I agree. There are hundreds of ways out there to make money. After sifting through a bunch of products and BS, you simply have to try a bunch of them, see which ones give you results slash which ones you actually don't mind doing, and stick with it for a considerable amount of time. YOU WILL EVENTUALLY MAKE MONEY IF YOU STICK WITH SOMETHING. While I haven't made thousands on each thing I've tried, I've at least made enough money to cash out on Squidoo, Zazzle, Fiverr, InboxDollars, GlobalTestMarket, Shareasale, etc. so many many things out there work, you just gotta stick with it.
I agree that white hat is the best way to go. Black hat techniques build you up for a bed reputation. It's also more pleasing that you've earned money online ethically and not "cheated" it.
Most people probably waist a lot of time falling for many gimmicks, it has been said that concentrating your efforts on an idea and going slow will win the race with IM, however, unfortunately, this does not apply to me, I gave uo a while ago, if anyone does have a lgeit blueprint I a willing to give another go.
Usually when you start focusing on helping others by providing a service or product that is needed, that's when the money begins to flow...
It's just trial and error really. Keep trying things out and see how they go. When you find that plan, keep sticking to it and eventually you'll start making decent money.