There are many factors that govern how much money you can make. These can be sumarized in the following equation. Although not all of the factors are equal, you need to make sure that you work on all of them:

Google Adsense Revenue = Traffic Levels × High Paying Ads × Ad Position × Relevant Ads × Ad Design

Traffic Levels:
It seems simple enough - the more traffic that you get, the more chance that somebody will click on an advert. Try and write some pillar articles that get high on search results for certain keywords. Also, try to get Slashdotted. Having an article Slashdotted will bring a day of seriously high traffic (hope your server can cope). A lot of image ads and site-targeted ads as well as text ads are CPM. This means that your are paid for each time the advert is viewed. Having regulars is important as well, so write GREAT CONTENT.

High Paying Ads:
Obviously, the more paid for an ad, the more you get. You need keyword targeting! You might like to follow the AdWords set up and see what sort of prices are paid for certain keywords. You need to select a high-paying topic (about technology not toothpicks!). Also, make sure you sign up for image ads which have a larger CPC. Have a go - it's mainly trial and error and won't be easy.

Ad Position:
Don't hide your ads! Make them close by. You have the choice of where to place your Google AdSense ads. Put them in text flow or at the end of long articles

Relevant Ads:
You really need to make sure that your ads are relevant to the topic or your CTR will be way low. Without keyword spamming, try using the tips in the keyword post. Make sure there are ads for your topic out there, check your sidebars for unneeded text, use section targeting. That should be it.

Ad Design:
The amazing thing about AdSense ads is that you choose the design. One Adsenser said that all ads should be on a bright red background with yellow text as the colours of McDonalds bring out an urge to buy. Contrasting ads work but the way most people make money is by making the ads blend and look like part of the site. Experiment with all different shapes, colours and sizes. Only you can find out what works for your site.