"FREE" what a great word. We all like getting something for "FREE" don't we? Especially when it's something really good that we actually need and can use. Everywhere you look on the Internet there are FREE ebooks, FREE autoresponders, Free websites, FREE this and FREE that. And we all take advantage of this to some extent don't we? The 'guru's' even tell you to give away FREE ebooks to get visitors to your site or to sign up for your newsletter. So "FREE" is good. However, there can be a downside to "FREE"! Let me tell you a little story - it will be short. A month or so ago, I sent an ad to a newsletter. The ad was for one of my affiliate programs and like most affiliate programs, the URL was very long. The editor of the newsletter suggested that I shorten the URL by using a re-direct service. Well the price for the re-direct service was really great - "FREE" - so I signed up and registered all of my affiliate programs. Everything worked fine for quite some time. However, a little later I received a newsletter from the above editor. While viewing the newsletter, an ad caught my attention so I clicked on the link. All I got was a "site not found" page. I tried it a couple of more times and always got the same page. I was more than a little curious by now because this advertiser was using the same re-direct service that I used. I tried a couple of my links and wouldn't you know it, I got the "site not found" page also. I found out a little later that the re-direct service had some server problems. They were working on the problems but the re-direct service was apparently a sideline business for them so it would be fixed - whenever. Needless to say, I wasn't happy. I scrambled around and changed my links as quickly as I could. How many sales did I lose? Could have been only a few. Could have been a lot. How much aggravation did it cause me? A whole bunch, believe me. You've heard the old saying, "You get what you pay for"! Well, I certainly did. "FREE" can still be a good thing if you're just getting started and want to "test the Internet waters" before you invest a lot of money. However, if you have an Internet business and plan to make a profit, "FREE" isn't the way to go. Remember - "You get what you pay for". |
