PPC secret no more

Just got a tip from a mentor about PPC. There just no secrets in PPC anymore. What can be done and written about has been written.
There is just so much there is to it:
1) search a topic / market 2) search keywords 3) select affiliate programs to promote 4) write ads 5) create a landing page / review page 6) track / split test / finetune
Best way to learn allocate a small budget if say 200 bucks and try it yourself. Full Stop.