There is tons of great free stuff all over the internet. But there are also many freebies to be wary of. But how do you know if you are getting a legit freebie or not? Here are some things to look for when getting freebies online.

Cost associated with free stuff
Is there a cost involved? If you are getting something for free online then it should be free. If you have to pay than be weary. The only exception to this rule is that sometimes free stuff online will have a small shipping fee associated with it. In my opinion it is only worth it to pay a shipping fee if it is significantly less then the value of the freebie.

I would never pay a $5.00 shipping fee for a free sample of shampoo or anything like that. But I would consider paying a shipping fee on a freebie like free 250 customized business cards, b/c if shipping is a few bucks it is still well worth it.

Signing up with personal information for free stuff
Almost all online freebies will require you to give your email and a shipping address. You should not worry about this as your address is needed to ship the freebie to you. And I recommend creating a special email address for freebies so you don’t flood your normal email with junk mail. But be sure you dont give out any other personal info like credit card numbers etc.

Free trials
Many companies offer some really good free trials that are worth getting. But when signing up for free trials you have to make sure to cancel before the billing period starts, otherwise you may be charged. Make sure you make a note in your calendar for a few days before the trial period ends to make sure you cancel your trial offer. And you may end up liking the product or service in which case you might want to buy or subscribe to it. Just make sure that the free trial you sign up for is from a legitimate company. Do a Google search first.

Referral program freebies
There are many referral based marketing programs in which you can win free game systems, mp3 players, and other cool electronics. But in order to win them you have to complete a number of offers or refer a number of people. Some of these programs have good reputations, like Transcendent Innovations, who does free xbox 360, free Ipods, Free PS3s and much more. But there are also a lot of frauds out there.

Always do some research on the company before you sign up for anything. Also, be aware that these companies have strict Terms and Conditions and will not hesitate to deactivate you for even the slightest violation (even if you did not know it was a violation). I know from experience.

Free paying surveys
There are a lot of great free paying surveys out there where you can get real cash or gifts. There are even companies that you can sign up to and regularly do surveys for money. Again, do research before you sign up to any of these companies. And never sign up to a company that requires you to pay to be a member. There are companies that do this for free.

Free vacation packages
A lot of companies offer free vacation packages or other freebies that just seem too good to be true. That’s because they are. Stay away from any freebie that seems too good. There is almost always a catch involved. For example, last week I was offered a free 2 night vacation with paid airfare. I asked the lady who called me a number of times if there was any catch or if I had to make any payments down the road. She said no and assured me it was a free vacation package.

All I had to do was come to them and pick up my free tickets and listen to an hour pitch from some company. But I was still a bit skeptical so I Googled the company’s name who called me with the offer. Sure enough I found what I needed. Turns out the offer is a free vacation, but they don’t give you it for two consecutive nights, and they book you at a crummy discount hotel of their choice. Plus they try to sell you all this stuff you don’t want or need. Bottom line: stay away from anything that looks shady!

Now that you have some information on what to look for when getting freebies, you can hit the net and start searching for free stuff. Good luck!

Are you worried about privacy while you’re surfing online? If you are then you’re not alone. Did you know that every website you visit stores various pieces of information about you. The data that is collected varies, but typically the most common collected is:

- IP Addresses
- Geographical Location
- Duration of Visit
- Pages Visited
- Activity on Website

This is just a small list from the many different pieces of data that is collected about you. It’s not just the website you visit, it’s also your ISP that poses a problem. ISPs keep track of logs on their users Internet activity. What exactly is stored, how long it is kept, and what is done with it, varies from ISP to ISP. One thing is for sure though; your privacy is compromised.

So what can we do about this you may ask? Well there are some very simple steps you can take to protect your self from snoops while you’re online. The best thing about what I about to discuss is that it is completely free of charge.

One of the best ways to protect your self is to use a free proxy website. A proxy webiste acts as a middle man between your computer and the Internet. It handles all data requests on your behalf, allowing you to shield your identity to the websites you visit.

This means that when you visit a website it collects the details of the proxy website and not your computer. You details are kept completely shielded from the websites, allowing you to retain anonymity. Because the proxy is acting as a middle man, nothing about your identity or location is passed onto the websites you are visiting.

So this allows protection on all fronts. As far as your ISP is concerned, you are visiting the proxy server and as far as the websites are concerned the proxy is visiting them!

Proxies have been around for years and years now. As long you have technology that compromises privacy, you will always have technology that can be used to benefit it. The degree of privacy that a proxy service provides vary; some provide an encrypted tunnel, for example.

An encrypted tunnel gives you an extra layer of privacy while you are surfing. Because of the encrpytion, all data passed between your computer and the proxy is not visisble to individuals that may be able to intercept it.

This is particularly useful if you are using online banking and want to execute your affairs in a 100% private environment. Usually, if you want to take advantage of proxy website that offers encryption, you will have to pay for it! I have not come across one that is 100% free.

Proxy websites can be setup for free on the Internet. There are various websites that offer free PHP scripts with which you can then integrate into your website. There is usually an upgrade version, however, which requires a fee to be paid in return for another script with greater functionality.

Remember, don’t think - ACT
Start protecting your privacy today. The simple steps outlined below should help you take the basic steps forward.

1) Open a New Internet Explorer Window
2) Click on the URL address bar and go to google.com
3) Find a proxy of your liking
4) Locate the address bar on the proxy website. (This should be easy to find)
5) Type in the address of the website that you want to visit.
6) JOB DONE!

You are now browsing via an Internet proxy website. This is a good first step to protect your privacy whilst online!

There are absolutely hundreds of free proxy websites on the Internet that you use. The key is to finding the right one to use.

