Late last year I started searching for real freebies. You know stuff that you can use. Most of the things I looked for were things that I could use to build my business. Lets face it the more free stuff that is reliable that I can get the better. For me it is all about increasing my online sales so I can be financially free.
So what should you look for when looking at freebie claims? Here is my list of what to look for:
1. If there is a free period for you to use the product or service great but beware - don't give out your credit card details 'cause sure as eggs they will debit your card as soon as the free period is over. On the other hand if it is free for a period of time and you are not expected to give over your credit card give it a whirl. When the free period is over you can make an educated assessment as to whether it is worth purchasing or subscribing too. Oh and here is a hint - get yourself a yahoo, gmail or hotmail account so any possible junk mail is filtered.
2. Look for free products and services that don't offer a timed free period. There are plenty out there that are well worth signing up for. Better still they don't hammer you with junk mail. Many of these free services offer extra service for a fee that you can choose to subscribe to as an ongoing thing or as a once off.
3. If you are looking at items that are to be physically delivered to an address beware. (eg: product samples). Often you are expected to pay the postage/freight. You can spend a heap of time on the site to find once you get to the "purchase" they ask for your credit card to slug you with postage/freight. Also if you do get free items delivered either use a post box or a work address - you just cannot be too sure. Now in saying this there are some genuinely fantastic products that you can get for free and it is really worth paying the freight on with the savings you make. One example is printing of business cards - I have found this is a great for start out business.
4. Digitally delivered items can be a bit of a worry. Genuine businesses will often offer you free e-delivered products. That is fine but if you are getting stuff you did not subscribe to find your local authority and forward a complaint. Only ever accept digitally delivered products that you have acknowledged subscription to - normally as a confirmation email.
In a nutshell I recommend you look very carefully at the fine print before you leap into anything that states it is free. I have made it quite easy for you I have a list of recommended free sites. These include business promotion, free products and more. I have tested everything and use or have use 95% of them so it is up to you now to decide what you would like to do.
I wish you well on your hunt for internet freebies.
You see, "Free Software" it doesn't always refer to software that is free of charge. It actually refers to the software being "Free" as in "Freedom" !
Just so that you understand the difference, here is the definition of free software from GNU.org
"A program is free software, for you, a particular user, if:
You have the freedom to run the program, for any purpose. You have the freedom to modify the program to suit your needs. (To make this freedom effective in practice, you must have access to the source code, since making changes in a program without having the source code is exceedingly difficult.) You have the freedom to redistribute copies, either gratis or for a fee. You have the freedom to distribute modified versions of the program, so that the community can benefit from your improvements. Since "free" refers to freedom, not to price, there is no contradiction between selling copies and free software.
In fact, the freedom to sell copies is crucial: collections of free software sold on CD-ROMs are important for the community, and selling them is an important way to raise funds for free software development. Therefore, a program which people are not free to include on these collections is not free software.
Because of the ambiguity of "free", people have long looked for alternatives, but no one has found a suitable alternative. The English Language has more words and nuances than any other, but it lacks a simple, unambiguous, word that means "free," as in freedom--"unfettered," being the word that comes closest in meaning. Such alternatives as "liberated", "freedom," and "open" have either the wrong meaning or some other disadvantage."
"Free Software" is often but not always free-of-charge but it does have other benefits. Often the software is written by people who are doing it for the challenge or simply because they enjoy writing it, or to solve a particular problem, and this approach can produce really useful programs without the usual commercial undercurrent.
Also because the source code is normally freely available it is also likely that many people from the software community will have had a hand in the creation or debugging of the finished article.
More information and a large quantity of Free Software is available from www.sourceforge.net
Both Katherine Quirke & Steve Blampied are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Katherine Quirke has sinced written about articles on various topics from Business Marketing, Internet Marketing and Marketing Tips. Katherine Quirke is a successful Australian based business entreprenuer with an IT background, has owned a number of businesses over the last 20 years and has a Master of Business Technology UNSW. Sharing her business knowledge is a passion.. Katherine Quirke's top article generates over 550000 views. to your Favourites.
Steve Blampied has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Marketing and Firewall. Steve Blampied lives in Jersey in the Channel Islands and has been an independent IT consultant for around 10 years and has a small IT company in Jersey.He is. Steve Blampied's top article generates over 880 views. to your Favourites.