Teach42

Alright, this has little to do with education but a lot to do with technology and gadgets, so I feel justified posting it here Have you ever seen those ads saying “Click here to get yourself a free iPod“? I’m sure you’ve thought to yourself that it was a total scam and never works. I know I did.

When the Sony PSP was released I really wanted to get one. There was no way that I was going to shell out $250 for it though, especially since I knew that I’d play it for a little while and then put it on a shelf and never touch it again. It’s such a cool little device though and like I said, I really wanted one. At some point, I saw a link saying “Click here for a free PSP.” I was skeptical to say the least, but in my usual fashion I figured that I would check it out and find out just how legit the offer was, what was involved and then decide whether to really give it a shot or not.

I’ll go into more details below, but for those of you that want the quick and dirty overview, let me just say that the site was 100% legitimate. In fact, about 30-40 days after I signed up, I received a completely free Sony PSP in the mail. I also did another site that was pretty similar and got myself a free game for it. That took about 2 weeks or so to arrive. So a PSP and a free game, total of a $300 value, all completely free. I’m telling you, I was just as skeptical, but it actually worked!

So how does it work? Well, the entire thing is based on referrals and trying out offers. To get a free iPod, you have to complete one offer yourself and then have five other people complete offers for you. That’s it. You do one offer, get five other people to do an offer, and then you get a free iPod!

I know exactly what you’re thinking right now; what are the offers and how complicated are they? Some of them actually are pretty complicated and expensive, but there’s a ton of them that are very simple and free. For example, one of the offers involves signing up for a trial of eFax (you do have to give them a credit card) and then staying on for 10 days or so. You have thirty days of the free trial, so you just need to make sure that you cancel eFax before 30 days are up. Cancel within the first thirty days and you aren’t charged a thing. So you sign up, get credit for the offer and cancel the account. Couldn’t be easier.

Many of the offers involve getting a ‘free’ sample of something in the mail. The catch is that you still have to pay shipping and handling. However, S&H is usually about $4.00 or so. I told my friends/family that if anybody had to pay shipping and handling for an offer that they completed, I’d pay them back in either cash or beer. Heck, if I had to pay back each person $5.00, I’d still be getting an iPod for $25.00. Not a bad deal at all.

I handpicked five people to do offers for me, mainly because I didn’t want to impose on strangers when I had no idea how legit the offers were. However, at this point I’d recommend these sites to anyone, so long as you know what you’re getting into. One of my friends did an offer where he bought ink cartridges. He loved the site and said he’d use it again. Go figure, eh? Another offer involves signing up for Blockbuster Online for 1 month for $9.99. It’s really not a bad deal considering you also get two free in store coupons as well. If you rent two movies per month, then it’s a fantastic offer for you. Essentially the same thing as NetFlix. If you’ve never used that kind of site before, it’s pretty good for movie lovers.

As we all know, most educators can’t afford to drop $200+ for an iPod. But if you can get a free iPod by just putting in a little time and effort? Well, why the heck not?

OK, a few tips. I’ve checked out a bunch of these ‘free stuff’ sites, and the ones that I trust the most are the Gratis network. Highlights among the sites they have are:
FreeIPods.com
FreeIPodShuffle.com
Free360Xbox.com (Yes, this is to preorder an Xbox 360)
FreeMiniMacs.com (to get a free Mac Mini)

There are others as well, like sites to get a free PSP (which is what I did) or to get a digital camera or flat screen TV. Heck, there’s even one to get designer purses if you aren’t into gadgets!

Each of those links above have my own personal referral number in them. I’m not actively trying to get any of those, but if you’re going to be checking those sites out and possibly giving them a whirl, I figure I might as well include my referral link, right? I suggest you do an offer yourself first and get credit for it, and then hand pick some friends and family members to help you out. Much easier than trying to solicit random people on a message board and such. Now that I’ve seen that these sites work, I’m going to be putting links to them on my site along with my banner for Bluehost.

Looking back over this post, it sounds like one huge advertisement, but I really want this to be more of a public service announcement. I’ve done two of these sites, and have already reaped the benefits of it. If there’s a gadget out there that you’ve been dying to get but just can’t justify spending the money, I strongly suggest you consider trying a site like these out.

One last link for you. Someone has put together a site that reviews all of the possible offers. It’s called RateTheOffers.com and it includes valuable information like how much money you need to invest into the offer, how long you need to stay a member (if membership is required) and how long it will take you to get credit for it. Fantastic information to know that I wish I had known about from the beginning. Definitely refer friends and family to the site if you are going to try to convince them to help you out.

I know, I know. It does sound way too good to be true. But I’ve got the proof that it works on the sofa next to me right now. Hmm…. Maybe I’ll go play a game right now. I still have to try to top my wife’s high score on Lumines!

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