Info overload!

I am brand spankin' new to IM. I don't even have a website yet. And I've been lurking around here learning a ton from this amazing forum. I'm getting really excited about giving this a try, but I am really struggling with exactly how to begin. I've been reviewing the links in Ebbi's "New? -- Read this!" post, but I'm kinda getting more and more confused. I have a few Newbie questions that I need answered, so here goes:

I'm planning on using the blogging angle, I think, and I'm still trying to come up with a niche that suits me. I want to be 100% genuine and truthful, so I have to believe in the products I promote. Thing is, a lot if not most of the products on ClickBank seem to be kinda crappy. I checked out some and a search brought back all kinds of "ripoff report" type sites with people complaining about how bad the products were. Does a successful IM'er just ignore that and promote it anyway? From what I've read here, that's NOT the way to go. Your reputation is golden if you expect to do this for very long.

So, I'd like to join a reputible CPA service, as it seems they'd have more quality advertisers (do they?) but there's a pretty extensive application process; you have to provide your website info etc...which I don't have.

I think I need to take a step back and learn some real basics first. I know I'll learn very fast, but I have to get the fundamentals down. Can anyone recommend a very basic step-by-step program to get me headed in the right direction? Even if it costs me, but people really recommend it, I'll give it a shot. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read and respond to this!