Been approached by advertisers? Be careful
In 2003 I ran a niche website that catered to a very specific audience. Luckily in the space of around 12 months I managed to build and develop the site into a bit of an “authority” site. Because of this the site attracted a lot if interest from potential advertisers wishing to feature on my site. I’m not talking about CPA or CPC deals here I’m talking about a flat fee for displaying a banner on the site. Anyway, pretty much all advertisers operate on a 30 payment cycle. This means that I put a banner live on the site and then invoice the advertiser who will then pay me in 30 days time. This practice is adopted by the whole industry and is common practice so I thought no more of it.
So things went well month after month until the company suddenly went into liquidation. As soon as I found out I removed the banners and tried my best to contact the advertiser to ensure I would still be paid. However, despite my best efforts I didn’t get paid. At the time, the amount was around £500 I was owed and unfortunately I just had to put it down to experience and write it off.
So ever since that day I have always insisted on payment upfront for any advertising deals I have in place. The only exception being if I am dealing with huge multi million pound household names who I have no doubt will be around forever.
It turns out that this week, that my caution has once again paid off. One of my larger advertisers who pays 5 figures a month to feature on one of my sites has unfortunately been forced to close their business. If I hadn’t been so careful and ensured I received my payment upfront then I would be seriously out of pocket.
So just a word of warning really, I know a lot of other affiliates who have suffered in the same as I have. You may end up losing some smaller deals by operating in this way but if someone really wants to feature on your site then they will accept your terms.
What I’m listening to right now: Q-Tip ft. Andre 3000 - “That’s Sexy”
Sunday, September 3rd, 2006 at 2:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Welcome to my blog. My name is Kieron Donoghue and I run UK Offer Media Ltd. I thought it would be fun to post a daily (well hopefully daily) blog, writing about my experiences in Internet Marketing and more specifically Affiliate Marketing. I'll include some personal stuff too, probably about my other passions, music and cars. Please feel free to post your comments and thoughts too.
September 4th, 2006 at 9:39 am
I always try to get money up front. If they are late with payment, I remove the company’s advertisement.
It is a good test to see how much they are benefitting from your site.
September 4th, 2006 at 10:20 am
Wow, 5 figures for advertising. Are you able to tell us the site that this relates to and congratulations?
September 4th, 2006 at 8:04 pm
Good post. I would completely agree with your Kieron. Having had my fingers burnt a few times, I always insist money upfront.
It’s sad, but you can’t trust anyone nowadays to stick to their word. Even with household names, they’ll sometimes try every trick in the book to delay payment.
September 4th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
anonymous - it’s a site that I spend tens of thousands of pounds per month via ppc advertising. Hence the high 5 figure advertising costs.