Over the past six months I’ve been digging into a dark corner of the Internet known to some as “Internet Marketing.” But it’s not what you think.

To professional marketers, “Internet Marketing” (as per this Wikipedia article), refers to marketing using online tactics like email, search engine marketing, online display ads, etc. The term describes a class of marketing — much like “Direct Mail Marketing” or “Image Advertising” or “Social Media Marketing” which involve a certain set of strategies and tactics — usually tied to a specific medium.

But among a certain group of practitioners, “Internet Marketing” is a  euphemism for “making money online.” In essence, what they are selling is information (almost always in digital form) that promises (thanks FTC!) sets an expectation that the buyer will make money online using the proffered information. This category of business is more accurately called “MMO” (making money online) — not Internet Marketing.

Some of the better known MMO “gurus” (as detailed in this article) are Frank Kern, John Reese, Andy Jenkins, Jason Moffatt, Paul Lemberg, Mike Koenigs, Matt Trainer, Amish Shah and Bob Serling.

Other big names include Ken Evoy, Perry Marshall, Gary Vaynerchuk, Jeff Walker, Mark Joyner, Mike Filsaime, Rich Scheffren, Michael Campbell, Neil Shearing, Joe Vitale, Jeff Johnston, Jonathan Mizel, Yanik Silver, Dave Navarro, Jonathan Morrow, Ryan Deiss, Perry Belcher, and Willie Crawford.

As I discovered in my research, there are various tiers of MMO’ers — which feed upon each other (literally via “super-affiliate” programs — more about this later). Besides the top tier mentioned, I’ve come across various factions:

• The “Internet Marketing This Week” gang: Ed Dale, Paul Colligan, Lynn Terry, Michelle MacPhearson. Probably the most straightforward of the bunch, each of these folks have their own businesses and sub-interests within the world of MMO. Lynn Terry seems to focus mostly on affiliate marketing via blogging and reviews, while Michelle MacPhearson churns out numerous microsites based on niches. Paul Colligan is the well-spoken academic of the group, while Ed Dale comes off as goofy and self-effacing — but is actually the “evil genius” behind the semi-spammy “30 Day Challenge” — a month-long advertisement for a product called Market Samurai disguised as a populist free training program.
• “Third Tribe” MMO’ers: Darren Rowse, Chris Brogan, Brian Clark, and Sonia Simone. This group of mostly bloggers pretends to look down upon the other MMO gurus with scorn — but at the same time adopting most of their “making money online” tactics — including the concept of a “private access” membership site that costs $47/month. Note the dollar amount ends in “7″ — a standard MMO pricing practice.

Some other names I’ve run into: Eben Pagan, Andrew Hansen, Amy Bass, Jeremy Schoemaker, Brian Johnston, Yaro Starak, David Risley, and Katie Freiling. Some of these folks appear to have legitimate marketing or business backgrounds, while others are 20-something newbies themselves who are adept at regurgitating info that they absorbed into their own MMO e-books and other products.

There are likely hundreds — if not thousands of MMO’ers — all trying to target single moms, retired folks, ex-cubicle jockeys, former car salesmen, and downsized execs who believe in the promise of “making money while you sleep” with passive income strategies.

As I delve into this shadowy world even more to learn about the tactics of these MMO’ers, I plan to test these tactics, separate the legitimate from the scammy, and share what I learn.

Stay tuned.

P.S. There’s even a documentary in production about this subculture appropriately titled “Add to Cart.”