Hello all, I'm Xerxes, 31, from Canada. I've been a software developer for the past 10 years.
I was looking to build a startup, but after seeing the world of SEO, and noticed there could be a linear relationship with income and effort when it comes to IM, I launched two small affiliate sites.
I made my first $ through word of mouth referral for a WordPress theme. No keywords, no PPC campaign, didn't even have a blog site, just straight up: "I heard you're looking for a website. Use WordPress, and buy this theme. Use my affiliate link that I just setup, I'll email it to you, and I'll get a small commission for my free advice". Realized that wasn't so hard. I was pretty clear that to expand this, it would probably be a good idea to learn some IM and SEO from a place like this.
Good luck everyone, hope to exchange ideas with you all soon.