A few days ago I wrote a post on “Are Zip and Email Offers Worth It?“… to follow up to that post, I went to check out a couple of the latest email/zip offers out there. What I wanted to look at, was what they now require of a new subscriber to receive their prize. The offer in particular that I was looking at was the “Free LG Washer and Dryer“. Even without going through the form process (bypassing a million coregs and subpage offers), you can see what is required, by looking at the terms and conditions, which state:
“Eligible members can receive the incentive gift package by completing a survey and two sponsor offers from each of the TOP, PRIME and PREMIUM offer page options.”
So the next and most important question is… what exactly are the Top, Prime and Premium offers that you have to complete? The terms and conditions page also provides this information and shows the following offers for each section.
TOP OFFERS: (Quick & Cheap Offers)
- Netflix: Two-week trial period. Thereafter membership subscription costs a minimum of $8.99 per month, based on subscription selected, until you cancel your subscription.
- Onlingo: For free trial, pay $6.95 for shipping and processing to try kit for 14 days. If not cancelled during trial period, subsequent kits will be automatically shipped about every 30 days until cancelled for a discounted price of $69.95.
- Columbia House DVD: Buy 5 DVD’s for $0.49 each plus $1.99 shipping and processing per unit (if you buy an additional discount ($14.95) DVD, shipping is FREE). Buy 5 additional DVDs over the next year at prices as low as $19.95 or more plus shipping and processing. You may cancel at any time after doing so.
- Federal Grant Network: Pay $3.87 for the 10 day trial period of the Grant Consultant Kit and access to the directories and training. Thereafter you will automatically be billed a $49.95 reoccurring monthly fee for the Grant Consultant membership. You also receive membership to Network Agenda for forty days on a trial basis, after which you will be billed $23.88 per month for continued access. These programs can be canceled at any time during the trial period or anytime thereafter. Monthly membership fees will be billed to the credit card used by Member to complete the signup process unless/until Member cancels membership or changes billing method. You can call our Customer Service department if you wish to alter the terms of your membership agreement.
- Green Tea 1000: Free 10-day trial of Green Tea 1000 capsules; pay only $4.95 for shipping and handling. After 10-day trial, you will be enrolled in the “Value Direct Program”, where you will be sent a 60 day supply of Green Tea 1000 capsules every 60 days for the discounted price of $89.95 plus $4.95 for shipping and handling until you cancel.
- Purity Mineral: Register for a $1.00 trial of Purity by Mineral Science to receive a full two-month supply of the Purity Mineral Collection. You pay only for shipping and handling ($7.95) & the cost of the trial. You will have 14 days to evaluate the product. If you like the results you will be charged $59.99 at the end of your 14-day trial period, unless you cancel during the trial period. When you register for the trial offer, you will also receive a FREE membership in the Purity Beauty Club. That means 45 days after your sign up date you will be shipped a fresh two-month supply of Purity Mineral Foundation, Mineral All-Over Glow and Mineral Rice Finishing Powder. And so you don’t run out, you’ll continue to get a new shipment every 60 days for the discounted club price of $29.99. Cancel anytime. Please keep in mind, once the order is submitted, trial shipment cannot be cancelled. Trial charges are not refundable.
- Ivory White: Try a free one-week trial of Ivory White; you pay only $4.87 for shipping. After the ten-day trial period, you will be sent a month’s supply of Ivory White for $78.41 per month, unless you cancel.
- Experian: When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring. If you don’t cancel your membership within the 30-day trial period, you will be billed $12 for each month that you continue your membership.
This offer is not related to the free credit report that you are entitled to under Federal law. To obtain that free report, you must go to www.annualcreditreport.com.
- Myomed Pain Reliever: Try a 3 ounce tube of Myomed Cream for free; you pay only $3.97 for shipping and handling. Thereafter you will be sent a 3-ounce tube of Myomed cream each month for $59.95, plus $6.95 shipping and handling, until you cancel. You will also be added to a monthly newsletter and will be billed $4.95 once per month until you unsubscribe.
