The Rich Affiliate

Online affiliate income businesses usually offer two or three methods for you to choose how you would like to be paid the online affiliate income you have earned. Most common methods of payment are through internet payment services such as for example PayPal, AlertPay (there are others), by cheque or via their own global cash card system that enables you to withdraw your money from an ATM.

Upon completing your Personal Account Section for each affiliate program that you join, before selecting your choice of payment you need to check that the payment system will allow your online affiliate income to be paid out in your country and most importantly that you are able to withdraw funds from that account.

South Africans for example cannot withdraw their online affiliate income from PayPal (as at August 2007) although you can accept payments into your PayPal account. Sounds crazy doesn`t it? But that`s the way it is. You can make payments from your PayPal account though, which means you could pay for some advertising or make purchases on the internet. You can also send money to someone else too.

Cash card systems allow you to withdraw your funds from your local ATM (automatic teller machine). But be sure to check if these work in your country. The foreign exchange laws vary from country to country and these will to a certain extent control the way you can be paid foreign income. The cash cards operate just like a bank card and you can check your balance and more online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your online affiliate income is paid directly to your card then converted to cash, in your country’s currency, instantly. You do have to purchase this card, which is a once-off payment.

The advantages of selecting the online payment processors or cash card systems means your online affiliate income gets paid instantly and do not have to wait for a cheque to come in the post. Some affiliate programs, for example Clickbank, only pay by cheque irrespective of where you live. Although, if you are earning huge Clickbank commissions you can apply to have your funds paid by wire transfer direct into your bank account.

AlertPay for example works globally but not all options are available for some countries. For example to withdraw by wire transfer you need to provide a US bank account number. You can also choose the option to be paid by cheque or transfer the money to e-gold, but then in some countries you cannot withdraw from e-gold either.

Some may only have the option of being paid by cheque. Depending on where you live the cheques will take 1 to 2 weeks to arrive. You then simply go to your bank and complete the appropriate forex form and deposit it into your account. In some countries the first time you deposit a foreign cheque it may take 3 to 6 weeks to clear because the banks actually send the cheque back to the issuing bank for collection, but once you have regular cheques coming in then they will be cleared a day or so after you deposit them. The fees for requesting payment by cheque are slightly higher than the other systems.

Banks charges levied on foreign cheque deposits do seem to vary from bank to bank, some charge per cheque others charge a percentage of the value of the cheque, so depending on the way your bank charges it may be beneficial to look for an option in your affiliate program account section to enable you to accumulate your commissions and then set a threshold of say $100 before they issue and post a cheque to you.

Follow the above guidelines when looking for an online affiliate income business to ensure that the payment options available allow you to get paid and withdraw your online affiliate income.

Online affiliate income businesses usually offer two or three methods for you to choose how you would like to be paid the online affiliate income you have earned. Most common methods of payment are through internet payment services such as for example PayPal, AlertPay (there are others), by cheque or via their own global cash card system that enables you to withdraw your money from an ATM.

Upon completing your Personal Account Section for each affiliate program that you join, before selecting your choice of payment you need to check that the payment system will allow your online affiliate income to be paid out in your country and most importantly that you are able to withdraw funds from that account.

South Africans for example cannot withdraw their online affiliate income from PayPal (as at August 2007) although you can accept payments into your PayPal account. Sounds crazy doesn’t it – but that’s the way it is. You can make payments from your PayPal account though, which means you could pay for some advertising or make purchases on the internet. You can also send money to someone else too.

Cash card systems allow you to withdraw your funds from your local ATM (automatic teller machine). But be sure to check if these work in your country. The foreign exchange laws vary from country to country and these will to a certain extent control the way you can be paid foreign income. The cash cards operate just like a bank card and you can check your balance and more online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your online affiliate income is paid directly to your card then converted to cash, in your country’s currency, instantly. You do have to purchase this card, which is a once-off payment.

The advantages of selecting the online payment processors or cash card systems means your online affiliate income gets paid instantly and do not have to wait for a cheque to come in the post. Some affiliate programs, for example Clickbank, only pay by cheque irrespective of where you live. Although, if you are earning huge Clickbank commissions you can apply to have your funds paid by wire transfer direct into your bank account.

