(FORTUNE Magazine) – AMONG MEDIA TYPES, BLOG publisher Gawker Media, creator of such websites as Gawker, Wonkette, and Gizmodo, has long enjoyed the sort of buzz that money can't buy. But now publisher Nick Denton is getting serious about converting that buzz to cash.

"We talked to media buyers," says Denton. "They said they wanted an 'online-GQ demographic.'" So in early October Gawker launched Jalopnik.com, a site about cars; Kotaku.com, a website for computer games; and Screenhead.com, a site that will collect the best of Internet humor, the "kind of things that people send around."

At least one big-league advertiser has already signed on: Audi will be the exclusive sponsor of Jalopnik.com at the launch, and the brand will be fully integrated into the site's graphics. "There are only so many ads they can buy on Comedy Central," says Denton, referring to the quandary of advertisers trying to reach 18- to 34-year-old males. "A lot of advertisers want to participate in blogs, but they don't know how."

With nine sites launched in two years and 24% month- over-month aggregate traffic growth, the business outlook for Gawker's mini--media empire seems promising. Denton won't talk about the company's financials, and he points out that even at 2.5 million unique visitors per month his sites are only just starting to "get the numbers that actually register with media buyers." But he also makes the case that numbers aren't everything. "It's not just a numbers game. If it was, they'd all be advertising with Weather Bug," he says referring to a popular Windows toolbar download.

Still, don't expect the first blogworld IPO anytime soon. Denton laughs at the notion of going public and confesses that he's never even had a business plan. He relies instead on a lone spreadsheet with a list of likely categories for new sites and the names of promising bloggers. How many more sites does he hope to launch? "I've given up on making plans," he says. Plans or no, if Denton's new sites catch on with advertisers, the blog business model may prove to be more than just hot air. -- Oliver Ryan