When I started out as a total newbie about a year ago, I
made several blunders that cost me a lot of time and money.
One of my major blunders was signing up blindly for `free
trials' just because they were free! You know the ones
that ask you for your credit card details, saying that
"this is for record purposes only and your card will not be
charged".
I made a huge mistake once when I signed up for a one-month
free trial program. I had expected that when the one-month
was up I would get a notification saying that my free-trial
period was up and ask me to confirm if I wanted to continue.
But I received no such notification, in fact not even an
email confirming that the sum had been charged. Instead it
was only when I received my next month's credit card
statement that I learnt that I had been charged $99. Now
as a newbie just starting out online, I could ill-afford
the money, especially as it was to be a monthly recurring
payment!
So I frantically looked around for a way to cancel. Being
a naïve newbie, I had not read any instructions on
cancellation procedures! In fact I had totally forgotten
about signing up. I could not remember my username and
password.
But somehow after several tries, I managed to log-in to
their website and contacted someone at their help desk.
When I asked why I had not been notified, the reply was:
`It was already stated in the free trial offer you signed
up for!'. When I asked to cancel, I was directed to
another department, before I finally managed to cancel the
subscription!
Costly lesson learned - always read the fine print!
If a program says `one-week free trial', immediately check
the fine print to see what happens after the one week is
up. How much would you have to pay? Would it be a monthly
recurring billing? Would it be automatically charged to
your credit card or PayPal? What are the cancellation
procedures? And so on.
The above caution also applies to those `$1 Trial' programs.
Note that I am not saying that all these progams are scams
or would not work!
A lot of legitimate programs out there are good, but the
question is good for whom? They might be wonderful for an
internet expert looking to expand his business but be
totally unsuitable for a newbie.
As a matter of fact, there are also some programs out there
that can be ideal for newbies. These programs do coach the
newbie step-by-step in the basics of building an online
business.
However the onus is on you, before you purchase or sign up.
Remember the phrase `caveat emptor' which means `buyer
beware'! You have to be clear about what your intention is
when starting your online business. You have to be very
focused, very selective and must ask questions such as
these:
* Is this what I really need at this moment? Will it help
with my just-begun business or would it be useful only at a
later stage?
* How much does it cost? One-time payment or monthly?
* How do I cancel?
In conclusion, I am not saying that you must avoid all free
trials! Just be more discerning.
If you do find one that is up-front about the cost and is
something you really need (like webhosting, auto-responder
etc.) by all means do take advantage of the trial period to
test-drive the system.
----------------------------------------------------
Feel free to distribute this article in any form as long as
you include this resource box. Gopinathan Menon is a
retired engineer and technical writer now engaged in
building a growing online business. If you are a newbie
just starting online, check out http://newbie-profits.com
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