Yeah, you're right. It is hard too get people to sit down and critique your site, and harder to get honest and open feedback from them. I definitely have a few tips there. You want people you know you will get honest feedback from. For instance, grab a few helpful people from this site like GregK or myself and see what they think. I'm not going to speak for Greg, although I would hope he would give you honest feedback, but I know I sure would. If someone asks me for feedback, I give it to them.
Second, I'm sure you have a friend or contact that does internet-based work. Ask him/her. Grab two or three of them, if you have them, and ask them for their HONEST opinion. Next, everybody has that one friend that will not only do anything in their power for their friends but also respects you enough to be honest and give feedback. (I'm one of those kinds of friends.) Ask him or her to look at those aspects of your site and to give their honest opinion. If even one person honestly thinks you might have overdone it, cut only one ad out. Remember, it's a fine line.
One thing that really helps reduce the tacky appearance of ads is to use your affiliate ads as text links. I mentioned
I Shoot Pool earlier in this thread. Look at that site for a second, and pay attention to the Cool Sites section on the sidebar. Other than the link to my site (Creativity Unlimited), the rest of those links are Clickbank Affiliate links, conspicuously relevant to the topic of the site and the interests of the visitors. He asked me to incorporate those products into his site for extra revenue building. Clickbank provides some decent widget options, but I didn't like any of them for the site design, which I built. I incorporated them as text links, and they appear as if they are simply products Shooter is recommending. Nobody would ever guess he makes thirty-some dollars and some change (or whatever the commission is) anytime anybody orders one of those eBooks. (well, I guess you would. I just told you.) You can fit more revenue earners into your site with a little creativity and diversified delivery.
If you still need any help at all, keep asking questions or tell me what you need from me. That's what I'm here for.
