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"THE NATURE OF FREEBIES"
By OzFree
Webmaster
http://OzFree.ozlander.net
The nature of freebies is that they tend to be short-lived. Usually they are either "while stocks last" or "for a limited time only". So I'm going to teach you how to generate your own freebies, tailored to YOUR tastes! ALL of the below have worked for me within the last 6 months.

1. Had a bad experience with a company? Write them! Companies do NOT want bad word of mouth -- they work hard to create and maintain a good reputation and they want your repeat-business. So, if you've had a bad experience with a company, write them. A few tips on how to get the best results -- presentation counts, so run your letter through a spelling-checker, and abuse will get you nowhere. Phrases like "I have always respected XYZ Company for their quality products, which is why I was so surprised when my recent purchase had the following faults ..." can go far. In most cases, the company will go above and beyond merely replacing your product.


2. Had a good experience with a company? Write them! Companies pay a lot of money to Market Research companies for their Mystery Shopping services, but they appreciate positive feedback at all times. Take note of the person or product which excelled, and the way in which it exceeded your expectations. Think about it: in most cases, people don't put pen to paper unless something has gone wrong, so positive feedback is often rewarded with a small token of the company's appreciation.


3. Found a new use for a product? Write the manufacturer! Companies are always looking for new ways to market their products, and if you've found a new way of using their products, then they want to know. Glad goes so far as to run a monthly competition for the best suggestion put to them. But you don't have to wait for companies like Glad to run a competition and ask you for your ideas ... if your idea is new and innovative, take the initiative and write the company! You may well be rewarded!


4. Had no experience with a company? Write them! Sounds odd, I know, but it works. Explain how you are interested in their product, but would prefer to trial it before you buy. Explain how you respect the company, how you acknowledge their products are among the best, and how much you would appreciate the opportunity to trial their products in your own home, the same setting where you would use the product once you have trialled it and decided to switch to it.


5. Want to know first about freebies? Join mailing lists! There are some company websites which tend to offer more freebies than others. Masterfoods and McCormick both compete for the herb, spice and seasoning market in Australia, and their websites compete with each other. In 2001, both companies released many new products, and both companies offered samples from their websites. 2002 and 2003 have been somewhat slower, but Masterfoods did offer samples and magnets in 2002 and have offered recipe bases in 2003. Will McCormick take this lying down? Only time will tell.
   
   Another good mailing list is "The Hive", the EMI/Virgin Music mailing list . As you would expect from a company with Richard Branson as figurehead, EMI/Virgin certainly knows marketing. May 2002, they offered a free CD for completion of their survey to the first 30,000 respondents. In June 2002, they offered free Kasey Chambers and Robbie Williams posters, just for answering a simple question. "The Hive" subscribers were notified first of these offers through the newsletter.
   
   Also in June 2002, Greater Union Cinemas offered a free movie ticket (with limitations) for each new person you referred to their mailing list. And "The Australian" offered an obligation-free one-month trial of their newspaper, delivered to your door towards the middle of 2002. So, how can you sign up for all these free offers and yet not be inundated with unsolicited commercial e-mail ("spam")? A good tool is SneakEmail . SneakEmail issues you with a new e-mail address that secretly and automatically forwards e-mail received at that address to your real e-mail address. Should you start receiving unsolicited e-mail, you can just shut down that particular SneakEmail addy and bada-bing! No more spam!


6. Want to be rewarded just for using a product? Keep your eyes peeled at your local supermarket! In 2002, Coles Supermarkets, in conjunction with Magnum ice-cream tubs, ran a barcode promotion -- send in two barcodes and receive a free ice-cream scoop. The ice-cream scoop was quality, and arrived promptly -- if you are a regular Magnum ice-cream buyer, then this would have been a "freebie" for you. Even better, Woolworths were running a promotion at the same time for a free video rental through Video Ezy with Magnum ice-cream. If you bought your ice-cream at Woolworths, then you would have received the coupon you needed for the free video, plus the barcode you needed for the Coles promotion -- all you would need from Coles is the promotional postal address.
   
   Also in 2002, Lavazzo coffee offered a free CD of Italian music for sending in two Lavazzo barcodes -- if you routinely buy Lavazzo, then this would be a freebie. Sorbent ran a similar promotion with plush toy dogs on offer, and CokeBuddy are famous for their promotions.
   
   The big companies to watch out for in 2003 have been Proctor & Gamble products (Herbal Essences, Pantene, Olay, Pringles etc) and Nestlé (Friskies, Purina pet foods etc).
   
   Keep your eyes peeled when shopping -- you never know what you might find!

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