If you can prove that people click on ads on your website, you can probably make more money doing direct advertiser outreach.
This can take time and might take up some of your resources, but it is definitely worth doing if your traffic converts.
A lot of people recommend that you just put affiliate links on your website.
I think that you would be leaving a lot of money on the table if you did that.
If you have high converting traffic or you have a solid brand in the niches that you cover, you would probably be better off investing in outreach.
Outreach can help you get better paying ads and most importantly, this can open a way to channel sponsorships, paid emails and other higher value advertising.
Anybody can just slap on ad code on their websites and because that is commonly available, a lot of people are struggling.
If you want to make real money, make sure that your traffic clicks through and shows a high level of engagement and value.
If you are able to do that, all sorts of options are open up for you.