A foreign-based affiliate's life

Any way around these disadvantages?

[brickwall]

Iam only, officially, on my 1st month as an AM. Iam based in a third-world country, forgotten by time. PayPal does not accept me. Checks takes 30++ days to clear. Bank clearing fees are insanely high (considering Iam only expecting to get around $20 this month and maybe a bit higher than that in the next few more months). But I refuse to give up. There must be some ways around all these inherent disadvantages.

Anyone here who was able to break-through this "wall"? I could use a little help.

[devildude8989]

There are actually advantages in some niches to being way far out. Places like Brazil, Russia, China...

[brickwall]

You are right. There are a lot of advantages as well for being located far off. One is: if I achieve $100 per day, I'll be a rich dude in my country in about a year or two. That's why there is a huge incentive for people like me here do this AM thing.

The problem is, getting started is way more difficult than usual. Most big networks (eg ClickBank) refuses to accept you, small networks are unable to send you payment (barred from PayPal), cheques you receive gets stalled forever in clearing houses, etc.

What I want to look at is the possibility of getting a US-based "business identity" which I can use as a reference point when applying to merchants and when offloading payments received from them. I heard there are offshore banking services for this. Are these services legal? Anyone from overseas tried this route?

Maybe there are some other ways available to skirt through this inherent limitations. Maybe someone here has already found a solution to this. I will be so greatful to hear such stories.

[yossi]

hi,

brickwall, can you please tell us on which Country you are located?

Thank you .

[brickwall]

Hi yossi.

Iam from the Philippines.

[rfung]

Great country, albeit a bit too much pollution for me :)

Do you market domestically, or are your sites targetted to the US? You are right though, that if you can pull $100/$200 a month, you're way better off than someone making $2000/month in the US...

[brickwall]

Hi rfung,

Yeah pollution is a big problem in the cities. However, most of the countryside is still pristine - untouched by progress ;-)

I'd rather be here and make $100 a day than be in the US and make $1000 a day. A lot of US servicemen in the military who were stationed at local bases and tasted the kind of life in this country chooses to come back and retire here. With $1000/month you can live well - $1500 and you can live lavishly.

Back to the topic - How I wish I could do what you did. Your $20 a day thread inspired me to get started. Now I have a 1 two-week old and 2 undergoing construction. My first one targets a local population group so there isn't much chance of success in CPA. I built the site for CPM and AdSense. Now getting 2k pageviews per day. The other 2 are aimed at US customers and being built with CPA in mind. When I get my first check, local banks will take forever to clear it. Plus they will take close to $15 in fees per check. So Iam wondering if somebody here may have been in this situation before, maybe I can get some advice on how to go about acquiring a "legal(!)" US identity (business or personal) which I can use for AM application and check encashment purposes.

[qwik]

you need a foreign business partner who wont cheat you.. just make sure that you maintain control of the domain etc.. that way if he doesnt pay you can turn off the traffic..

-qwik

[Localizer]

I also think that Qkwik's solution is the best!

Do you have any relatives in Europe or USA, Brickwall? That would make the game a lot easier.

As an Asian European citizen, I want to target the Asia market, so I think we both are in the same boat.

[rfung]

hey localizer, highjacking the thread a bit:

I personally think that the asian market is right now very much untapped, but that's just a gut feeling and following news from regular business news - have you done any research on the subject? what's your take on it?

[brickwall]

As for the Asian market, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan are your best bet. The net is not only booming there, the pockets of those people are also starting to swell with excess cash because of the ongoing economic progress. Credit card usage there are also at an all time high. The biggest problem you will encounter there is the language barrier. All, as in ALL, big named sites (eBay, Yahoo!, etc) have been translated in the local language there for local consumption.

Singapore and Malaysia have no problem with English, but the market there are still small.

(hey, I just hijacked my own thread. nevermind.)

