FREE iPods!

[Ron Thorne]

This is not hype, nor do I have any connection with the company sponsoring this promotion, but I guarantee you that it's legitimate, from personal experience. You aren't required to "test" any products or await mailings to qualify, either.

I fully realize that the following won't appeal to everyone, but for those willing to do minimal leg work and be reasonably patient, the payoff is ... a FREE 20GB iPod or 40GB color Photo iPod. I say that with confidence, since I listened to my son's free 20GB iPod when he was home for Christmas. That unit is already virtually full of music (approx. 400 albums) and he's awaiting his new FREE 40GB Photo iPod at this time. That one takes a little longer to acquire than the 20GB unit, but if you're not in need of it tomorrow or next week, the bottom line is ... they're both FREE!

Here's how this works, in simple terms.

It's a two step process:

1. Register
2. Accept an offer.

Go to the designated website (see links below) and register, agreeing to sign up for one offer listed. When asked marketing questions during the registration process, feel free to ignore and say NO to all of them. Optional items are not required to receive your FREE iPod.

Several offers are at no cost or minimal cost, others cancellable. My son acquired an eBay credit card, which takes longer (2-3 weeks) than e-Fax (no cost to sign up) or Video Professor (shipping cost $6-7), but it's (obviously) your choice. Once signed up, share your link with friends, family and co-workers, and encourage them to register and sign up too. When they do, you receive credit for their signups. Pretty simple and painless, really.

If you already have a collection of MP3 files, you can enjoy them immediately. The iPod also supports latest generation formats such as MP4/AAC and other high-end audio formats which use similar compression yet yield higher fidelity.

I've registered for a 20GB iPod and will patiently await its arrival. I hope you'll help me, too.

20GB iPod = 5 signups




The Brand New Apple 20 GB iPod

• Holds up to 5000 songs!
• Mac and Windows compatible!
• Super-Fast FireWire and USB 2.0 interface!
• Earbud headphones, AC adapter, FireWire cable, and USB 2.0 cable included!
• Get 12+ hour battery life on a 3 hour charge!
• Uses the "click wheel" found on the iPod Mini!
• These are brand new iPods!

Here is my referral link. To help me get my 20GB iPod, click this exact link to join, or copy and paste it into a browser:

http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=13785858


______________________________


40GB Photo iPod = 10 signups





40GB Apple iPod Photo
The Brand New 40GB Apple iPod Photo. A delight
for the ears. A feast for the eyes. Though it’s no
bigger than a pack of playing cards and weighs in
at just over 6 ounces, iPod Photo delivers a
one-two sensory punch. Letting you carry an
entire library of your favorite music — up to
15,000 songs — or enough photos — as many as
25,000 — to fill nearly 200 slide trays or cover
nearly 5,000 square feet of wall space. Store and
play photo slide shows set to music on your iPod.
Use the included AV cable to connect iPod Photo
to a projector or TV.




One of the coolest things about the color iPod is its ability to store and display digital photos. You can make it into a jukebox/photo album fairly easily.

Here's a usable link to get started if you're interested in the 40GB color Photo iPod. This is my son's link, so by using it you will help him in obtaining his new 40GB iPod.

Thanks, and good listening.

Peppercorn~


ps: I've discovered that the signup offers change fairly often, so if you don't see something which appeals to you immediately, check back on the Now Complete An Offer page frequently. I recently completed my offer so am now qualified to receive my free 20GB iPod once five others have completed their offers.

[Lois Gilbert]

Ron

I will be the first to help you out

Then you need 4 more people

Once you get those (and those people post here) then perhaps I can be the next in line and will post my referral link... and so and so on. This should be on the honor system and we can all help each other'

How does that sound.

I'm doing your referral link right now

[Ron Thorne]

That's terrific, Lois. Thank you!

Remember, there are two steps to this process. The first is to register via referral. The 2nd is to make a commitment to one of the offers listed on the site.

I've done both, so I'm fully involved. So far, several friends have registered but none have completed their offer requirement. Without that, neither of us qualify.

Be patient and find the offer which suits you best. Many of them are free, some even allow you to make money. I found one of those.

[Lois Gilbert]

Ok Ron I did it for you with $20 Circuit City Card (the other offers I was interested in were no longer available) and then I can cancel the buyers insurance thing

My link now is

http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=14114180

[Lois Gilbert]

Originally Posted by Ron Thorne

That's terrific, Lois. Thank you!

Remember, there are two steps to this process. The first is to register via referral. The 2nd is to make a commitment to one of the offers listed on the site.

I've done both, so I'm fully involved. So far, several friends have registered but none have completed their offer requirement. Without that, neither of us qualify.

Be patient and find the offer which suits you best. Many of them are free, some even allow you to make money. I found one of those.

