When I was new to building websites, I found out regarding the open source CMS' that were floating around at that time. Some of the popular ones at that time were Mambo, XOOPS, PHP Nuke etc. I started installing each one of them and tweaking them as I wanted it to look. Over the years I found out the secret of being successful on the web. It is not the way your website looks nor does it have anything to do with the domain name that you choose. It's all about the quality you can offer to your site visitors. Visitors needs unique content. They don't wanna read the same stuff that has been floating around the internet.
Regarding monetizing my websites, I just put the ads out there and the money kept coming in. I want to help those aspiring web publishers in any least way possible. I encourage you to send me an email if you have a question regarding web publishing or monetizing. Email me at internet at suite101 dot com and I will get back to you asap.