Consumers are now, far more than ever before, ready and willing to pay for online content. Some startling facts:

1) Over 17 million music tracks have already been bought and downloaded on Apple's iTunes music service, despite the existence of KaZaA and other file sharing services.

2) In 2004, over 58% of all webmasters in the UK charged for online content, with that number predicted to grow to over 65% by the end of 2005.

3) Consumer spending in the U.S. alone, for online content, reached $1.8 Billion in 2004, according to the Online Publishers Association, This figure showed a solid 18% growth over the previous year. Some categories showed truly astounding growth. The number one paid online content category in total dollar volume was the Online Dating / Personals category. This category showed a respectable 14+% growth. However, the Entertainment / Lifestyles category showed a tremendous 90% increase from 2003, moving into second place among all categories.

4) Sports websites have been a staple of the Internet for years. As could be expected, this also holds true for paid online content, with the Sports category experiencing a whopping 38% growth from 2003 to 2004.

5) All this growth has taken place with less than 12% of all U.S. internet users purchasing online content. This indicates the tremendous potential for continued growth of paid online content.

There are three main determinants that decide weather content can, or should, be monetized; it should be unique (there should be a USP, or unique selling proposition), exclusive and usable. The more the content follows any, or all of these three determinants, the greater its ability to be monetized.

Another factor that bodes well for the continued, explosive growth of paid online content is the proliferation of Internet enabled cell phones, PDAs and phone / PDA combos. Currently these have rather slow connection speeds, but as newer technologies and faster networks (such as 3G) take hold, this problem will disappear. Indeed, at the end of 2004, PayPal, an eBay subsidiary, began investigating the expansion of its mobile service division by among other things, the addition of micro-payments.

The full scale entry of PayPal, with over 70 million account holders, into the mobile payments market would definitely hasten the acceptance of paid online content into the mobile arena. By 2009, According to analyst firm TowerGroup, the total market for Internet and mobile micropayments in the U.S. is predicted to increase 23 percent (at a compound annual growth rate) to $11.5 billion in revenues, up from just over $2 billion in 2003.

One category, business and financial news and reports, has shown solid growth (over 14% 2003 - 2004, according to the OPAss'n.). There is the potential to charge much more for content in this category, as the information directly impacts business decision making, and thus profitability. Marketing and financial reports from major research and financial firms are very profitable, selling from $250.00 to $1,500.00. These tend to be extremely comprehensive, but smaller, more concise reports sell well also for prices from $50.00 - $150.00.

Now is the time for you to transition your website into some form of paid online content. Market acceptance for it is experiencing solid growth that shows no signs of letting up. Paid content is a fantastic addition to an existing website or a solid foundation for a new site. You'll see your portion of that $1.8 billion rolling in as subscription revenue month after month. Recurring revenue also makes your far more valuable should you ever decide to sell it. Just find your niche, find or create your content, and market your site.