1) some software houses are crying out for beta tester for there product. the only catch if you get selected is that your have to deal with the learning kerbs and bugs as the product goes though its development cycle.

2) Intially free but then your have to pay for it in the end. depends on there marketing policy and how nice they want to be but "Can I try the new version before i decide to buy it" and a history of being a long time customer does help.

3) Theres a bug in the product there not willing to address. Now my uncle benefited from this one with one of his Microsoft products. Instead of trying to fix the bug they shiped him a the latest version of the software.

4) Now are you any good at reviewing thats another good one

now the big catch talking to the right person that is mostly what it boils down to and having the abilty to sound important and before you ask me the only thing I've manage so far is a discount but working for a software house before I know what they do. ;)