So, how's Rocketboom doing? I mean, it's wildly popular with about 300,000 visitors a day, and Amanda Congdon has become the new cover girl for the blogging set. But how is it doing as..well, a business? I'd say pretty good based on comments made by Rocketboom creator Andrew Baron yesterday at the iSummit conference in Toronto. While sitting on a panel about podcasting, Baron said "Rocketboom makes millions of dollars in annual revenue from just two people". I'm not sure whether he was talking about 2006 or what it potentially make based on their new advertising plans but can you imagine the margins on a business with a small handful of employees and ultra-low overhead? (Note: What Andrew meant is Rocketboom has the potential to make millions of dollars in advertising as it grows and it's able to charge more for advertising space). An interesting issue raised by the panel is whether subscription fees can work for podcasts. Ricky Gervais is among the pionners trying to make subscription fees stick but the CBC Radio 3's Steve Pratt dismissed this plan as "doomed because he's cutting off his access". The idea of cashing in from podcasts is fascinating because a big part of their appeal, I think, it they are commercial-free, and capitalizing on the growing unhappiness with commercial radio. But like anything, the appeal of free lasts only so long before content producers eventually want to be rewarded for their efforts one way or the other. Rocketboom is a good example with its decision to adopt advertising. That said, it seems Rocketboom wants to eat its cake and have it too (have its cake and eat it too?) by accepting advertising but producing ads in-house and running them after each its three-minute clip - a practice Baron admits that its users like even though advertisers aren't wild about the idea would prefer to run their ads before each clip. Baron, who's coming to Toronto again in May for the mesh conference, also talked about whether Rocketboom could launch  premium services. He said it might be a worthwhile business idea if 2% to 3% of Rocketboom users were willing to pay a few dollars a month. In any event, Baron and Congdon are sitting on a growing pot of gold. We should all be so lucky!
Update: Earthlink's ads, which were supposed to appear on Rocketboom two weeks ago, have been delayed.