--Solution--: Run Solo or Top sponsor ads. These ads get more exposure. They are exclusive (solo mailings) or only have 2-3 (sponsor ads) per issue spaced out between content.

Mistake #4: Going for Large Subscriber Bases

Large subscriber stats are impressive. 30,000 subscribers is a ton of eye balls and potential to return a profit is greatly increased. Well, this is completely untrue.

A recent test we ran took our breath away. We spent $180 on a solo ad to a subscriber base in a general marketing publication of 30,000 subscribers. We ran that same solo ad for $65 in an ezine about website design strategies with a subscriber base of 1200.

Ad #1 to 30,000+ brought back $0!

Ad #2 to 1200 specifically targeted subscribers brought back $900 in pure profit!

--Solution--: While tons of subscribers may seem like right way to go, before you invest money, check out smaller, highly targeted ezines and test your ads in those. You'll save money and odds are your returns will be greater.

Mistake #5: Running Your Ad Once

When I first started advertising in ezines, I would run one ad one time. If it didn't produce results, I would switch ezines and run ad again. This was how I tested ad. Many business owners are doing same thing today. By running ad only once, you're cutting your chances to profit in half.

Running it 2-3-4 times, even if first run didn't make a profit, gives your ad more exposure. Readers will "think" it's producing because you ran it more than one time, therefore other subscribers must have thought it was worth looking at, helping your ad produce.

--Solution--: Run every ad at least twice. Then instead of switching ezines, switch ads. Run that ad twice. Do this with all your ads. You'll be suprised to find ezine actually produces profits for one ad but not another. So now you can run that ad 4-5-6 times and squeeze more profits from ezine.

Ezine advertising is profitable. It takes testing, tracking, solo or top sponsor placments and more testing to pin point ezines with high sales ratio's. Don't give up on ezine just because a successful ad from another test didn't work. Place another ad, test it, test another and so on.

All you need is 5-10 profitable ezines and you'll increase sales and profits for your business.

Don't get me wrong, AdSense is not perfect. There are some things that could definitely be done to improve system. One of biggest gripes I have, and I've noticed others with same opinion, is overall lack of tracking. It sure would be great to know which ads are being clicked and how much those ads are producing. But at same time, I can understand why that information may be counter-productive for Google. The lack of control over border color and link color is a bit undesirable too. All other factors aside, purpose of ads is to make some extra money. On this point, Google's AdSense are definitely successful and in my humble opinion should immediately replace any current 468x60 or skyscraper ads you are running via ad networks or affiliate programs.

The future for affiliate programs and ad networks has become very bleak. It's going to be very interesting to see how AdSense matures, as initial product is already undeniably far better than said competition.