Hi Carolyn,
My question is: when one is not winning, one is not very motivated. How do you inspire or motivate yourself to commit to so many minutes or hours a day entering contests?
Carolyn, from Ottawa

It’s as if you are exercising hard every day, watching what you eat, and after weeks and weeks, you have not lost a single pound. You just feel like giving up and stuffing your face full of cookies or chips.

It’s the same with entering contests. You spend an hour or two entering every day and nothing. Not even a keychain.

I would recommend backing off for a while. Stop entering so many. Focus on one-time entry-only sweepstakes of all types. Local ones for movie passes. Nationals for trips. Quick retweet contests. Even the odd program giveaway.

Don’t fully quit because if you don’t enter, you can’t win. (Where have I heard that before?)

Single-entry promotions are wonderful, as the odds are even, and you don’t have to worry about organizing them or coming back to enter again. (It’s also what I recommend to anyone who is short on time but still wants to sweep.) I would avoid social media contests as they can be time wasters and the prizes are generally not large.

Try that for a few months. Yes, a few months, as it takes time for some drawings to occur. Then reevaluate your hobby and switch it up again if required.

What do you do to stay motivated?

If you have a sweepstakes, contest, or giveaway question, please email me.