I got my first shipment today from The Goodies co., a division of Walmart that is sending samples of snack food with the hope that subscribers will like the products enough to log in and buy the full size products.

This is a relatively new trend in Internet marketing. People pay to have monthly shipments of samples sent to them in any number of product categories. This is the first time I've seen it done with snack food, but I'm guessing it won't be the last.

This months box includes samples from Peanut Butter & Company, Plentils Lentil Chips, Wai Lana Fruit and Nut Bars, j&d's Bacon Pop, Snackwells, and Nabisco.

We'll need to see how long this trend lasts, but I think we will start seeing similar products from gourmet food companies trying to cash in on product samples directly targeted to interested and paying customers.