About Free Newsletters

Lesson 7 of our free stuff tutorial - All about free email newsletters and ezines. Plus, information about applying for free newsletters while maintaining your privacy.

So tell me about all these free newsletter offers I keep running into while visiting sites.

Hey, thanks for hanging in there with me. I can see you’re dedicated to learning all you can about free stuff...including free newsletters....

You may be wondering why I've spent a good deal of time on this subject and what it has to do with free stuff hunting. I've done it because not only do I feel that newsletters are one of the greatest free resources available on the Internet...most free stuff offers you'll wind up requesting will require you to subscribe to their newsletter as a pre-requisite to getting the offer. Although this may sound intrusive, it's really not that bad at all. Let me explain...

As I've all ready stated in previous lessons ... all you have to do to make the above as un-intrusive as possible is to create separate free e-mail accounts to receive the offering sites newsletters. In other words...just use your free e-mail account address when filling in their form while applying. Whether you decide to actually read their newsletters is totally up to you. Easy-Peasy...Japan-Neasy!

Before you totally discount these free newsletters however, let me offer the following food for thought on the subject.

Many free stuff, contest, sweepstake (plus loads of other site types) offer free newsletters - also called ezines, to their visitors. These free electronic publications are great resources of information for everything from what's new on a particular site, to what's happening in general in the world and/or just about anything else that may interest you.

In addition to site specific newsletters, there are a bevy of free news services that offer information on a wide range of topics and subjects. An example of the topics available are: Automobiles, Baby Care, Beauty Tips, Books, Collecting, Computers, Crafting, Decorating, Demographics, Electronics, Engineering, Food, Finances, Gaming, Gardening, Health Care, Industry Specific, Jewelry, Knitting, Life Styles, Marketing, Nostalgia, Opera, Pet Care, Questions & Answers, Restaurants, Sports, Travel, U.S. Government, Virtual Media and many many more.

The really cool part about newsletters is that 99.99999% of them are completely free of charge. It would cost hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars to try and search for and or subscribe to the same information in traditional media. In fact, since most, (if not all) free newsletter content is written by independent sources, the same information can not be found in traditional media. All this and free automatic delivery to your inbox. It doesn't get much better than that!

Another reason I feel that Independent newsletters are a valuable resource, is that they are not hampered by the same financial or editorial restrictions that traditional media is faced with. They are free to offer uninhibited, unbiased opinions on a wide range of subjects. Many of these subjects are ignored by larger news services because of limitations placed on them by shareholders or ad sponsors.

I'm not trying to tell you that every free newsletter is a candidate for a Nobel Prize in literature or even worth the pixels they're written on. However, there are many that offer good, useful information in a format that is free spirited and truly refreshing. Plus, the price is always right...so if you subscribe to one and it turns out to be a rag...you haven't lost anything but your time. Try that with a traditional media offering!

OK, I’m sold on the useful part...but are newsletters safe.. I mean I don’t personally know many of these sites that offer them.

As safe as your mothers home ... as safe as your local church ... as safe as ... oh, you get the picture.

Newsletters, as a rule, are completely safe if you use ... Yep, you guessed it, common sense when deciding which of your e-mail accounts will receive them...and...when applying the information contained in them. Remember that just like many traditional print and visual media offerings, electronic newsletters are written by individuals expressing their own opinions on a subject. Is that opinion always correct? Absolutely not, no way, no how!

Just look at what happened during the recent presidential election as an example. That was a case of many individuals expressing an opinion on a specific subject ... and they totally got it wrong. Not one or two TV, radio or newspaper organizations ... but 99.9% of them. However, that's what free speech is all about. Idea's are allowed to be expressed freely without restrictions and fear of reprisals from authority as long as they are not libelous. Free speech is just one of the wonderful things about living in a democracy. It also can be a wealth of information to any individual or business as long as they use common sense when applying it.

Great! But what about the privacy part!?

OK, don't get your tassel all wound up in knots...I'm getting there. Free newsletter offers should be treated like any other freebie. The best way to protect your privacy when applying for them is to follow the instructions I gave you earlier in setting up free email accounts. This way you can subscribe to as many free newsletters as you wish without giving out too much personal information.

Look for newsletter offers that list a clear cut unsubscribe policy. Most of these include a link in every issue that tells you how to cancel your subscription. If you start to feel really uncomfortable about a newsletter service, just cancel the free email account you set up and start over by opening a new one. Editors note: Proper ‘Net etiquette requires that you unsubscribe to a newsletter if you do not want to receive it any more. This helps out the service by removing email addresses that are no longer valid.

One other thing you need to be aware of. Just like any other freebie offer, many newsletter services provide them in the hopes of gaining customers from advertisements included with the information they supply. You are not forced to respond to any of these ads and I feel they are a small price to pay to receive the wealth of data many newsletters contain.

Hey, I’m getting tired and I want to start hunting for all this free stuff you’ve been jabbering on about ... are we almost done yet?

Yes, O’ About to Graduate One. Follow me to the last lesson and find out what to do after you get your free stuff...

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