Holiday season is quickly approaching, and shoppers will soon be hitting the malls and websites! This season there is a new twist to the shopping discount war from the retail giant Walmart.

Walmart has announced this week that it will offer free shipping on 60,000 online items (including toys, electronics and jewelry), NO minimum purchase required! This could add up to a huge savings for those of us who like to spending time shopping online rather than pushing your way through crowds of people in the stores. Wal-Mart is offering this deal through December 20th.

The free shipping combined with the “Site to Store” program (allowing customers to buy an item online and have it shipped for free to their local Walmart) will save an estimated $25 million on shipping costs for Walmarts customers.

Target and J.C. Penny are also offering deals on shipping from their sites – Target offering free shipping on select items over $50 and J.C. Penny giving free shipping to customers spending $69 or more in online purchases.

Free shipping, avoiding the crowds at the stores while still getting your shopping done – Sounds like a great plan to me!

Looking for something fun to do with friends and family while enjoying some fresh air, nature and time outdoors?

In honor of Veterans Day, November 11th National Parks will not be charging any entrance fees. The free entrance is valid for more than 100 parks that typically charge to enter.

Shops and lodges based in the national parks are offering two-for-one deals and other discounts on this day as well. Details on these discounts can be found here: http://www.parkpartners.org/Special-Offers-for-2010.html .

Want to plan ahead? Free days next year have already been announced including April 16-24, September 24 and November 11.

Locations of National Parks can be found here.

In a previous post, I pointed out the importance of the Long Tail concept. This concept was coined by Chris Anderson and it states niche products and services in low demand could be the big revenue generators.  Chris Anderson is also promoting businesses to embrace the “freemium” concept.

He believes that anything on the internet will be FREE, and companies will be competing with this idea unless they choose to offer FREE.  According to InternetNews.com, “There are a lot of ways to make money,” he said.  Give a basic version of a service or application away for free, but also offer more full-featured versions.” With a “freemium” type model, a product or service is offered free to a large number of customers hoping a minority will pay for a premium or added-value service.

How could this maybe relate to lead generation or the Leadpile Marketplace?
How about the idea of giving away leads for FREE knowing that down the road this is going to result in a long term satisfied client? How about offering potential great partners FREE web design assistance or custom banners and forms? People get to use the service and understand it’s value, then they want to commit based on their experience with already using the company.” This concept is really not anything new, but maybe in the lead generation business it is time networks look at not just each individual client as a way to make the most money, but look at offering something to clients for free, knowing that the long term benefit to their company is much greater.

Sounds like the idea …give a little, get a lot!