Abbey sent me this question:

I know sponsors deserve some return on the money they spend offering contests – so it is REALLY an advantage to winning to agree to sign up for their emails, like their Facebook page, follow them on X, receive their texts, or allow their 3rd party partners to have your info?

I don’t mind looking at their pages often or posting when I win – I always do. I also send thank you’s in the mail, and often, I email them an appropriate picture, but I am getting inundated with their emails, texts, and posts!

There are a few solutions to your problem(s):

EMAIL
The first thing to do is to set up an email address specifically for entering contests. I learned this lesson the hard way and used my business and primary email address to enter. All my business, personal, and contest emails got mixed up.  It took a few months, but I eventually ported all my entries to an online account. I use Yahoo, but you can use any service you wish.

I only opt-in for emails if I get entries for doing so. I never opt-in for third-party emails. As their emails fill my inbox, I just hit delete. It only takes a few minutes daily to clear out my inbox of those emails I am not interested in reading. Then, every few months, I unsubscribe from all the companies I do not frequently use.

NOTE: I also use my contest email address for all online subscriptions and memberships to keep my other email inboxes clear.

FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM
I have separate Facebook and Instagram accounts for entering contests. I have a lot of friends, and I have liked and followed countless accounts/businesses to enter. My newsfeed moves quicker than I would like, so I miss a lot. I knew that would happen and accepted it as part of the hobby. You can always unlike or unfollow a company page.

Like clearing out your email inbox, you can always clear your feed by unliking and unfollowing companies. As it can be time-consuming, you can do it in short or small stints so as not to cut into your contest time. A great time to do it is waiting in-line or for an appointment.

X (TWITTER)
Tweets (what else would we call them?!) only have a shelf life of a minute, so all the posts shouldn’t bother you too much.  I used to use Hootsuite to manage my Twitter feed as it is a virtual service that allowed me to cross-post. Since the cost became prohibitive and Twitter became X, I now manually schedule the occasional tweet and don’t often enter there as Instagram seems to have taken over as a preferred platform for many companies.  You can also set up lists to separate contest friends from companies, etc. and then only see posts from those accounts in your feed.

TEXTS
There are not a lot of companies that text me.  Maybe because I am in Canada, and mobile marketing isn’t as big as it could be.  You can always text back STOP.  Again, unless it costs you money, I would just hit delete.

Abbey, let me know if these tips help.

How do you handle all the requirements of entering task-based sweepstakes?