Even if you don't 'farm' the Inferno FW system, you can make lots of isk by playing "legitimately."
I don't use alts - a personal preference. By and large, I've plexed contested systems instead of farming vulnerable systems. Often, I fight in plexes. Even with this non-optimal, inefficient playstyle, my returns have easily been 9-10 digits each tier 5 push.
I admit, though, that it did help that I was fighting for the Minnies for a while there. Being part of a side that can hit tier 5 at will really benefited my wallet. What FW design lacks (and will lack) is an explicit counter to the "rich get richer" issue of multiplayer games. That is, to keep matches interesting over their length, games will often offer advantages to the losing side.
Aside from built-in market mechanics that reduce the price of a faction's wares if there's a glut of them, there's no such mechanic in EVE FW. Factions that gain an early advantage have it good. Factions that are losing are hard-pressed to make up the difference.