I followed your referral and I bought into an offer - see my post above so you have 4 more to go....and then hopefully people will do it for and then will do it for the next person, etc.

[Ron Thorne]

As our buddy, SinginSumo would have said ... Coolio!

Lois, you're the best! And, you're the first one to help qualify me for my FREE iPod.

Thanks a million.

Now, let's help Lois get her FREE iPod. Click here to help Lois.

[Ron Thorne]

Now, if you're more interested in the 40GB color iPod, that's a slightly different story. It requires ten (10) signups instead of five (5) for the 20GB version, for which I'm applying.



And, if you're truly interested in the 40GB color iPod, I'd really appreciate it if you'd link with my son, in order to assist him.

[Tom Storer]

Arrgh! It's US only!

Huh. Those grapes were sour anyway.

[Ron Thorne]

Originally Posted by Tom Storer

Arrgh! It's US only!

Huh. Those grapes were sour anyway.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that aspect, momentarily. Sorry.

Tom, you could have friends in the U.S. complete this for you, then exchange an iPod for some wine via mailings, huh?

[clinthopson]

It's the old pyramid marketing scheme.

Just be sure you have a good spyware blocker on your system.

[Lois Gilbert]

Originally Posted by clinthopson

It's the old pyramid marketing scheme.

Just be sure you have a good spyware blocker on your system.

Actually it is a marketing tool - but Ron said his son got one. So in that sense it's legit. It's not really a pyramid. I'm sure we'll get dozens of offers in our spam folders, but I can deal with that.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Lois Gilbert

Actually it is a marketing tool - but Ron said his son got one. So in that sense it's legit. It's not really a pyramid. I'm sure we'll get dozens of offers in our spam folders, but I can deal with that.

One should set up a separate yahoo or hotmail account for this, and that will keep the spam from your primary account.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

I began to take a similar offer, also for an i-pod, but bailed before the finish. Mine required me to go through page after page of "free" offers, rejecting them one at a time. But then there was a 'phase two', where I was required to take two offers on a page... all free or almost (BMG), except for shipping and handling and often the hassle of canceling something they will otherwise send you monthly. When I got to the the 4th page of such offers, having already of course accepted 6 and having no idea how many other pages or requirements lay in front of me, I gave up.

[Rob C]

Originally Posted by Lois Gilbert

It's not really a pyramid.

Well... actually, it is.

I suppose it's relatively low risk, since it sounds like you don't have to actually pay any money for anything, you just have to deal with the spam. But your odds of getting a free iPod get lower and lower the further down the pyramid you happen to be, as it will become increasingly difficult to find five people willing to sign up under you.

[Ron Thorne]

Originally Posted by Pete C

One should set up a separate yahoo or hotmail account for this, and that will keep the spam from your primary account.

Pete's suggestion is a good one, though I haven't noticed any additional spam or spyware ... yet.

Originally Posted by Rob C

I suppose it's relatively low risk, since it sounds like you don't have to actually pay any money for anything...

In point of fact, I expect to come out $19.00 ahead, irrespective of how long it may take me to get my iPod. I signed up for a 60-day trial for $1.00, which also included a $20.00 gift certificate at Lowe's Home Improvement. Not bad for about two minutes of effort.

But your odds of getting a free iPod get lower and lower the further down the pyramid you happen to be, as it will become increasingly difficult to find five people willing to sign up under you.

As soon as someone clicks on my link and accepts one offer, they count toward my goal of five ... period. Once registered via your link, if someone signs up for an offer, it counts toward your necessary referrals. They even provide a tracking mechanism. I can see exactly who's signed up and whether they've accepted an offer yet or not. I saw Lois' status change last night.

Several co-workers of my son have received their free iPods, too.

[Rob C]

Yes, but my point is that if each of those five people wants a free iPod, they will have to sign up a total of 25 additional people. If each of those 25 want a free iPod, they will have to sign up a total of 125 additional people. And so on. It's a pyramid. I gather that it's a legit one, but the concept is the same....

[bluenoter]

Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,64614,00.html

Making Free IPods Pay Off

By Leander Kahney

02:00 AM Aug. 18, 2004 PT

Unless you're extremely gullible, the promise of getting a free iPod from FreeiPods.com looks extremely dubious.

But surprisingly, the site appears to be legitimate. The program almost certainly isn't a dodgy pyramid scheme; it's a new form of online marketing supported by companies like eBay, AOL and Columbia House.

And while lots of happy customers are popping up all over the internet brandishing new iPods, analysts are skeptical of the economics.

Here's how it works: FreeiPods.com promises an iPod or a $250 gift certificate to anyone who signs up for various online promotions and persuades five other people to participate.

Subscribers are given a choice of 10 different offers, including a 45-day trial of AOL and a two-week trial of Ancestry.com's genealogy service. Typically, the offers are free and easily canceled.

