In a sense, developing quality editorial and an engaged readership is the easy part of creating a website. The hard part is making money off it without sabotaging the relationship with your readers, and the question of how to make money on the web is a big one these days.

One potential candidate is brand extensions. In Crowdsourcing, Jeff Howe talks about how some musicians are giving away their music for free and earning money on the concerts and merchandise. And my current blog crush, Smitten Kitchen – with to-die-for photography – supplements its income (one can only guess by how much) with something very cool: you can purchase the photography, as a file, on canvas or even printed on T-shirts or coasters. The concept here is critical: take what you’re known for and monetize it by giving readers what they want. The content is promotion for the branded merchandise.