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I decided to try entering online contests for myself. Every pop-up offer I encountered, I said yes. I searched Google for "contests" and just started entering one Internet sweepstakes after another. For an entire day, I committed to the task and ended up entering dozens if not a hundred or so contests.
I created a new e-mail account to use with all the entry forms. I wanted to keep my working e-mail account free of junk, but I also wanted to determine how much spam the contests generated.
I thought that would be enough to keep myself isolated from the contest solicitors, but almost every entry form mandated a phone number and street address. I used the general ABC street address and bought a prepaid phone to handle any incoming calls or texts.
And did I get texts! Almost instantly after filling out some contests' entry forms I received text messages with a PIN number. They exhorted me to go back to the entry area and enter the PIN so I could receive even more chances to win.
I didn't accept any of the premium text offers, but I did continue to enter contests.
I found some that looked really legitimate like one on the NBA.com site and one on the M&M's site. I also entered Facebook contests where you become a fan of a company or group to gain a chance to win.
Twitter proved to be an interesting new venue for contests. I entered nine contests there. Most seem like ploys to get more followers, including some very legit-looking contests from designer Vivienne Tam, and a Web site I know and like called DealsPlus.
Top 10 FREEBIES
Top 10 Giveaways
Top 10 Sweepstakes
1. McDonald’s®
2. Pepsi
Top 10 Contest
Top Sweepstakes Web sites
WinPrizesOnline.com is a sweepstakes aggregator with an interactive community identifying the highest quality sweepstakes so that users can quickly find and enter them. Users get free access to sweepstakes from across the Internet. The Web site also has a sweepstakes community with forums and interactive comments where users can swap hints and information about general strategy as well as specific sweepstakes.
SweepstakesHub.com publishes daily promotions and prizes. The site searches for grand prizes and only publishes premium giveaways such as international vacations and home makeovers. They also find college scholarships to apply for; the search tools are free.
Insider Sweepstakes Tips
Wendy Limauge, founder and blogger for SweetiesSweeps.com, reveals her top four secrets to becoming a professional and successful sweeper. She's won electronics, vacations and even a car through sweepstakes.
Create a Separate E-mail Address Sign up for a free e-mail address to use just for entering sweepstakes. A personal e-mail inbox can get filled up with extra e-mails. Companies will send newsletters sponsoring the sweepstakes and confirmation e-mails once you enter some instant win games and sweepstakes. Players will also get notified when they win a prize, but those e-mails could get lost among personal emails.Use Autofill Shortcuts to Complete Forms Download and install a form filler program. Autofill and Roboform are programs that help fill out entry forms without having to type the same information each time. They are often free to download and install.Only Play the Best Odds Start by entering the most winnable sweepstakes and instant win games. A winnable sweepstakes is one that gives better odds for winning a prize. It might be a sweepstakes that offers more prizes (1,000, 2,000, 10,000, etc.) so more people have a chance of winning. It might be a sweepstakes that is being held for one day, week or month. The less time the sweepstakes is available for entering, the fewer people who will find out about it. Or, maybe it is restricted in some way. It might only be open to an entrant of a certain age group, or teachers, military members, or maybe just open to residents of a particular state. By focusing on the winnables, players have better odds of winning a prize.Safeguard Against Scams Watch out for scams and sweepstakes that sell players' information. Some sweepstakes throw in special offers that must be opted out of by unclicking tiny boxes at the bottom of the online entry form. Skip anything that asks for a credit card number. A legitimate sweepstakes would never ask for it. And never pay money to enter a sweepstakes. The purpose of contests is to generate buzz for a product or brand, not for them to make money from players.Finding legit sweepstakes is easier than ever.
Several websites list hundreds of new vetted sweepstakes every day. My favorites are the free www.sweepstakestoday.com, www.wholemom.com and www.sweepsadvantage.com. Facebook (FB) is also a new source of sweepstakes I have been exploring.
Optimize Your Odds
The biggest hurdle is increasing your odds. Many sweeps offer the opportunity to enter daily, and some offer unlimited entries. You can bookmark these easily and either use your browser's autofill options or a free application like Roboform to fill out entries to save hours of tedious typing. I like to get in at the beginning of an entry period and enter daily until the end.
Many sweeps will offer extra entries if you share on social media. Why not? You can double the number of your entries by sharing. After sharing on one Facebook sweep my entries were quintupled the next time I signed in.
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