Freebies, Competitions, Market Research

I have been a Freebie Hunter & getting “free stuff”, since I was a young child – long before the Internet was available! So, u could say, I am well & truly addicted to it!

This Post will list URLs to Websites that I recommend using for your Freebie Hunting! I am going to add to the list, as I find the sites amongst my vast list of Bookmarks! So, for the moment, the list of URLs in this Post is not complete! I suggest you might Bookmark this post. I will not be changing the date on this post, each time I update – but it has definitely been updated since April 27th 2008!

I wish ALL companies would be really active in samples & freebies. They could surely claim it on tax & I guarantee they would find their products would get even more buyers, so that’s a positive for them & the consumer. With the cost of living as high as it is, who really wants to buy full size products just to trial.

I have actually bought so many things over the years, only after trying a sample.

With the amount of allergic reactions, caused by things such as Food & Beauty Products – sampling is the only way to know if something is suitable for u, & if u even like it. It is also best to trial a product at home with no sales pressure & to see a better result. So, I think mailing out samples is the best option & also better than having to take a coupon to a store.

I honestly think, some of us Master Freebie Hunters would do a better job at setting up sample & trial campaigns much better than some companies do.

I really like the companies that offer sample boxes with numerous items for a reasonable purchase price. More companies should seriously do that!
I also love when u get a replica miniature version of the real size product & not just a tiny sachet.
I am also a real sucker for buying the Magazines at the Newsagency with Free Gifts!

If only all companies & marketing departments truly realised what they are doing right & wrong with consumers!

My Pet Peeve is GREEDY People who – get more than one of the same item (often under false names etc), get something they will never use, just for the sake that it is free (& so often other genuinely interested people then miss out) or complain about the size & so forth of a freebie! I feel the same as above about Competitions too. I have never entered a competition for something I did not want or need.

Now, a bit of advice for those new to Freebies.

Create a new email address just to use for signing up to these sites. Download RoboForm – http://www.roboform.com/download.html . RoboForm saves so much time when u fill in online forms. Just put your basic (name, postal address, telephone, email address & birthdate) details – not your bank account etc. It is a safe site – I have never had issues with it. Always click on fill form, NOT on fill form & submit with the RoboForm Screen. Make sure u check RoboForm puts the right details into the right places and that all details needed by the companies freebie form are complete, before u click send.

I also suggest you click on all freebies that seem interesting, even if it says the offers have expired, as there may be a new offer available. Also, click on links to other Freebie Web sites that are linked or discussed on the sites I have given u – u never know what you may find. It is worth checking back regularly on Freebie sites as they get updated randomly.

Doing Surveys & Market Research for $ is a good thing too! (Links for these type of companies, are on many of the sites I have given u).

I also do Google & Yahoo searches for free stuff & find many things not even listed on these Freebie sites – the choice with those searches is endless!

URLS:

Freebies/Samples:

• http://www.thefreebiesblog.com/
• http://www.shopfree.com/ – American Offers
• http://www.shopfree.com.au/ – Australian Offers
• http://www.shopfree.co.uk/ – UK Offers

Competitions:

Market Research & Rewards etc:

http://www.yourviewscount.com.au/ is a Website that you must read before undertaking ANY Market or Social Research.

NEVER pay for a list of Survey sites – you will find that those lists are purely $ making online SCAMS. I will be listing links to some of the sites that I can honestly recommend signing up with. (I am not promoting SPAM sites either – I DETEST Spam as much as you do!) I won’t be charging you to access such info either!

• EmailCash
• The Parents Jury
  
• Wellness Interactive
  
• Test Spin
• ClickGreen
• iDonate
• SMSPup
• WDYT
• Ciao Surveys
• Australian Lifestyle Survey
• Search & Win
• Ticketek Rewards
• GlobalTestMarket
• Dynamic Rewards
• BlueSkyFrog
• Snap Dollars
• Jumbo Rewards
• The Great Australian Survey
• Rewards Palace
• pureprofile
• sendearnings
• Ciao Surveys (different company to the one listed earlier with the same name)
• All Woman Talk
• Matrixmails
• Gomez PEER
• Valued Opinions
• Spider Metrix
• Interactive Opinions
• Planet Pulse
• Matt Cashback
• AussieThink
• ClickSense
• aShopFor
• Yuwie
• AdBux
• Deals ‘n’ Cash
• Hits4Pay
• BreezyRewards

*** A NEW OPPORTUNITY ***

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good2talk australia is pioneering a new era in focus group research that means anyone with a webcam, headset and a high speed internet connection can earn money by participating in focus group discussions from the comfort of their own home. No more slogging through the traffic to get to a research room on the other side of town. No more waiting around for the other participants to arrive. Just sit down at your own computer and you’re away. You can earn AU$30-$50 an hour, sometimes more, just for joining in an online video-conference with five or six other people, run by a professional moderator, and sharing your views on anything from things you buy to new products that client companies are thinking of launching.

