what is considered to be a good ecpm nowdays? mine is below $1 for a high traffic site (the niche is poor but not that bad, 90% google SE traffic).

i think this is pretty terrible for targeted ads...

cylinder: eCPMs vary hugely from site to site. I myself have seen a steady decline over the past year, which I partly blame on the economy, partly on the increasing traffic. But below 1 Dollar sounds really low to me.

You should be able to make a static content site on shared hosting turn a profit with 100+ visitors a day. Nothing special, but a profit nonetheless.

You want to take is the rear end, go with adsense. You want to make real money make deals. As widely reported on a multitude of forums, blogs and sites, adsense earnings dwarf other avenues by anywhere from 50-90%.

adsense earnings dwarf other avenues by anywhere from 50-90%.

Depends on the site, the audience, and how AdSense is used. For an established site with a high-quality audience of sufficient size, display ads or affiliate links can generate considerably more revenue than AdSense does.

Back to the main topic, I do agree with the line of thinking that a new site does not need to run ads to start with. I try to keep it ad free for its first year or so...

But I suppose it depends on your site. For some sites ads can actually ad a form of validation that the site is established. In a weird way, some folks expect to see ads on big brand sites, and the better looking the ads, the better perception of the site folks get.

All of these answers have been incredibly helpful. I am finding that I am intrigued by direct advertising, though it certainly will be more work, I think it will also be more rewarding for both myself and my visitors. So naturally my next question will be, in which WebmasterWorld.com forum is it appropriate to ask for pointers on getting started with direct advertising?

which WebmasterWorld.com forum is it appropriate to ask for pointers on getting started with direct advertising?

Here ya go,,,

Advertising Sales and Affiliate Programs [webmasterworld.com]

AFAIK, it should after establishing the website fully and getting a steady stream of traffic..

I have recently launched a niche 5 page website. Since this is a service oriented site, I have planned not to put any ads on the website at all. On the other hand, when I launched an old website of mine some years back, I included adsense on all article pages right in the beginning. Service oriented websites should preferably not have ads as they provide an easy exit point. Hence, based on my personal experiences, what needs to be considered is whether or not to put ads on your website rather than when these ads should be put.

Service oriented websites should preferably not have ads as they provide an easy exit point.

What's your revenue model if you don't have advertising? Are you charging for your content? Or selling products yourself? What's the compelling reason for trying to keep users on your Web site? (And how long can you keep them on your site in any case, if the site has only five pages?)

Use AS as a last resort--if you've tried and failed. Get on the phone and shop for clients. Be a salesperson and self promote. There are better ways than relying on the Goo.

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And how long can you keep them on your site in any case, if the site has only five pages?

As I mentioned, a website that provides a service, say web designing or writing need not have 100+ pages to present their services. And in that case, ads should preferably not be included as the main aim of such sites is to sell their services to the prospective clients.