These days, many products offer free versions riddled with annoying commercials and limited services as well as paid premium versions with unlimited access. If you’re using the free version of the product and you’re tempted to click on the upgrade button and pay for the service, you may want to get the most out of your upgrade.

Most services offer some sort of discount or promotion to get you in. Groupon and Living Social have made a living out of offering discounted products or services and the principle that makes those companies a success is used by nearly everyone. Some sites like RetailMeNot.com specialize in coupon codes for potential customers for anything from flowers to pizza. With sales going on all the time and the Groupon model dominating the marketplace, if you’re paying full price for something, you’re being ripped off. The principle applies to free trials. Lure customers in with a discounted or free trial, then crank up the fees. It’s a technique I reviewed in How to Take Advantage of the People Who Are Trying to Take Advantage of You.

But those techniques are only targeted toward NEW customers. If you’re already using the product or service, the company figures you don’t need any more incentive to upgrade. I have been using Spotify recently and thought I might upgrade to the premium service. I clicked on the “Upgrade” button on the Spotify app and it took me to a page where I could insert my credit card information and get paying right away.

But, there’s this thing called “The Google” and it does wondrous things. I typed in “Spotify free trial” and lo and behold, what do I get back? A page advertising a month of free premium Spotify services: http://www.spotify.com/us/freetrial/. It’s not a secret and anyone can access it, but if you’re already sold on Spotify and are ready to buy, why would they offer a free month and lose out on revenue? Only when you’re not really sure will they try to entice you with a free trial.

This technique is so popular, a Google search for free trial will work to gain you free access for nearly all products out there. Here’s a short list to give you an idea:

Spotify: http://www.spotify.com/us/freetrial/
Adobe Photoshop: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=photoshop
Netflix: https://signup.netflix.com/home?gclid=CNz9vaCuka8CFWvktgodwVarzg&country=1&rdirfdc=true
Match.com: http://www.match.com/cp.aspx?cpp=/cppp/promo/72hour.html
Sirius/XM: http://www.siriusxm.com/freetrial

This technique is limitless, so get Googling and get saving! Feel free to post any notable free trials in the comments section below.