This is a math-geek post (which is ironic as I’ve always hated math; however, it’s quite useful).  It’s totally optional and has the potential to only complicate your life if you let it.  Don’t sweat it; it’s a good thing to not be as OCD as I am.

This sprang out of my desire to best plan my offers – which site gave the greatest value to an offer?

For example: Netflix is worth .33 credits on a $40 site.  It’s worth .25 credits on a $60 site.  Which is the better value?

I decided to assign a dollar value to the offer depending on which site it was on.  That is, how many dollars do you ‘make’ for doing the offer?

The math is simple, really.  It’s:

(referral value) x (credit value) = (offer value)

With our Netflix example, it’s:

40 x .33 = 13.20

An offer worth .33 credits on a $40 site has a value of $13.20.

What about the $60 site?

60 x .25 = 15

So, even though the weight is lower on the $60 site, the value is higher – you’re getting more bang for your buck.

So what?  You ask.  I’m working a $40 site, I need .3 credits to go green, so I’m gonna do Netflix.  Hey, that’s fine!  Nothing wrong with it.  Netflix is a cool company and I’d recommend you try them even if their crediting stunk.

But if you’re like me and want to work as many sites as possible and use your offers to the best possible advantage, this can be useful in your planning.  Once I determined the next several sites I was going to work on, I looked over the offers at all of them.  I created a spreadsheet with columns for each site and offers I was interested in in each row.  The cells I filled in with the offer value on each site, bolded the number where the offer had the highest value, and used the sort tool to organize my info and help me decide which offers were best used where.

Here’s a screenshot of my spreadsheet at work:

Here’s a copy of my spreadsheet for you to download.  Keep in mind, the example page is just that – an EXAMPLE.  Weights of offers can and do change, so I make no guarantees as to the validity of the numbers on that sheet.  Use it exactly as I have, or tweak it to suit your needs, it’s a tool for you to use.

Beginning Method 1:

Before You Begin: A Checklist

Intermediate Method 1:

Strategy to Method 1: Choosing Your Offers

Advanced Method 1:

Calculating the Value of Weights

I spent a good deal of time looking at the different freebie sites before choosing which one to start with.  Something I noticed was that a lot of the offers repeated on the different sites.  Also, a lot of the offers were things I wasn’t interested in, or were too expensive for me to feel they’re worthwhile.

A common newbie mistake is to jump into a freebie site and do a bunch of offers, without really planning ahead for what they are doing.  This leads to the following problem: two or three sites down the road, you’ll suddenly realize that there are no more affordable, interesting offers, and you’re stuck.  Yes, sites add new offers every few weeks, but really, you don’t want to have to sit around and hope there’s something you like.

So, what to do?

First of all, never accept a trade agreement for a site without looking over the offers first.  You always want to have an idea of which offers you’d like to complete, and make sure there will be enough credits from them to go green on the site.

One strategy which was put forth by my mentor was to begin on sites that don’t have many offers.  Once you complete that site and move on to a different one, there’s going to be more offers to choose from, so the risk of running out is lessened.  In general, I like this strategy – and you really want to have a good mentor or trading partner who can direct you towards the kind of sites you’re looking for.

My personal strategy evolved from calculating a number of things: wanting to build a good network of trustworthy sites that I could take with me to Method 2, wanting to go green on lots of different sites so I could build up my Trade Rating, and of course, wanting to make money!

With this in mind, there are some things that should be done before you begin working on a freebie site.  Here’s a list for your reference (details follow):

-    Are you using AOL or another proxy server?
-    Disable all pop-up blockers
-    Accept all cookies
-    Clear cookies and cache (do this before EACH offer you complete!)
-    Make sure pop-up and cookie blockers are turned off in your security software

1.  How to know if you’re using a proxy and why it’s important:

Freebie sites and offers track you via your IP address – the unique number assigned to your computer.  This is a big anti-fraud measure that prevents people from completing offers more than once.  Proxies, like AOL and some DSL and satellite providers, are companies that assign a single IP address to groups of computers.  Because you share an IP address with many other computers, it becomes impossible to tell whether or not a user is committing fraud.

Here’s a quick and easy way to find out if you’re on a proxy server: follow this link http://www.lagado.com/proxy-test and look at the results.  Simple!  If you’re not on a proxy, you’re good to go.  If you are, hold up!  We’ll make it work, but it’ll take some doing.  Contact me and we’ll go from there.