Once the trials are over -- for both the main subscriber and the referrals -- the free iPod is dispatched.

"Of course I was skeptical, but I didn't see any harm in trying," said Collin Grady, 22, from Salem, Oregon, who received his free iPod earlier this month and wrote about it on his blog.

"They never once asked for a credit card number and I didn't have to pay shipping," he said. "I just told them where to send it.... All in all, a very painless process."

Indeed, some customers are so delighted that they've set up affiliate websites, called "conga lines," to persuade others the program isn't a swindle.

"So many people on the web think FreeiPods.com is a scam; I just wanted to prove them wrong," said John Sauer, a 19-year-old student at Boston's Berklee College of Music, who runs Free iPods and FlatScreens .com.

Another site, 17-year-old Tyler Derheim's FreeiPodGuide, features pictures of the delivery truck outside his house, his receipt and, of course, his new iPod.

FreeiPods is one of several websites run by Gratis Internet, a Washington, D.C., "customer acquisition" company owned by Peter Martin and Rob Jewell.

"I can definitely understand the skepticism," said Martin. "A lot of people believe there's no free lunch, but it's definitely not a scam. It's 100 percent legitimate. We're shipping (iPods) every day."

In a joint interview, Martin and Jewell denied the site is a pyramid scheme, like the myriad matrix schemes advertised on eBay, which also promise free iPods.

Instead, they explained, Gratis Internet is paid a bounty for sending potential customers to sites like AOL, eBay or RealNetworks.

"We're a marketing firm," said Jewell. "We're sending these people to our advertisers. We cringe when we hear 'pyramid' or 'scheme.' We're more closely associated with viral marketing, with the subservient chicken, than Amway."

They declined to specify the bounty, and said the firm doesn't deal directly with the companies involved. Rather, Gratis Internet is commissioned by third-party marketing agencies, such as San Francisco's Adteractive.

For the last four years, Gratis Internet has operated customer-acquisition programs through FreeCDs.com, FreeDVDs.com, FreeVideoGames.com and FreeCondoms.com.

The company has sent out more than $3 million worth of free merchandise, Martin said, including 5 million to 6 million condoms.

Since the launch of FreeiPods.com in June, the site has dispatched more than 2,500 iPods, Martin said, worth more than $1 million.

But in the last few weeks traffic has exploded. Martin claimed nearly 1 million people have recently enrolled in the program, though he said the majority are using phony names and/or addresses.

Martin said about 200,000 are using "confirmed identities," and are in the process of receiving their free iPods. The process takes between six and eight weeks, Martin said. If all are redeemed, the company will be giving away $50 million worth of iPods.

Jewell insisted FreeiPods.com would be able to keep up with demand.

"Its really important people trust us and get their iPods," Jewell said. "We want people to get their iPods because it helps our legitimacy. We count on our users to validate us."

Diego Canoso, Adteractive's vice president of sales, said FreeiPods.com is a lawful and well-run customer-acquisition program.

"We've been working with these guys for more than three years," said Canoso. "They are very good at what they do."

Canoso also declined to specify the advertisers' bounties, but said they can range between $25 and $90, depending on the program and the kind of customer it attracts.

"The money we give these guys (Gratis Internet) is enough to fulfill the promise that the customers come in for," Canoso said.

Canoso said while $90 seems like a lot, it is peanuts compared to the millions spent on TV and magazine ads, which don't guarantee new customers.

"Companies like Columbia House (and) credit card companies, they're happy to pay for customers," Canoso said. "They're happy to send out iPods because they're getting customers in return. Capture is expensive, and they're paying after they've acquired the customer."

And while a lot of customers cancel after the free trial, enough don't to make it worthwhile, Canoso said.

Gary Stein, an analyst with Jupiter Research who follows online marketing, said he was skeptical of the program's economics.

"It seems too good to be true," he said. "You can imagine getting a free CD, but a free iPod is a really big break."

However, Stein said the program is lent some legitimacy by the involvement of Adteractive.

"Adteractive is reputable, without a doubt," Stein said. "It would be a lot more questionable if they were working on their own."

Stein said affiliate marketing has typically been associated with "bottom feeders," but has become more respectable, and profitable, since eBay started paying bounties for new, registered users.

"Affiliate marketing is really taking off," Stein said. "EBay has given it legitimacy.... There's definitely still scoundrels ... but there's tens of thousands of people involved. It's backyard entrepreneurial."

Adteractive's Canoso said FreeiPods.com is at the forefront of performance-based marketing.

"The model is beautiful," he said. "(The companies) are paying for a specific customer after acquiring the customer. It's not branding. It's not non-responsive advertising.... It's low-risk marketing. It's a very efficient system."

