you should also notice and appreciate the difference between quality traffic and garbage traffic. i would rather have a mere 500 uniques of interested blog readers per month (following every word i say, heh), than a million uniques from people who don't even have a clue as to what i'm saying. apart from not reading what i have to say, they aren't likely what my advertisers/sponsors want either.
the sites that do really well with little advertising budget likely have very good content, whether it be something everyone's looking for and
needs, or novelty content that everyone
wants. how that content is delivered and what other substitutes for your content are out there also play a huge role (ie, don't expect to get tons of visitors to your directory).
so first, i would re-evaluate my site, where it stands, and work on any key areas that can make a real difference. be sure to also focus on not driving any visitors away with things like popups, excessive sounds, poor design, etc. then i would take a look at what advertising methods are out there that fit with the market of visitors i would want, and try those out. although you might consider link exchanges to be a bit weak, combining it with some
search engine optimization can really make a difference. i get over 500 uniques from search engines alone, and it's generally quality traffic.
What technique is best... 
