Can blogs really make money? Alan Meckler of Jupitermedia and blogging posterboy Jason Calacanis debate on The Wall Street Journal whether blogs are a sustainable business model. Jason argued that quality content can drive enough traffic to attract advertisers. Alan agrees that there is money to be made with blogs, but very, very few will bring in more than a few hundred dollars per year.
Jason mentioned some interesting statistics which I would agree to. Advertising options like AdBrite or Google AdSense generate a $3 to $10 RPM (revenue per 1,000 pages viewed) on average. So, if you can do 500,000 pages a month you can make $1,500 to $5,000 a month.
Alan thinks this level of traffic is virtually unattainable for 99.999% of all bloggers but Jason puts a even more valid point - majority of folks are not going to make a living from blogs, but that's because they choose not to try, not because they couldn't. If folks focus in on a niche and own it there is a good chance they could make half a living from blogging.
Read the email debate: Can Bloggers Make Money - Alan vs Jason