Save Money Hound

A saving money blog would be remiss in not covering a post on how to score free stuff and save money.

Today’s blog post reviews the book “Free Stuff Everyday Guide" by Mike Essex.  If you haven’t heard of Mike, then you’ve probably been living under a rock. Mike is well known for being the freebie guy, and he  certainly knows how to garner a freebie or two. In fact, according to his blog, he has reviewed over 350 products over a four year period.

That’s a pretty impressive track record and certainly puts him in the category of being an authoritative figure on his subject matter.

Mike, aka Freebieman or also known as “Blagman” has received countless publicity for his freebie efforts and has been interviewed by USA Today, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC News, and The Times to name a few.

I enjoyed Mike’s friendly and informative style. Though the book amounts to 150 pages, it is an easy read to follow and understand the strategies that he talks about through his book.

Who is this Book for?

This book is for anyone who would like to score free products. Regardless of your circumstances, whether you are in a day job, a blogger, or run a website, there are many different ways that you can use to score free products. In return, you need to write a review, or offer to the company something of value.

What I liked about this Book

Some of the key points in Mike’s book that I found important to note were:

Anyone Can Score a Freebie

Your average Joe Blow may not have even though about scoring a freebie. Or may think that it’s more in the realm of a pop star or celebrity to be given free products, and not something within their reach.

However, Mike challenges one to rethink their mindset. He conveys the point that anyone, whatever your circumstances can secure a freebie, if you take the right steps when approaching companies for free products. In fact, he goes on to say, that most companies as they about their day to day operations,are used  to giving out freebies, and want people to try their products and to increase brand exposure of their products.

Unique Service Proposition (USP)

The USP comes up time and time, whether you run a business and need to define and convey your USP to your prospects and customers. Or whether you are on the other side of the fence, and are someone like yourself or myself, looking to score a freebie product, you’ll need to craft a unique USP to stand out from the crowd.

Creating a Persona

Creating a persona to assist with your USP was something that I found rather interesting. Whether you love dealing with people, or a wallflower, creating a persona can be a very helpful strategy to apply in making contact with companies to ask for free products.

There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

That’s true….that in life, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Mike talks about what you need to do to add value, and the different ways in that you can add value.

What I Didn’t Like

There wasn’t really much that I didn’t like about this book. It met my expectations and is an invaluable resource on how to get free stuff everyday.

Although, as I was reading through the book (in pdf version), I noticed that there were some minor typos and sentences that didn’t quite read right. I am hoping that this will all be ironed out, in his next edition which has gone to print.

For anyone wanting to learn how to score free products, this would rate as one to have by your side for reference. Mike is innovative in his approach to scoring free products, and his experience certainly comes through in the advice that he gives in his book.

If you’re thinking about entering the world of freebie products and services, I would suggest that you read this invaluable resource first. You can learn from Mike’s mistakes and the experience that he has built up over the years, so that you can learn how to score your own freebies.

If you are interested in Mike’s Book, visit the following link: