The Super Simple Guide to getting Freebizmags (And Mercury Mags) Subscriptions - the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Myths Busted! Ballons Burst! Check it out!
But before all that, here's a brief warning dated November 5, 2011:
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BEWARE - Freebizmags has been sending out emails that are actually Fronts for companies they partner with. They offer a "FREE" mag but when you get to the end, you see it is either a "Perpetual renewal" (meaning, they auto-bill you each year) or.. there is a 99 cent shipping & handling fee atttaches as well as possibly a Perpetual renewal.
Remember, check the deal out throurghly if it looks different from the usual Freebizmags or Mercury Mag format. In these tough times, even these companies are trying to squeeze an extra buck out here and there. We see Freebizmags doing it by FRONTING offers from other players such as MY BONUS CENTER whih is not THEM. However, they get paid a per cap fee for every sucker who buys one of those $5 a year subs that they could likely get free if they just waited a couple of days, weeks or months.
Please read the fine print before posting offers with catches, folks. If it ain't directly from FBM, look closely.
Again. Freebizmags has lately been trying to increase their income by FRONTING offers for other providers. BEWARE of that. FBM still offers plenty of decent, totally free mags but just like the TRADE MAGS (Controlled Circulation Publications) they toss in your path during the reuqest questionaire, they are now tossing in these "Partner" offers AFTER the questionaire and in emails to you.
[COLOR="rgb(75, 0, 130)"]Be wise and Beware.[/COLOR]
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NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED BUSTING OF FREEBIZMAGS AND MERCURYMAGS MYTHS -- -
Introduction: Freebizmagazines is a great site that offers "free" subscriptions to both Trade Magazines and Consumer Magazines.
Mercury Mags is another one just like it that was begun by former FreebizMag employees. They earn their money by increasing the circulation of
Trade magazines also known in publishing as
Controlled Circulation Titles. To do that, they offer you good magazines, hereafter referred to as '
Consumer magazines' such as Town & Country Magazine, Guitar Player, Outdoor Life, MAD, VIBE, American Angler, American Cowboy, Cucina Italiana, Log Cabin Living, Elle Decor, Old House Journal, Upscale, Horticulture, Radar, Tennis, Computer Games, etc., etc.
Their goal is to lure you in with the free
Consumer Magazine offer and then, while you are signing up, get you to agree to receive one or more
Trade Magazines during the application process. All of us have fallen for this at the beginning because there are many myths on freebie sites about Freebizmags. I have believed some of them myself and even perpetuated a few back when I was still gullible. (please forgive me for I am heartily sorry and do repent).
However, it is my goal today to save you, the Noob, from all such myths and to keep your mailbox free of Silly Trade Mags (unless of course you actually WANT to receive Spot-Welding Illustrated or Miniature Vegetables Monthly)
Here we go -- How to get started:
If you are new to Freebizmags, find an offer that seems valid - One where experienced Slick Dealers say "Thanks, got it." Then, click on link:
Type in the name you use for mag subs and an email addy you actually check every day, preferably one you have set aside just for Freebizmags. You want a real email addy cuz Freebizmags sends account holders fresh links to free Consumer magazine offers at least once or twice a week.
Then, you are faced with the first hurdle: what to write as your Business info. You should be honest and try and figure out what to select for your own profession (something I did) .
UPDATE: Another slick dealer, Nightvessel, has suggested that I am trying to coach other Slickdealers to lie about their profiles to, in effect, get something they don't qualify for otherwise. Nope - nothing doing! Telling the truth about what you do in your profile gets you just as many magazines as you would if you simply made up a profile for the sake of ease of application. Let me be clear - there is NO advantage to lying or making up a profile. Whatever you enter you will still get offered the same consumer magazines unless you choose a profile that doesn't mesh with their software enough to allow that software to sift thru possible biz mag offers and toss some in your general direction, kind of like a fart on Monty Python! The only thing that would change with the profile is the Trade magazine titles they offer you. Therefore, there's no advantage in choosing one profile over another. Any profiles offered in this thread are for the purpose of showing you an example only.
In the past, many slick dealers have advocated using a Student Profile such as this one:
Keep in mind, however, that both FBM and Mercury have begun refusing the offer to students using the student profile. if you have a part-time job, you might wish to use that as your profile instead.