2.  Download Firefox

Firefox is a free web browser just like Internet Explorer or Safari.  You can download it here.  It does the best at keeping track of cookies, and the cookies are what tell a freebie site when you’ve completed an offer.  I know you’re familiar with IE or Safari, but do yourself a favor and get Firefox.  It’s a small download, works almost exactly the same way as your normal browser, and you’ll do better with crediting!

Once you’ve downloaded, there are certain steps you’ll need to take before completing each offer.  Here they are, for PC and Mac users:

PC users:

A. Turn off your pop-up blocker: Tools > Options > Content > uncheck “Block pop up windows”

B. Set it to accept all cookies: Tools > Options > Privacy > check “Accept cookies from sites”

C. Clear cookies and all private data: Tools > Options > Privacy > Select “Clear Now” in the Private Data category, and make sure Cookies and Cache are selected.  The other choices are optional.

Mac users:

A. Turn off your pop-up blocker:  Firefox >  Preferences > Content > uncheck “Block pop up windows”

B. Set it to accept all cookies: Firefox > Preferences > Privacy > check Accept cookies from sites and Accept third-Party cookies, keep until: they expire.

C. Clear cookies and all private data: Firefox > Preferences > Privacy > Clear Now under the Private Data category.  Select ALL the options.  It’s a pain to lose that kind of information, but it’ll save you some crediting issues – I learned from hard experience!

How to turn off pop-up and cookie blockers in security software:

There are lots of different security software packages out there, so it’s impossible for me to describe the steps for each one.  However, run a search for your security software on FLR or Google – odds are someone else has done it before!

3.  Completing the offer

A. Click the referral link you were given and sign up at the site.  ALWAYS use valid personal information (including home address, no PO boxes or work addresses) and use that SAME information for the offers you complete.

B. Browse the offers and see what interests you.  Make sure you read the Terms of Service - they’re different for every offer, and you WILL be bound to them by signing up!  Freebie websites are not responsible for any of the offers they link you to.  It’s also a good idea to do a search of FLR, especially in the Freebie Help forum, to see what other users’ experiences have been with different products.

C. Once you decide on an offer you like, you’ll want to close the offer website and do everything outlined in Step 2. Log back in to the freebie site, find the offer, and complete the offer requirements.

- Make sure every page loads completely (it’ll say ‘done’ in the status bar at the bottom of Firefox) before you click on the next link.

- Always use valid personal information (that matches what you told the freebie site) and a valid credit card - not a pre-paid card, debit card, or Paypal plugin.  These forms of payment will be considered fraud and you will not receive credit!

- Once you’ve submitted your order and the confirmation page has loaded, stay on that page for several minutes.  Don’t go anywhere else on the Internet; give the site a chance to process your order completely without doing anything to confuse it.  I also recommend taking a screenshot of all confirmation pages - they can be (though aren’t always) useful for submitting Manual Credit Reports (MCRs) if you have to.  Keep records of all account numbers, customer service numbers, trial terms, confirmation emails, and other things of that nature.

- You should receive credit!  The freebie site will automatically email you when you’ve received credit with them.  Keep in mind that ‘instant’ credit isn’t always instant - it can mean anything from a few minutes to a day or more.

D. Move on to the next offer - don’t forget to follow Step 2 again before beginning a new offer!

My mentor was very friendly and helpful, with lots of information and encouraged me to ask questions.  Fantastic!  I kept thinking of more.

At this early stage in my career, I’ve decided that going after electronics instead of cash really isn’t worth it.  The values tend to stay the same – the payout-per-referral ratio, that is – and cash really is much more flexible.  I could refer 25 people to a site for a MacBook Pro, cash equivalent $2000… or, I could get that same value in cash, and find my MacBook on sale somewhere else on the internet.  By the time you factor in the cost of buying referrals, you’re spending a bunch of money anyway.  Maybe I’ll change my mind… but probably not about the MacBook – I want a souped-up one, anyway.

I’ve realized I need to be careful with where I spend my greens

– yeah, there’s a ton of offers out there, but when I look at the ones I actually want to bother to complete, that won’t cost me more money than I’m willing to spend, the pickings get slim.  So I want to spend my greens wisely, with a mind to Method 2 development.

I’ve determined that the least hassle, most profitable structure is 1-referral, instant cashout sites.

What got me in the beginning was this: I looked at the most valuable freebie sites, and got discouraged by the number of offers I would have to complete in order to get a credit.  It would be easy to spend more money than I’d be making!  The 1-credit identifier is misleading at best; I prefer to rank the sites as easy, moderate, or difficult.

