There have been more changes in the freebie industry over the last few weeks than I've seen since I began Freebie Trading. There has been a lot of talking, confusion, misunderstandings and frustrations. Many of you guys that read my blog aren't freebie traders, and if you are in this category, much of this won't apply to you, but you can still read 🙂

If you have done anything in the Freebie Industry, there is a big chance that you've heard of Project Payday. Project Payday is the site that got me going in the freebie industry. I'd never heard of Freebies before coming to their website.

This is the way the system has worked (at least since I started). Project payday gets A LOT of traffic. When people sign up at Project Payday, they get training information and are then directed to the Freebie forums where they can start trading. Up to this point, Project payday directed most of their traffic to The Free Lunch Room and a smaller amount to Anything4Free.

This has been the driving force of Freebie Trading via Freebie Forums. It was a great system. You register at the forums, get familiar with the system and referrals almost seem to find you (if you know what you are doing). The system was so ideal that it has caused many people to become lazy, sit back, relax and watch the money as it enters into their PayPal accounts. It has come to such an extreme that freebie site owners have let their entire business depend on these Freebie Forums.

On Wednesday, Project Payday made some changes that have caused ripples throughout the entire industry. Instead of directing their traffic (which is significant) to FLR and A4F, they started a new program called the Fast First Training. In this program, their new members are directed to making their first $50 with Kelly Martin. Evidently, she has managed PPD's customer support for over two years and is the expert trader that newbies will work with.

After trading with Kelly, newbies are then directed to a new forum called Net Income Solutions (NIS). NIS is a forum that was founded by Zollie Ferrell, one of PPDs first members. I remember watching a video of Zollie when I first started with PPD, where he was talking about his success as a Freebie Trader. I remember being impressed by him and his Mentoring website. Actually, it was when I saw his Mentoring website that I decided to build mine. I was impressed with the content of his site (but not his design) and thought I could do one like it (but with a better design).

Now here's the catch – You are ONLY allowed to use His Freebie Sites – Z Best Freebies. Also, in order to be a VIP member at the forum, you have to go green on all 10 of his sites. When I first read this I thought to myself: “These guys are CRAZY. They ONLY care about making money!” To put it mildly, I was quite upset. I thought to myself that they are basically looking out for themselves.

However, I continued to do my research to try to see if I could understand the logic (if any) behind this shift. Now although I do NOT agree with everything that they have done, I do understand the logic. PPD and NIS are responding to some serious issues that are prevalent in the Freebie Industry – issues that I have always been aware of.

Here are some of the issues:

1. The rapid proliferation of Freebie Sites. Since Freebie Sites came on the scene, many more have been popping up left and right. This might seem like a good thing at first, and to a certain extent, it can be. However, the problem that arise is that along with good sites, more and more crappy sites keep coming up, which can have a negative effect on the industry.

2. Outrageous promotions. All freebie traders like promotions. Many times, this can result in a significant amount of money above what is normally expected. In 2008, I received thousands of dollars in promotions, in addition to a Free Ipod Touch and 40 inch Flat Screen TV. I really enjoyed those prizes. However, what was beginning to happen was kind of ridiculous. Promotions started becoming the norm rather than the exception. In addition to that, sites were trying so hard to compete with promotions that other sites were having that it was starting to affect the sites negatively (in my opinion). When these promotions increase too much, one of the results of this is that credit values decrease and that is just not a good thing.

3. Free greens. This has also become an extreme. Instead of working to go green on sites (which is what drives the industry), greens are given away on such a regular basis, that it was becoming easy to get into the industry without doing the work that was necessary for the industry to continue thriving.

My interpretation is that PPD is trying to respond to this in the best way they know how, while flexing the Freebie Muscle and taking more control over the industry. To a certain extent, I understand where they are coming from and although I do not agree with everything they've done, I did know that SOMETHING had to be done to ensure the long-term survival of the industry. I can identify with some of what they are doing.

The main problem I have with what they are doing is the fact that they only allow Zollie's sites. That seems a bit extreme to me.

What this means for the average Freebie Trader

If you are an experienced trader who wants to continue with the PPD system and Net Income Solutions, you will have to use Z Best Freebies as your freebie sites. They also promote A4F, but quite frankly, I don't see how A4F is going to get a significant amount of New traders from PPD with the layout that PPD has. You have to do some searching in order to find info about A4F at PPD. In order to use Z Best Freebies, you will have to go green on their sites. For traders who have exhausted their offer choices, it would be hard to start over, but I have spoken to some who have done it successfully.

If you wish to trade at Freebie Forums with other Freebie Sites, you will have to stick to using FLR, A4F or one of the other Freebie Sites. PPD's changes has affected freebie forum traffic. However, the Freebie Forum owners are working on measure to get traffic from other sources. If this is successful, the other forums will continue to thrive and the industry will continue with several different options.

What this means for The Freebie Guy

I will not only continue with what I am doing, but will also continue expanding. I've learned that it is not good to rely on any one forum, site or individual to drive traffic to my sites. In my opnion, you should take your success into your own hands and not be passive in your approach to whatever business you are involved with (online or off-). Unless something changes, I most likely won't be using NIS or ZBF. Part of the reason is because I really don't like the design. I'm sorry, but I dabble in website design and that's a huge thing for me, lol. However, that is not the only reason. Because I've gone green on so many sites, it would be EXTREMELY difficult for me to green on his sites. Also, I work with GREAT sites right now and don't change sites easily, unless there is a GREAT reason for me to do so. I like to stick with what I know works.

My goal is not just to make money with freebies and help others do the same, it is to go beyond freebies and continue establishing additional income streams. My focus here is providing you with information that you can use to be successful in what you are doing. In the future you will see me including a number of resources that can help people succeed online.

My Recommendations to you

  1. Do not panic. Educate yourself on the changes and decide on what you think would be the next logical step. Read about what PPD and NIS have to offer and compare this to the other forums.
  2. Diversify, diversify, diversify. If you only have ONE income source and something happens to it, that will affect you negatively. Don't stick to one forum or one method of getting referrals. Also, don't stick to just freebies. Once you have a good handle on the freebie industry, start adding other online projects to your portfolio. It pays off if you do it well.

So what do you think about all the changes that are happening? I would LOVE to know 🙂

About the Author Leslie Samuel


Leslie Samuel a business coach for high-performing entrepreneurs. As the host of the Leslie Samuel Show, he teaches how to build an online business. "Changing the world one post at a time” is the mission he strives towards. As a former university professor, he has a passion for education. He's the founder of Interactive Biology, a blog and YouTube channel dedicated to making biology fun for students and teachers. As the head of training for the Social Media Marketing Society, he helps social media marketers get the training they need to stay on the leading edge of social media.

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