This blog was originally posted on January 31st, 2013.
My friend Stephanie and I sat beside Arlene and her husband, Doyle, at the last Annual National Sweepstakes Convention. This week, she sent me an excellent question.
Hi Carolyn, I won your book a long time ago — very good contest tips. Good to see you at the Atlanta Sweepstakes Convention. Not 10 wins a month like years ago—My Sweepstakes Club members and I are having “few and far between” wins. Too much competition??????
My question to you would be, what are you entering and how?
The reason I ask those questions is that I have been entering contests daily since 2001. I win 5-15+ prizes every month, month after month, and have done so for 12 years (except for the occasional breaks I took from the hobby). Last year, I didn’t even track my prizes. This year, I began filling in my WINs spreadsheet again, and I won ten prizes worth $525.48. Pretty good start to the year, especially considering how long it took me to ramp back up to entering 1-2 hours per day.
“If you’re not evolving, you’re dying.”
Unknown
My guess is you have not changed your entry method(s) very much over time. Also, how comfortable are you entering online via all the various entry methods (ie. Facebook, Twitter, advergames, etc.)? Or using software programs like RoboForm?
What I enter and how I enter have changed and evolved. I was filling in OEBs (Original Entry Blanks) in 2001. I have not seen one in Canada since 2006. Then it was straightforward online entry forms. Now, 50% of the contests I enter are on Facebook. I am always trying out our new entry methods, new ways to find contests, etc. Out of my 10 wins this month, six were from Facebook entries, and all were online. I also enter (and win) a lot of single-entry promotions (even odds), short-entry-period contests (flash, one-day, etc.), and locals (open to the Greater Toronto Area).
Yes, since the hobby has gone online, more people are entering, but companies are spending more than ever running promotions. It’s a multi-billion-dollar industry. There are enough prizes for everyone.
Are you evolving or dying?
It’s so interesting to hear of all the different hobbies people have. What kind of prizes have you won other than money? Does it end up being worth the effort – I guess so, or you would have stopped putting in 1-2 hours a day!
What kind of things to you have to do to enter? Just put in your name/contact info?
Thanks!
I have only won money a handful of times over the past 12 years and not very much. I remember winning $5 once, LOL! Most of my prizes are small-ish. For example a few of my prizes this month were: a $50 gift card to Indigo, a set of movie passes to see Hansel & Gretel in IMAX 3D, a 1-year membership to MyYogaOnline, and even a bag of Doritos. Just waitin’ for a “biggie”, like a trip or a car, and yes, I feel it’s worth every moment of my time.
This post is so timely Carolyn. I was just speaking with a client today who was considering running a promotion and I told her about the preparation she should make, and the connections and viral scape she could have on Facebook. I’ll direct her here for more info.
Boo-ya! Wow, that is really cool.
Have never won money but have won a ipad2, ipod, blackberry playbook and shampoo, perfume and a couple of bath sets.
I take every chance I can to win an iPad. Somehow I’ve just become focused on winning one vs. buying one. I’ll be re-visiting your site to get more tips for clients (organizing promotional contests) but REALLY, I just want to win an iPad. lol 🙂
One of the advantages of belonging to a sweepstakes club is hearing about what others are winning. It’s rare that all of the members have a dry spell all at the same time.
I’d suggest that Arlene & Doyle & their club search out local sweeps – look in the grocery store beer area for text-to-win sweeps. These types of sweeps have been very good to our club.
I have a question about winning on Facebook. I haven’t been successful winning on Facebook even though I am entering constantly. Since my FB is for sweeps only, I don’t have any friends (I don’t want to waste time reading everyones posts) and I use my legal name on the entry forms not my nickname FB name(our families don’t know I sweep b/c we save prizes for gifts). Do you think this is prohibiting me winning on FB? Are there any tips for winning on FB? Thank-you!
Good question. I’ll answer it on my blog this week.
Thanks Carolyn, I’ll be on the lookout for it. I feel there needs to be a reason why my percentage of FB wins doesn’t match the other type(Daily, 1x and Twitter) of wins!
I am behind on reading emails because I’m busy entering contests! This is a great article for me today as I didn’t win a thing in Feb & spend about 1-2hrs a day entering all methods. I was wondering how come I wasn’t winning. Re-Evaluated my winning mantra, I practice the Laws of Attration, I have put it out to the universe. I guess its just taking a little longer to get to me. No matter what, I’m still having fun with my hobby.