A Guide to Online Freebie Trading - Technical Setup

By now you should be well on your way to your first freebie trade. If not, and you stumbled upon this article first please see my other guides titled "The Truth about Freebie Sites" and "A Guide to Freebie Trading - Method 1" to learn more about the business. In this issue I will discuss in detail how to successfully complete offers for Method 1 trading so you can get paid.

This is by far the most important part of trading in Method 1. I can not stress enough how important it is to have your internet browser set up properly to get credit for the offers you are going to complete.

Freebie sites and their advertisers provide offers for people to complete to get credit on the IFW. In Method 1 as described in the "A Guide to Freebie Trading - Method 1" you must complete a required amount of offers on any given IFW (the number of offers needed varies) to receive credit and be eligible to be paid by your trader. The offers are tracked by cookies (no, not the yummy, chewy kind with chocolate chips) but the digital kind. Most browsers are set up by default to block cookies from untrusted sites, this does not mean you can not trust the IFW's, it just means your browser does not recognize them as trusted.

First things first, you can not use an Internet Service Provider (ISP) who uses a proxy server, if you are unsure please contact your ISP, I can tell you for sure that AOL uses proxies, so you will not be able to trade if you have them. A proxy is a server that filters multiple Internet connections through a server and then out to the Internet. It changes or masks the IP (Internet Protocol) address of your computer, thereby making it impossible for the IFW to track your progress. Next you must set up your browser to accept all cookies and to allow pop ups (I know pop ups are annoying but they are a necessary evil in this business and you can always re-enable them when you are not trading). I recommend that you use the Firefox browser, you can download it here if you do not already have it, it is free. To accept all cookies in Firefox go to Tools>Options>Privacy>check "Accept Cookies from Sites". To allow pop ups go to Tools>Options>Content>uncheck "Block Pop-up Windows". Now you are ready to start trading.

There are a few more steps however to ensure successful crediting. Once you have chosen a trader to work with, they will set up the trade on FLR in the Trade Manager and send you a link to the IFW with their referral number. First, go to the Trade Manager, this can be found by clicking on the button on the navigation bar on any page of FLR that says "TRADE MANAGER". Once the trader has set up the trade, you will see it in the "Trades Awaiting Confirmation" section in the Trade Manager. To confirm click on the number on the left side, once the page loads with the trade information click on the "Confirm Trade" link near the top. Look for the appropriate trade in the page that loads and click "Confirm". Now you are ready to trade. Go back to your private messages and click on the link your trader sent you to sign up at the IFW. Make sure that you see your trader's referral number somewhere on the page, usually above the sign up form. Now enter your e-mail adress and click the appropriate button. This will take you to a page for more information. Always use accurate information and follow all the steps they give you.

Once you have completed registration you can enter the IFW site and begin browsing the offers, which you should have already looked at and Identified the ones you would like to sign up for.

This next step is very important. Before you complete any offers you will need to log out of the IFW and clear all your cookies and cache. To do this go to Tools>Options>Privacy>near the bottom right click on the "Clear Now" button, make sure cookies and cache are both checked and click "OK". Now re-log in to the IFW, go to the Offers page again and click on the offer you want to complete. Make sure that you always allow the pages to load completely before clicking on anything so as to not disrupt the cookies, they can be very sensitive. Always read the Terms and Conditions on the offers to make sure you understand exactly what you are signingup for, there is usually a lot of fine print. If the Terms and Conditions load in a pop-up then you can go ahead and complete the offer from the main page that you were initially directed to. Always use accurate information and a valid credit card. Please note that you are not allowed to use a prepaid credit card of a Paypal credit of debit card...your bank debit card is okay to use. If the Terms and Conditions load in the same window as the offer page, copy them into a word processor or notepad and close the window, log out of the IFW and clear your cookies and cache again. Do not use your browser's back button. Now re-login again and go back to the offer and complete it with accurate information. It is important that you leave the window open on the confirmation page for at least five minutes to allow for proper crediting. Once about five minutes has passed you can close the window. If you need to complete more than one offer you can go ahead and proceed, following all the previous steps again. It is very time consuming, but by following these guidelines exactly you will avoid completing offers and not getting credit, and you will make more money in the end by completing the least amount of offers possible.

It is important to note that you must try the trial offer for the entire trial period. Do not cancel early or your account of the IFW will not be credited and if you have been paid by your trader you will have to give the money back. Just mark your calender for the date, either the exact number of days in the trial or at the most a day or two early and cancel it then. This method will ensure that you have fullfilled your obligation and will receive credit for the offer.

I can not stress enough how important it is to follow the technical guidelines I have outlined. Many new traders rush into this and do not follow the instructions. They in turn do not get credit and end up spending more money than they are making. This will turn into frustration and they eventually quit. It is important for you to know that although you can make a few quick dollars in Method 1, you will only begin to make a decent amount of money once you move on to Method 2, paying for referrals, just as your trader is paying you.

The next lesson will be titled "A Guide to Online Freebie Trading - Method 1 and a half" where I will discuss the method of trading referral for referral.