What is an Alexa Ranking?

First, what is an alexa ranking?  It is a ranking based on traffic to your site compared with traffic to other sites.  That is the simple explanation.  They use data from people who have an Alexa toolbar and “other, diverse traffic data sources” to come up with the ranking for your page.  (For a more detailed explanation, please visit the Alexa page directly: http://www.alexa.com/help/traffic-learn-more.)

Alexa rankings are a bit counter-intuitive.  Unlike Google page rank, where you want a higher number, with Alexa you want a LOWER number.  For example, a site with a rank of 89,887 is receiving a lot more quality traffic than a site with a rank of 2,345,678.  Alexa says a site with a rank of less than 100,000 is reliable.  You can find different numbers and opinions all over the internet.  And for those of you who are interested, I’m not quite under 100,00 yet…my rank is at the bottom of my page on all my sites. 

For those just starting out, DO NOT PANIC if your rank is horrible.  For a new website with all new content and no links in, your ranking is going to be horrible.  It will improve, provided you do the things that make a good site.  Publish often.  Publish accurate information.  Keep your site organized (aka- delete junk links people may leave).  Find and use reputable blog directories. 

If you've visited the freebie trading page recently, you my have noticed I moved my affiliate link for Calistyle to the bottom of the page.  I am also going to be upfront and honest and tell you that I no longer have a silver membership there.  There are few reasons for this.

1) The basic membership is free.  I DO NOT recommend that you upgrade to silver.  I have broken exactly even the last three months, which is a waste of time, in my opinion.  I can spend my time doing other things that actually make money.

2) The silver membership is $9.95 every single month.  And there are ridiculous rules on contacting new people.  Not to mention rules on which links you can post in your threads. 

3) There are a few traders who seem to get all of the business- they spend hours each day on the site responding to topic threads and other things.  If you want to put that much time into it, feel free.  I will not recommend it, however. 

4) This is not Calistyle's fault, but nevertheless, it is a fact of the community.  There are a few very rude, active people, who I get tired of.  You can't post in the huddle box without someone making a rude comment.  My mentor warned me about this person.  I'm not going to waste my time dealing with rude people. 

5) There is another site in which I also have a good rating.  Referral Swapper.  Basic membership to this site is also free.  But if you do want to upgrade, it is a flat one-time free of $10.  And you can offer trades to other members instead of having to wait for someone to come asking you if you want to trade. 
Link for that site: http://www.referralswapper.com/?r=20402

OF COURSE, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A MEMBER OF EITHER OF THESE SITES TO DO A TRADE WITH ME.  I WILL PAY THE AMOUNT LISTED ON THE "CASH TODAY!" THREAD IF YOU SIGN UP USING MY REFERRAL LINK AND COMPLETE THE OFFER TERMS.  Notice the writing in red, I can't pay you if you are outside the allowed area to sign up for the site.  I can't pay you if you don't complete the offer.  I used to give advances, but not a single person I've given an advance to has ever completed the offers, so I no longer do that. 

When you first start out with freebie trading, you will probably hear people say they have "gone green" or ask you if you have "gone green on site XXX".

But what is going green?  As stated in "What is Freebie Trading," you make an agreement with another person: they will pay you, for example, $25 for completing the offer(s) on a certain site.  What this means, is that when you have completed the offer(s), you have now gone green.

Here is an example of a site with offers (DO NOT JOIN VIA THIS LINK...YOU WILL NOT GET PAID IF YOU COMPLETE OFFER(S) VIA THIS LINK).  http://videogames.git-r-free.com/view_offers.php

As you can see, there are some offers that are 100% of the credit needed, and others that are 50%, 34%, or even 10% credit.  To "go green" you must complete a total of 100% of offers.  When you've completed 100%, you have now "gone green" and will be paid by the person you made the agreement with!
Congrats!  You're on your way to being a freebie trader!

There are a few rules to keep in mind when completing offers:

READ THE FINE PRINT...most offers are a great chance to try a new product for a small price.  But some offers have re-stocking fees, extremely short trials that you need to keep track of, or other fees.  These will all be listed in the fine print.

Do not sign up for an offer and immediately cancel it without trying it first.  THIS IS OFFER FRAUD.  You will not be paid, will have to pay back any money you were paid, and might be banned from one or more sites.

Generally, try something you were already planning on buying or trying out.  For example, I spend a ton at book stores.  I found some great book clubs online where books are cheaper than at the bookstore...plus I got paid for signing up via freebie trading!  If a product looks interesting and you want to give it a try, feel free to sign up.  You didn't have to be planning on buying...just give it a fair try.

I have raised the grade for "Valued Opinions" from a "D" to a "C".  Two later surveys that I took part in credited properly without any further action from me. 

I have yet to reach the minimum payout threshold, but when I do, I'll let you know if I actually get paid! 

For further information on survey sites, check out the survey site page on this website!  The tabs at the top will help you navigate throughout my website! 

I've signed up for blog directories, and I know there are good and bad ones out there.  The bad ones involve putting in all of your information, and having it disappear.  Or having your blog still be pending after six months. 

So, as part of this site, I'll occasionally be reviewing different blog directories.  One of my favorites is Link Referral.  I like it because you can raise your position in the lists by visiting and/or reviewing other sites.  The basic membership is free, and that is what I have. 

NOTE: I AM NOT GETTING PAID TO PROMOTE THIS SITE!

As always, if you have had an experience, good or bad, with a particular directory, let me know!  Or if you know of a great directory, also let me know! 

You can join by either the ad below or by this link: Link Referral

Method 1 is where all freebie traders should start.  DO NOT TRY TO START ON METHOD 2!!  You will not understand what is going on, be able to properly help people, and will, and probably won't make much money.  Method 1 is also a way of making money.  Trust me on this, I've been there and done it, you can make money doing method 1. 

So, what is method 1?  Look at the chart again:

Obviously, in method one, you're the person in the red circle.  The person in the blue circle is going to pay you a certain amount of money (ranging from $15 to even $50, depending on the site) for completing offer(s) on the freebie trading site.

Find a good mentor (of course, I'm always available and willing to help with absolutely any questions you have!) who will walk you through the process.

Method 1 is simply the process of getting paid to try offers.  That's it.  No flash, no gimmicks, nothing really confusing.
You try offers, get credited on the site, and get paid by the person in the blue circle.

One of the places I get most "store" coupons- such as Barnes & Noble, A&F, Bath & Body Works, Dillards, J.C. Penneys, etc- is from online newsletters.

Go to the company website.  If you don't already have an account with them, sign up for an account.  It will be free!  Usually it will ask as soon as you create account about your e-mail preferences. 

I have a "coupon/savings" folder in the my e-mail.  When I get an e-mail from the site, I simply move it over there.  I don't even open it unless I'm planning on going to the store. 

Do you get coupons by this method -or- do you just consider it spam?