes people will do it completely free.
Next I would work with popular outdoors-type of forums and online communities to discuss your product.
It is going to take time and probably an actual writer. Do this in tandem with your Google ads and with the proper analytics you will quickly start to see what is or isn't working.