I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Zachary Crocket of The Hustle for an article he was writing on our hobby. The main two people he focussed on was Di Coke of Super Lucky in the UK and myself. I spent well over an hour with him on the phone outlining our hobby from both an entrant’s perspective and a marketer’s.
The women who win hundreds of sweepstakes per year
Zachary got most of it right, and a few points wrong …
FORM FILLING
I could tell from his writing which bits he got from me as many were verbatim from our interview.
“She uses software to auto-fill hundreds of entry forms with her information.”
It makes it sound as if I use bots to enter thousands of giveaways in any given day. Any sweeper worth their salt would know this is false. It takes time and effort to win.
I had said was ‘auto-fill‘ similar to the auto-complete feature in any browser. My auto-filler of choice is RoboForm as not only will it properly fill out online forms, you can save the filled form making entering Daily contests easy.
Not sure if he thinks auto-fill and automated form-filler are the same thing.
SHEER NUMBERS
Where did he get this number?!
“In a one hour-long sitting, with a few clicks, Wilman can enter more than 200 sweepstakes.”
I am lucky if I enter 60. I said up to 100, but currently, I enter here and there throughout the day. One of my goals is to get my business to a place where I can carve out a solid chunk of time dedicated to sweeping each day.
STATISTICS
The informal poll statistics were based on a U.K. survey Di conducted. I wonder how well those numbers translate to the U.K. marketplace as the rules for running giveaways are different in each country.
WINNINGS
Zachary featured Di’s wins as her lists were current. I used to keep track of my win, diligently. I even share an annual spreadsheet for anyone to use. However, when I went through my divorce, and subsequent depression, my daily entering went down along with my desire to record the minor prizes I did receive. Even when life got sunnier and my wins went up, I never began tracking again. I sure wish I had …
IN THE END
I loved the article and even with a few points askew. Also, happy that Zachary shared the:
- links I gave him to a few of the most popular aggregates in the United States.
- tips to teach others how to begin winning.
Did you read it? What did you think?
Great article and points you made, Carolyn. I laughed at the 200 per hour …. going yikes I’m lucky if I can get 30-40 in per hour takes time to load the sweeps, let it fill out (I use Roboform or let google’s autofill finish) and then wait for the confirmation. I’ve been entering for over 50 years and love the hobby. uncovered many, many new companies and products which I have remained loyal to all these years. Betty Crocker, for instance is one of my must purchases. Why? Because I won a diamond worth $5,000 in their 75th Anniversary promotion way back when. I was always a Ford person, in October 2018 I was notified that I won any Honda of my choice up to $30,000. I selected a Honda CR-V and without even thinking bout it I found a Wishboard of things I wanted to win in 2018 the other day. There on my Wishboard was a photo of a photo of a Ford Edge in slate grey that is the exact same color and looks very much like the Honda CR-V….never even thought about that when I won the car. I was too excited to think things through and now I am a Honda faithful for the rest of my life. This car is so awesome and with traveling alone I was starting to slow down on where and when I drive. Guess what. This Honda has all kinds of safety feathers. Tells you to consider stopping if it determines you are getting tired, tells you if someone coming in your blind spots, vibrates if you are changing lanes without using turn signal so you don’t fall asleep, all kinds of safety features too many to list. Actually drove from Phila to New Hampshire myself and was so comfortable and not scared. So the point being I believe the Universe or my guides from above knew the concerns of travel and made sure the car answered all my concerns!!!
I love this hobby and most of all the companies that promote these trips and things that I couldn’t afford as a single parent. Carolyn is awesome, have met here many, many times over the years and enjoy sharing our stories.
I need help with Roboform and how to load it and is it accepted by most COMPANIES? Also l have trouble entering Facebook contests.
Over the years (and I mean years) online I can get good and get in 70-125 an hour. Helps to just to have a really good computer, and use autofill with a ton of windows open and just run through them closing as you go.
Though in my stats have kept I seem to win .5-1% of all contests I enter. Which is about 1 in 100 or 150. Largest prize I have won to date is; a custom made Snow Board, A pair of shoes a month and a trip to the Redskins Training Camp and a few gift cards to go with it.
Your stats are pretty accurate, and congratulations on the wins!
Hi,
I only enter contests that have prizes of stuff I’m interested in. Not all contests.
Am I doing it wrong ?.
I have been doing contests and sweeps bit seems like forever I get emails that. I have won the prizes but I can never find out for sure what am I doing wrong did I really win?
You know if you have really won a prize. You remember entering, and the person notifying you can be verified. Are you using a sweepstakes aggregate to enter?