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Mythbusting Thread : The Truth about Freebizmags (& Mercury Mags too) and Sponsored Sub Giveaways!
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:
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?
Myths Busted! Ballons Burst! Check it out!
But before all that, here's a brief warning dated November 5, 2011:
|
Quote
:
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] |
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?
Created 06-13-2005
at 06:15 PM
by Nuala'sMom
If you purchase something through a post on our site, Slickdeals may get a small share of the sale.
Community Wiki
Last Edited by Nuala'sMom
August 23, 2011
at
10:55 AM
For the OTHER Mythbusting thread, go here to the sadly archived thread on REWARDS GOLD which used to be MAG CENTRAL. Sadly, it has now been archive but there's good and detailed info there. Please look it up when you are done reading this!
Mythbusting MagCentral (now RewardsGold) plus all about free mag sub offers how they work and why
http://archive.slickde
http://archive.slickde
Thanks Ganglia for updating the link back in March 2010
Mythbusting MagCentral (now RewardsGold) plus all about free mag sub offers how they work and why
http://archive.slickde
http://archive.slickde
Thanks Ganglia for updating the link back in March 2010
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Getting Links in your email from Freebizmags:
Myth Number one:
Usually, the links FBM sends are valid. By "Valid" we mean, you clicky on da linky, it takey you to a pagey showing that therer is an offer for the magaziny. That's all. no guarantee that there will actually be any subs to be had. Sometimes Freebizmags sends links that have subscriptions to give and sometimes they don't.
Here's how to tell if there are actaully any subs to be had:
If you enter your name, email profile and password and you are brought to a page that shows the magazine you were trying for and allows you to put a checkmark in the box next to the magazine's name… GOOD FOR YOU! YOU WIN! Proceed as advised above by saying NO NO NO to every other offer until you get to the Confirmation page for the Consumer Mag which you should print for your records.
If you DON'T see the mag you were hoping for after you put in yourt profile - QUIT NOW. The only thing you will get by going on is Trade Magazines. Same goes for if they show you the magazine but don't allow you to check it off. If that's the case, that means no more subs to be had.
EDIT 2/07/06: New Info:
The only time you can say YES is if Freebizmags itself is offering you another free sub. For example, recently, they have offered add-on free subs to Esquire & SmartMoney. When they do this, it is always on the second survey page and at the top. You can tell they are from FBM becuase it will say something like " This sub has been purchased on your behlaf by verteran's Advantage (or some other company)" You can say YES to those, but you must say NO to thing like High on taste, those win $10 offers from Bizrate, offers for American Baby or BabyTalk subs and any other dumb thing they throw at ya. The reason for saying no is that if you say yes, it diverts you to yet more pages of BS questions and could trip you up. SO, in summary - if they offer you another free sub at the top of page 2 and it's clearly and FBM offer, Okay, say yes. Everything else - NO NO NO NO!.....back to original lesson....
Now, sometimes FBM will send out a new linky that has subs to offer, but just a few. In fact, it's always a good idea to jump on any offer you get in your email from FBM cuz … the good mags go fast. Also, FBM sends different links to different folks, so check Slick Deals every time you sign on and jump on any new FBM offer cuz.... The good mags go fast.
So.......
JUST BECAUSE THEY SEND THE LINK DOESN'T MEAN THERE ARE SUBS TO BE HAD.
Next topic:
That Akami stuff....
A typical Freebizmag link sent via email looks like this:
http//a388.g.akamai.net/7/388/ blah blah blah and so on until you see the actually address which is:
www.freebizmag.
You can safely cut out ALL THE CRAP before the succinct FBM link before you post it to Slick Deals.
WHY?
Cuz the Akami junk identifies the person the link was sent to and is unnecessary. Another FBM Myth that some FBM Addicts believe is that the Akami junk affects whether or not they offer you more mags in the future. That's crap - total crap. The akami letters and numbers are part of a message to their servers to divert traffic. CUT THEM OUT - you don't need them. In fact, it's better to cut them out. So everything between the "Http//" & the "www" can be cut.
End of this lesson.
Then, you mentioned you used the Education...Teacher combo.
The offer finally appeared, I signed up and I'm currently receiving the sub. Thank you for that, by the way.
So please understand when I respectfully disagree about combinations not mattering. In that case, it did.
2-2-08: Experience has shown me that at least nowadays, it matters not one whit what you choose as your profile so why not just choose the one that reflects what it is you really do? If you don't work, open an account for your spouse and use their real info. Making up a profile is something a lot of people choose to do but it makes no difference in the end. Not one bit. Honest.
