I run a small to medium sized site (forums & member articles/blogs) that relates to a specific subject. This site is currently monetised through out of the box Google Adsense banners. Without getting into figures Adsense, with no effort on my part, generates more than sufficient turnover to cover the running costs. I am now considering my options relating to increasing the revenue the site creates. One of the most obvious avenues I could go down is to contact companies that offer services that relate to my site and offer them advertising packages. However, having a full time "real world" job effectively negates this option. I am also considering passing the advertising onto an agency, they can manage the banners (within the limitations (i.e. size, location) I specify) and take a percentage of whatever revenue is generation. Having no experience of this I am hoping that you guys can help me out here with your own personal experience. So, has anybody used an agency to sell banner space? Did it increase your revenue? What sort of cut did they take? Did they require you to run any specific software on the site? etc etc etc
Buysellads.com would maybe be something for you, I say something because it depends on the niche. Other option (or in addition) would be a menu URL to a advertise page, if your website generates traffic then it will also attract potential advertisers. Implementing depends on the used system which is also not shared. What does Buysellads cost? It doesn’t cost you anything to get started. We’re in this together, and BSA only makes money when you make money. We charge a flat 25% for the ads sold. Included in the 25%: credit card and PayPal processing fees (typically 2.9% – 5% per transaction), support for you and your advertisers, our wonderfully fast ad serving that won’t slow down your website, unlimited access to our expert consulting on pricing/ad placement/etc, inclusion in our directory browsed by thousands of advertisers, and more. More info: http://buysellads.com/sell/overview
Google Adsense is also acting as an advertising agency to sell banners and other ad space on your site.