Jumping in late here. First of all, great thread, lots of great info. Thanks for sharing Preacher. Kudos to you for getting your numbers straight. I know I'm making sales from my LLs, but really couldn't say how much since I don't have the willpower, energy or time to track down every sale, nor do all sponsors have the facilities. But I'm getting checks from sponsors I don't promote anywhere else and for now that makes me happy.
In addition to all the other great advice given here I can add the following (chilling) personal observations. There's been a lot of talk about making some money (profit) within a year or two or three. But there's money and there's money. Guess what? IMO there will never be another LOR, PenisBot or Hoes. Unless the top 15-20 biggies suddenly decide to become Zen monks and shut down their sites the rest of us are doomed to a life fighting over scraps and leftovers.
So why do I do it? Well, I still believe there's money to be made, and unless I want to be a serf the rest of my life (and I use that term in the best possible meaning
) I need to build some sort of network where the traffic is mine. The lion's share of my income is from sales from freesites, but each month a greater portion is from traffic I generated myself.
Specifically from my LL experience I would offer the following advice to anyone planning on jumping on the bandwagon: Have a plan. Sounds simple, but many people (myself included) just go out and buy a script and hope for the best. Mistakes you make right off the bat can be very hard to correct later.
I also agree with ynuahayt. Think outside the box. The more pages you put out there, the better.
So if you think you have what it takes (a spouse with a high paid job, stubbornness bordering on stupidity, a healthy appetite for Ramen and a willingness to burn the midnight oil) go for it, the sooner the better. It's not easy to get a foot inside the door, but the longer you wait, the harder it's going to get.