From The Contest Queen

Yesterday I got a text message from Molson Canada.  It was for their Coors Light Cold Certified Insider Text Contest.  The messages said to text the word COLD to 26677 and I would be entered to win a Coors Light Beer Fridge.  So I did.  I got a message back saying I was entered to win.  WOO HOO!  It also stated if I wanted more entries, I was to get my friends to text 5491 to 26677.  Just as I was thinking of which of my friends enter text messaging contests, my phone rang.  Molson sent me an automated voice message stating it was the top 20 referrers who would win fridges.  Hmmm…

Viral marketing is the high tech version of word-of-mouth marketing and marketers love it because their product’s or service’s message can go further and faster than it ever has in the past.  I agree.  Viral marketing is a great tool, but the secret is all in the execution.

I think every promotion should have a viral marketing component to it, such as giving every entrant an extra entry for each friend they refer.  I am not fond of contests you can only win by getting the most votes, sending the most emails or getting the most friends to text in for them.  It’s the person that can cast the widest net that usually wins versus a random draw (even playing field) or the best entry (such as in a photo contest).

So, being the Contest Queen, and having heaps of contesting buddies, should I cast my wide net?  I have to admit, I am torn.  The part of me that loves winning says YES.  The part of me that loves my friends says NO, it’s just not fair.  And then again, someone has to win, so why not me? Why not you?

How do you feel about casting a wide net?  Do you feel that you could ever win a popularity contest?

I have been entering and winning consistently for the past seven years, yet for the past two we have only won one big grand prize and it came in my husband’s name. I wanted to know why I wasn’t winning “the big ones”. Then I discovered something interesting about the Law of Attraction and duality.

You have to be here to win, especially big. Let me explain. We live in a world of duality: on/off, up/down, happy/sad, win/lose, etc. I have a tendency to live in the future. What do I mean by that? Well, I am a planner. I like to plan my day, my week, my life because it gives me the illusion of control. (If you like to control your life and circumstances, I have bad news for you, you are not really in control. None of us are.) While I am busy planning, I am in the future at the meetings, events and trips. (This is different than visualization where you feel as if you are driving the new car now.) I found out if you are anywhere other than here, you are no where.

If you are no where, instead of now here (the duality), the Law of Attraction will not work. The three steps are: Ask, Believe and Receive. If you are no where, then it’s like placing and order, moving and not telling anyone. The order arrives, finds no one home and returns it undeliverable. The items gets put back in the warehouse and is delivered to the next person that places the order.

So, for the next little while I am not focusing on prizes or wins. I am focusing on being here. I am here, now. I am present, now. (It will be interesting to see if any of the orders I placed with the Universe in the past show up since I am now “at home”.)

I highly recommend listening the the four part webcast about Jill Bolte Taylor’s life changing experience and how she learned to live in the now.

I am now here and you can be too.

The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio by Terry Ryan is the perfect book for summertime reading and has become one of my all time favourite books. Not just because it is a wonderful true story about a woman who has inspired many a contestor, but because it also changed my life.

In 2003, after seeing several people chat about the book in an online contesting group I decided would like to give it a read. I remember walking around the house, with a duster or vacuum in one hand and the book in the other as I could not put it down. (I also highly recommend having a tissue box nearby.)

Apparently, someone in Hollywood was also inspired and in 2005, Julianne Moore stared in the movie of the same name. As soon as the movie came out on DVD I bought it. I was watching the extras and saw that Dortha Schaefer was still alive, living in Payne OH, and writing for The Paulding Country Progress. I wrote her at the paper, and she me wrote back!

I eventually met Dortha, the remaining Affidaisy members and even became an honorary Affadaisy for a day. I was also lucky enough to interview all of them for my book. (The Winning EDGE Vol 3 Issue 5 and The Affadaisies.) Sadly, both Evelyn, the book’s heroine, and the author have both passed away and I did not meet either of them.

This is not your regular book review. I am not going to give anything away as I want you to run to your local bookstore or library and get it. And, only after have you read the book do I want you to see the movie.

I hope you enjoy the book and movie as much as I do.

While cooking dinner the other evening I received a winning phone call. WOO HOO! I get so excited when I win. While getting all the details of my win, the gentleman commented on how nice it was to speak someone who was so excited about the prize (a one day family pass to our local zoo). He was giving out 75 passes and I was the first one he had spoken with that was happy.

WHAT?! How could anyone not be happy about winning? Why enter if it is not to bring unexpected fun and excitement plus unplanned adventures into your life?

So next time you get that winning call, get excited! Make the person notifying you happy he called you today.

I have recently received a lot of queries regarding the 2nd Annual National Contestors Convention. There are many factors as to why a new convention has yet to be planned, but the main one is money.

I would like to plainly address what happened in the past and what is being planning for the future.

Big events, such as a contestors convention, require seed money. Since it was the first convention, and I believed so strongly in bringing the fun and excitement I experienced at the American conventions to Canada, I lent the Canadian Contestors Association (CCA) $3,500 to cover the initial start-up costs.

Since the convention didn’t attract as many attendees as budgeted for, the convention lost money. I covered all the losses out of my own pocket. When all was said and done, I “lent” the CCA $10,000.

In the original budget, had we had enough attendees, there would have been enough seed money left over to begin planning the next convention. The convention would have become self-sustaining. Since that did not occur, and I was publishing the American Edition of my book, I did not have the funds to reseed a second convention.

After meeting with the other directors of the CCA and contest management industry experts, we came to the conclusion we need to make the CCA sustainable before planning another convention. That means defining the benefits of membership, first to the public, and then to corporations. Once the CCA has been firmly established as a thriving association, we can then begin to plan the next convention.

A questionnaire is being created by the CCA for potential members. Depending on the results, the CCA will either move forward, seeking corporate members and planning the next convention, or it will fold.

Please fill out the questionnaire when it is made available and help define the future of contesting in Canada.

The official announcement has been made.  The 20th Annual National Sweepstakes Convention will be held from July 1st to 5th, 2009 at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire.

See you there!

My friend Dana had to email me after she found the most interesting linens; Lucky Bedding.  I am not sure if they will help you win more prizes, but maybe you’ll get lucky.