- Ultimate Green Tea: Try a free sample of Ultimate Green Tea; pay only $3.97 for shipping and handling. After 10 days you will be sent a month’s supply of Ultimate Green Tea once a month for $79.95 per month until you cancel.
- Overnight Genius: Membership subscription costs $78.41 plus $6.95 S&H per month. You will be charged the monthly fee after your trial period until you cancel.
- Disney Movie Club: As a Disney Movie Club member, all you need to do is buy 5 movies at regular Club prices in the next 24 months (starting at $19.95 per DVD), plus shipping and processing of $3.95 for the first title in each order, and $1.00 for each additional title in that same order. You may cancel your membership at any time after purchasing the 5 movies. By agreeing to purchase at least 5 regular-priced movies in the next 24 months, you qualify to receive 3 Disney DVDs of your choice from the list of titles currently available from the Disney Movie Club for $.99 each. Shipping and processing is free.
PRIME OFFERS: (Membership / Medium Cost)
- Cordiaburn: Try Cordiaburn for only $1. When you order the $1 Trial of Cordiaburn your credit card will be charged only $1 for a 1 Month Supply of Cordiaburn plus $4.95 shipping and handling for a total of $5.95. You will have 15 days from your original purchase date to decide if Cordiaburn is right for you. If you are enjoying Cordiaburn do nothing and at the end of your 15-day trial period you will be charged $38.95 for the bottle you received. If you find Cordiaburn is not right for you, simply return the unused portion within 30 days of original order date and you will not be charged. Approximately 30 days from your original purchase date and every 30 days thereafter you will be sent another fresh 1 month supply of Cordiaburn and your credit card on file will be billed the Member’s Only price of $39.95 plus $4.95 shipping and handling for a total of $44.90, until you cancel.
- Pimsleur Language Program: Try the Pimsleur Language Program free for 15 days; pay only $3.95 for shipping and handling. If you like the course, keep it and you will be charged $59 per month for 5 months.
- Gevalia Coffee: With the free trial, you will receive four 1/2 lb boxes of Gevalia Kaffe and a 12 Cup Programmable Stainless Steel Coffeemaker & Set of two Stainless Steel Travel Mugs. Thereafter the next shipment will arrive approximately one month later with the selections you chose for your initial shipment. After that, shipments will follow approximately every 6 weeks until you cancel your subscription. Prices of coffees and teas vary, ranging from $5.55-$7.45 per package. Prices of coffee and tea pods are $7.95 for Regular and $8.45 for Decaffeinated. You will be charged S&H.
- Investor’s Guide: Free CD and report pay only $4.95. You will also be enrolled in a free trial of the VIP Club Training and Insider Auction House discounted property lists for 14 days. Thereafter you will be charged $39.95 per month for access to these services until you cancel.
- Poster Pass: Get 4 posters for $2.00 each, plus $31.00 shipping. Each month, about 30 days after introductory order, you will be sent 2 posters and billed $44.00 until cancelled.
- Discover Miles Card: Requires signing up and being accepted for the card.
- Great Fun: Join Great Fun and try the service for the first month for $1. The $14.99 membership fee, or then-current monthly fee, will be billed automatically each month to your credit card, which cannot be a debit card, unless you call toll free during your 1-month trial to cancel. You can call any time to cancel your benefits and will not be billed for any additional months. The $10.00 ExxonMobil Cash Card is yours to keep.
Offer for U.S. residents only. If you enrolled in and cancelled a Great Fun membership within the preceding 60 days, this offer is not available and your enrollment will not be processed.
- Hoodia Water: Try a one-month supply of Hoodia Water for only $1 plus $4.95 for shipping and handling. You will have 20 days to try the product. 30 days after the original purchase date and every 30 days thereafter, you will be sent a fresh 1-month supply of Hoodia Water for the discounted price of $39.95 + $4.95 for shipping and handling until you cancel.
