I do take a very hard line on it. While others look for conversion in other ways. For example Keith Latman and Seth Godin on their blogs look to inspire a different way of looking at things. That too is a conversion it just does not measure like monetary converion.
No matter what your goals are you as far as driving traffic go you need to always have an end goal in mind. Will it bring dollars, deliver a product, change a mind or even save a planet. Only you can define your purpose of delivering traffic. Just make sure it is concise and measurable.