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forum threadFreebiesRGreat posted Jun 03, 2008 02:50 AM
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forum threadFreebiesRGreat posted Jun 03, 2008 02:50 AM

Contests & Sweepstakes Tips, Advice, and Questions

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The intent of this thread is for users, both new and not-so-new, to ask questions, and help with tips/advice. This is not by any means the "gospel". Please feel free to add your words of wisdom, and if you have questions, just ask! If you have a tip that will make sweeping easier for folks, please feel free to share. This is a community effort. We all will benefit in some way.


The Basic Advice/Tips for the new-to-sweeping folks.
Enter for the items you want/need. If you have no interest in trips, avoid the sweeps where the only prize is a trip. If you know you can't afford the tax on a new vehicle, avoid entering for those.

Set up folders in your bookmark/favorites. Create a separate one for each month, and file any sweeps you are interested in into the folder corresponding with when it ends. Then, if you have a day where you're pressed for time, enter at least the ones ending that day.

Play the instant win games.

Follow the rules! If a sweep is restricted to only females, a certain age group, certain states, etc, make sure you fit the criteria! If you don't, move on to another sweep that you do qualify for. Do not create a bunch of email addresses so you can enter something more than once, or so you can play an Instant win game more. The Sponsors can tell, and will DQ you. You're better off playing by the rules than cheating and getting disqualified and having NO entries.

Don't immediately dismiss essay required sweeps (or recipes, photos, etc)....well, unless you know you don't want to write something. A lot of people pass on them, so you might have a better shot at winning something.

Don't expect this to be lucrative enough to become a job. Yes, a lot of us win, and often, but not nearly enough to quit a job!

Expect things to go slow at first. It takes a while for the wins to roll in. But once they do...look out!

Expect to occasionally hit a dry spell. It happens to ALL of us.

DEFINITELY USE YOUR REAL INFO! If you use a fake phone number, and a sponsor is calling to notify people of wins, you'll never know what you missed out on. I, and many others, have been doing this for a long time, and we have no problems with sales calls. Also, use your real name. If your name is Robert or Catherine, using Bob or Cathy is ok, as they are known acceptable shorter versions of that name. if your name is Matilda, and you go by Fluffy, don't use Fluffy. Looking at your ID to get an affy notarized, they may reject it because the names don't match. The sponsor may also say "Fluffy won, not Matilda". So stick with using your real name, or something close to it.

Most of all, HAVE FUN! And don't be afraid to ask questions. We were all new to this at one time. Any one of us would be happy to answer questions.


For easy form filling, check out Roboform [roboform.com]. Google Tool bar and the autofill feature on IE also work well.

For Mac users, the best form filler is 1Password: http://agilewebsolutions.com/products/1Password (thanks javaFlower!)

FireFox Form Filler browser extensions: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/...ll&cat=all

To set up the autofill feature in IE: Click on Tools, then internet options, then choose 'content'. When that pops up, click on "Autocomplete", and make sure to check the boxes for forms and passwords on forms. This is not a good idea if you are on a shared/public computer!

February 17, 2009, 3:10 am: System Notice: This thread has been automatically renewed after reaching a post limit. Most of its content has been moved to this thread for reference purposes.

July 12, 2010, 3:23 pm: System Notice: This thread has been automatically renewed after reaching a post limit. Most of its content has been moved to this thread for reference purposes.
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
The intent of this thread is for users, both new and not-so-new, to ask questions, and help with tips/advice. This is not by any means the "gospel". Please feel free to add your words of wisdom, and if you have questions, just ask! If you have a tip that will make sweeping easier for folks, please feel free to share. This is a community effort. We all will benefit in some way.


The Basic Advice/Tips for the new-to-sweeping folks.
Enter for the items you want/need. If you have no interest in trips, avoid the sweeps where the only prize is a trip. If you know you can't afford the tax on a new vehicle, avoid entering for those.

