518: Side Gigs and Digital Real Estate – Is the Website Rental Model Still Viable?

Last week, we talked about side gigs—smart ways to earn extra income outside your day job. One of the options we touched on was affiliate marketing, a tried-and-true method still relevant today. But here’s another strategy I’ve personally dabbled in: building websites designed to generate leads. These sites are created with specific search terms in mind—mine were focused on cosmetic surgery—but the model can be applied to nearly any industry. Once your site is ranking on Google and generating traffic, you rent out that digital space to businesses who want the leads. I had a friend who made millions using this model with smartlipo.com back in the day. It was like owning valuable digital real estate. But that was then. The landscape has shifted. With the rise of tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, fewer people are relying on traditional search engines. So the question is: Is this still a viable side hustle in 2025? And if it is, how does it work now—and how can you get started? That’s exactly what we’re diving into on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast.