Newbie looking for some advice

I hope I have learned most of the things that are true and accurate regarding Internet Marketing and right now I feel like I am suffering a tremendous amount of information overload.

So if possible, can someone please verify everything I wrote below to see if I have the proper picture of the whole making money online through affiliate marketing concepts?

The following is basically everything I've learned in the past couple of months of reading and research online from various sources. This is everything I've compiled and summarized from my notes, memory, etc.

(Please, let me know if I have anything really inaccurate, or if you know that I missed anything, etc. Thanks.)

In order for someone to actually make any "real" money they Need to pick a Niche or market first and then must have their a website built around their selected niche(s) and market.

This part is quite tricky for newbies like myself. Because I'm uncertain about which niches are ideal when you are new and just starting. From what I've read, many people that give advice to newbies on this generally say just go with what you are passionate about or already have some decent knowledge about, but I am uncertain about what the demand, competition or profitability of my "passions" might be.

I even heard about no website methods pitched, but I'm unsure about them. They are probably scams or unreliable and inconsistent methods, but I could be wrong and misunderstood them, so correct me on this if you know for certain there are alternative ways to make money with the internet without a website.

Back to what I said regarding 'passions'- I personally like video games, card games and board games, and somewhat familiar with computers but I don't really know what the competition, demand and profitability is exactly for them.

So after the Niche is selected and a website had been built and gone live then they either place ads, reviews, articles, recommendations, etc., of various products and/or services for their chosen niche/market.

Those are all the Content and Monetization steps am I correct? You have to monetize your website somehow or how could you get paid? Typically it's with a Paypal account or some other online billing and payment processor, r sometimes direct deposit wire transfer to your bank account(s) or even an actual physical check.

And typically the most common methods of Website Monetization from what I've read and learned are Google Adsense, ClickBank, Amazon Associates, and various CPA Offers from various CPA Networks, (let me know if there are any other reliable monetization methods)

If you don't promote other people or companies' services and/or product then you would have to create or invent product(s) or services of your own.

Articles and anything that requires a lot of writing part HAD ALWAYS been a concern for me.

I never really see myself as a blogger or writer, although I suppose if this is too difficult for me then maybe I should just outsourced it somehow. I find it quite time consuming and I'd probably grow bored of it quickly.

I wanted something more simple, easy, and flexible. I still remember how much I don't like writing various research papers and essays back in the days of high school and college. OK, I'll admit I'm lazy on this part and you can argue that I just did a whole bunch of writing here in this thread, what would be my excuse?

As for creating a website I know that you could also outsource and get some pro web designer to build it for you rather than try to build one entirely from scratch.

The latter being much more difficult if you are trying to make a quality and professional website with little to no prior web design experience. Although I've read about various templates and scripts, etc.,... I suppose those options could help speed up the progress and provide some simple shortcuts. I do have some experience with HTML although I've not use them for a very long time since the days high school and college.

Am I getting this correct so far in regards to Affiliate Marketing methods of making an income from the Internet?

I also heard of and seen other methods to make money from the internet although they aren't very consistent or effective methods. Examples such as paid-to-click sites or sites with paid surveys and various other paid offers, and I'm sure there are others.

Then there is also an investment requirement in website traffic. Although I am aware that there are free methods available through social media such as facebook, twitter, youtube, and so on. Instagram and Pinterest are sources of traffic in this category that I have learned about fairly recently.

The traffic generation part is a real nightmare because that is where it determines whether you either make it or break it in earning money online.

It's like a double edge sword - if things are going great you are good to go, if not, you would be struggling and besides you would have already spent lots of money on the hosting, website traffic, maybe even a online marketing program, etc., and still not see any return on your (potentially huge) investment.

And I know many newbie internet marketers do fail and quit because they aren't able to generate adequate traffic or any traffic at all to their website, and various other factors that went wrong when they first started such as not doing adequate amounts of research and diving right in.

I've learned that the website traffic you get for your website Must be targeted quality traffic. Now this part is also very tricky for newbies to get and will require lots of time and investment into proper Search Engine Optimization techniques.

Although I'm certain this part can also be outsourced but like always outsourcing is done so at your own risk so you would need to be certain you can really trust who will help you on this matter.

Consistent quality targeted traffic to the person's website is the key to generating sales thus making money for the website owner because almost all of the money earned from these types of Internet/Online based businesses are in actuality Sales Commissions.

It also very difficult because depending upon how much competition from other internet marketers that are after the same much needed traffic as you do.

Although I heard there are some really good low competition niches, etc. I don't really know at the moment which ones are ideal for newbies. Any recommendations?

I've also already learned that building a list of names and e-mails of visitors (called leads) that are already interested in the Niche you are marketing your website about is vital because they are potential buyers and you can safely e-mail them over and over again with an email auto-responder promoting future products and services for your Niche.

And the bottom line is this:

What I really want to know what can a Newbie shortcut?

I am willing to set a budget of up to somewhere around $2000-$3000.

Originally I looked into the entirely free methods such as using a free sub-domain and free web hosting services, and free autoresponder but I realized that they are only good for short term and I NEED a long term solution so any entirely free method would not be something I should go for.

I even thought about Done For You Websites after reading about them.One example is this one: Bring The Fresh 2013 Done-For-You Website but then I wasn't so sure, but it's still an option considered on the table.

I also even considered buying established websites from Flippa and similar sites, but I think the risk is even bigger, so I rather want to know what all of my options are and try to narrow down the best ones.

I have kept in mind that there are no magic one push button or magic bullet to making money online, there are no guarantees of income from running any business online or offline, so no need to remind me of it.

Hard work, persistency, and proper understanding of how systems work is very much needed to succeed in pretty much anything.

What about Local options for outsourcing (building a professional quality website, SEO, etc.,)?

Since Outsourcing is a method I am already aware of because if you find something too hard to deal with on your own then just get freakin' help already! Right?

Obviously it will cost money and require and investment but so will going back to any college or university, unless you know for certain the costs of tuition are largely covered by grants and scholarships that you do not need to pay anything back. And I mentioned before I would prefer not having to deal with research papers and writing essays again, etc.