FREEBIES TO HELP GROW YOUR ONLINE PROFITS

Like the Best Things in Life, Some of the Best Business Software is FREE!

By Jim Turner

Here's a quick way to increase your bottom line: get for FREE the business software and other computer-related items you've been paying for. Legally! On the Internet, many companies give away products for free in order to promote other products for which they charge. Or they give things to you for free, but you get advertising messages along with them. In either case, the key word here is FREE.

Here's where to find the deals.

Free Access

Until recently, if you wanted free Internet access, your best bet was a visit to the public library. The Tritium Network, http://www.tritium.com is changing that. Available in a growing number of cities around the country, this service offers completely free Internet access to those who don't mind seeing advertising scrolling across the bottom of their screens while they're online and who are willing to answer a monthly survey about their buying habits. Considering the price, that may no seem like such a hassle.

Free With This Ad

A number of companies offer free Web-based email accounts. Among them are
Hotmail, http://www.hotmail.com,
NetAddress, http://www.netaddress.com,
and RocketMail, http://www.rocketmail.com.
Juno, http://www.juno.com, requires a modem but not an Internet connection.
One of the latest to enter the Web-mail arena is email giant
Eudora, http://www.eudora.com.

Be forewarned: You'll see plenty of online advertising as you peruse your mail.

Free Browsing, Free Mailing

Your most important pieces of online software are your Web browser and your email program. In addition to the email programs we mentioned above, Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and email, http://www.microsoft.com, have been free from day one. Netscape http://www.netscape.com, finally got the message and began offering its Communicator package (browser and email) for free several months ago.

Visit the Eudora site mentioned earlier, and you can download a free copy of Eudora Light. While this package doesn't offer all the bells and whistles of Eudora Pro, it's more than adequate for the typical email user and may have all the capabilities your business needs.

Free Space

Looking for a place to put up your own Web site? Check out either GeoCities http://www.geocities.com or Tripod http://www.tripod.com. Both companies offer limited free Web space with a catch - visitors to you site see advertising.

Free Registration

Once you get your Web site up and running, you need to make sure people can find it. So don't forget to register your site. Virtually all major search engines, including

Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com
Lycos http://www.lycos.com,
Excite http://www.excite.com, and
Alta Vista http://www.altavista.digital.com, allow you to register you new site for free.

Or if you prefer, drop by Site Owner http://www.siteowner.com, where you can submit your home page to seven popular search engines simultaneously at no charge.

While you're there, go ahead and use the free Site Inspector. With on click of the button, you can put your home page through a series of tests that cover spell checking, identification of dead links, and more.

Free Services

Of course, there's more to the Internet than the Web and email. Depending on your online habits, you may need extra programs for FTP (file-transfer protocol, for moving files), Telnet (for accessing remote computers), Usenet newsgroups (for subscribing to discussion groups on particular topics), Finger (for locating someone online), other Net services. Visit TUCOWS http://www.tucows.com, and explore one of the largest online archives of Internet-related freeware and shareware, including virus scanners, Web publishing, and design tools, mail filters, and more.

Free Right Now

If you and an associate are both online and running the same instant-messenging software, the software lets both of you know that the other is online. So, you can get that fax sent to you right away - or you can negotiate with a family member in almost real time about who's making dinner tonight.

One of the most popular programs in this category is Instant Messenger from America Online http://www.aol.com, which is free to AOL members but works only for your friends and associates also on AOL.

Several Internet portal sites, like Yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com and Netscape's NetCenter http://www.netcenter.com, however offer free instant- messenging software to anyone with an Internet connection.

Free Faxing

If you find yourself on the road with important information to fax but no fax machine in sight, visit Faxaway http://www.faxaway.com. This service allows you to fax a document from you email account no matter where you are. First-tjme users get their first fax for free, and if you decide to sign up, you get an additional $5 credit. If you're faxing within the United States, that translates to about 20 faxed pages.

Free Your Schedule

One of the problems with personal information managers (PIMs) is that if you're at your first meeting and forget the address of the second, you have to go home to your computer to retrieve it. And if you put it in you notebook computer, you have to worry about keeping two machines up-to-date. The ideal solution may be to put your appointments and to-do list on the Web, where you can get at them no matter where you happen to be. You can do that - for free - by visiting WebCal http://www.webcal.com. This site lets you maintain your own personal information, so no one else can access it, and also browse a calendar of major public events and add those to your schedule, too. You can even sync your WebCal information with Microsoft Outlook or you PalmPilot.

For a similar service that includes nline contact management, check out PlanetAll http://www.planetall.com.

Free Stuff

You need a gift for your mom, you need to thank your best contacts you need to do it right now? Check out Free-Stuff http://www.free-stuff.com. you'll find information on all sorts of free online goodies, such as gift certificates and coupons.

There you have it. Tap into these freebies and increase your bottom line!

Jim is the administrator of http://www.webprofitsource.com and publisher of WebPROFIT Tips Newsletter.
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