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Freebies4Real

The why and the how of the
Incentivized Marketing Industry.

You know all those advertisements you see for Free Wiis, Free PS3s, Free iPods, and (my favorite) Free Money? You probably looked at them and passed them off as scams. Don't feel too bad. Most people do.

You wonder how they can give away all that free stuff. You wonder if the offers are legitimate. You wonder how on earth they even know you did an offer. And you wonder (especially if you've clicked on a Consumer Rewards ad) why on earth you have to do so darn many offers.

First and foremost... A good Freebie Site won't make you do 12 expensive offers and then refer 9 people to get a freebie. Stear clear of Consumer Rewards, and, actually, most Freebie Sites that advertise with huge banners all over the internet. You can do better than that.
I promise.

I'm going to give you the basics here. I know. This looks like a thrown together website, and you have no reason to trust me. Well, it was thrown together. (At least I'm honest.)

I'm preparing for the launch of a really informative Freebie website, which will include site/network ratings, a referral guide, a proof gallery, and a slew of other helpful things. But it's a few weeks out, and I wanted to get things rolling.

So. Here's the short version of everything.

Question: How can the Freebie Sites give away all that free stuff?

It's all in the business model... You sign up for the site, and then you have to complete an offer or two. The company you signed up with then pays the Freebie Site. They now have cash in pocket that they are willing to share with you. You refer a few more people with your referral link, they complete offers, and the Freebie Site soon has enough money to get you that iPod that you've wanted for ages.

Question: Why do companies advertise like this?

It's really targeted marketing. They are getting people to try their services who might not have ever come across the company. And the company only has to pay if an offer is completed. Instead of wasting thousands on an advertising campaign that may or may not get people to try their services, they only pay when someone actually does. It's kind of like the pay per click system, except it's pay per customer.

Question: How does the Freebie Site know I've completed an offer?

Cookies. Basically. A cookie is a small file that is stored on your computer when you visit the advertiser's site that tells them how you got there.

Question: What if my offer doesn't credit?

Usually, it's because your cookie settings weren't right on your computer, or your pop-ups weren't on... or something like that. It used to be that you could file a manual credit request, but recently the Freebie Sites and the advertiser's were being scammed so much by people abusing the system that they stopped accepting manual credits. Don't worry. I've got step-by-step instructions ready for you below.

If your offer doesn't credit, don't take it out on the Freebie Site. They didn't get paid either. You may still want to inform them about it though. If they find an offer that is regularly not crediting well, they'll generally remove it from the offerings list.

Question: How do I get referrals?

So many ways. Too many really to put here. But if you follow the instructions below to sign up for a site, I'll email you the referral guide that will be put on the real website in a few weeks time. That way you don't have to wait to find out.

Question: What can I get for free?

Gosh. The list is endless. The usual, of course... iPods, Video Game systems like the Wii, the Xbox 360 and the PS3, Laptops, Desktops, Plasma Televisions, Money... And the unusual... Lawn-Mowers, Spa items for her, Handbags, Pool Tables... You name it, you can get it free.

I've included two sites below. On one of them, you can get just about anything you could ever want. And the other is all about money. If you are interested in some of the more specific websites and don't want to wait the few weeks for the real site to be up, email me (freebies4real@yahoo.com) and I'll be happy to send you the comprehensive list I'm working on (although it's not really comprehensive at the moment, but it's getting there).

Keep in mind that the bigger freebies like computers will require more offer and referral-wise than, say, and iPod shuffle.

Question: What if I don't have, or don't want to use a credit card?

One of the links below is a no credit card site. Keep in mind that it will take more offers and more referrals to get your prize. Whatever you do, do NOT use a prepaid or gift card. You may get banned from the Freebie Site for using them.

Question: What if I don't want to deal with getting referrals?

Sign up for a points site, or a do it yourself site! You basically complete offers until you've accumulated enough points to 'buy' the item you want.

Email me at freebies4real@yahoo.com for the complete run-down on how these sites work, and which ones you should sign up for.

Question: You didn't answer my question. Now what?

Email me. freebies4real@yahoo.com. Even when I get the Real website up and running, I'll still check this email. And really... I'm here to help.

And now... the basic instructions.

Step 1: Use the right kind of connection.

Your IP is your identification to these sites. You can't use any sort of proxy (Sorry, no aol and no people pc.) You definitely cannot use the same internet connection as someone else who has signed up for the site.

Step 2: Use the right browser.

Only use Firefox or Internet Explorer to complete offers. Since most code is generated to work on these two browsers, they have the best offer tracking of any browsers.

