"CASH FOR CONTENT? Of course, more than a few people think money can be made from content. For one reason, readership is growing. Blogging's share of Web traffic has grown from 2% in 2003, to 5% in 2004, according to Forrester Research, a tech-consulting company in Cambridge, Mass. Still, only about 200 people make a living from writing blogs, Sifry estimates. But that's expected to climb in coming years.

Some who made their fortune in print media are going after the blog market. Tony Perkins, the founder of RedHerring magazine, which became a staple of Silicon Valley's venture-capital community, is now running AlwaysOn Network, a site featuring blogs from influential people in business and technology. "It's very clear the blogosphere has become a substantial alternative media source," Perkins says.

AlwaysOn, which gets up to 200,000 unique visitors a month, recently started a $49-per-year subscription service, giving its users access to special interviews and advanced search features. The subscribers will also get four issues of a print magazine, which Perkins plans to launch in March, that will offer the best articles published on the site."

....

"I believe in the power of three mediums together: live [video], ink, and online," Perkins says. Like most blog entrepreneurs, Perkins still depends on ad revenue, which has been growing at 50% a year since the company was launched two years ago, allowing AlwaysOn to stay profitable, he says."