There is a record of a resolved complaint against Gratis Internet at the Washington, D.C., Better Business Bureau. [Note: The BBB site lists the company's address(es) in DC, a DC phone number, and the name of the customer service manager.]

The complaint doesn't specify the grievance, or grievances, and the bureau's director said she couldn't elaborate. Martin and Jewell said they had no idea what the issue was. It was likely a minor "glitch," they said.

FreeiPods.com is certified by Truste, which means the site adheres to the organization's privacy standards. It does not mean the site can be trusted to send out free iPods.

AOL and Ancestry.com didn't respond to requests for comment. The Federal Trade Commission said it doesn't talk about individual companies unless the company is being prosecuted.

[Lois Gilbert]

Originally Posted by Rob C

Yes, but my point is that if each of those five people wants a free iPod, they will have to sign up a total of 25 additional people. If each of those 25 want a free iPod, they will have to sign up a total of 125 additional people. And so on. It's a pyramid. I gather that it's a legit one, but the concept is the same....

The thing is that we can do it for each other. I kind of like this idea, that I can help a fellow poster get a free ipod and then perhaps someone will help me. And thanks Bluenoter for the article.

[Ron Thorne]

With all due respect, this promotional site and its offer is much more representative of a clever marketing device than a typical "pyramid" scheme. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Despite the fact that most people will not opt to continue whatever it is they sign up for, the freeiPod.com creators are banking on the fact that enough folks will stay with whatever commitment they make to make the promotion pay off. Apparently, some rather significant advertisers (Blockbuster, BMG, Video Professor, GM Card, etc.) also believe that.

Thanks for the wired news piece, bn.

[Ron Thorne]

I extend my thanks to all Jazz Corner posters who have used my link to sign up for their own free iPod. I really appreciate it!

You've taken the necessary first step.

The 2nd step is the one which will make it possible for both of us to achieve our goal ... a FREE 20GB iPod. Be patient, look over the various signup offers (which change), and make your move when you see one which suits your needs.

If you'd like to help Lois reach her goal, please click here.

Thanks,

Ron

[RBS]

I'll be doing it, Ron. Thanks!

[Ron Thorne]

You did it, allright. Thanks, Randy! I'm even closer to getting my FREE iPod, thanks to you.

For anyone interested in checking out the latest in cool FREE offers, here's a guaranteed fun, safe link.

The Apple Mac Mini is very intriguing, I must say.

[Nathaniel Catchpole]

further confirmation that iPODs are devil spawn.

[walto]

Seems to me that Rob is right. While it's not a traditional pyramid (with the ever increasing bounties paid only to the first couple of generations of entrants), it has some of the same features (there aren't enough atoms in the universe, etc.). However, as Ron points out, since it's riskless and harmless (for those later entrants who don't get their hopes up too high), what the hell.

[Tom Storer]

There's no such thing as a free iPod. Ron's eventual iPod will be paid for by his accepting a promotional offer, his pals accepting theirs, all their pals accepting theirs, etc. ad infinitum. Obviously the firms involved feel the money advertisers will eventually earn from all these happy shoppers is greater than the cost of the iPods that are shipped out as customer-bait.

Nothing wrong with it, since it seems perfectly upfront. I have yet to hear of any hidden tricks. Ensure that six people go through the annoying business of accepting promotional offers, and an iPod is yours. Each person who signs up with the aim of getting an iPod then does the marketing company's work for them in their fervent desire to own a "free" iPod. I must confess, Ron, no offense intended, that your transformation into corporate barker on this thread is hilarious!

I was saved from such indignity by the fact of the offer being US-only.

[Nathaniel Catchpole]

I have to say, for a minute or so I thought Ron's account had been hacked.

[Jazzzoline]

Free Willy!!

[Ron Thorne]

Step right up, folks. FREE iPods, whales ... you name it.


Actually, Tom, my iPod cost me $2.00 upfront*. So, you're correct, in my case. It wasn't FREE. For many it will be, however.

Just having a little fun, and no one's getting hurt.

Five persons need to accept an offer, not six for the 20GB iPod. Ten are required for the 40GB model.

Did you just call me Bob Barker?

*$20.00 Lowe's Home Improvement Gift Certificate included with offer. Net gain- $18.00

[crawjo]

Ron,

I just followed the link and signed up for an offer, but the site is still saying I have to meet my requirements. Does it take a little while to process?

[Ron Thorne]

Originally Posted by crawjo

Ron,

I just followed the link and signed up for an offer, but the site is still saying I have to meet my requirements. Does it take a little while to process?

Yes, depending upon which offer you accepted, it can take a few weeks. I believe that RBS signed up for the BMG Music offer which took about three weeks to process. His has cleared now, and a credit from him has been reflected in my status area. Lois', on the other hand, was immediate, as was mine.

Thanks, crawjo.