- Internet Career Kit: Pay a $1.97 setup fee for a 14-day trial of the eCommerce and Auction Management Platform. Thereafter you will be charged $69.95 per month for subscription to the service until you cancel.
- SeattleCoffeeDirect: Pay initial payment of $9 plus $25 one-time handling fee. Thereafter, you will be billed $12.50 for each 12-oz. bag of coffee, plus a shipping and handling fee until you cancel.
- Magazineburst.com: $27.00 for 5 one-year subscriptions. Thereafter annual subscription will be at the preferred rate then available until you cancel.
- Blockbuster: Your first month subscription will be for $9.99. Thereafter you will be charged $19.99 per monthly subscription until you cancel your membership.
- Discover: Requires signing up and being accepted for the credit card. No annual fee.
PREMIUM OFFERS (High End Purchases)
- Angel Beds: Make a purchase that is a minimum of $1500.00 before taxes and shipping costs. Keep beyond trial period of 90 days from receipt of item(s).
- Club Furniture: Make a purchase that is a minimum of $1500.00 before taxes and shipping costs. Keep beyond 30 days of receipt of item(s).
- Rail Europe: Requires purchase of a travel package for two with a minimum value of $899.00 per person.
- Round Square hosting: Requires purchase of a one-year platinum hosting package for $840.00.
As you can see from the listings, the higher level on the list, the more it’s going to cost you to complete an offer. The “Top” and “Prime” offers are all decent and not to extravagant, but the “Premium” offers at minimum will cost you, $1739, since you need to complete at least two of the four listed.
It would really be interesting to see the backend numbers on these campaigns, not only for how much they make off the massive amount of coregs and offers leading to the final offers page… but how many people only complete 1-5 of the offers out of the six that are required. I would imagine the amount of actual rewards they send out, is miniscule to the amount of leads they receive. Either way, it’s still a legitimate business with a very interesting concept. For any customer that was actually interested or in need of any of the “Premium Offers”, spending a few bucks more on the other TOP and PRIME offers to get a free washer and dryer isn’t a bad deal.
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Years ago when I first started making money online, I ran a few free stuff web sites and newsletters. To this day, thousands of people are still search for “free stuff” daily, and web sites are cashing in. Provide your web site visitors with the latest freebies and promotions available, while offering free/trial CPA offers in the process. You can also build up your web site by offering a daily newsletter or a forum for other members to list new freebies on the web.
In addition to running a free stuff web site, I also had plenty of contest and sweepstakes web sites. If you are more interested in cash prizes, games and lotteries, this may be the niche area for you. Just like in the “free stuff” market, you can offer CPA offers to your web site visitors.
There are many sites out there that have the concept of “get paid to….”. Usually the concept it to take surveys, but there is also a whole market for cash prizes and rewards. These type of networks are a lot like the email/zip offers, but usually have the option to complete more or less offers and not limiting you to specific prizes. There is a new site called ThisSiteIsForReal.com, and all they do is list a ton of CPA offers, and pay users a small percentage for completing them. Whatever they don’t pay to the person completing the offer, they profit from.
Blogs are one of the easiest ways to setup a new web site, which can focus on individual products or services. For instance, 
Reference back to the top post this blog post and how I said people are online to either find something or be entertained… in either case, you can be the resource for what they need! If you can provide a content service or something that brings people back to your site often, you have a winner. Instead of trying to sell a service or product, you can focus on selling advertising to your web site or blog. The repeat traffic to your web site will only increase with time and so will your ad dollars.
Provide to the people that are searching to make purchases online, by creating your own web store. It’s easy enough to setup a store with 
Whether you are currently working a 9-5 job, running your own business, or even just a student in school… you probably suck at doing a lot of things, which is probably why you aren’t doing them? 
If you are currently “sucking” at making money in a particular area, don’t stress yourself to death trying to make it work… there are so many alternative paths to online riches. As you dive into new marketing strategies, you will only continue to educate yourself and get better at this game. Making money online isn’t a one way street… don’t be afraid to take the path less traveled and try something different.