From The Contest Queen

What’s on your plate?  When it’s full, what falls off?  Where do you find the time to enter?

This past month I have spent the bulk of my time finalizing my U.S. book and catching up on general business administration.  Mixed in there are all the things I do on a daily basis: be a mom, be a wife, be a cook, be a housekeeper, etc.  There there are the things I do less frequently such as: write my bi-weekly e-newsletter, blogging, etc.  Plus, I heaped more on to my plate, such as my blog radio talk show.

Last night I lay in bed fretting because I have not entered my daily contests in weeks, and have not entered my weekly contests in over a month.   The ones I do have left in my online folders are dwindling to such low numbers, if I don’t begin entering again soon, I will run of of contests to enter!  I have determined the only remedy is to stop all other activities for a day, catch-up and get back to entering a bit everyday.

The other thing I do while I am entering the dozens of new contests (to me) is say over and over, “It only takes one to win!”  Thankfully, that statment is true.

If you have read my book, You Can’t Win If You Don’t Enter, you know that my contesting journey began when I read an article about the hobby in the August 2001 issue of Reader’s Digest Canada. My story came full circle when a journalist from Reader’s Digest Canada attended the 1st Annual National Contestors Convention and wrote about me, the hobby, the attendees, and the convention.

Yesterday, I was called by a Reader’s Digest fact checker and was told the article will run in the July 2008 issue. I think it’s great that the article will run almost 7 years to the day I began one of my life’s great adventures. I hope the article will inspire others to take up the hobby and have more excitement in their lives too.

(Also, check out the Reader’s Digest website as they run very good contests!)

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sweepstakes, contests, sweepstaking, contesting, sweeper, contestor, luck, lucky, win, winner

As I stated in my last posting, for the most part, I liked the documentary. When I was asked to be in it, I knew all I could do was put forth my vision, state my message, and hope it didn’t end up on the cutting room floor. Frugal Shopper has had and interesting online discussion of the various aspects of the film. It seems that most people feel that our hobby has been shown in the worse possible light and, I agree, that my message of fun, excitement and fellowship did not come across as strongly as I would have liked. What was remembered by most was, how the hobby turned to an addiction and ruined a family.

Then (coincidentally?) yesterday ABC ran an online article Sweepstakes Addicts Win Big. I think Sandra at about.com (re)stated my feelings on the misconceptions of the hobby in her posting Why Are Sweepers “Addicts”?. To me an addiction is something that must be done no matter what and comes before everything else. I do not put my hobby before family or work. I only spend 1-2 hours per day entering, and on busy days 10-30 min. On my busiest the reason I can squeeze in 10 min. is because I use RoboForm Companion, otherwise on those busy days, contesting time would be zero. On those days I also affirm to myself, I win what I am suppose to win and it only takes one to win.

The day this hobby isn’t fun anymore, is the day I quit.

Overall I thought the documentary was very good. I feel they showed a bit too much of the compulsive aspect of the hobby versus the fun side. But, how interesting would the documentary be if they just showed the average contestor sitting in front of the computer clicking away for an hour? They needed to show the various extremes of the hobby. Also, the director had hundreds of hours of film to condense down to 45 min. along with ensuring she told a very compelling story.

There were questions and aspects I wish they had time to show. For example, when I meet new people that don’t enter, they don’t because; they don’t think they will win, they think no one wins or they are afraid of spam, scams and identity theft. What are the marketers doing to overcome those fears and perspectives to increase their dialog with the average consumer? The UGC (User Generated Content) contest they showed costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to create and execute for the sponsor. The reason many companies have simple form-based promotions is the cost.

What about the radio stations? They didn’t explore the fact that many parent companies are now blending the marketing budgets of all the stations they own in one market, or possibly the country, decreasing the odds of their loyal listeners winning a prize. How many contestors need or want to win a $20,000 wedding? Had it been a promotion for a car or trip, there would have been far more competition from the contestors.

What did you think?

NOTE: I am waiting to hear back from the production company to see if they will be selling the Winning for a Living documentary as a DVD as I have received many emails from those not within the viewing area. I will keep everyone posted.

Winning for a Living
9 p.m. ET, CBC

By Brian Richardson

FOR the average contest entrant, the odds of winning are miniscule. But for professional contestors, who make a living off of their winnings, expectations are always high. From ballot stuffing, to garbage picking, to simply praying for luck, these contest junkies will do anything to circumvent the system and win big prizes. Contestors are always after another reward, regardless of the damage their lifestyle inflicts on friends and family. Sadly, what these freeloaders really need to win is rationality.