Unless your computer crashed ages ago, or you have been in a coma for a very long time, you will be extremely familiar with Giveaway Events.

All Internet marketers are informed that Giveaways are sure to build lists. In fact, some emails of a promotional nature even mention things like 5000 or 10000 new leads!

Is this true? Are they all they are cracked up to be?

Firstly, in order to build a list, a gift is submitted to be downloaded by members. In return for the gift they complete a form providing their name and email address. Everyone is happy. The member has got the download they wanted and the person putting the gift forward has had an email address sent to the auto responder.

The next step is for the auto responder to send a number of offers to the member. This should not be a problem as this was part of the agreement when the download was requested and received.

With the dawning of more and more Giveaways, the rules have been tightened somewhat. Before the need to recruit more and more members was not a big deal in any way, and if you managed to do this all was well and good.

The present rules, however make it completely essential that members or contributors are recruited by every marketer who wants to offer a gift. But how easy is this to do without a list?

A marketer wants to build a list so he joins a Giveaway and submits the gift but he has to take on new members prior to his gift being shown. This means if you do not have a list, you will not acquire one from a Giveaway event, because without recruiting more people, your gift will be deleted. Isn’t this what we have always called a catch 22?

Some Giveaways are set up in a way to help the developing marketer, by offering an option to upgrade. The contributor’s gift will then be there for all to see or ranking points will be allocated.

At least, in this way the gift will have a chance of being seen and even though money has to change hands before this happens, as a rule the cost is not excessive.

Quite a few Giveaways take the gifts off after a set period of time if the contributor has not recruited members in sufficient numbers.

So what can you do about this? Well, one answer is to ensure the Giveaway permits an upgrade allowing the gifts to remain on show.

Although the tide may well be turning, the beginners are not completely shut out. In an event running until the end of 2008, beginner list builders are catered for with an upgrade option, an option for a fully customized gift, a sign up and download page and hosting is included.

The best advice you could be given is to shop around and fins the Giveaway Events which can still help you to build a list.

If you’re someone who loves to shop online and find great deals, opportunities, and free stuff, I have some great news for you. There are more and more companies and websites that are starting to give away free samples and start cool contests and sweepstakes on the Internet as ways to promote their products and encourage customers to purchase from them and visit their site. In fact, there are so many opportunities for you to find stuff for free online that the real work is sorting out the best chances from the not-so-good ones.

As we said earlier, the reason that websites give away free samples and run online sweepstakes and contests is to encourage people to purchase from them or become a regular visitor. Obviously, a very small percentage of the people who enter their names in the hat for these contests end up winning a prize, but the good news is that your chances of winning an online contest is much, much higher than your chances of walking away with money from a casino or state lottery. In fact, if you dedicate yourself to entering just a few online sweepstakes a week, you’re bound to win something cool in a relatively short period of time. Not as many people enter online contests, and you’d be silly not to take advantage of the opportunity.

Another cool thing is that you don’t have to just limit yourself to entering contests that have to do with things that don’t interest you. There is a huge diversity of websites out there that cater to every imaginable interest, and a good deal of them run regular contests and sweepstakes. If you are into photography, for example, there are lots of places to find cool photo contests you can enter to win great prizes.

Just make sure, of course, that you never give out any kind of credit card information or bank account information. And if you’re not comfortable or interested in sharing any kind of info or fulfilling the entry requirements for a contest, you can also find plenty of opportunities to get free samples online without entering any kind of sweepstakes at all. In fact, free samples are extremely easy to find both online and offline. Regardless of what kind of purchase you’re interested in, it’s always a wise idea to find a free sample of the product before buying it.

Regardless of what your interests, hobbies or shopping needs, the Internet has endless opportunities to get great free stuff without much effort. Keep your eyes open for new opportunities, play it smart, and good luck!

There was a time not too long ago when finding legitimate and easy offers for free stuff, contests and sweepstakes was laborious and time consuming. It often involved searching through magazines and other publications and picking out the free stuff and sweepstakes that looked genuine and easy to participate in. Today, however, thanks to the Internet, finding lots of great free stuff and online contests is a breeze, and it’s much easier for a person to take advantage of some great opportunities to order free samples, win money, and take part in some really fun sweepstakes.

It all starts by performing a good search engine query, and typing in the type of free stuff or online sweepstakes you’re looking for. You would be amazed at how many different contests and free sample offers there are on the Internet, and it’s certain that regardless of your interests, you’ll be able to take part in some sort of opportunity to win prizes. No matter what your tastes, I guarantee that you can find websites that will help you register for contests and offers that could get you lots of free products related to that topic.

When you look for free stuff and sweepstakes sites using search engines, don’t only click on the first few results that show up. Be sure that you at least take a look at the next few pages, as well, because there are plenty of websites that might not show up on the first page, but that still have great opportunities for you to win some great free stuff. As you find new sites that you think are a good fit for you, bookmark them so that you can return to them in the future. You will soon have a pretty extensive list of contest and sweepstakes sites, and you can start visiting them every day to look for new opportunities to win.

There are some reliable ways to makes sure that the sites you are bookmarking are legitimate and won’t try to cheat you. First of all, never participate in a site that asks you for any credit card or bank account information. There are plenty of free stuff, contests and sweepstakes offers online that don’t require any kind of financial commitment from you. If a site asks you to pay money or provide credit card information, it’s best to keep it off of your bookmarks and keep searching.

Some sites may ask you for information such as your email address or website address. This request is a bit more reasonable, but be sure that the site has policies in place that won’t lead to your information being given to other parties. Many online contests or sweepstakes require that you provide an email address so that you can be contacted when you win free stuff, but don’t allow the site to spam your inbox with unrelated offers and emails.