So if you don't want to sell advertising directly, advertising affiliates can be a great way to go. The eBusiness Guide, for example, uses affiliate programs throughout. The key is that the affiliate programs are a resource to the people reading this guide (you) and will help you start and grow your online business, and because of that they work well.
You can get very creative with affiliate programs. It doesn't have to be just adding their banners off to the side of your page. Check out this nature poster store:
Red Jellyfish Nature Posters
and ask yourself if it's an advertising based business or a retail business.
With all those products you probably said "retail". Right? Wrong! Take a closer look. All the posters they offer are actually through an affiliate network program. Isn't that cool? All they have to do is get people to their web site, and then they can offer them 10,000 posters (at last count) without ever actually having to purchase, pack, and ship them.
Remember earlier when we talked about passion? The people who run this web site are obviously passionate about animals and the environment and helping both. Can you make a similar site with affiliate products that you are passionate about? I think yes.
So we've learned that direct sales and affiliate programs can work well. But another fantastic resource for you to use if you are going to have an advertising based, content web site is Google AdSense.