I would like to get a >$100 eCPM on a finance blog via programs that payout in paypal. Any suggestions? I was thinking selling ad space privately but am open to suggestions.
Adsense could do it but they don't payout via Paypal. You may be able to by multiple private sales or affiliates if you have very targeted traffic.
Well, since eCPM is an average per 1000 users, why not try having few? 1 hit a day that earns $0.10 would give an eCPM of $100.. Which is why eCPM (though useful for some things) is not useful for seeing how well a site is doing as a whole revenue-wise, especially without knowing traffic details. Other ways to improve eCPM: Improve ctr, improve ppc, lower # of people who visit without clicking (that means no autosurf for you!), etc.