Alex --- My partner isn't AJ
Although we do both live in New Zealand and both sell $49 templates - I see why you made the connection!
My partner is Peter, he is not an SBIer but knows about the whole process through me. He was unsure of it at first and let me get on with my "hobby" -- then when I told him I made $1200 in passive income last month he nearly choked! Now he wants to start his own pure content site, and with his web design skills he will be sorted. Anyway, thanks for the feedback - it is very nice to hear!
Curtis --- I joined SBI in March 08, officially launched my site in June 08, and started making $$$ in July 08. I made $80 that month. In August I made $270. My income has been steadily growing and in Jan 09 made $1200. So it is definitely possible to earn a basic income from SBI. I think there is huge potential for my niche and I have big plans for my site + its monetization in future.
If you want to learn exactly how I monetize my site, read this:
Site Build It Review
You make a very good point about making multiple sites. I started my second site in Nov 08, once I realized the potential of the SBI model. I'm not saying it was a bad idea - that site earned me $400 last month - but it is definitely a distraction when I should be growing my lucid dreaming site.
Like you say, the first 100 visitors are the hardest, after that it seems to grow much faster. So it is much more efficient to put your energy into an established site. As a result, I always feel like my vision improvement site is often on the back burner.
So I recommend that you focus on one main site for the first 1-2 years. Once you feel you have maxed out the income potential of that site, it is worth looking forward to the next one. There will always be time to start more websites in future, and I'll also be more experienced when I get to that point.