This documentary mini-review that was posted on the Sympatico website today. Brian’s take on our hobby is, contestors are all greedy people willing to stop at nothing to wrestle our next big win away from the poor average Joe who doesn’t stand a chance at even winning a free cuppa coffee.

Perception is reality. My perception of the hobby is; that entering and winning is fun. I follow the rules, share my enthusiasm (and sometimes prizes) with others and have enhanced my life in ways that I could never have conceived when I submitted my first entry. My reality is; I have travelled to exotic (and some not so exotic) locals, had some unforgettable adventures (like sumo wrestling), and made life-long friends (at club meetings and conventions). My life is better because a marketer, a long time ago, thought a contest would be a fantastic promotional tool to increase sales.

What is your perception of the hobby and what is your reality? Do you believe it is easy or hard to win? Be conscious of those thoughts the next time you enter a contest and remember, your perception is your reality.

There is a very short excerpt of Winning For a Living now online. It features Mike Smith.

I want to make, what I feel is, an important comment here. I believe Mike is the exception to the rule. I have met hundreds fellow contestors and sweepers all over North America and I have never meet anyone else as addicted to entering and winning as Mike.

To me, the purpose of taking up contesting as a hobby is to have fun. Entering is fun. Winning is fun. Including friends and family in the prizes is fun. I usually spend 1-2 hours per day entering and many days I may only spend 10-30 minutes. I remember one rare luxurious lazy Sunday where I spent 6-7 hours organizing and catching up on my online entries. What a treat!

I have never put the hobby before my family. They are involved so we enter and win as a family. My daughter does colouring contests. My husband likes late night walks and on recycle night comes home with heaps of PIN codes for me to enter. We all enjoy the fun of entering, the thrill of winning and the sharing of the prizes.

I hope people interested in becoming contestors realize there is more to the hobby than spending days or weeks filling out entry forms. The best part of the hobby (Yes, even better than winning!) are the wonderful people I have met and the life long friends I have made.

Yesterday I received a copy of the press release for The Doc Zone documentary, Winning for a Living, to be aired on CBC March 6th.

The PR company reviewed an advanced copy of the film. They said it is very good and our hobby is presented in a balanced manner showing contesting from many different perspectives. I can hardly wait to see it!

Over the next few weeks I will be doing interviews promoting the film. If you know anyone in the media that would be interested in doing a story on the documentary, please have them contact the PR company listed in the press release. So far, I am booked to be on CIUT 89.5FM Friday February 22nd on CareerBuzz, 11am-Noon.

“Round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows!”

When people create a blog, they want people to read it. One way to entice people to subscribe to your blog is to have a contest. How you usually get entries is by: 1) subscribing to their RSS feed, 2) posting a blog entry about their contest on your blog, and then 3) go back to their blog, posting a comment linking back to your blog as proof of entry. Got all that?!

Marketing Pilgrim is holding such a contest. You can win an iPod Touch.

Blog contests and sweepstakes are the fastest growing subset of the online method of entry. I have yet to win a prize from one of these promotions, but I have just started. What do you think about blog contests vs. other methods of entry (in-person, phone-in, mail-in, form-based online sweepstakes, text messaging)? Have you won a prize from a blog contest?

Tom Wethern (aka Weth) and I are kindred souls. He and I are obsessed with entering contests and sweepstakes, enter mainly online, share our prizes and believe the hobby is a free form of gambling (which we both would be addicted to if it were not for the wonderful marketing efforts of corporations).

Check out Weth’s website as he not only shares his wins with friends and family, but the world-at-large. Some prizes he just gives away, but the rest require some effort on your part. You must write a limerick or a haiku in order to win.

Last night we had a wonderful time at the theatre. I was lucky enough to win tickets to The 25^th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee from YummyMummy.

One question I am frequently asked is, how do I win so much. One contesting secret is, not only do I enter all the national promotions; I also enter a lot of local promotions offering smaller prizes. There are less people in the eligibility area and some people just don’t want to win anything less than a large Grand Prize. Your odds of winning are much higher.

Since I started entering on a daily basis, most of my wins have been smaller prizes with a large national prize won several times per year. It’s the small wins that keep you going in between the biggies!