By no means am I thinking there's money to be made with no effort. I was just curious about how long a site could provide worry free conversions that would free you up to work on other projects. I read a lot about affiliates only working about 10 hours or so a week. Does this sound about right? I realize that those are experienced marketers and that I shouldn't expect that type of deal for some time to come. I just wonder if I should expect it at all.
If you have your websites rolling, you can probably let them coast like that. With my biggest website - I spent a lot of time in the beginning, and now I just update it once a week, and also try to work on backlinks once a week. I also spend some time researching things like keywords, so I can develop a strategy. So if I am honest with myself about how much time I spend working - and how much being distracted - it is probably only a few hours a week - on that website.
And my friend (who only wants a second income for her family) probably spends less than 10 hours a week on all of her projects (she runs a few blogs), and she accomplishes her goal. It took a couple of months in the beginning of work and frustration for her, but once she got the "boulder up the hill", she is free to coast.
I am not making a 2nd income though, but live on affiliate marketing (and support my family), so I'm a little more obsessive about it.