Recycle, reap profits

Find something people want to watch more than once so that it can be sold as a commodity. MediaTrip.com acquired the short parody George Lucas in Love, and after a wild run online, the video became a Web best-seller. Even though you could still watch it for free on Mediatrip, people bought the video and it became the number-one selling tape on Amazon.com.

The Stephen King model

The King of Horror has taken an "only build it if they pay to come" approach to Web revenue. King published his most recent work online, in installments, and challenged his readers to pay for his work on the honor system. If 75 percent of all those who downloaded paid $1 per installment, King said, he'd continue publishing the book online. So far reviews about King's success are mixed.

Bring content to the advertisers

IBM's not in the business of building relationships with filmmakers. But unlike your little-known film site, it's getting tons of traffic. So why not syndicate your film content on IBM's site? Sputnik7.com is currently testing this model.

Creative content, creative distribution

This is the practice of creating alternative locations to showcase short films and content. Think of all the places you've got a captive audience: theme parks, subways, taxicabs, elevators, and, of course, Thanksgiving dinner.