Student profile:
Other
.....Student
..........Other
...............Student
....................Student
UPDATE 7/11/06: The Other/Student/Other profile no longer seems to work and for good reason. Why would a company that makes its money referring you to Business trade mags want students to get their lure offers of consumer mags? Please use some other profile and stick with it if you want to be sure of being offered magazines. Use your part time job or the last job you held if you are currently unemployed. Really, it makes little difference what you use so long as it permits their software to toss some trade mag choices in your general direction, kinda like a fart on Monty Python. N'sM
MYTH NUMBER ONE: "There are special combinations that qualify your for certain FBM offers"
(However, for some specialized titles, some users swear on their parent's graves that a specific profile might matter but this is highly debatable and unlikely... read posts to this thread for examples.)
>>>>BUZZER NOISE<<<<
Wrong! In general, there are no magic combos, just a couple of DUD profiles as reported by dozens of other experienced slick dealers. DUD profiles could be student profiles or Retired profiles. if you are a student and don't know what to pick, you may want to choose a profile that matches your part-time job, the last job you held or, the job you are educating yourself for. if you are retired, you might try creating a profile for your former profession.
Any legitimate combo should get you any mag if indeed there are subscriptions to be had. (This may not be true for a very few special mags, but it is true for the vast and overwhelming of them) It's best to stick with one profile that you find works well for you.
Not sure how to describe what it is that you do? Need a sample profile to look at? Well, here's one �and is an actual profile from my next-door neighbor:
Communications/Utlility
.....Radio/Broadcasting
..........Advertising/Sales
...............Avdertising
....................Account Manager
If you are a teacher this is one way to do the profile:
Education
.....Education
..........School/Library
...............Education
....................Educator
Okay ... now if this is your first try opening a FBM account, you will get a page which at the top SHOULD ideally show the mag you were hoping to get at the top of the page highlighted in yellow with a check next to the box.
EDIT 1/02/08 Lately due to a software change, you have to manually add the check yourself. If you see that, that's a good thing. That means you will get the magazine if you can make it through the next few hurdles.
If you are a returning client, you will have been prompted to put in your password before you get this screen. Again, if the mag you were hoping for is pictured at the top of the page - YOU WIN.. you get the sub. now proceed.
Next you will see all these other options and offers.
SAY NO TO ALL OF THEM. Make sure you check "No Thanks, or NO or "None of The above' to any and all questions.
DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO ACCEPT ANYTHING.. Not even the free sub to BabyTalk.. it will just side-track you with a bunch of qualifying questions.
SAY NO NO NO To Everything!! Do not say "Okay send a letter to Washington on my behalf. Do not say YES to any sweeps entries or email newsletter subscriptions.
KEEP SAYING NO! NO NO NO! Got it?? GOOD.
EDIT 2/07/06: Sometimes it is OK to say YES but only under very special circumstances. Please see the next post in this thread for the one time you can say YES. there isn't room here
You will also be asked to give the first letter of the State where you were born, the first letter of your dad's first name or some other piece of info which serves as an online signature that you are really you. Do it. You should not have to put the year of your birth if you followed my above instructions which were to SAY NO NO NO TO EVERYTHING! They only need that if you fell prey to the dumb offer for the Free career Kit. SAY NO and move on!
Say no no no, go to bottom of page click Submit.
If you are new, it will bring you to a page where you have to fill out your business addy and home addy. Fill them both out with the same address if you don't want to use your real business addy. You must put some business name and some phone number. I usually put my Area code plus all zeros. Then, under Alternate/Home address, I put my real address. It will ask you to enter a password too if this is your first time.
Remember, in the future, you will always be checking off 'SEND TO HOME ADDRESS" so it doesn't matter what business name you put. If you have no business just put in the word "Resident".
When you finish, check off 'Send to home address' and click submit.
You will get a confirming page showing where your mag sub is going and a button to click that says CONTINUE. Click it. That will bring you to a confirmation page that says THANK YOU... blah blah blah. Print that for your records.
You are done.
Now, next time you see a FREEBIZMAGS offer, click on the link � fill out your name, email and profile (which you have made note of somewhere I hope), hit enter, then enter password. IF YOU DON'T SEE THE MAG YOU WANTED AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE....
There are no more freaking subs - STOP THERE - DO NOT go on. If you go on, you risk accepting some dumb Trade Mags. Just because the link works and permits you to enter your info does not mean there are subs to be had. If you don't see the desired mag after you enter your password - No Mag Sub for you. Quit while you are ahead.
