The Challenge

10 Websites. 1,000 Visitors per Day Each. $10,000 per Month.

The Challenge is to create $10,000 (USD) per month in passive income from websites built between August 2010 and August 2011.

I plan to do this by creating 10 large websites within a 12 month time frame, each generating $1,000/mo. If you know anything about making money online, you know that traffic and income can vary wildly, so my goal of $1k/mo from each website is just a goal – I know some websites will fall far short of that, and hopefully others will wildly surpass the $1k/month mark.

Here’s what I’ve mapped out for projected earnings over the course of a year:

Devin Elder's $10,000 a Month Challenge

Here are the goals I’ve set out specifically for each site:

  • Each site gets 1000 Unique Visitors per Day (UVD)
  • Each site has 100 good articles posted
  • Each site has PageRank of 4
  • Each site makes $1000/month
  • Each site gains 10 new subscribers per day (1% of traffic)
  • Each site ranking #1 for main domain keyword
  • Aweber gets 100 new leads a day total (10,000 UVD x 1% conversion)
  • 3000 new leads every month
  • Each subscriber is worth $1/month

Those numbers above are aggressive, but I really believe it’s better to aim high. The nice thing about this model is that traffic can stay constant, but my subscriber base increases over time. In plain language that means more money as time goes on.

I’ve been dabbling in Internet Marketing since January 2009, and in August 2010 decided I was going to set a ‘big, audacious, caffeinated goal’ of bringing in $10k/month revenue from websites.

Here’s a brief overview of how I’ll get there -

What - Create 10 websites, each around a popular topic. These sites will eventually get traffic and earn money.

Who – I’m Devin Elder – a husband, father, 9-5er, tech enthusiast and musician who is obsessed with websites and Internet marketing. Part of the challenge is that I have a 9 -5 job (which I actually love),  so I only have a few hours a week to dedicate to The Challenge. I will be outsourcing much of my work, and I’m fortunate enough to have my lovely wife assisting me.

Where – The Interwebs, of course. I usually work after 9pm once the family goes to bed. You can also find me at Starbucks on the weekends, pounding away furiously on my Mac book , listening to Grooveshark on my noise-canceling headphones… caffeine and focus gets it done!

Why – My son, Dylan. I want more financial stability and, eventually, passive income sources that completely divorce my time from my earning power. I am also very interested in sharing my thoughts, helping people that are just starting out in their online business, and meeting all the cool people whose blogs I read! I’ve been diligently pursuing Internet Marketing for some months now, but until I started this blog I’ve been a spectator. Now I’m a player.

How – Maybe the most interesting part… For each website I build, I’m choosing topics where people have a pressing, urgent need that they need solved ASAP. My websites will simply promote someone else’s product, I will create no products of my own. I will get traffic to my sites by having useful content related to the subject, and getting visitors from Google. This is known as affiliate marketing and is rampant on the Internet.

In my eyes, it is a beautiful business model because there are no customers to talk to, no inventory to deal with, and the money literally does just show up in the bank every Wednesday. I could elaborate for days on this business model, but the free eBook I give away on this site sums up my strategy very well. Check out the online marketing tools I use for a bit more info too.

A Note About Profit/Loss - It’s important to understand that The Challenge is just going to track revenue at this point. I have some money to invest in this, and every nickel I earn goes right back into the business until at least August 2011. I think of my Internet Business just like any other business… would you expect to open a bricks and mortar business and be cash flow positive in the first few months? No way! It takes investment, and I’ll be investing heavily in outsourcing. As such, I don’t want people to get the idea that I’m just making money and not spending it.

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I hope you’ll join me in this journey,

-Devin

September 3, 2010