~Don't be tricked by fake free stuff offers~


The lure of free stuff is a powerful marketing tool and is used to good effect by many savvy marketers.

Unfortunately, not every free stuff offer is what it appears to be. There are lots of great free stuff offers out there, but you need to use some healthy skepticism and resist the temptation to fall for free stuff scams.

Evaluating free stuff offers is pretty easy if you use a little common sense mixed with some knowledge and a bit of experience.


~AVOIDING JUNK MAIL~

Sometimes when you sign up for free offers, you can get more than you bargained for. Although most of the sites that I refer you to are unlikely to cause you to receive unwanted email, if you register for freebies (or use an email address anywhere on the Net) you will eventually find yourself on unwanted mailing lists.

If, like me, you already get too much unsolicited email, I have some tips that can help you avoid the hassle.

Become a Moving Target. - This is probably the one most effective method of warding off the spammers. If you don't give out your primary email address except to trusted individuals and organizations you can keep a nice clean mailbox. Refer to my Free Email Links for some places you can sign up for a free (and disposable) email address. Use this address when you think you may be exposed to a junk emailer. When you do start getting too much spam to that account just cancel it and get another. You should also use a disposable account if you post messages to the Internet news groups. Spammers often use software that combs newsgroups for email addresses.

Just Say NO to MLMs. - There may be a few legitimate multilevel marketing companies, but there are many that are fly-by-night schemes. In my opinion these schemes are one of the biggest nuisances on the Net. If these guys get your email address and think that you may be enough of a sucker to fall for their "once in a lifetime" deals, you get unending junk email. The best way to avoid these jokers is by learning to recognize them. If you come to a web page that is one big sign in a large font that tells you about this great deal, avoid it. Anything that you could translate to "get rich quick", avoid it. If if looks like and MLM, if smells like an MLM or if it tastes like an MLM, avoid it.

Name Rank and Serial Number - If you are signing up for a freebie or registering for anything on the Net only give the information that is needed. If a site is asking for more information than seems reasonable for the type of offer then either use trick number 1 above, leave out the excess info, or just avoid it. If it looks like they are trying to qualify you for a targeted mailing list they probably are. Also, never give out your phone number on the Net unless there is a very good reason. Junk email is bad enough, unsolicited phone calls we really don't need. I always enter "UL" for unlisted. If they can't send me a freebie without a phone number, I don't want it.

Check that Box - Many registration forms have a check box that allows you to indicate if you don't (or do) want email sent to you. If you want to avoid junk email, be sure to make your wishes known. In most cases the default is equivalent to saying "yes I want junk email". Just say NO!.
With a little caution, a little common sense, and a few tricks, you can avoid a lot of unwanted email. Happy and "junk email free" freebie hunting!