Set up folders in your bookmark/favorites. Create a separate one for each month, and file any sweeps you are interested in into the folder corresponding with when it ends. Then, if you have a day where you're pressed for time, enter at least the ones ending that day.

Play the instant win games.

Follow the rules! If a sweep is restricted to only females, a certain age group, certain states, etc, make sure you fit the criteria! If you don't, move on to another sweep that you do qualify for. Do not create a bunch of email addresses so you can enter something more than once, or so you can play an Instant win game more. The Sponsors can tell, and will DQ you. You're better off playing by the rules than cheating and getting disqualified and having NO entries.

Don't immediately dismiss essay required sweeps (or recipes, photos, etc)....well, unless you know you don't want to write something. A lot of people pass on them, so you might have a better shot at winning something.

Don't expect this to be lucrative enough to become a job. Yes, a lot of us win, and often, but not nearly enough to quit a job!

Expect things to go slow at first. It takes a while for the wins to roll in. But once they do...look out!

Expect to occasionally hit a dry spell. It happens to ALL of us.

DEFINITELY USE YOUR REAL INFO! If you use a fake phone number, and a sponsor is calling to notify people of wins, you'll never know what you missed out on. I, and many others, have been doing this for a long time, and we have no problems with sales calls. Also, use your real name. If your name is Robert or Catherine, using Bob or Cathy is ok, as they are known acceptable shorter versions of that name. if your name is Matilda, and you go by Fluffy, don't use Fluffy. Looking at your ID to get an affy notarized, they may reject it because the names don't match. The sponsor may also say "Fluffy won, not Matilda". So stick with using your real name, or something close to it.

Most of all, HAVE FUN! And don't be afraid to ask questions. We were all new to this at one time. Any one of us would be happy to answer questions.


For easy form filling, check out Roboform [roboform.com]. Google Tool bar and the autofill feature on IE also work well.

For Mac users, the best form filler is 1Password: http://agilewebsolutions.com/products/1Password (thanks javaFlower!)

FireFox Form Filler browser extensions: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/...ll&cat=all

To set up the autofill feature in IE: Click on Tools, then internet options, then choose 'content'. When that pops up, click on "Autocomplete", and make sure to check the boxes for forms and passwords on forms. This is not a good idea if you are on a shared/public computer!

February 17, 2009, 3:10 am: System Notice: This thread has been automatically renewed after reaching a post limit. Most of its content has been moved to this thread for reference purposes.

July 12, 2010, 3:23 pm: System Notice: This thread has been automatically renewed after reaching a post limit. Most of its content has been moved to this thread for reference purposes.

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Jul 29, 2011 01:04 AM
560 Posts
Joined Jan 2011
energyzerJul 29, 2011 01:04 AM
560 Posts
Question for some of you professional contest enterers:

Has anyone ever "focused" their efforts to a specific item to win? For the last month or so, I have entered every ipad/tablet/ipod touch contest there is....for the most part. No Twitter ones. Just curious. It seems I have entered a ton of them. With this method, what are the odds of actually winning one?
Jul 29, 2011 02:23 PM
1,251 Posts
Joined Aug 2005
saintjoJul 29, 2011 02:23 PM
1,251 Posts
Quote from implode :
I don't enter all those Newegg/Tigerdirect contests, they have really odd rules to them that I don't like.
never noticed anything odd with neweggs personally.

tigerdirect's rules were just dumb. but it looks like they changed them for the last few contests. you might want to check it out again.
Jul 29, 2011 04:55 PM
2,432 Posts
Joined May 2006
TBotzonJul 29, 2011 04:55 PM
2,432 Posts
Quote from saintjo :
never noticed anything odd with neweggs personally.

