I wish to start making money online. Just enough to pay a few bills etc. Is this asking too much? At present I am unsure which area to go into. Affiliate marketing looks possible. But there are so many e-books/courses I do not know here to start.
Therefore, I have decided to ask for advice from other members. What are the pitfalls or the chances of being sold a dud product or course. Can you recommend any products?
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

If I am being honest there is so much **** out there. Find something you like and make money from it, either selling a product or service. If your going to opt for adsense, the best product to sell is information. Find niche content that captures emotions and you will be on to a winner ;)

I'm in the same boat - would like to get some programs running that are making some dough for me "while I sleep".

So I'm looking at similar options but as this person says, there's so much s#$% out there, it's hard to know where to start.

I wonder if these affiliate marketers can really be proud of the products they sell (I need to be) or if they're just trying to make a quick buck from people who don't know better??

A friend turned me on to the following sites to research...
clickbank.com
associateprograms.com

Any other ideas / input would be appreciated.

Can you recommend any products?I'd recommend starting with what you're interested in or familiar with, do some keyword research, start up a site with some good content or structure, and join the major networks to find merchants in the vertical. Then it's deciding who is running the best program for the products (or services) that fit.

What are the pitfalls or the chances of being sold a dud product or course. Consider the source. There are some very successful, well known people out there in affiliate marketing who have written books, but reading online and actual experience are the best teachers.

Don't ever buy any ebooks you see promoted by people dropping links around forums - you can pretty much count on those being duds and you would be wasting your money.

would like to get some programs running that are making some dough for me "while I sleep".

He, he, he.

Yeah, after working 12 to 16 hour days 7 days a week, especially when you're first starting out. ;-) It does take work, sometimes lots of it.

It can be difficult enough learning the ropes of the affiliate business -- lots of trial and error -- without needing to learn the ins and outs of a new product or program at the same time. So, as Marcia said, it's much better to start with something you know. And I'd suggest not targeting too large of a market at first, try going for a smaller-sized niche.

If you're prepared to lose a few bucks at the start you can do affiliate work by going straight PPC, but this costs actual money. Marketing via a site has a small initial startup, then most of the cost is in your time. One thing you do not want to do is become a "thin" affiliate, with pages basically duplicating the program sponsor's information; do whatever you can do to add value for the visitor.

If all goes well you'll be able to cut your workday down to 10 to 12 hours and wake up each day to find that you actually did make some bucks while asleep.

First find your interest.
Second , find some affiliate products in that niche that pay atleast 30%. DON'T joing getting few cents for clicks type of affiliate programs.
Third, create a few page search engine optimized webste. You can get a paid hosting for 3.00/month these days.
Fourth write a review on your affiliate products and put them on your website.
Fifth, promote your website.

Last but not least is, select few products that are out of internet marketing niche. Because people outside of IM, don't know much about affiliate links. They just buy from you if you put product before them.

Whenever I hear about or see a clickbank product it seems to be a get rich quick scheme. They're not a company I place much faith in personally, even if all the "gurus" who can "reveal the 10 secrets" tell you their "automated program" uses clickbank.
I'm a beginner too, but I've generally succeeded in avoiding scams and there's no such thing as making money while you sleep. That is, you've got to work hard. And ideally, you should stick with one main project for a while. I bounced from blogging to domaining to seo to aff and back. There are opportunities to make money, but they come with the trapdoor of spreading yourself thin, which is a common problem.
So:
1) Avoid clickbank, it's spammy/scammy.
2) Work hard and you'll make lots of money.
3) Keep a narrow focus and whatever your project, do it well. Beware of getting too much going at the same time.

my 2c.