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Free Stuff - If it Sounds Too Good to be True, Look Closer!

By Carl Willoughby

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 05Oct2007
Word count: 604
Viewed: 290 time(s)

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Have you ever seen those ads for a FREE iPod? Or perhaps a FREE Plasma TV or FREE Laptop, FREE Digital Camera?

I get spam email offering them all the time. I immediately delete them because if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Right? That's what I use to believe. Then one day my friend Gus, showed me his new computer system. High-speed name brand computer, color monitor and color printer.

"Guess how much it cost?" he asks me. Since I use to sell computers for a living, I had a pretty good guesstimate of what it should cost. "It's about $1,000 bucks for everything" I said.

"Nope, I got it FREE". "Yeah, right" I said not believing him. "Did you steal it or was it a gift?" He told me he answered one of those ads for a FREE computer.

I said. "Those things are all scams. Nobody gives away FREE computers". He tells me that some of those offers probably are scams but there are also some legitimate offers.

"How can anyone make money or even stay in business giving away free stuff?" He says "Do you remember when Google first started?" "Sure" I said. "How much did they charge to use their service, when they started?" "They didn't charge anything". "How much do they charge now?" he asks. "They still don't charge".

"So it's FREE" he says. Yet they have grown to be one of the most profitable companies in the entire world. "Yea, but they are not giving away FREE expensive electronic equipment" I countered.

Gus looks me straight in the eye and asks "How do they make their money?" "They sell advertising. Google Adsense and Adwords".

"Ah, ADVERTISING" he says. "Advertising has made them one of the most profitable companies In history. While it may be contrary to what you've always been told - if it sounds too good to be true it probably is - there really are legitimate promotions that do offer consumers the opportunity to "earn" all types of expensive gifts for FREE".

"Now, as you can imagine" he tells me, "the process for actually getting these FREE items is not quite as easy as the advertisers and promoters want you to believe - but it is very possible".

"There are things a person needs to do to get them, but when you do, you get the item. This type of advertising is known as incentive marketing and has spawned an entire cottage industry of people earning free products.

In a nutshell, the sites offering free products make money from Advertising.

As part of their promotions they introduce consumers to various advertisers' products and services, and in return they are paid a commission for each new "lead" they generate.

For example, they might earn $50 each time they refer a new user to AOL even though the user only signed up for a free trial and didn't pay anything at all.

Or the user may have to refer a certain number of "friends" who in turn, refer others or perhaps sign up for a "Free trial" membership to a certain vender. Oftentimes the user who is trying to earn a FREE gift gives up for one reason or another before getting the required number of referrals. In this case the company collects some commissions and doesn't have to send the user anything, so it's pure profit.

This is how they make money and can afford to give away FREE products and still make a profit for themselves. Some of them actually make quite a bit of profit. Just ask the guys from Google.

Carl Willoughby has worked as a Licensed Registered Representaive for the Prudential Insurance Company, a Computer Programmer for the New England Telephone Company, and a Computer Sales Consultant for SEARS. To learn "How to get Free Stuff" check out his blog at: http://StudentLoanDebtConsolidationSite.com

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