If you are tempted by those kinds of offers, and it's natural to be interested, then my suggestion is to hang around forums like namepros, or find Internet marketing blogs where people write about what works, and more importantly, what doesn't work. There is a lot of free information from people like us that just want to share things with others.
The only caution I have to warn about are the "reviews" you find on a lot of sites or blogs that have affiliate links. The author may or may not be telling a true story, but when they stand to profit from you clicking on their link, they could be lying.
Like your friend with the ebay book, it's one thing to hear about something that works and another for you to also make it work. For example, I do ok in a couple of areas, but most of my attempts at affiliate marketing have sucked. Maybe I didn't do it right, or didn't spend enough time at it, but I couldn't make it work well.
And that's the other thing, is that we hear all these stories about people getting rich. Well some are, but I think there are others that arn't. It's easy to lie on the web. In my experience, it's been just like it is in the real world: You have to keep trying things, different things, and not give up. Try to find out what you are good at and that can make money.
Not giving up is the main thing. That, and don't spend money if you are not pretty sure your are going to make money. If you don't have some idea of what you are doing, you may as well be sitting at the casino...!