Class dismissed for now.
Next lesson:
What is that Akami Crap in front of the web address for FBM links?
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145 Comments
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Based on the business profile you've provided, we are unable to locate any applicable free, business magazine(s).
Click here to check out any consumer or paid business titles that may be of interest to you.
We are always adding new publications to our site. We will regularly check our files for you and we will send you an email when new magazines that fit your business profile have been added.
Click here if you do not want us to notify you by email. (Be sure to keep checking back with us to see if any new titles have been added that fit your business profile.)
SO what do I do NOW??
Communication/Utility
.....Radio/Broadcast
..........gen Mgmt
...............Admin
....................Acct mgr
You prolly tried to do Student other student or somesuch. Sometimes depending on the config of those choices, it hiccups and won't let you get anything
Thanks
Thanks
FOrget it!!! SWeet, I am in!!
click here:
http://www.slickdeals.
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You can click the link and see the page with the cover of the magazine, but that doesn't always mean it's still available.
You cannot get them to offer you the mag becuase those are old offers that are now dead. sometimes other sites keep posting old links long beyond the time that the offers have been identified as dead. Just becuase the link works and lets you sign into your FBM account doesn't mean the offer is still good.
The only way to tell is to see if they offer you the mag at the top of the first page after your Login, the one that says SELECT more magazines. If it's still valid, you will see the mag at the top of the page, a photo of the cover and a checkmark in a box next to it with a line highlighted in yellow.
If that ain't there, just get out of the page and move on to another offer. You gain nothing but dumb trade magazines by going further.
Does that answer your Q?
MYTH NUMBER ONE: "There are special combinations that qualify your for certain FBM offers" (However, for some specialized titles, it seems that profile might matter.. read posts to this thread for examples.)
>>>>BUZZER NOISE
Wrong! In general, there are no magic combos. Any combo should get you any mag if indeed there are subscriptions to be had. (This may not be true for some mags, but it is true for most of them) It's best to stick with one profile that you find works well for you. Don't like the "Other, Student, Other, Student, Student" option?? Well, try this one … it's easy to remember and looks fascinating and is an actual profile from my next-door neighbor:
"Their goal is to lure you in with the free Consumer Magazine offer and then, while you are signing up, get you to agree to receive one or more Trade Magazines".
It makes sense that they would offer a magazine to target a specific profession and then offer trade magazines related to that profession.
How can you say any combo can get you any mag and then in the very next sentence say that "this may not be true of all mags"? The biggest myths are the ones you are posting.
Wrong! In general, there are no magic combos. Any combo should get you any mag if indeed there are subscriptions to be had. (This may not be true for some mags, but it is true for most of them)
As far as my experience shows me and I have facilitated over 50 different people getting literally thousands of free subs via Freebizmags, there ARE NO MAGIC COMBOS but there are a couple of combos now that will not get you anything.
Both Mercury Mags and Freebizmags recently stopped offering consumer mags to people using the old standby Other-student-Other profile or any other permutation that revealed you did not in fact have a job. There is a good reason for that. They exist solely to qualify people for trade mags and then they get PAID for each QUALIFIED Trade mag applicant they snag. The free consumer mags are just a lure. They don't offer the "lure" anymore to students because.... (makes sense)..students aren't their target.
Let's just say they plugged up a loophole in their system and MOVE On.... Use any of the profiles I listed way earlier in this thread and you will get what you want. Once you have a working profile, Stick with it becuase it will not get you any more magazine if you change it.
This thread is meant to be read from front to back - if you have not done that, please do so now for a better understanding of Freebizmags. When new things happen, I update the original posts in front
Thanks
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Hmmm.... I will go do a "live" offer and report back to the class. My first guess is that you tried to request a mag that had no subs left and thusly, you would have had to select a trade mag to continue. DID it OFFER you tthe consumer mag too? If it DID offer you the consumer mag (such as VIBE..etc) and then STILL required you to select a trade magm that would constitute a major change.
let me investigate
Update
I just tried with a live FBM offer and NO, you do NOT have to accept ANY trade mags to continue IF you are offered the consumer mag. You will know you are getting the consumer mag if you see it highlighted in yellow at the top of the page. if that consumer mag does NOT appear, then just STOP RIGHT THERE. Only way to continue is to accept Trade mags and we don't do that.
Please go BACK to the beginning of this thread and reread the first few lessons which will explain how you know you are getting the consumer mag you want.
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