Step 3: Clear your cookies and use the right settings!

Before you complete ANY offers, or even log onto a Freebie Site, clear your cookies! This is VERY important! If you have ever clicked on an offer before, then there is already a cookie from it on your computer. In order to correctly credit, you need to get rid of that cookie so another one can be saved. Instructions for clearing cookies in both Internet Explorer and Firefox are included below.

Disable your Pop-up blockers! Many sites use pop-ups, and you need to be able to see them.

Accept All Cookies! If the cookie can't be saved on your computer, the offer can't be tracked.

Browser Settings

Internet Explorer

Step 1: At top of browser, click 'Tools' and then 'Internet Options'.
     Step 2: A new window will pop up. Click 'Privacy'.
     Step 3: Uncheck 'block all pop-ups'.
     Step 4: Find 'settings'. Lower the bar to 'accept all cookies'.
     Step 5: Click 'General' at the top of the window.
     Step 6: Click 'Delete Files'. A new window will pop up.
     Step 7: Check 'Delete all offline content'. Click OK.
     Step 8: Still under the 'General' tab, click 'delete cookies'. Press OK.

Firefox

Step 1: At top of window, click 'Tools' then 'Options'.
     Step 2: Click 'content' and uncheck 'Block pop-ups'.
     Step 3: Click the 'Privacy' tab, then the 'Cookies' mini-tab.
     Step 4: Check 'Allow sites to set cookies' and uncheck the 2 boxes below.
     Step 5: Make sure setting 'Keep cookies' is set to 'until they expire'.
     Step 6: Click 'Clear cookies now'.
   Step 7: Click the 'Cache' mini-tab, and press 'Clear cache now'.

Step 4: Turn off firewalls, anti-virus, or spyware programs...

These programs can interfere with tracking. (Don't worry, you can turn them on again as soon as you're finished.)

Step 5: Register for a Freebie Site!

Obviously you need to find a legit one, and in this case (and all cases, if you would like) I've done this for you. Trust me... I have no reason to send you to a site that doesn't come through. The sites below ranked pretty high on my grading scale for Freebie Sites, which includes things like customer service, offer to prize ratio, shipping, and important things like that.

Use your real information. Again, don't worry. One of the things that helps my Freebie grading system is whether or not they spam, and really, very few Freebie Sites do. And the ones that do spam are generally not high quality sites.

Read the terms of service. Really, you should. Just so you know what to expect from the site, and what they expect from you.

Free Money, or iPod, or just about anything (with a custom order option)

Free Money - No CC

More Free Whatever - larger payouts = less referrals but more offers... but all easy ones

If you want to check out Freebie sites that offer something other than cash, email me at freebies4real@yahoo.com.

Step 6: Click an offer (or two), and do it!

My favorite offer I've ever completed? Blockbuster. Followed closely by Celladerm. Find something you are interested in, and go for it!

Be sure to follow the offer through to the confirmation page. Many times, there will be 'side offers' and if you click through to them, you many not get credited correctly. Leave the confirmation page up for 15 minutes or so. Give that offer a good chance of being tracked by giving it lots of time.

A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!

Only do offers you are really interested in. If you sign up for a service and cancel immediately, that's called offer fraud.

Don't sign up for the same offer more than once, on any site, ever! Doing this is also offer fraud.

Don't use a prepaid credit card or a gift card! These have been overused by people guilty of offer fraud, and are therefore banned!

Use your correct information! False names, addresses, and whatnot are considered, you guessed it! Offer fraud!

Offer fraud is bad. First off, it's killing the Freebie Industry right now, which is why advertisers don't take manual credits anymore, and prepaid credit cards are banned, and a bunch of other things. And if they find out you did it, you'll be banned from the Freebie Site and your account will be closed.

Step 7: Turn all your security programs back on. Set your security settings back to normal. That wasn't so bad, was it?

Step 8: Referral hunting.

This is the interesting part. Find people who are interested in getting the same thing for free that you are getting, and give them your referral link. For the complete Referral Guide that will be available on the forth-coming site, send an email to freebies4real@yahoo.com, and include:
   The site you signed up for
   The email you used
   The offer you completed
   And whether you want to know when the real site launches.

As soon as the real site is up, I promise to run a promotion just for those of you who had the guts to deal with this amateur looking page. Mispelled words, horrible formatting, and everything else. Thanks guys.

Announcement! The URL of 'THE SITE' is www.stepbystepfreebies.com.

And my name is Pam. Just so you kind of know who it is giving you this random freebie advice.