Anyone with anything to add, even if it's in disagreement, please feel free. Please base your comments on your own experiences though like Netade did so we can separate the wheat from the chaff.
I keep a log of all the freebizmags subs I apply for and I print a copy of all the confirmation pages which I keep in a folder. When the first issue arrives, I note the date it came plus the date my sub expires. Then, I sign up for the mag again the next time the offer comes around using my Hubbies FBM account and I check off "Home Address" as where it should be sent. By the time HIS first issue arrives, my sub is getting ready to expire in a few months. I then call Customer service, have them combine his sub with mine and VIOLA … instant renewal.
Of course, you could just sign up your spouse up at their work addy as the same time you sign up and once you each get your first issue, then you can call and have them combined. Then you'll have a 23 month sub. I do that too if I don't think the mag offer will come up again. This borders on freebie bogarting so let your conscience be your guide. I prefer using the first method mentioned as being more honest.
update 7/11/06: NOTE - Several magazines have gotten hip to this and will not let you combine 2 subs you got on the same day from FBM but this seems to be limited to the same name. If you have your spouses account and sign them up via that account and then call saying "My hubby and I don't really need separate copies, can I combine them?" if they say no, just say "we'll keep our separate subs thanks.". Don't push it. Pushy freemag hounds often screw this up and get one sub canceled. Lesson, don't be greedy farkers.
New info 7/11/06: You should keep track of who sponsors your FBM subs such as:
Computer Associates
Veteran's Advantage
Mypoints
Spectra
Snapfish
Malaria No More
Fandango
If you got a free sub for VIBE from a Veteran's Advantage sponsored FBM offer and a Fandango sponsored VIBE offer pops up, do it!
Why?
If the two sponsors are not the same, FBM will often process that order no problem and you will get a year added on to your current sub. I've done this successfully many times.
Kiddies, this is why we should ALWAYS list the name of the sponosor when posting FBM offers. The links may get recycled but if the sponsor changes, it's like a new offer
I know FBM claims that they will let you know when your subs are gonna expire and that they will send you renewal offers but...
THEY DON'T!
So, don't believe 'em. It's another FBM Myth.
Then, you mentioned you used the Education...Teacher combo.
The offer finally appeared, I signed up and I'm currently receiving the sub. Thank you for that, by the way.
So please understand when I respectfully disagree about combinations not mattering. In that case, it did.
From my personal experience with FBM, the Student profile has been successful for anything I've wanted to get from them (while conveniently eliminating any offers of trade mags).
I would encourage anyone who finds the Student profile unsuccessful but then finds another profile to be succesful for the same URL to please post:
1) what consumer magazine was offered
2) what the successful combination was
3) the length of time between when Student was found to be unsuccessful and when the other combination was found to be successful (to rule out or support the possibility that FBM may increase its subscription limit)
Thanks for starting this thread, Nuala'sMom--you were quite thorough!
Hopefully together we can all figure out what goes on behind the curtain over at FBM!
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Hopefully together we can all figure out what goes on behind the curtain over at FBM!
Some peeps might have better things to do with their time than analyze the mysterious ways of FBM.. but not me! I envision a future we all our mag subs are free and we can get whatever mags we want! I can dream, can't I?
In the meantime, lets all help as many Slick Dealers as we can get whatever mags FBM has to offer!
BIG THANKS to one and all who have ever helped a fellow Slick Dealer figure out the vagueries of FBM!
And, just to give you a little more hope, allow me to regale you with THIS bizarro factoid regarding FBM.
Waaaaaay back in October of 2004, I signed up for American Heritage from them. I got the confirmation page and everything - printed it out even. Now, nobody I know ever got their Ameerican heritage subs and soon after I signed up, the Link wnet No Wokry. So, I figured I prolly wasn't ever gonna get my sub.
Whattaya think arrives in my mailbox last friday? Yep.. my very first issue of American Heritage! Bwahahaha.
It was the July 05 issue and I signed up in October 04. It says my Sub Ends in just 4 issues, so I'm gonna have to call 'em up.. but that was probably the longest I ever had to wait for a mag from a FBM offer. Gee maybe GOLF TIPS will actually show up next! I signed up for that in November 04.
Freebizmags - lord love 'em, they do keep us on our toes, don't they?
How can we get thread this turned into a sticky?
This clears up a lot for me. I didn't get in on the Advocate subscription. Now, I know it's because they were out of them, not because my profile wasn't gay enough. lol
And, I'll quit wasting my time signing in under multiple profiles when I don't qualify for something.