I use both e-gold and PayPal + I've gotten 1 check (from First-Zone search engine), about the check, all I needed to do was keep my address and other vital information up to date, didn't have to choose any specific because they only pay via checks....
I've been in this business for a bit over a year now and accumulated around 5 to 600$ as a total, do I have any of that at the moment? Nope, I've circled it back in as ads and uprades or used in every day life,
I make around 100$ per month from variety of programs, PaidToClicks (Opt-In-Pays etc), PaidToRead (Tons of them), Traffic Generators (CasHits, WebMasterQuest) and Search Engines (SearchDrifter, XraySearch etc).....
And yes, referrals are really important, without them I wouldn't have gotten paid so many times as I have now, ie. in MailingHeaven my personal earnings are 11$ (2 payouts) but with the help of referrals I've cashed out already 6 times = 30$!
Good luck and welcome to GetPaidForum!