In this article from Wired.com, it’s funny how something as popular as twitter can’t figure out a way to make  a dime.  Maybe they need some suggestions.  Scribe your thoughts below and maybe we can figure this out for Twitter.  Revenue on the web is a tricky business and these times don’t make it any easier.  Everybody expects everything for free on the net.  Times are a changing though and maybe a free net is just not feasible for the future…Only time will tell.

Twitter Could ‘Go for Years’ Without Earning a Dime, Investor Says

By Chris Snyder

Apparently, Twitter doesn’t need a business plan. At least not for years to come.

“We’ve got a ton of cash. We have far more cash then we need, so I’m not in any hurry,” said Todd Chaffee, General Partner at Institutional Venture Partners, or IVP.

Chaffee, in an interview with Wired.com, says the microblogging service that is the darling of the social media set — and the object of a persistent drumbeat of questions about how and when it will actually earn any money — is well north of $50 million on the balance sheet. And that, he said, can last them for years.

In fact, Twitter did not even actively seek out the current, third round of $35 million in funding lead by Benchmark Capital and IVP, Chaffee said.

It’s hard to argue with the endorsement an unsolicited $35 million windfall implies, but it’s also difficult to ignore the parallels to an earlier era of tech investment enthusiasm, when eyeballs and market share were all that mattered and the thought of actually earning any operational revenue seemed oddly crude, inappropriate and unhip.

But Chaffee, who was also an earlier investor in Yahoo, is still brimming with optimism that the “if you build it they will eventually pay” approach will work.

“You essentially have this company which has these assets that’s turning into a very large media property,” he said. “When you have tens of millions or hundreds of millions of people actively engaged everyday, you’ve got all sorts of monetization opportunities.”

Still, it’s not that they haven’t thought about it. Late last year Twitter investor Bijan Sabet told Wired.com it would unveil a business plan in early 2009 (still time for that). And Chaffee says they profiled a number of potential business models with Twitter before investing. Without providing any specific details, he said that the platform offers much more than your usual online display advertising.

“Twitter has some unique ones like the ability to verify whether or not it’s a real brand that’s being promoted,” he said, noting that anything they do will likely be implemented gradually and in harmony with the service (i.e., no out-of-place banner ads).  Twitter will always remain free to anyone, however, which co-founder Biz Stone has made clear.

More and more brands are turning to Twitter to promote goods and provide feedback on products, but it is difficult to determine who is legit. Burger King recently ran into a case of “brand jacking” with a fake Whopper Virgins account, and someone impersonating the Dalai Lama was escorted off Twitter only to be later reinstated with the mark “unofficial.”

Business model aside, Chaffee has some extremely high hopes for Twitter’s growth and potential, and says he typically has a self-proclaimed hatred for technology unless it improves your life.

“Part of where this thing may go, it may supersede other communication channels,” said Chaffee, who thinks Twitter could some day surpass e-mail and IM.