Why not download our free ebook (originally £8.99) "How to get anything for free!" right here for free Thoughts on Blagging No.1

Hi guys,
A bit of a change of pace today; people are always asking me why companies give stuff away for free and I decided I'd share my thoughts. It's written in first person, present-tense as it was originally for a real-life story magazine. Let me know if you like this sort of thing either by dropping me an email at mike@blagman.co.uk or leaving a comment and I'll be sure to include further thoughts in the future. Enjoy! Normal blagging service will resume on Friday.

Nothing in life comes for free
My taste buds tingle as I try another free press sample that’s turned up on my doorstep in the hope I’ll spill the beans on my blog, Blagman.co.uk. “I hope you enjoy them” jingles the press release in an inviting manor, egging me on to sample whatever delicacies have arrived on my doorstop that day. Like a teenager being pressured in to trying my first sip of beer I duly engage and put another ‘must-have’ product in my mouth.

Sitting there chewing on the salty morsel I start to wonder why PR companies send these samples out in the first place. Not many journalists would run a piece about the taste of a new range of nibbles but regardless of this samples arrive day in-day out, sitting on our doorstops like newborn babies, crying out for us to pay attention to them.


For some companies I wonder if it’s just so they can write big reports saying “We’ve shipped our product to over twenty national newspapers” or even if it’s so they can get rid of some samples that’ve been sitting in the office since they first arrived. I can even remember times when I’ve received products that you can’t even buy in the shops any more, who knows maybe it’s cheaper to send them to journalists than going to the trouble of calling Dial-A-Skip?

Either way I’m feeling in a good mood so I’ll throw the PR company a favour and write a piece about their product. They don’t taste half bad, although I’d better check the ingredients, and what’s that… Cheeky buggers.

The best before date is listed as a month ago.

It’s no wonder they give them away for free.