Perpetual motion on the Internet: do automatic systems really work?

Perpetual motion has been something mankind has always dreamed about.

And lots of sales letters promise something close - set up your site once and everything then just "happens", untouched by human hand.

But is that true?

http://trevordumbleton.com/automating-internet-marketing-work-real-life/

Or is it just as far out of reach as perpetual motion always seems to be?