To become a member of our Australian panel, contact us now & let us know at: info@good2talk.net

They will ask you “Could you please tell me how you found out about good2talk australia? (We really like to know about anyone who refers people to us as we reward them whenever we can – not least because our next great referral could come from you!)”
Please tell them when you first email them that you were referred by: Inquisitive Isabel (they will know it is me). (If you join & then you refer some friends who join up, you will be rewarded).

I am already registered & I assure you this is a 100% legitimate company.

Paid to Read Emails etc:

• JJClix
• Cash Launcher
• Deep-C-Links
• GrapeBizs.com
• Polarbear Clicks
• aPairOf.com
• ubizs.com
• AllMyMoneyForYou
• Bird Crazy Mail
• Aquamails
• Awesomeemails4u
• bizbizs.com
• CashDepotEmails
• Fairy Clicks Ptr
• Fishing4Mails
• GetPaidMail
• Grammas Country Kitchen
• Grammas Friends
• Grammas Garden
• Grammas Whiz Kids
• ILoveMailz.com
• Jaguar Cash
• MyBizs.com
• NileCash
• Paying Cash
• Surf 4 Pay Emails
• Sweet Tooth Mails
• UGains
• X-Ray Cash
• Tickled Pink PTR
• St Cash Unlimited
• White Tiger Emails
• Precious Poms Ptr

Internet Scams – Info to protect yourself:

*If anyone has any relevant advice on this post/topic, urls or such – please leave comments.

Famous People & their Online Presence

I just read about Stephanie Rice (Australian Swimmer) & her Facebook Profile drama on the Herald-Sun Website.

(If you Google ‘Stephanie Rice’ – I’m sure you will find many articles online about this).

For god sake, don’t the media have any respect at all? Actually, I already know they don’t, but I like to give them the benefit of the doubt sometimes. To go in & take personal pictures off Stephanie’s Facebook Profile, & then flash them on news sites for all to see & make a big deal about it, is ridiculous, to say the least. Don’t they have anything better to report about?

Give Stephanie a break – isn’t she allowed to have a normal life outside of Swimming? Obviously not. If you look at the average person her age on Facebook, you will see similar photos or some that are worse. Does the average person get their photos in the media & criticised? NO! Unless of course, a person gets their name somehow in the media for something else & then Journalists hunt them down on Social Networking Sites. Journalists then have a field day, making these individuals profiles known to the general public & making mountains out of mole hills over the profile content, or even blaming MySpace & Facebook for issues.

(Don’t even start me on the way Facebook & MySpace are constantly portrayed in the Media as evil, or the cause of Teenage Problems).

I am on heaps of Social Networking Sites – god forbid I ever make the Media for some reason – they will have a field day finding me! Even though my profiles are public, I never include any info or photos that I would not want seen by the world. So, journalists wouldn’t find anything too dramatic to make a big deal out of, but, I guarantee they would still make something out of my profiles!

Seriously, just leave the Australian Swimmers, like Stephanie, alone – they have every right to be on Facebook. I would just suggest that, all the swimmers put their profiles on private – so only their Facebook friends can view their photos, but not to make their profiles invisible, so that their old friends can still find them & contact them.

I would also suggest doing that, to anyone who is in the spotlight for Sport, TV or whatever, as the Media have a habit of making a big deal out of them even being on Facebook or MySpace. These people are still humans, despite being well known, and they have every right to be registered on those sites.

Honestly, there are more important issues in this world to worry about & report on, rather than focusing on what a well known individual does in their private life. If a well known person chooses to tell or show the world online, what they are doing in their personal life, so be it. All it shows is, they are just like the rest of us – human!

We somehow expect a well known individual to live in a box, & live some sort of artificial life all the time. No one in this world is perfect, so why do we expect that famous people are? We don’t need to persecute them for having a life outside of what they are known for. Why make a big deal out of it, just for them doing the things everyone else does? Unless they are doing something illegal or criminal, what is the issue?

I admit that I like to read Gossip about Famous People, and I doubt there is anyone in this world who doesn’t actually read it. (I do not buy those trashy publications that are purely made up of gossip though!) But, at the end of the day, what good does that gossip I read, do for me? Half of what we read is not even true or has been misconstrued! I know that many Famous People have chosen to be in the spotlight or have been born into it, so they have to expect that their lives are continually scrutinised by the world. It is just part of what happens when you become well known, but do the media need to go to the extent that they do? Is it really necessary for us to know everything about these lives?

I am just glad that I am an average human – I wouldn’t want to be in the spotlight, when it also means that nothing you ever do or say is sacred…