Is product creation in the MMO niche the only way to become rich in IM?

As usual Caliban is to the point - there are lots of niches like model railways and hobby sites, where the people making the real money do not crow about there success in fact they appear to be enthusiasts on forums. They are quietly making a mint. Don't believe me do a keyword research on quilting or model railways and see what turns up

Caliban, you bring up a crucial point that many people seem to be totally missing here. There are many people in the internet space that aren't even using their real names on their websites and are pretty much incognito (many aren't even selling their own products), yet they are silently raking in six or even seven figures a year. Do not mistakenly think that fame and notoriety are the only/primary indicators of success on the internet, they are definitely not prerequisites for making money here.

This is very true. There will be plenty of successful people online who are not the least bit interested in giving away their secrets nor would they want to deal with the hassle of customer care, customer contact, jv partners or any of these things - they're happy as they are.

The truth is that most of the MMO products are released by people who have followed some sort of guide and created a product - they don't practice what they preach.

You'll also notice that when you meet other marketers/business people you won't be able to tell who has money and who doesn't. Just because Mr. Smith turns up wearing an old shirt and dirty trousers doesn't mean he hasn't got a lot of money in his piggy bank.

Anyway the point is...

Product creation is a good way to make money, but is not the only way. The reason why this game we play is so brilliant is that there are a million and one ways you can make moves

More like $7 million.

Bingo!! That's the mistake too many "make money online" newcomers make.

Imagine walking through the mall and noticing that there's an empty store. So you rent it and open a book store. Then you hear that software is hot, so you throw out the books and stock the store with software. Then you hear dieting is even hotter, so you chuck the software and stock it with diet products. Pretty dumb. But that's what people do online. They hop from thing to thing, never sticking with one overall business concept long enough to make it work.

Here's the thing with "how to make money" products. A lot of people in the "make money" niche wouldn't be able to make any money if they weren't selling make money products.

When your prospects are half broke and living week to week, pay to pay, it's not that hard to sell them on the next big dream. All it takes is a few screencaps of clickbank or paypal. It's entirely different selling outside the IM niche. If you can sell outside the make money niche, then you can sell anything.

My top client is making over a million a year online selling a tangible product that retails under $40. (I do their marketing and seo)

Thing is, if you learn to sell, you can always make money. If you sell hype and promises and secrets and backdoors and all that other crap, you have to keep churning out new products when the methods go stale.

Having dreams of success is a good thing. Start outside IM and make money. Learn to really sell. Then if you want to sell "how to make money" products, at least you'll have real experience to base it on. Experience gives you staying power.

Just my opinion... but maybe food for thought.

I've only been in IM for 5 months now and I haven't made a sale as of yet. I have not been able to put as much time in as I would like because I am self employed and stay quite busy. However, I don't need a lot of experience in this industry to know that anything worthwhile in life takes hard work, discipline and commitment.

It may sound cliche or corny, but you can achieve anything you set your mind to, if you're willing to work hard, keep trying and learn from your mistakes and failures. These principles apply to everything in life, from relationships to education to personal pursuits and anything else in between.

Do your research, be aggressive and set goals. Then, work towards those goals and don't be afraid to fail.

"It's not whether you get knocked down. It's whether you get up." - Vince Lombardi

There will be marketers and product creators out there that put some of the top MMO gurus to shame in the paycheck league. There's loads of hobby niches and obviously the weight loss/health & fitness markets which make people millions a year but as other posters have alluded to, it's not as if they just woke up and saw a million dollars in their clickbank account.

They probably failed an awful lot to begin with but kept going as their contemporaries simply gave up and got a job or whatever. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

If I hear you right, you're trying to win the marathon before learning how to walk!
Nothing is impossible online (or offline, if you ask me) but these kind of leaps (even in the imaginary level) will probably get you nowhere.
If I were you, I would constantly keep an eye on my dream, but I would start my journey with baby steps until my walking became stable and fast. Then I would start running...
The only road to success I know of, is doing what you love and enjoy every moment of the process. The journey is the real thing! Whether it is riches, fame, or anything else you are after, it won't mean a thing to you if you have no fun on the way.
Regarding timing, I feel that it's a perfect moment to enter the internet marketing scenery, as the internet is well established already, but it is still an infant.
Have fun and empower yourself! Oh, and don't try too hard: You are creating a great deal of resistance and this is the last thing you need!