[qwer]

Hi brickwall,
If you want an US business address, you need an SSN or an EIN! It is required to join most of the affiliate programs, like CJ or Clickbank.
You can also use some kind of mail forwarding services. Type mail forwarding on google.ca and you will see a list of mail forwarding services in AdWords. This services usually cost about 300US$/year.
Another problem is that you have to send a W8BEN if you join programs like CJ where you have to write your address (NOT POST BOX OR IN CARE OF ADDRESS!). A tricky situation, unless you have friends which own some company in a country where you can join those programs.
I would suggest you to start with AdSense and, for example, Linkshare.

Good Luck!

[thegreatpretender]

Hi Brickwall,
I am too from the Philippines, now working as ofw.

Back in 2000 I was able to open a checking account including an atm card with bank of alabama through an mlm company (closed already). The company partenered with the bank to supply all members with a checking account/atm, which they used to pay their members. I linked that card to my paypal a/c and was able to withdraw cash in the Philippines.

I'm glad I see more and more filipinos are now working on the internet, because it's really difficult to find a decent job back home. I hope many more can afford to buy a computer and an internet connection. If I could just point everyone here in ww so they could at least learn the opportunities on the net.

[brickwall]

Thanks qwer.

Yeah I thought it is going to be hard. It seems emigrating via H1-B is easier. But then again, if I emigrate, I will lose my third-world advantage of multiplying my earnings 50x over (that's the exchange rate) and will need to earn at least $2-3k a month just to live off AM.

You gain some, you lose some. I guess that evens up the field for all of us then.

Last quick question (related): If I route money to a PayPal account of a friend in the US (by specifying this PayPal account in the affiliate payment form even if it is not mine), will this somehow raise a "fraud" flag in PayPal or in the affiliate merchant? I wouldn't want to compromise with this.

[brickwall]

Hello thegreatpretender.

I never expected a fellow Pinoy to show-up here and yet here you are! Wow, there must be more of us here.

Unfortunately, I couldn't open any sort of bank account there. SSN is a requirement. I have StormPay and IntGold, but these are mostly used by MLMs, HYIPs and other shady programs and almost never by mainstream affiliate networks and merchants. I also couldn't get PayPal because PayPal doesn't serve the Philippines.

I wonder. Do you know if a local PNB (Philippine National Bank) branch in the US accepts accounts whose owner is based in the Philippines. Is PNB also subject to US banking rules even if it is a "foreign" bank in US soil?

[bheybugarin]

Hi there,

brickwall and thegreatpretender, Im from Makati Philippines and doing an AM for almost a year now.

Im just using PNB bank to deposit a USD check.

Making USD income in a 3rd world country like Philippines was great because of the high conversion to Philippine peso.

[thegreatpretender]

Brickwall,
Sorry, I've never been in the U.S, I'm presently working with a filipino company here in Hong Kong. I know all filipino bank here in hong kong do not operate as a bank, but merely as a deposit taking company. So their businesses are limited to just either remittance or lending. If you want to open an account with them here in hongkong, they will ask you to fill a form, then they'll send it to the Philippines and have it opened there. I really do not know how it works in the US.

[thegreatpretender]

Hi bhey,
Glad to see you here.

I've been trying to make money on the internet since 2000, from mlm to hyip to adsense, and now with AM.

So far I'm making $20 a day, I would like to diversify to AM, and hopefully make that to $100 a day and go home. I really miss my life there.

Regards

[qwer]

Hi brickwall,
I wasn't saying that you should emigrate (I am in Western Europe and I am seriously thinking to move to a cheap country, if I start making serious money online). Of course, there are also this problems with the payment.
I don't think Paypal will flag you if you do so for fraud. Make payments to your friend's name asking him or her to give you about 80% or so after taxes and I think it should be all O.K.

P.S.: Don't try to joing those profitable loan affiliate programs through CJ if you don't have an US address (and SSN), they are only available for US affiliates.

[brickwall]

thegreatpretender,

Ok, I see. But how were you able to open a checking account in Alabama? And how were you able to tie that account with PayPal? Just curious.

bheybugarin,

Sticky on its way.

[thegreatpretender]

Brickwall,
As I said through an MLM company, its name was internetconnections or something like that. All members were given an atm from bank of alabama. I opened my paypal account here in hk. Paypal allows you to link your US bank account even you are not based there. You could in fact use it to fund your paypal account or withdraw funds.