You haven't missed anything.
In fact, you're seeing the truth that most people don't dare to say.
I'll answer directly, without selling dreams or offering empty encouragement.
Why is 99% of advice on "making money online" useless?
You're right on the following points (and very few people dare to say them):
Affiliate marketing, freelancing, surveys… most fail.
The industry is saturated not because you're incompetent, but because:
Supply >> demand
AI does it cheaper and faster than humans
"Learning skills" doesn't solve the customer problem
Paid ads: 80% lose money or break even → true
Spam traffic → almost dead
The problem is NOT that "you're not good enough," but that your business model is wrong.
The Models That ARE STILL ALIVE (Few People Talk About)
1. Middleman / Broker
No need for:
Product
Deep skills
Large capital
Need for:
Knowing who needs what
Knowing who can do it
Earning a commission
Real-life examples:
Finding clients who need ads → hire a freelancer → earn a percentage
Finding leads for a local business → sell leads
Finding buyers for offers → earn your own CPA
You don't need to be the best, just need to control the workflow.
Seems like you can relate to reality check most people shy away from.
You also would have done a lot of deep work and try a lot of ways to confirm the experience.
Regarding your idea that "being a broker or middleman have better potential overall"
Here's my stance on that based on experience,
Middleman/broker/agent.... are all almost same as affiliate marketing, they have exactly same business model with just little slightly different way of operating.
Here are some issue with middleman way,
Middleman have to operate only locally where he can be physically present to do deal, else he can be cut out of deal easily and more often, most people don't trust or use escrow service on high ticket purchases like real estate, meaning buyer have to meet seller,
After buyer and seller meeting, they can manipulate and cut out middleman. Also there's higher chances of serious legal dispute that can make the whole thing not Worth it.
Although earning potential for middleman seems relatively higher than affiliate, so also the risk
Affiliate with link can operate on global level without physical presence requirement, affiliate marketing seem easier, less risky, more scalable, with wider opportunities...than middleman.
Unless you're popular influencer with millions of followers that people bring deal to, you would still need to do some sort of marketing and promotion for your offer, same thing required in affiliate marketing.
Main difference is middleman is generalist for promoting several products, service or deal, while affiliate is specialist for promoting single product.
Hence, I think if someone doesn't have traffic source to work out affiliate marketing, I think going into middleman would likely be worst.
Feel free to share if you have a middleman strategy proven to work reliably from your experience.
Thanks