Use your blog to get free stuff
I’ve been writing on the web, most call it blogging, for probably over 10 years now. And if you ask one friend I came damn well close to inventing blogging…although I won’t quite claim that title (but wish I could!). I’ve always enjoyed writing about the things I enjoy, and if you’re truly passionate about something, it is your duty to share and impose your happiness onto others. And even if no one is reading (so you think), it’s good to get your thoughts down because you never know what may come of it.
As much as I’ve written - which in just the past five years (since Wordpress) has been over 1050 articles - my site has always lacked one thing, a focus. In some ways I think that’s a great thing because it means you (the reader) will get a good spread of topics, and it means I can write about anything I want without worrying about staying on-topic. However, without a focus it can be hard to stake a claim. With so many things to talk about, it’s hard for me to claim any topic as “mine,” a topic of which I become the expert.
Well, instead of fudging up the jack-of-many, master-of-none brand that is Morning Toast, I decided to take one of my passions and spin it off into it’s own brand, saving you all from having to read it here at the Toast. And that brand is, Redline Derby Racing, which is to no surprise a site all about Hot Wheels and toy cars. In particular, it’s about racing and customizing them because as if collecting toy cars wasn’t enough of a niche, I decided to claim a niche of a niche. And it’s working wonderfully.
A small but strong start
Not only has the Hot Wheels “community” been of great support, having a specific focus has led to something I always enjoy - free stuff. Nevermind that collecting Hot Wheels is an extremely cheap hobby, I still spend money on it - a lot of money. So when an opportunity comes along to get free Hot Wheels stuff, you don’t have to ask me twice. I learned a long time ago that you should never underestimate the power of simply asking for something. The worst thing they can tell you is No.
Fortunately for me, a company that makes Hot Wheels race track said Yes. That company is BluTrack which makes an “alternative” to official Hot Wheels race track (the orange track you remember as kid). When I was building my race track last year, I had to search all over town to find orange track. While that quest was fun and successful, I wish I had discovered BluTrack before I did all that shopping. The BluTrack is better than classic orange track in a least one aspect, BluTrack comes as one giant piece of plastic instead of lots of little pieces. This means there are no track joints where you connect track and you don’t have to worry about losing those little plastic track connectors either.
BluTrack costs just as much as orange track if you total it all up, but since I already had a good stash of orange track (about 50-feet), I didn’t need to spend money on BluTrack. Well, with the “power” and position of the Redline Derby web site, I sent a message to BluTrack asking them if they would be interested in sending me some track in exchange for a review on the site. Much to my surprise they agreed and sent me a BluTrack starter kit, which consists of 18-feet of solid track that retails for $50 on-line and probably more in stores.
“Fifty bucks. Big whoop,” you say? You’re right, $50 isn’t a whole lot of free but it’s free none the less. And that’s $50 I’m not spending on a hobby into which I’ve already invested hundreds. Just ask Jen, she’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t need to spend any more on Hot Wheels.
I guess I should also say that thanks to my efforts into Redline Derby, I got 10 pairs of free tickets to a Hot Wheels convention being held in Las Vegas next year. They’re only $25 tickets, but that’s $250 of free - of course, I’m giving those tickets away on the site. I’m just sharing the free-ness.
But nothing is free
If you’re one of those people (like me) then your instant reaction is, “nothing is free,” and that’s true. Everything has an expense. In this case, my expense was setting up a web site and writing about something I’m passionate about. And frankly, that’s a fair price if you ask me. It took two of my favorite hobbies (web design and blogging) to get something free for another hobby. Hobbies serving hobbies - as it should be. Writing and playing with Hot Wheels is something I’d be doing anyway, might as well get something out of it.
So what’s your passion?
What do you love to do? What’s your passion? If you could spend all day doing something that you’re good at, what would it be? Whatever that is, write about it. A lot. Don’t get discouraged that “nobody” reads it. People will read it. Believe me, I never thought people would be reading Morning Toast but they do…and they come back (and I’m not just talking about friends & family). Point being, the more you publish, the more there is for people to find and the more likely you are to be able to stake a claim. And then…the more likely you are to be able to get free stuff.
You say video games are you thing? Great, write about it, but that’s one broad topic. Whittle it down to what you like and what you know best. Maybe you really know hockey games. Make that your focus. Or wait…I know, you’re a knitter, right? Also a broad topic, but refine that down into the one sub-topic or something and you’ll be able to make inroads much easier. The smaller your niche the easier it will be to get noticed and build a following. And if you think no one will be interested in what you’re writing about - think again - if you’re excited about it, there are others that get excited about it too.
You’re already writing about what you love
If you have a blog right now that has (more or less) a focus, go ahead and ask people for free stuff. The fact that you have an outlet gives you an advantage over someone that doesn’t. And if you have Twitter, Flickr, or a Facebook page setup then it’s that much easier of a sell. Social media is hot right now and everybody wants to use it. You might not think you’re “big enough” for a business to care about, but the “person on the street” reviews are popular and they always will be. Just the fact that you’re a tiny, personal blogger means something…as long as you keep it up.
So you’re a gamer…ask for a free controller to demo and review. A knitter…ask for some yarn or needles and review them. Like to cook? Ask for a cookbook and review some dishes that you make. Maybe you’re an OCD cleaner? Ask for some cleaning products and write about the experience. Like to eat? Write about dining adventures and ask for gift cards (or maybe even Mystery Shop). Whatever it is you like to do, there’s someone out there that will give you free stuff for it. Just don’t make yourself sound like someone only looking for freebies.
And remember, just because you’re getting free stuff doesn’t mean you have to review them positively. Businesses don’t want fake reviews any more than you want to write them. I’ve said before you can’t bribe a blogger. Just be honest and write about what you love. It’s as simple as that. It won’t provide you with a living (necessarily) but if it gets you free stuff, that’s money saved in my book.
