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Thursday, 11/20/2008

Your Guide to Free Products and Services Online

You've heard it before - there's no free lunch, nothing in life is free. The truth is there really are freebies on the Internet. There are also many "free" offers that have strings attached. It depends on your definition of what the word "free" really means.

The most basic definition of a freebie is any product or service you can obtain without spending your own money, now or in the future. Having said that, there are some items that are listed as free, but are sent with a shipping/handling fee. While technically free, the profit is in the shipping charge. For example, if you see an ad for a free CD, and shipping is $7, then the merchant will make a profit on the shipping. It doesn't cost $7 to produce and mail a CD. Another type of free offer is software. You can download a demo version for free, but have to register and pay for the product to receive an unlock code to continue use after a certain amount of time.

Many feel that making your email address available for possible mailing lists is a cost. You need to determine if an offer is worth your time. If you are concerned about being on mailing lists, try the following ideas:

• Signup for disposable email addresses - This is probably the most effective method of warding off spammers. Don't give out your primary email address except to trusted individuals and organizations. Instead, use a disposable address when signing up for a free offer. Or take it a step farther and use disposable addresses for everything. When you start getting too much spam, just cancel the account and get another.

• Do not provide too much information - If a site is asking for more information than seems reasonable for the free offer, leave out the excess. If it looks like they are trying to qualify you for a targeted mailing list, they probably are. Also, never give out your phone number unless there is a very good reason. Enter "UL" for unlisted or provide a 555 number. If they can't send a free item without a phone number, skip it.

• Be sure to uncheck the "send information" box - Many registration forms have a check box that allows you to indicate if you want to receive future offers. In most cases the default is "yes I want junk email". Just say no.

So why would someone give things away for free? In most cases the reason is for marketing purposes. Free items and services are often provided to build more traffic and hopefully more sales. They are often supported by advertising. Just think about radio and television. These industries have been providing free programming for many years and make a profit by selling ad spots. The same thing applies to free items on the Internet. You might have to wade through a bunch of ads to get that freebie, so make sure it is worth your time and effort.