How to Get Lots of Free Stuff
The easy Method of Participation in Online "Viral Marketing" Promotions

Sign up:

1. Click on one of the many links I've provided for free whatever.

Gratis Promotions
  • free iPod Shuffle (1GB)
  • free iPod (20GB)
  • free iPod Photo (40GB)
  • free Mac mini
  • free flatscreen TV
  • free designer handbags
  • free video game system
  • OfferCentric Promotions
  • free iPod Shuffle (512 MB)
  • free iPod/iPod Mini/Rio
  • Prize Cube Promotions
  • free Xbox/PS2/GameCube
  • free video games
  •  

    2. Enter your e-mail address and a password. If you're worried about spam (though I've yet to receive any from these programs), create yourself a dummy e-mail account first with a free e-mail provider like Yahoo or Hotmail.

    3. Enter your address, phone number, and other information they ask for. This is not so they can send you junk mail or call you with solicitations — it's so they know where to ship your free whatever. I have not received any phone solicitations, nor have I noticed any increase in my usual junk mail since signing up to participate in several of these promotions.

    Just say 'No':

    4. It is likely that you will be next asked to complete a "survey." This is the tricky part, because it looks like these are the offers you can complete to earn credit for your free whatever. They are not. Be certain to select "No" for every single service offered. There may be may several pages to go through like this, but just keep selecting "No," and you will eventually get to the end.

    Complete an offer:

    5a. Next you'll come to a page that will say either: "Now complete an offer!" (Gratis), "Choose an offer below: Click over image for instructions. Fast Credit Offers" (PrizeCube), or it will show a grid of three blocks wide and several down of possible offers (OfferCentric). These are the real offers which will get you credit. You must participate in one of them.

    5b. You will need a credit card or check card to complete an offer. If you're smart, you won't necessarily be charged anything, but you'll have to provide a number nonetheless.

    5c. I recommend selecting an offer that gives you a free trial of something. eFax, for instance, gives you a 30 day free trial when you sign up. Be careful though — some of the free trials (like Nexiderm) require you to pay for shipping. A service, rather than a product, is more likely to be completely free.

    5d. There are also a few $1 trial offers that give you an extra gift for signing up. The Complete Home offer, for instance, gives you a $20 Lowe's Gift card which you can keep whether or not you continue your subscription with their service. Likewise, Buyer's Advantage and Great Fun offer $20 in Circuit City gift cards. I've done both Buyer's Advantage and Complete Home (each for different promotions), and I have received my gift cards for Lowe's and Circuit City.

    Cancel your offer:

    6a. Once you receive credit for completing your offer (keep an eye on your Status page from the free whatever site to know when it happens), go to the site of whatever company you completed your offer with and cancel your subscription. For some companies, you can cancel right on their site, but others require you to cancel by phone or online chat. Just make sure you keep track of when you have to cancel by and do so by that date, or you'll start getting charged the regular subscription rate.

    6b. If for some reason, you can't figure out how to cancel the offer, check the user agreement on their site. Somewhere in the agreement it should explain your right to cancel and how to do so (search the page for the word "cancel").

    6c. When you cancel (especially if you have to do so by phone), it is likely that they will try to get you to stay on by extending your trial subscription. Do not agree to this — it just makes it harder to remember to cancel later. Just tell them, "no, I want to cancel now."

    6d. There is the chance, of course, that you will want to continue whatever service you've opted to try. For instance, I did not cancel my Blockbuster Online membership after the 2-week free trial. I liked the service, so I kept it. If that's the case for you, great! But more than likely, you'll want to cancel whatever you've signed up for.

    Pester your friends:

    7. Go to the "Refer Friends" section and copy the URL from there to refer other people to that particular free whatever site. Only that specific URL will give you credit when other people sign up.

    8. Once you've got enough people signed up under you, you will not automatically receive your prize. You'll have to redeem it first. This part is easy. You just confirm your address and whatnot, and tell them to ship it.

    9. The free whatever site will now spend a few days verifying your information and the information of the people who signed up under you. This is to make sure you didn't create a bunch of fake e-mail accounts to give yourself credits. After verification, they'll send a request to their vendor. And finally, they'll ship you your free whatever.