tigerdirect's rules were just dumb. but it looks like they changed them for the last few contests. you might want to check it out again.
I know they used to only award prizes to the people who checked back to see if they won and contacted them -boo
Jul 29, 2011 05:52 PM
1,430 Posts
Joined Sep 2010
mj025Jul 29, 2011 05:52 PM
1,430 Posts
I have a question for people that enter a lot of Facebook giveaways, do you keep up with your wall? Or do you just ignore it? I see so many giveaways that only 'announce' a winner, quite a few lately have had redrawings. I'm at the point where I can JUST keep up with it, it is just so saturated, if I have to view a full day's posts my system winds up taking 3 to 5 minutes just to build the page by the time I get to the last few. (Hoping to win a new system, which would help Wink )

Facebook's bloated code, even with something like Better Facebook, is just a nightmare with all the companies I like for their giveaways. I guess I'm just wondering how all of you handle it, or if you don't?

-MJ
Jul 29, 2011 05:57 PM
2,432 Posts
Joined May 2006
TBotzonJul 29, 2011 05:57 PM
2,432 Posts
I don't keep up with it and I hope I have not missed out on a prize! I hope they will leave me a message or email.
Jul 29, 2011 08:25 PM
560 Posts
Joined Jan 2011
energyzerJul 29, 2011 08:25 PM
560 Posts
Quote from mj025 :
I have a question for people that enter a lot of Facebook giveaways, do you keep up with your wall? Or do you just ignore it? I see so many giveaways that only 'announce' a winner, quite a few lately have had redrawings. I'm at the point where I can JUST keep up with it, it is just so saturated, if I have to view a full day's posts my system winds up taking 3 to 5 minutes just to build the page by the time I get to the last few. (Hoping to win a new system, which would help Wink )

Facebook's bloated code, even with something like Better Facebook, is just a nightmare with all the companies I like for their giveaways. I guess I'm just wondering how all of you handle it, or if you don't?

-MJ
GREAT QUESTION, and one that I am very interested in seeing what others do. I have not kept up with my wall. I am hoping that they will contact me by e-mail. There are a few contests that make you come back to their page to see if your a winner. I'm curious what others do.
Jul 30, 2011 08:54 AM
1,430 Posts
Joined Sep 2010
mj025Jul 30, 2011 08:54 AM
1,430 Posts
I think there is some Facebook rule about a company contacting a person privately without proper consent, and I think they need to setup the entry form in such a way to allow for that. If not, they need the person to contact them first. My rule of thumb is any 'comment' entry, like 'Like and comment on this post for an entry' I assume will not contact you privately.

Now, since I view my wall, I don't mind as long as the winner is announced in a new post, but if it is just left at a comment in the original (and some do) then I won't see that unless I go back to that original post. So I tend learn which companies will comment in the original post and which will make an announcement post. Sorry, I can't think off hand which post back in the original, but those, or ones I'm not sure of I make a bookmark of and date it the day it ends to watch it.

Hey Implode, are you by any chance confusing Newegg with Circuit City? CC, owned by TigerDirect was the same in that they posted the winners and you had to 'claim' your prize. I haven't noticed any oddities with Newegg giveaways. As far as the TD/CC ones, I have a folder in my bookmarks labeled Entered - CHECK that I put ones when they end, or in the case of TD and Big Prize Giveaways, I just have setup to check daily. Takes 2 seconds... TD has some good prizes, I wouldn't shoot yourself in the foot over that, just bookmark their winner's page and glance at it daily, or every couple days.

-MJ

Oh, to you people that want a good tool for Facebook, you might want to look at Better Facebook extension (works with most browsers), there are a lot of settings, but once you get it setup nicely, you can mark all the posts you've read, and keep track of where you last were with that. Very handy.
Last edited by mj025 July 30, 2011 at 01:56 AM.

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Jul 30, 2011 03:08 PM
2,319 Posts
Joined Sep 2006
AmantriaJul 30, 2011 03:08 PM
2,319 Posts
Interesting - I'm going to check out the facebook extension. I find that I'm entering more and more contests and I'm having some organizational issues.

