Make Money with Freebies
March 12, 2010 in Beginners, Latest Posts, Making Money by guest-author 17 Comments » 2,636 views
With my MomDot interview, I introduced a few of my blogs. Free Sample Deals is a free sample site that I manage. It earned about $50 in it’s first month. It now earns over $1500 a month in just over a year.
Some asked the questioned how that was achieved. Some of it was done with one block of Google Adsense, and the rest affiliate programs.
Free Sample Deals Case Study
If you take a look at Free Sample Deals, you will see one block of Adsense, and one small block of affiliates on the sidebar. However, the money wasn’t earned with that block. It was earned with affiliates that are giving away free samples.
The trick is to really make all posts look the same. I don’t treat any post different than the freebies I’m not getting paid for. If you go throughout the blog, it will be hard to tell which ones I earn money for people to sign-up to, and which I don’t.
Let me make it easier for you. Here are a few free samples that we found online and blogged about Kashi, Kotex, and Parents Magazine. Now here are some that I earn a commission for every time someone signs up, Gray, Eco-Living, and Enfamil. Can you tell the difference? Hopefully not.
Whats great about these free samples that pay me, is that they are actually free. You don’t need to complete offers first like some “free samples”. However ,most of these companies are offering this stuff for free because they are looking to build their mailing list, or brand their product.
Free Samples Affiliate
Where I have been able to make most of the money is from Logical Media. Their offers range from free samples, free information kits, and other free offers. Each conversion (when someone signs up) pay ranges from 90 cents to $20+.
Logical Media’s offers range and vary each day which is nice. There is usually fresh new campaigns to promote and run, then in a few days, there are more.
Of course there are more affiliate networks like this, but I have found Logical Media to be the best for what I am trying to accomplish with Free Sample Deals.
How Can I Use This?
Mommy blogs are so dynamic because they can really be about anything and everything, yet still be interesting and appeal to your readers. Mommy blogs that I’ve seen lately really focus on kids and babies, great on and offline finds, coupons, samples, contests, and general mommy related stuff. All can be money makers if you know how to make the money (like with Logical Media).
Incorporating the affiliate offers into your post can be as simple as just throwing up a banner on your blog, or actually giving the affiliate offer a post. The most successful affiliate we ran was a free Obama campaign button from Moveon.org. For every sign-up we generated a dollar, ending up with about 20-30 sign-ups. All it took was a post about it, whether you support Obama or not, your readers might.
I will be following up with other affiliate programs and resources that will be perfect for other mommy bloggers, and all bloggers, for that matter. Any and all questions are welcome!
If you are looking for hands on help, I do blog consulting and am working on my portfolio at MatthewHenrickson.com. I’d be happy to help you monetize your blog or anything else you may need.
Great info, thanks.
thanks for your information, I have a baby blog, recently I just leave this blog, but after read your article how to make money with freebies, I will try to earn money from it. Hope I can use it as alternative earning instead just using google adsense or text link ads
There is no way the FTC could enforce their rules and they are far-fetched. I am being compensated by the actions people take, I am not being paid to post these items persay. What if I post all of these freebies and make nothing?
At this time I am not disclosing each freebie, deal, and affiliate.
I have had a similar experience to yours but prefer MySavings to Logical Media. As I look at your site, I don’t see any disclosure language anywhere. How are you complying with the FTC rules that the rest of us follow?
Thanks for all the great info Matt!
great post matt, I still have yet to make cash out with Logical Media. Its not that I havent tried but most offers are soo low paying or spammy so I will not even post them. I need to learn more.
Thanks for sharing! That sounds like a good idea
Great post, Matt. I need to make the time to really invistigate affiliates. I’m signed up in a few networks but haven’t done much with them yet.
Wowzers!!
I really didn’t know they was money to be made in posting freebies!
I have been just sharing ones I get in my in-box from manufacturers & sites I signed up for!
I better look into this… it may help pay for my internet!
thanks, Matt!
I really need to take more time with that program. Thanks for the reminder
Thanks for sharing this information, it’s great that you are open to providing this valuable resource to others instead of keeping it within your own space.
Cheers!
Thanks so much for the info! What a great way to monetize by having free offers – I will definitely need to check that out!
You have it down to a science. What I think would be difficult is that these offers expire. How do you handle that with the posts that are now archived?
How does the new disclosure/compliance law come into affect with your free sample deal posts, since you are getting paid?
Great post Matt. I take it that you haven’t had any problems getting paid by Logical Media then? I’ve had to fight with them on a number of occasions to get paid, so I now use one of the other affiliate companies that have the same deals (like MySavings Media, etc.).
Holy schmoley that’s a nice chunk of change Matt!
Thanks!
Very informative post! My only problem is trying to find time to find all these deals within Logical Media and then making posts about them. I definitely need to sit down and start looking into doing this more.