Freebie Guide
From Free Stuff Wiki @ A4F
Welcome to the large world of internet Freebies! Here is a step by step guide that will help you earn your first freebie, and hopefully more. We will guide you through the process of signing up, get you acquainted with freebie terminology, how to obtain referrals, and much more.
Contents |
Introduction
Welcome to the world of internet "Freebies".
This guide is to help beginning users gain a fundamental knowledge of the "Freebie" culture and help with any questions they may have on the topic.
History of Freebies
The freebie world first debuted in 1999 with Paid to Surf programs like AllAdvantage. These sites would usually require a user to download an 'ad bar' that would sit on your screen displaying advertisements. You were paid for referrals, but mostly based on how long the bar detected you were using the computer-- the limit being around 20 hours a month at 50 cents an hour. In 2001, the formation of FreeCondoms.Com by Gratis Internet (now under the name FreePay) opened up a new world of freebies. It was soon followed by the much more highly renown site, FreeiPods.Com.
FreeiPods.com soon became very well known and an instant hit attracting all sorts of attention from interested users, the media, and other entrepreneurs excited to create sites of their own.
Because these websites commonly rely on the exponential growth of users referred by other users, it was not long until web forums and communities started to be formed with the common goal of getting the freebies.
Within these newly formed communities came ways of helping one another get their item of desire. The first major development in this area was the conga line.
See the History of Freebies for more info on the development of the freebie sites we have today.
The Basics
Freebie
First and foremost, you need to gain an adequate understanding of what freebies are and how they work.
Free Site
Second, you need to know what free sites and networks are, and how they work. This will explain the business model, so you can understand the process of getting your freebie.
Terms of Service / Terms & Conditions
Also known as TOS or T&C, this section is important because it explains what these concepts are and their importance to the process of getting freebies.
Fraud / Disqualifications / Holds
You will also need to know what fraud is and how to avoid it. This is the #1 reason most people do not get their freebies, and is usually a result of ignorance on the user’s part. Reading this section will provide you with some critical information that will help ensure that you complete the steps accurately in trying to get your freebie.
Completing Offers
This is another one of the most crucial sections to gain a good understanding of, because in order to get your freebie, you and your referrals must complete an offer. This section outlines proper techniques for completing offers, and frequent problems that create crediting and disqualification problems.
Referral
Getting referrals is required of all free sites, except Do-It-Yourself (DIY) sites. Knowing how and where to get them, how they sign up under you (as your referral), and what you need to know as their referrer is discussed in this section.
Freebie Glossary
Useful Terms
Useful Terms you must know when doing freebies.
Useful Acronyms
Useful Acronyms that you will likely run across.
Points vs Do-It-Yourself vs Get-Paid-To
Points Site vs DIY vs GPT - Difference between them. Forum Info 1 Forum Info 2
Free Samples
Picking a Company
Freebie Companies
Here is a current list of the Freebie Companies.
Proven Legit / Not Proven Legit
Here are some of the general qualifications used to determine where sites/networks are placed: Proven Legit / Not Proven Legit.
Completing Offers
Tips & Tricks
Offer Tips and Tricks to ensure offers are credited.
Cancellations
Why discussing Cancelling / Cancellations hurts the freebie industry, and some other general things you should know.
Finding Referrals
How To Get Referrals
How To Get Referrals - Check out the guide to help get referrals.
How To Avoid Being Scammed
How To Avoid Being Scammed - Check out the guide to avoid being scammed when seeking referrals & trading.
Tools of the Trade
Keep Track of Your Trades
- Keeping Track of Trades
- Excel spreadsheet to keep track of trades, courtesy of batman129!
- Using Google Documents to keep track of trades
Shaggz's I-Deal FAQ
RollTheStampede's Brandarama Links List
RollTheStampede's Brandarama Links List - ask his permission first. maybe we can copy the whole list, or maybe just list a few? or just a link to the free-youbetcha forum? <-- don't think we like to do that usually, but we should give credit to him and where he posted it first I guess.
Paypal and GPT sites
GPT
What actually happened with the PayPal situation that caused so many charge-backs and why people should be careful with signing up for them.
Paypal
Paypal changed their policy, thus banning some accounts. According to the new policy, if the GPT site makes you pay to join, it's not allowed and they might close your account. For free-to-join GPT sites, there's nothing wrong.
How To Start Your Own Freebie Site
How to make your own freebie site - I'm sure people are going to search that. So, we should give them a few pointers as to how difficult it is, and how you need a lot of capital, and register a company, and pay taxes and all that stuff noobs don't think about.
You should keep in mind that starting a freebie site is more than simply starting a website; It's starting a business. You will require at least $5,000 in startup capital (after paying for your script, hosting, any graphics work, etc), as you will not receive any payments for 45-60 days. Also ask yourself what you can offer that others can't, what amount of experience you have with running a business, doing customer service, and working with HTML, CSS, and possibly PHP. Are you familiar with important technical details such as IP addresses, proxies, and cookies? You should know more than any of your potential members do, therefore if you need to start a thread on the forums asking for help, you are not ready.
If you searched for this you probably shouldn't start a freebie site just yet.
