Working at Home on the Internet

Hey BlogKits, You Owe Me Money

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 I doubt you noticed, but there have been some changes in the advertising I have been running around here. Mostly, some of the low (or no) profit affiliates are missing. There is good reason, they are taking up valuable space and some are are actually making money on clicks and I’m not.

Others were good options in the beginning and we both made some money, but after a little while, there was just no action on their ads.

While still others owe me money because they got clicks and sales, I have cash on the books, but I didn’t make their minimum requirements for payment. These are the one’s I want to warn you about.

Rant Ahead! 

Most of the major advertisers and affiliate programs have minimum amounts you need to meet before payment, and for the most part they seem to pay once you have exceeded that minimum. But, what if you never meet the low end of sales requirements and decide to call it quits. Neither you nor the affiliate are making tons of money, but THEY have made at least something from your sales/clicks. You have money on the books, but not enough to get paid.

How do you get the money that you have earned in good faith? I have no idea, but I have sent e-mails to BlogKits requesting that we break up amicably. Pay me and I will delete my account. I have already taken down their ads and would never refer them as an income source to anyone.

Just in case you missed it Mr Ryno Saayman… “It’s My Money, and I Want It Now!”

Update: I finally got my payment from Blogkits on May 21, 2008. Thanks Ryno!

February 6th, 2008 at 01:16pm | Posted by Joe | Advertising, Affiliates, Rants | 2 reader remarks | Print This Post

Do You Click on Affiliate Links or Just Avoid Them?

We all have them. At least anyone who is trying to make a little money from their blog(s).

 The question is do we, as bloggers, click on other peoples affiliate links? Or do we go look up the service ourselves in Google and join through the back door?

I’m sorry to say I have actually done it both ways.

When I first started out, I would look up whatever service was being offered, join the service and hope someone would click on my affiliate link. No excuses, I just didn’t trust the posts I was reading at the time. Granted, I didn’t really know that much about blogging and how it is a community. When no one clicked, I would wonder why. Were they doing the same thing I was doing? Did they go get the information themselves rather than click my link? Didn’t people trust me and my recommendations?

After a while, I started learning from the people whose blogs I was reading. They built a trust through their posts with their honest approach to their readers (me). I started commenting on posts where I thought I could make a contribution. And they actually responded to my comments! That for me was a big suprise at the time. I started feeling that I was a part of their community. And as part of that community, I tried to think of ways to repay their kindness.

Since I was looking for ways to monitize my blog anyway, I decided to use the affiliate links that were recommended by the blogger friends I had met, read and trusted. I know they have no idea that I used their affiliate links to join various services, but I have reached the minimum amount for each one in the allotted time for them to get their “bonus”. In other words, we all made some money because I trusted what they said about these programs.

In keeping with that philosophy, I will now click on affiliate links for books, CD’s, services etc that are recommended by my Trusted Blogging Friends (if it’s something I wanted). If you can’t trust a Blogger, who can you trust?

How about you, do you click on affiliate links? Why? Why not?

July 9th, 2007 at 12:10pm | Posted by Joe | Affiliates, Attitude, Blogging, Community | 5 reader remarks | Print This Post

PayPal, A Must Have for Online Business

 A lot of people think that PayPal is just for E-Bay or Amazon to make payments for things you purchase through their services.

But, if you feature Advertisers on your Blog or Website you should consider using PP as a way of getting your commissions and payments. Some Advertisers only pay through a PayPal account, but most will offer it as an option instead of using checks for remittances.

If you have your own products and/or services that are featured online PP is a quick and easy way to get payments from your customers. The only thing they need  is either an account of their own or a Credit/Debit Card. Remittances are made directly to your E-mail address and are credited directly to your PayPal Account.

There is a $500 limit to transactions per month on a personal account which if fine for a Small Business just starting out. Upgrades are available once things begin to improve and the profit level increases. The fees are very reasonable for the premier business accounts and services increase accordingly.

You decide when to make withdraws and transfer of funds to your personal or business bank accounts. Personally, I prefer using either a Checking or Savings account through my bank (even though there is an option of using a Credit Card) for a few reasons.

• Deposits can be made directly to your bank with No Fees
• Interest will accrue on funds with most banks
• Availability of funds for Offline use ie. paying bills, employees, office expenses

However, if a Credit Card is used as security will cost interest on any funds you transfer Into PayPal. PP doesn’t charge you but your CC will. This is a personal choice and it depends entirely on your situation and how you conduct your business.

PayPal is a very secure and trusted service for Online Business of any type. Payments to you are fast and are credited as soon as the payment is verified. PP is easy to work with if you have any questions or problems and they follow up right away with an E-mail for confirmation that your problems have been resolved.

I feel that a PayPal account is a Must Have for any Online Home Business and I highly recommend using it for Internet Transactions for Business or Personal use.

This is NOT a Paid Endorsement, however there are Afilliate Links in the article.

Technorati Tags: PayPal, Online Business, Payments

April 25th, 2007 at 12:10pm | Posted by Joe | Affiliates, Basics, Management, Work at Home | 3 reader remarks | Print This Post