Free Stuff Everyday: How Customers And Companies Can Unlock The Power of Freebies [Kindle Edition]

This book was an eye opener but it took me time to realise it. The start was either too basic for me or contained unnecessary advice (e.g. creating a persona) but some people will find that information useful so it has a place in the book. Things for me started getting interesting about 25% of the way through the book.

And that is the nature of this book - you are looking for the diamonds in the rough. What will help one person will be irrelevant to you, and vice-versa. Occasionally you come across a nugget of information which really helps you.

As I read further I realised that actually the slow start to the book is indicative of the author's approach - he goes above and beyond the call of duty. He hasn't simply hammered out a book in order to sell it, putting in the bare minimum of effort. Quite the contrary - he shares tips and advice to help you emulate his success, and when you think he's given you enough he gives you some more.

There's a good little snippet on the ability of emails to be misinterpreted (location 1014 on the Kindle) ['We will review any product we are sent for free' implying that the products will be returned. He changes the wording to make it clear, politely, that products will not be returned].

Of course, what you receive isn't truly free - there is a price, and that price is your time in writing the review.

I loved this paragraph of the book: 'Contrary to popular belief, walking into a shop and asking to be give something for nothing is not the best method of getting freebies'. Popular belief? I would have thought it dead obvious that doing that is a quick route to being asked to leave the shop to the sound of laughter. (That doesn't reflect badly on the author - I assume that people have suggested this method to him, or assumed that this is what he does).

A few comments about the Kindle version:
* Pressing the 5-way controller right or left normally skips to the next/previous chapter respectively. It does not work on this e-book.
* I tried to get around that by using the 'Go To' menu, accessing the 'Table of Contents' and using the links there to skip to my chosen chapter. You can't because there is no 'Table of Contents'. The only option is to skip to the start, end or a location. The latter is clumsy as it involves guessing.
* If you use this book to set up a website then you will use it as a reference book so the ability to skip chapters as above is essential.

It's a good book, and the price of the Kindle version is a bargain. I look forward to reading the author's second book.

Edit 12/4/12: I have since kindly been informed that the Chapter Skip function now works (see 'Comments' below).

There's no such thing as a free lunch. You can't get something for nothing. While that may be true, that doesn't mean that you have to pay for everything. Especially when bartering is actually a much better option.

Free Stuff Everyday states that there are plenty of businesses that will provide free products and services. However, there is always a catch. These places will want something in return such as free promotion. Therefore, the key to getting free stuff is figuring out what these businesses want in return and providing that.

Of course, getting free stuff isn't as easy as it sounds. You can run around looking for free products and get scammed or you can get organized, do some research, and make a plan. Long term, you are going to need to focus and know what you want so that you can spend your energies in the right places.

I have to confess, I hate self help/self improvement/change your life type books with a passion and only decided to give this book a go because it was offered free on Amazon, and was about getting things for free... who doesn't like free stuff?

So as I started reading, I was expecting to scoff and sneer at every word. My apologies, Mr. Essex.

To begin with I was not convinced, I thought it seemed a little too much like stating the obvious but out of sheer curiousity I stuck with it and became very interested in what the author was suggesting. I read the whole thing and I do think a lot of it made sense and it has given me some ideas. Whether or not I find time to properly put them in to practice I do not know but I am considering trying.

I shall upgrade this review to five stars and tell EVERYONE I know about this book if I manage to get anything free as a result of it. If not, it was an interesting read that I paid absolutely nothing for so can't really grumble!