Are internet marketers their own worst enemies?

It has been very amusing for me to watch what has been going on in the world of internet marketing and trying to work out where the logic of many actions is based.

Obviously the very first thing that hits at somebody looking at internet marketing for the first time from the outside is the fact that everybody wants to give away the secret methods that they have spent unbelievable amounts of money developing. I really do admire the philanthropic nature of IMers - they want to save you the pain of making the same mistakes as they made - and all for nothing!

The second thing that strikes is the amount of money that can be earned by doing nothing! Indeed, some companies tell you that they will do all the work while you collect all the profit. These are not all free offers but many, at $39 or so, might as well be.

Then we have the 'systems' that will generate millions of dollars for the one time investment of $7 (that is a very popular sum, by the way) and for which you don't have to do any work.

After that come the 'secret' softwares that make so much of your work as an IMer 'automatic'. There are article writing softwares that will create 100 articles from a single seed article - and each one of those 100 articles will look and sound like a real person wrote them. Not only that! You can get a nice collection of PLR articles to put through the wringer so you don't even need to worry about writing the seed article!

Then we have the 'new' improved automation software that arrives with monotonous regularity to ensure that all the work that other, none savvy, IMers have to do can be done by yourself at the click of a mouse.

OH, yes, the flood of money from your computer that you could not turn off even if you wanted to! Have you seen that as many times as I have?

Some IMers do recognise that some work has to be done so they 'outsource' it. The very strange aspect of outsourcing is that IMers don't seem to expect to pay anything. I have seen offers like "I need 50 articles per week, top quality, perfect English grammar and punctuation, copyscape proof, long term contract if you are really good. I will pay $1 per article!" The $1 an article is bad enough but I actually see people bidding lower than that to try to get the job - some from America and Europe!! (There is a well known marketer who sells an outsourcing ebook for which he claims that you can outsource for cents on the dollar - Never pay $1 an article again!)

It seems to me that internet marketers are forever bleating on about 'added value' but when it comes down to it, value seems to be the last thing on their minds.

I really have tried very hard to understand this aspect of the online world but it escapes me every time I try.
Lots of IMers have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo and I know from past experience that there will be a storm of posts telling me that I am wrong (I might even get another warning for insulting forum members!) but I can't possibly be the only person who feels that internet marketers are their own worst enemies.

Can I?