What starts as casual blogging could turn into much more. Zach Brooks is proof. His blog, discussing cheap lunches around Manhattan, earned him $1,000 this month. It's called Midtown Lunch, and it receives about 2,000 readers daily. Brooks is part of an emerging group of bloggers with a couple thousand hits a day that's also earning a couple thousand dollars each month. According to this Yahoo! News article, programs like Google's AdSense are helping bloggers tap into online advertising dollars. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, advertisers spent $16.9 billion online in 2006. In the first half of 2007, online advertising already reached almost $10 billion.

For Brooks, his blogging has also led to other opportunities. Not only has be met close friends through his site, but he's also scored freelance writing assignments.