The status is a feature that was added a few months ago at APSense.
Granted, you can't write a sales page with it.
Putting a link is not a good idea, in my opinion, cause serious members won't want to respond to that.
What do I mean, respond to the status?
Well, the status combined with the "add comment" we see in every action on the Network Feed is a great combination.
With the status, you can talk about the weather in your area, you can show your enthusiasm as in "Got a new sale woohoo" :)
You can mention the task you are doing, like laundry, writing an article, walking outdoors, rescuing an animal, jumping from a plane while browsing, drinking a beer, making love (well, maybe not that), wishing everyone a happy Valentine's Day...
Writing a funny or enthusiastic status will get some comments from friends you have here, and help make new ones.
Do change your status regularly. A few days ago, a member had "Merry Christmas" in her status. I gently suggested she change her status, she smiled and did it at once. :)
It's not a rule to change your status. But try it, you'll see. When people comment on it, you get notifications. It gets interactive real fast, and the "add comment" is very nice, it is limited to 200 characters, which is ok in most cases when writing to say Hi or to respond to a status.