Value of connecting with the right people
This is a somewhat interesting thread and I can tell you the following about making $5k/mo, whether it matters?
If you want to gain knowledge...you can learn from anyone. I talk daily to an organic seo guy who puts together the best content sites I have seen, just does not do enough page volume. He makes about $1800/mo right now, yet I learn more than I do from another guy making $25,000/mo. We talk strategy. He got me into building niche sites with WordPress and plug-ins rather than html...WordPress is a great CMS. This guy is literally 1-day away from breaking it big time...I value his opinion HUGE.
Flip side, I know a complete [idiot] - by that I mean NO skill...literally just old-time luck...2 big merchants still let him TM bid while no one else can - and it makes him $25k. Good for him for establishing the relationships and continuing to leverage that...I wish I had it, but talking at length with him is pointless for his skills have not adapted to today's jungle.
There are numerous examples. Go to CJU, AffSummit, and you will meet great people...various skills, some with no skill...and have a heck of a good time.
In closing, the key to making $5k 9and I am serious here) is Economics. In order to know your economics, you need stats. DO NOT waste any money on an ebook, just work, track, adjust, fine-tune, then expand or go to another program. My buddy who makes $1800 is an ebook junkie; yet if he spent that tie working, he would be a $5k+ junkie

Get the basic skills, then DO THE WORK, collect the stats, adjust. REPEAT it again.
Oh yeah, and if you make $5k+ it is fine to say so, but it is also fine to say you are unemployed if you want too.