I will be frank here.

I am quite new to SEO, optimization, web design and site creation, etc. I have a few of my own sites and I am working hard on them using the best optimization tools available. But I can see some trends here already.

I have a few friends that use black SEO tactics like doorways, cloaking, you name them... They can easily make over $10,000/month with a 2 month old site and then they start another one because they are banned by search engines. So, they start it all over again and again using the same techniques...and make money.

Some of my sites are over a year old. Original content only. And I use white SEO only. Most of them suck. Yes, I get some search engine traffic but my sites make me just $10-15 per month. See the difference?

I know many of you will say that legal tactics work better in the long run. But how long? A year, two years? More?

What are the quickest ways of getting your way through to the top? Which ones would you prefer - the ones that make you money right away or the ones that will bring you some pennies don't-know-when?

I understand that some of you will advise to try both...

This honorable SEOmoz site stands for white SEO, I know. Which one would YOU choose if you couldn't choose both, but rather just one of them?