Just wondering something, does anyone here have any ideas on contests that require referrals? I'm working on one, its a contest/biggest fan thing, and i'm losing ground because I'm having trouble getting my "friends" to help me. Are there any forums out there for this kind of thing? The referral part isn't required, but I'm losing out on points because of the issues i'm having.
Jul 30, 2011 03:18 PM
1,430 Posts
Joined Sep 2010
mj025Jul 30, 2011 03:18 PM
1,430 Posts
Quote from Amantria :
Interesting - I'm going to check out the facebook extension. I find that I'm entering more and more contests and I'm having some organizational issues.

Just wondering something, does anyone here have any ideas on contests that require referrals? I'm working on one, its a contest/biggest fan thing, and i'm losing ground because I'm having trouble getting my "friends" to help me. Are there any forums out there for this kind of thing? The referral part isn't required, but I'm losing out on points because of the issues i'm having.
If you want, I'll come of with a list of my 'settings' for BFB. I shut off many of the features, as they just hog up resources.

I never enter them, I figure those that win either are students with literally thousands of friends of pseudofriends (think Facebook friends that never actually have talked or anything) or have a lot of fake accounts. I think I've entered ONE voting contest in the past year.

-MJ
Jul 30, 2011 03:22 PM
2,319 Posts
Joined Sep 2006
AmantriaJul 30, 2011 03:22 PM
2,319 Posts
Quote from mj025 :
If you want, I'll come of with a list of my 'settings' for BFB. I shut off many of the features, as they just hog up resources.

I never enter them, I figure those that win either are students with literally thousands of friends of pseudofriends (think Facebook friends that never actually have talked or anything) or have a lot of fake accounts. I think I've entered ONE voting contest in the past year.

-MJ
I have approx 400 friends. Granted, a lot of those are for the FB games I play, but i do try to interact with most of them (wall comments etc). I hate things that require refs too. Makes it so hard. This will probably be the only one I do, considering its for my ultimate favorite band in the world. I wish i'd never seen this darn contest LOL
Aug 02, 2011 11:07 PM
560 Posts
Joined Jan 2011
energyzerAug 02, 2011 11:07 PM
560 Posts
Quote from Amantria :
Interesting - I'm going to check out the facebook extension. I find that I'm entering more and more contests and I'm having some organizational issues.

Just wondering something, does anyone here have any ideas on contests that require referrals? I'm working on one, its a contest/biggest fan thing, and i'm losing ground because I'm having trouble getting my "friends" to help me. Are there any forums out there for this kind of thing? The referral part isn't required, but I'm losing out on points because of the issues i'm having.
www.contests.about.com will let you ask for referrals and votes, but be prepared to return the favor
Aug 04, 2011 05:57 AM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangAug 04, 2011 05:57 AM
1,844 Posts
Quote from vickysmomma :
what contest do you find that you win the most from,
Personally, I rarely win instant win contests unless the number of winners is something high like 10,000+. When I do win (which is rare), it tends to be single entry contests.
Aug 04, 2011 05:04 PM
5,152 Posts
Joined Oct 2008
SweepaholicAug 04, 2011 05:04 PM
5,152 Posts
Quote from Jang :
Personally, I rarely win instant win contests unless the number of winners is something high like 10,000+. When I do win (which is rare), it tends to be single entry contests.
I am the opposite, I win the most from instants!
Aug 04, 2011 05:17 PM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangAug 04, 2011 05:17 PM
1,844 Posts
Quote from Sweepaholic :
I am the opposite, I win the most from instants!
You're probably like most people. I'm the weird one that can't win instants, lol.

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Aug 04, 2011 11:49 PM
560 Posts
Joined Jan 2011
energyzerAug 04, 2011 11:49 PM
560 Posts
Quote from Jang :
You're probably like most people. I'm the weird one that can't win instants, lol.
I'm probably the wierdest one of all if that is what it takes! I call them ILG "Instant Lose"

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