Way back in the good old days of the Internet (mid to late
'Nineties), you could find all sorts of free "stuff"
online.
Everything from website hosting and email, to software and
long distance phone calls came free of charge.
Some of the free services survived, while others used their
venture capital to pay for the mansions and yachts of their
CEO's and then closed up shop within a few months - leaving
investors high and dry.
A few free services still exist on the 'Net in today's more
realistic dot-com economy and today rates as good time as
any to take a closer look.
** Free Email **
Log on to HotMail.com and get yourself a free email account
you can access from anywhere on the planet you can find an
Internet connection.
HotMail.com and
http://mail.Yahoo.com (with twice the free
storage space of HotMail) rate as two of the most
successful and long-lived no cost services left over from
the "free" glory days of a few years ago.
** Free File Storage **
http://briefcase.Yahoo.com still ranks as the number 1 free
remote file storage service on the Internet.
Store up to 30 MB of files remotely for access and sharing
from any Internet connection anywhere in the world.
Instead of lugging floppy disks around between office,
home, and laptop, you can store them online in your own
password-protected briefcase on the Yahoo high-speed
servers.
A great way to back up and share files worldwide.
** Free Website Hosting **
Tripod.com allows you to set up your own website absolutely
free.
They support their service with third party banner ads at
the top of every page you display.
A great way to get started, but any serious entrepreneur
will eventually want to get their own low-cost hosting
account costing as little as $5 a month.
DotEasy.com presents an excellent alternative to Tripod.com
if you want your own domain name and a year's hosting for
only $25 a year.
Other free hosting services include: GeoCities.com,
gurlpages.com, and myfamily.com.
** Free Software **
Freeware and shareware, two ways software developers
distribute their creations, either in a "try before you
buy" mode, or as truly free software.
Many developers around the world create software for their
own personal use but, lacking a huge buying market or the
skills to sell the software, some of them just give it away
or sell it for a nominal fee after you try it.
If you know where to look, you can get everything from
graphics programs and website builders, to FTP programs and
recipe books.
Log on to Download.com and Zdnet.com for two of the most
popular places online to find software before paying full
retail.
NOTE: make sure your anti-virus program is up-to-date and
backup all your important files before installing any
software.
Free stuff online will never disappear because, when
appropriate, it represents the perfect way to start and
develop a relationship with customers. Unfortunately, the
"boom" days of the truly free online "lunch" seem gone
forever. Sigh.
About the Author
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-
author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to
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