To do or not to do?  That is the question…

Welcome to Freebie Success.  This is my dumping ground for thoughts as I explore the freebie website business.  I’m a pretty cautious person, HATE losing money, and generally pretty savvy about picking up scams and bad offers.  I also research my tail off.

So, here’s an opportunity to learn with me!  This will probably start off rather train-of-thought and confusing… as I figure things out, I’ll get more organized.  But the important thing for you to know is that I’m just starting out, I’m learning as I go, and I’ll tell you the truth - including if I decide this thing’s a bust.  Why am I calling my website Freebie Success?  Because that’s what I hope for!

Now, down to business.

I decided to bite the bullet – sounds like there’s some risk involved, but a wide variety of people do seem to make a decent bit of money, which is what I’m looking for. I have the capability to be very organized, so I think I can handle it as long as I’m careful.

First, I use as my default email account a Gmail account just for the purpose of PPD. If I wind up getting spammed, I don’t want it going in my personal email account.

Second, I use my home phone number for any phone # inquiries. I use my cell for business and all my calling, and don’t want to get solicitors on my cell line.

Third, I look at what credit card I have available with no balance on it that has good fraud protection. I want something where I can look at a statement each month and know immediately if something’s on there that shouldn’t be. I don’t use my Bank of America Visa for anything anymore except my TiVo subscription, so it’s a good candidate, and their fraud department has been helpful to me in the past.

I wasn’t keen on paying $35 just to make some money – even if it will pay off in the end. I did a little searching and found someone who, after registering their email but not purchasing the program, received coupons for a discounted membership. I figured that would be great – why pay $35 when I can wait a little bit and pay $10? Then, reading through the PPD website, I noticed that I could sign up for free if I completed one of their sponsor offers. Okay, that’s what I’m going to be doing on this website anyway, right?

There’s a wide variety of sponsors to choose from… I see the Netflix offer and wish I hadn’t just reinstated my Netflix subscription, since it’s a service I actually use. But there are other reputable companies as well – and I always checked on Google to see whether or not people have had problems canceling their free trials! I decided RealPlayer would be a good thing to try out, with a 14-day free trial.

That went through pretty quickly. Yay, I’m registered for free! Next is an offer for some training videos for $19.95 (ha) or free if I complete another sponsor offer. Sure thing. I go with FreeCreditReport.com this time – I haven’t looked at my credit score in awhile, so again, something reputable and that I’ll use. (my score is 707! Woohoo!) Confirming my completion of this offer took a little longer. I find the wait rather irritating, since it appears the system won’t let me skip ahead – I either get the videos or I don’t, no second chances (which, really, is probably BS, but if I went to this trouble I’m not going to risk it). Several hours later, I finally gave up and clicked to go ahead anyway.

To keep track of all this stuff, I’ve created an Excel spreadsheet to keep all the information in. I’ll be able to sort it by the date I need to cancel things, so I can always look at it and see what needs to be canceled on a given day. It’ll be where I store every possible bit of information – who and what I ordered, the date I signed up, length of the trial period, order number, etc. I also created fields for customer service reps and cancellation numbers, so if it ever comes to a dispute, I’ve got all the info at my fingertips. Finally, I save my confirmation/receipt webpages into a folder.

I’m looking through the quick tutorials – very clearly written, with (seemingly) relevant info. The Overview of Method 1 video was extremely helpful. This all sounds like a PITA, but like it’ll work. I’m impressed with the forums and the level of accountability – eBay-like checks and balances are set up, with feedback scores and the like, so that trades are conducted transparently.

Interesting… I’ve finished the tutorial, but don’t see links to the forums. Ah, there they are, in Appendix C. And, how interesting, they seem to be independent of Project Payday. So, I could join these forums even without coughing up some $$ for Project Payday – glad I didn’t, then! Though I will say the tutorial was very informative and useful.

FreeLunchRoom.com

It’s straightforward, and yet overwhelming. The idea of all the homework necessary to do things right is rather overwhelming. All this crap, none of which I need, wanting all my info and God knows what else. Hmm. Definitely a PITA. I understand how people get fed up with it and ditch it after awhile. However, as always, you aren’t going to get something for nothing.

There are some very useful threads in the forum regarding quality of products, ease of crediting, reliability of websites. It’s definitely worthwhile to look through them.

With an eye to becoming a Method 2 user, the forum seems rather competitive. Perhaps it’s not as competitive as it looks. But I see offers for 100% payouts, which makes me wonder where they’re making money.

I have a hard time being willing to sign up for anything that’s going to cost me money – even a couple of bucks makes me leery. This is one of my hang-ups.