Making Motivation: My Guide to Getting Free Stuff

2015-07-09 16.18.18Let’s face it. There’s nothing quite like coming home to a box on the front porch full of goodies! I and a lot of other people get items for free in exchange for simply sharing our opinions on the products. And you can too! In fact, anyone can do it and all it takes is a little set up and time. Here’s the dirt on getting free or deeply discounted stuff in exchange for product reviews or social media tasks:

  • If you’re like me and you get something for free, you want to share the deal with your friends and followers anyway. I have shared most of the sites that I use to get free stuff with at least one family member or friend. I figure, I’m going to be posting about the deals and new things that I receive in stores anyway, why not take a few minutes and post a quick social media update in exchange for a free product online? It only takes a few minutes and I get something really cool. In addition, from a pay per hour stand point, I receive a product that is valued well over the amount of time I’d spend writing a review and it’s delivered to my door. Win, win!
  • Follow other deal seekers and freebie finders on social media channels. Pay attention to these people! Watch what they’re doing and where they’re applying for promotions. Not only will you learn how to be a hash tagging queen, but a lot of the product review giveaway sites are often hash tagged below a post. Tags such as #gotitfree, #freetotry, #bloggerperk, or #ad typically denote receiving a complimentary/discounted product in exchange for a review.
  • 2015-06-29 12.55.31Fill out forms for freebie samples! Sometimes, I get products just for filling out a form; I don’t even need to complete a review or social media tasks! Since I do a lot of reviewing on my blog for fun, I like to sometimes use these sample sized products when there’s a lull in the full-sized product promotions I receive. The samples I sign up for come from well known, reputable sources. I never fill out a form that asks for me to sign up with affiliate marketers just to get a sample. The bad sites walk you through a lot of “free offers” that are anything but free and then you never see the sample in the end. Use your best judgement when it comes to filling out forms. I follow Hunt4Freebies, FreeStuffFinder, and FreebieShark, mostly because they weed out the bad offers, but there’s a whole world orĀ freebie finding sites out there! I also like PINCHme, but it requires filling out a quick survey on their site at the end. Simple stuff in exchange for great samples, really!
  • For the super serious about product review blogging: If you’re going to use a site that is based upon Amazon reviews or purchasing from Amazon, consider a Prime subscription. It opens the doorway to a lot more reviews. I am about halfway through the one-month trial and all the considered shipping on the products I’ve been ordering have exceeded the cost for a one-year subscription of $99. I figure if shipping is around $5.00/item, and I ordered 21 items so far, I have already saved over the $99 for Prime. Plus, I get other perks too, such as instant streaming of movies/music, and a lending library with a Kindle Device.
  • Consider signing up for a blog/self-hosted website as well. You can talk about a lot of topics and, with hard work, you can actually make money just in marketing.

Just to get you started, here are my absolute favorite and most trusted websites to get free stuff for product reviews!

  • Tomoson: My absolute favorite since the new site upgrade! There are still a few bugs to be worked out because Tomoson is still a fairly new website, but its got all the products you could ever want to feature. Most companies approve people themselves and ask for reviews on a third party website, such as Amazon. Connect your social media channels and get blogging to increase your chances of receiving free products to review.
  • 2015-05-20 16.51.02Amazing Deals Group: Also a fairly new site and one of my favorites! All this website requires is third party reviews on Amazon. You are approved right away as long as you have one of their Deal Coins. A unique code is then immediately sent out and you can spend it on one of the deeply discounted deals or freebies. Shipping is free with Amazon Prime unless it is an item that has free shipping options. As soon as you submit a verified review, you get your Deal Coin back and you can apply for another great deal! It’s a simple and easy platform for very little work!
  • BzzAgent and Influenster: I’ve posted about these sites before and they haveĀ been gaining quite a following. Unlike companies approving you separately, BzzAgent and Influenster do the work for the name brand companies that host product review giveaways. Tasks are a little more involved, sometimes requiring a visit to a store, but these are name brand, nationally distributed products for free.

Tell Me: Are you interested in learning more? Leave your questions in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them!