How, exactly, do I place an ad on my blog?

[Jake]

If it's wordpress there may be a plugin that helps add banners to the side bar, I use one that rotates a different ad on each page view and also logs ad clicks, some themes have ad units build in, you might find 125x125 common. You may be able to just insert a banner image into the body of an article and assign it the affiliate url.

Very often banner ads are simply the wrong approach for an affiliate blog, while there are few options if you are renting space to an ad network, an affiliate can be more effective with a simple text link an a pre-sell article or product comparison, there can be a much higher trust in something you recommend.

The FTC does want to see a disclaimer that you may be receiving a commission for some of your recommendations.