AlertPay for example works globally but not all options are available for some countries. For example to withdraw by wire transfer you need to provide a US bank account number. You can also choose the option to be paid by cheque or transfer the money to e-gold, but then in some countries you cannot withdraw from e-gold either.

Some may only have the option of being paid by cheque. Depending on where you live the cheques will take 1 to 2 weeks to arrive. You then simply go to your bank and complete the appropriate forex form and deposit it into your account. In some countries the first time you deposit a foreign cheque it may take 3 to 6 weeks to clear because the banks actually send the cheque back to the issuing bank for collection, but once you have regular cheques coming in then they will be cleared a day or so after you deposit them. The fees for requesting payment by cheque are slightly higher than the other systems.

Banks charges levied on foreign cheque deposits do seem to vary from bank to bank, some charge per cheque others charge a percentage of the value of the cheque, so depending on the way your bank charges it may be beneficial to look for an option in your affiliate program account section to enable you to accumulate your commissions and then set a threshold of say $100 before they issue and post a cheque to you.

Follow the above guidelines when looking for an online affiliate income business to ensure that the payment options available allow you to get paid and withdraw your online affiliate income.

Let me tell you a story about karma and how I made $250 by
reporting an Adsense cheater!

It started when I came upon a web site where some kid was
blatantly breaking the rules by asking his buddies to click on
his Adsense ads.

This has got to be one of my biggest pet peeves! Why do people
think they can break the rules at the expense of other peoples’
AdWords budgets?

So I did what a lot of people do… I contacted Google!

I figured Google would shut this punk down immediately. Boy was
I wrong!

Every time I went back to this kid’s web site the message asking
his friends to click the ads were still there! This went on for
a few weeks and I really started to get ticked off at the lack
of response on Google’s part.

So I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I used this software I created called “Google Sponsor Lister”
(You can get it at AdsenseSchool.com) to find every sponsor who
was targeting this kid’s niche.

I contacted each sponsor directly and told them there was a
chance their ads were being displayed on a cheater’s site. I
figured if THEY complained to Google, something would happen!

Well I guess I was right! One of the sponsors emailed me back
two days later and said:

“I want to thank you for pointing out the kids clicking on my
ads. I turned it over to my Google rep, and he called today to
let me know Google is disabling their account. Also, he said
Google is crediting me a decent amount for fraudulent clicks
over the last quarter. What’s your address? I’d like to send you
a little thank you gift.”

How awesome is that? I was so excited! Not because he was going
to send me a “thank you gift”… but because I figured out how
to get that punk’s shut down!

It’s funny how Google shut this kid down in TWO DAYS because a
sponsor contacted them but when I had been trying for weeks,
nothing happened. Makes you think…

Anyway… I told him he didn’t have to thank me and he
definitely didn’t need to send me a gift. I was just happy to
know I saved him a couple bucks and this punk got his account
canceled.

He replied with the following…

“Thanks again. I actually spend several hundred thousand dollars
a month on Google, so at least they responded to me quickly.
Also, the rebate they gave me was fairly substantial (several
thousand). I’d really like to buy you an Amazon gift certificate
or an iPod or something if you’d like to tell me how to send it
to you, because I don’t think I would have been proactive about
this if you hadn’t contacted me. Either way, it’s great that
you’re being a good samaritan.”

SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS? I thought I saved him a couple bucks
at most!

I was floored when I read that because I knew Adsense cheaters
hurt sponsors but I never thought it was that bad!

So I told him if he REALLY wanted to send me an iPod or an
Amazon gift certificate, I wouldn’t stop him!

He ended up sending me an Amazon.com gift certificate worth
$250!

Long story short… I am now a true believer in Karma!

I think this teaches us a couple important lessons…

First, telling Google about Adsense cheaters is fruitless… but
informing the sponsors, and asking them to contact Google, works
immediately!

And second, ripping off AdWords sponsors is big business. Don’t
think for a second it’s a victimless crime!

Oh and now I’m a true believer in Karma!

Maybe you won’t make $250… but at the very least you’ll help
get rid of another Adsense thief and save a business owner some
money