This article will show you: 1. How to avoid wasting your time with FREE stuff! 2. How to identify real bargains! 3. Some top FREE programs and services
Entering "Free Stuff" in Alta Vista will yield a colossal 521,442 results. Over half a million web pages! Here are some guidelines to sift the wheat from the chaff.
1) Beware of programs written by amateurs and enthusiasts unless you particularly enjoy experimenting with your computer. If you are running a business you probably don't have the time. Any program with very basic readme files or little or no support files I avoid like the plague. Experience has taught me they waste time trying to work out how to use them, they jam up the registry files on the computer and don't uninstall properly if at all. This kind of FREE stuff can turn your computer into a mess, degrading the performance of other programs. If you do want to try them out, keep a separate partition on your hard disk dedicated for that purpose.
2) Don't get side tracked with shareware. If you are prepared to pay for programs, fine, look at shareware. After a brief trial period you will often be expected to pay for the full version. Personally, I don't spend time on these unless I am looking for something specific, or the shareware program is particularly good.
3) Subscribe to one or two good lists to keep you informed of FREE stuff. I get these delivered to my mailbox every week, spend about two minutes looking through the headings and if something really catches my eye, I investigate using the criteria above. A good one is: http://www.jumbo.com
How to identify REAL bargains? If the program comes from a professional, well established company you are on to a winner. A 30 second look at their web site will tell you what kind of outfit it is. If a generous help file is supplied or if regular updates are published, you know the program is here to stay and it is worth investing time and energy in learning it. An example is Pegasus Mail, mentioned in the top FREE programs below. I was tempted to buy Eudora Pro. I had used the free Lite version and really liked it. Fortunately, just before I parted with the cash, I discovered Pegasus. This program does everything Eudora Pro would do for me and it is FREE. An unbelievable bargain. It is now my default mail handler.
Take a look through this list of top FREE programs and services. There is gold here:
EMAIL HANDLER
Pegasus Mail is an excellent email program. Multiple signature files, multiple filters, various identities for multiple email accounts, spell check, it is all here in one easy to use program.
http://www.pmail.com
EMAIL MERGE
WorldMerge sends personalized messages to mailing lists. A brief advertisement is included at the foot of the message when using the FREE version. Unless that is a major problem for you, this program is an absolute bargain! http://www.coloradosoft.com/associate-jump.cgi?ID=2085
TRAFFIC ANALYSIS
A very comprehensive report is emailed to you every day giving a complete breakdown of the visitors to your web site, their movements through the site and where they are coming from. This information is essential for a successful marketing campaign.
http://www.websitetrafficreport.com
KEYWORD SUGGESTION TOOL
GoTo.com has a great tool to help you see what search words and phrases are being used on the internet. Use this in combination with Alta Vista as explained in the next section and you have a powerful method for optimizing keywords on your web pages.
http://www.goto.com/d/about/advertisers/othertools.jhtml (1. Search Term Suggestion List)
MARKETING TUTORIALS
FREE marketing tutorials are usually designed to lead you into purchasing the main product. The two listed below are no different in this regard. However, they are different in another way. Both offer substantial content which is very valuable on its own, even without purchasing the main product. Both come from Ken Evoy so they really overdeliver, in keeping with the style of his Make Your Site Sell. (MYSS review: http://www.vitalstop.com/ebr-myss.htm)
1) Infoproducts
In this five day course you learn how to create your own information product from scratch. Excellent suggestions are given for brain storming. Get a step by step guide on how to actually market your own product. The rewards from this program are immense as you market a product you have complete control over.
mailto:timsvitalstop.com@sitesell.net
2) Affiliate Masters
This five day course in my opinion is brilliant. Learn how to combine the free keyword suggestion tool at GoTo.com along with searches at Alta Vista to find keywords which have maximum effect in the search engines. This suggestion alone is like gold! I've used it ever since. mailto:tamsvitalstop.com@sitesell.net
JPEG WIZARD GRAPHICS CONDENSER Reduce the size of your GIF or JPEG graphics files and super charge the loading time for your web pages. This free tool is another gem from the folks at Pegasus. http://www.jpegwizard.com
AUTORESPONDER
There are many free ones out there, but many liberally sprinkle their own advertisements around your message. GetResponse keeps its own advertising to a bare minimum. The easy to use interface is crammed with features. http://www.getresponse.com
WEB SITE MONITORING
Check for dead links, link popularity, browser compatibility, load time, keywords, HTML accuracy and spelling accuracy to ensure your web site is giving top performance. This free service allows for a one page check per submission.
http://websitegarage.netscape.com
WEB HOST MONITORING
Do you really know how what kind of service your web host is giving you? Use the FREE trial service at HostWatcher to alert you whenever your web host is down, or the speed is slow. Also see how long it takes for your pages to load. http://hostwatcher.com
Yes you can mine gold from FREE stuff. You can also waste huge amounts of precious time if you are not selective. Follow the suggestions above and get the best of the best from FREE stuff.
Mike Jones
Mike.Jones@khi.breeze.net.pk