Because it's rare somebody actually lays it out like: You should sign up for accounts on these sites, you need to use X% of keyword anchors, LSI anchors, naked anchors etc. It's rare somebody reveals their backlink profile. So you're never quite sure if you're doing the right thing.
That's because there are no rules.
IM is the wild west - you think of something that might work, and you try it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Anyone that tells you 'step 1, step 2, step 3' is conning you - which is perhaps why you, by your own admission, have been conned so many times. You're looking for a formula, where none exists.
There is no substitute for common sense, logic, and reasoning. If one doesn't have those three things, one cannot succeed in IM.
I think that's why people who are 'business people' from the real world (ie, owned and operated bricks and mortar businesses) tend to do well in IM, vs the basement dwelling punks who have no real world experience.
It's because when you've been around the block once or twice, you
know there are no rules, and you
know that it's on you to 'make shit up and roll with it' - if you wait to be fed, you will die.
TL;DR - grow some balls, start testing, accept responsibility for the outcome (good or bad), learn from it, adapt, live another day.
EDIT: For those who say you can't learn from BHW - everything I learned and everything I do today comes from seeds and bread crumbs I picked up at BHW. I have had no other resource. And, I make an income from IM that, by my standards, is pretty darn significant.
As BTB said a day or two ago - IM is by far the easiest industry in the world to walk into and start making a 6 figure income - and I agree entirely. I was at 6 figures within my first 6 months.