Pay Attention to Those Minimum Payments
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If you have ever looked at my Current Earnings, you may have noticed that I do not include any payments until I actually qualify for a payment. What do I mean by this? Most advertising networks have established minimum payment thresholds that must be exceeded before the publisher receives a dime. As a result, if you don’t meet this minimum, you don’t get paid.
There are some legitimate reasons why these minimum payments exist. First, it does cost the advertising network money each time they cut a check or transfer money via paypal. Therefore, minimum payments can significantly cut into this expense. Next, minimum payments allow publishers to keep their money longer and earn more interest. Lastly, and most importantly, minimum payments (along with delayed payments) allow the advertiser to weed out dishonest publishers (detect invalid clicks and false leads) before paying them.
However, there are certainly advertising networks that have set up their minimum payments for a more sinister reason–to avoid paying out. Some ad networks minimum payments can be as high as $100. For new bloggers, this could take over a year to accumulate. Recently, I decided to discontinue my use of Kontera ads since I figured it would take me 12 years to actually get paid.
In addition, bloggers should practice some “advance strategy” when it comes to minimum payments and maximizing your actual earnings. Consider the following example in which I failed to use this strategy: About three months ago I signed up for RevResponse and I participated in a promo that gave me $50 to write a post on my blog about the network. That $50 allowed me to qualify for a payment since their minimum payment is $50. However, what I should have done was to change my minimum payment (something that some advertising networks allow you to do) to $75 because I was able to make another $25 after making that post. Unfortunately for me, I failed to do so and will probably have $25 in my RevResponse account to the day I die.
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Filed under: Blogging Tips
That is an excellent strategy (about bumping up your minimum payout from $50 to $75). Thanks a lot, this is very helpful!
This is a pretty cool strategy. I have to agree with Blog Yogi on this one.
Thanks for sharing this.
Matt
That’s a good point. I think it’s important to look at what type of relationship you will have with the advertiser.
If you don’t feel you’ll be able to collect the money in a reasonable amount of time, then it does make sense to set the limit a bit higher so that you can collect all of your funds, at least in the example you detailed above.
For most of the advertisers I work with, I’ve been with them for some time and expect to be with the current group for a while so I’ve kept the payout at the minimum amount.
Mike
gift gadgetss last blog post..Good Night Eileen
I would guess google make a pretty mammouth amount from accounts which never reach $50.
$20 average x a very big number of failures makes a large amount.
You seem almost to accommodating to this sort of thing. You put real work in, and they kept your money. Argh. I plan on staying away from any “minimum payment” arrangements.
money-saving-tipss last blog post..Save on your appliances
This is good advice. Too bad that you might not get that other $25 from your RevResponse account.
Jerrys last blog post..If you didn’t vote, then you shouldn’t complain
Really it comes down to people being responsible. Wheather its ceos or the average joe buying a house. It’s great to get what you deserve but if you go to far your going to get it!
But should they count as earnings for tac purposes? For the sake of a couple of pounds in an Amazon affiliate account I had to register as self-employed and do battle with HMRC.
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