Reviving an old thread - but i have something valuable to add to it!
As expressed above, I started a new blog/forum/site in 2013 just as a hobby - to see what it might take to get something going in this day and age (my main forum started in 1995)....
I blogged about the effort and now can share all the tips which got it going. There should be some valuable info in these posts/pdf's for many of you. Please spread the word....
http://www.craigsfire.com/starting-a-successful-web-site-series/
A special update for my XF friends here! I have been spending VERY little time on the drone site - things would obviously be better if I put more effort into it...still, the stats are decent (40K pages per month):
https://www.quantcast.com/droneflyers.com
AND, the income is really starting to be decent. I have no doubt that if someone really put the effort of a couple hours a day into this (or a similar effort) web site, they could make some really nice side money or even a full living. As it stands now, the income from the site is about:
150 month adsense
300 month amazon affiliate
300 month the ebook I created using the same info I posted on the site.
That's not bad, IMHO, and clearly illustrates that it is still possible to make an income producing site - however, as most real webmasters know, the key to making income is that you have to not care about making income! What that means is that the content and community have to be #1 - the income will come later and somewhat naturally....