It’s not a joke. It’s not a trick. And it’s not a poor selection of magazine titles. Every month, my family receives, among others, Elle, Maxim, Wired, Blender, Radar, Spin, Stuff, Marie Claire, Vibe, Vixen, Good Housekeeping and Budget Living. And we have not paid one cent for any of them.

I came across the site freebizmag.com several years ago, and I’ve been a loyal customer ever since. What the site basically does is take your information and treat you like a member of the trade. As the site says, it’s free magazines for professionals. Here’s the complete write up…

This patented (#6,421,652) marketing platform - freebizmag.com - revolutionizes how consumers acquire trade publications. Unlike consumer titles, which are available to anyone and are paid for by the reader, trade publications are available at no cost but only to those who qualify. The qualification process, which is managed by each title separately, relies upon a cumbersome, paper-based questionnaire to determine reader eligibility. With freebizmag, SynapseConnect collects readers' qualifications, determines the magazines for which they may qualify, and presents them with one universal survey. Synapse's multi-title approach, as is the case with its consumer magazine business, delivers far greater efficiency than the single-title, publisher-driven method. Rather than the publisher having to find qualified readers, qualified readers find the trade publications available to them. This creates far greater access for the consumer. Once qualified, the consumer will use the site to arrange for a subscription start to any of the qualified for magazines.

So, in a nutshell, they match you with magazines based on your profile and send you free subscriptions. It’s all paid for, they don’t take your credit card or bank details, and you get a whole bunch of great mags for nada. I suspect the idea for the publisher is to spread the word about the magazine you’re reading to other professionals, and thus increase readership. To be honest, I really don’t care why the publishers are doing it. I’m just happy I’m getting all the magazines I want for free.

When you join up, you may find the offers for free subscriptions come a little slow at first. But after time, you’ll be getting that email from freebizmag regularly. Sometimes it’s for a free title you know well (Elle, GQ) or it could be a brand new publication that is looking for new readership (Radar was one such mag…I was one of the first people to read it, thanks to freebizmag). Depending on your profile, you’ll receive different magazines than someone else using the same service. A stay-at-home mom will receive a different set of subscription offers than an accountant. But the magazines are all top quality, latest issue releases.

I’ve worked out that over the last three years, I’ve received several thousand dollars worth of magazines. When my family is done reading them, we take them to an appropriate place to be recycled. For some magazines, it’s our GPs office or our dentist. For others, it’s to the recycling bin. But regardless, we’ve enjoyed some great new magazines at no cost to us. So, gives freebizmag.com a try, and put that extra cash you save on mags into a small jar on the kitchen counter. You’ll be surprised at just how much you save in a small amount of time. Read on!