How To Be A Sweepstakes Winner

I enjoyed reading this website ( http://www.onlinesweeps.com/) as my husband, Joel is an advid sweeper as well. Its has become his hobby & every evening you can find him diligently entering as many sweeps as he can enter on the computer.

Some say we are lucky, but we aren't that lucky really. We like to call ourselves Blessed instead! My husband & I both believe that its definately God's intervention though the years. I mean, how can you possibly explain it all????

Since 2003, we've won (6) all expense paid trips (to Major cities) 25K in cash, gift certificates, a computer monitor, t-shirts, cosmetics, household products and the big win of all... 250K toward a new home (Century 21 Home Run Derby)

This year alone, he's won (2) Blackberry Pearls & (2)Rhapsody Mp3 players, a spa certificate.. Plus last month, he won $1,800 in cash in a stock picking contest!!!! :) :)

Plus--We just enjoyed an all expenses paid trip to The Big Apple-- New York City, this Summer! We are still praying that one day we will also win a trip to Hawaii as well :) :)

I just thought I would share this article... Susan has some great tips!

One tip that I would like to add is that my husband prefers save postage & opts to do his sweeping online & has had some great success through the following websites:http://www.sweepsadvantage.com/ & http://www.ezsweeps.com/ . He also uses http://www.roboform.com/ to electronically fill in the sweeps forms.

He also recommends setting up a seperate email box that is used exclusively for sweeping-- to reduce the spam. Also be prepared for junk mail in your mail box as well. We've gotten used to it over the years & it promptly goes into the assigned recycling bin! :)

Anyways, onto Susan's article & Happy Sweeping! :)


Susan Donahue, our expert sweepstakes columnist, is also the publisher of 'Winning Ways', a national online sweepstakes newsletter available at http://www.onlinesweeps.com/. Susan has tips and advice on how to be a sweepstakes winner. So far this year, she has won an entertainment center (valued at $3500), a mountain bike (valued at $450), a vacuum cleaner (valued at $200) and a Dirt-Devil (valued at $50), an iced-tea maker (valued at $35), four wins of $100 each, many T-shirts and music CDs, and a second-prize cash winning of $5000.

Imagine ... it was a very stressful day, traffic on the way home from food shopping was horrendous, and you almost hit the neighbor's cat while you were pulling into the driveway. As you walk up the stairs to your front door, you notice a package over to the right.

Your heart starts pounding and your palms are sweating. You open the note attached to the package, and you read the words you've been anxiously waiting to hear..."Dear Mrs. Donahue, Congratulations! You have been selected as a second place winner..."

Entering sweepstakes as a hobby has increased dramatically over the past 5 years.

As it becomes increasingly difficult to make ends meet, sweepstaking is becoming more and more popular. Contrary to what you might think, "sweepstaking" does not fall into the category of get-rich-quick schemes. It's not like trying to win the lottery. It's a pastime that delivers satisfying, visible results.

While many of us may dream about being that grand prize winner, the first, second, and third prize winners are receiving substantial prizes, too. This year so far, I have won an entertainment center (valued at $3500), a mountain bike (valued at $450), a vacuum cleaner (valued at $200) and a Dirt-Devil (valued at $50), an iced-tea maker (valued at $35), four wins of $100 each, many T-shirts and music CDs, and a second-prize cash winning of $5000 -- all just for sending in my name and address to a legitimate sweepstakes.

What is a "legitimate sweepstakes?"

Legitimate sweepstakes are those that ask you for no money whatsoever -- no money to enter, no money to deliver your prize (shipping and handling), and no money for special processing fees to hold your prize for you. It is up to YOU to enter legitimate sweepstakes -- no one comes looking for you -- no too-good-to-be- true phone offers or solicitations by mail.

Scams will often contact you by mail or phone telling you that you won a sweepstakes which you didn't even enter and then ask for a fee to send you your prize.

Legitimate sweepstakes are sponsored by companies whose products you buy every day: General Mills, Sony, Kellogg's, Family Circle, Vidal Sassoon, Johnson & Johnson, Quaker State, Tylenol, M&M Mars, and many others. These companies use sweepstakes as a way to promote their products.

Through offering a sweepstakes with major prizes such as new cars, vacations, jet skis, money, PCs, entertainment systems, and cash prizes, these companies hope to attract your attention and encourage you to buy their products.

How can they afford it?

Holding a sweepstakes is included in their marketing and advertising budgets. Even a grand prize for a sweepstakes of $100,000 is only a fraction of what some companies pay for the production and airing of a 30-second TV commercial. Also, the prizes in a legitimate sweepstakes, unlike playing a lottery, are GUARANTEED to be awarded. Sponsors rarely hold the sweepstakes themselves. They pay sweepstakes judging agencies to manage the promotion for them and to make sure that all prizes are awarded, and that they are awarded fairly -- and everyone has the same chance to win.

How do you find a sweepstakes to enter?

There are many places to find legitimate sweepstakes: grocery store and department store displays, Sunday newspaper inserts, the Internet, local radio stations, and so forth. There are also sweepstakes newsletters available that gather all of the legitimate sweepstakes for you and provide you with all of the information you need to enter them. Some of the better newsletters also provide you with hints and tips on how to win.

How do you enter a sweepstakes?

Each sweepstakes has its own set of official rules. The important information you need is the entry information (what the sponsors require), which is usually just your name and address hand-printed on a 3x5 piece of paper or index card, the address to mail it, and the deadline date for the entry. There may be certain restrictions, such as age, residency (US and Canada mostly), or they may allow only one entry per person. All of this information can be found in the official rules. Sweepstakes newsletters also publish all of this information for you.

What do you need to enter?

No special supplies are necessary to enter a sweepstakes. Typical items you'll need are things you already have on hand and include plain white #10 envelopes, 3x5 index cards or plain paper, and postage. As you enter more sweepstakes, you might want to use colored envelopes or decorate them yourself, but this is not necessary. Most sweeps winners will tell you that they won using plain envelopes and papers. In fact, there are some sweepstakes that require you to use only plain white envelopes -- as another way to ensure that everyone has an equal chance!

* Hints and tips on how to win ...

After you write your name and address on an index card, and mail it to the correct address, other than cross your fingers, what can you do?

Everyone has the same ODDS, statistically-speaking, of winning, however, there are things that you can do to give yourself a better CHANCE to win.

Some of these include:

* Have the kids help. My kids like to help decorate envelopes, and my oldest likes to help by writing out 3x5 cards in advance. When a sweepstakes is open for children only, we have plenty of hand- decorated envelopes done by the children!

* Remember that local contests are great! The area is limited, and there are less entries. Look for them in grocery stores, department stores, drug stores, gas stations, on local radio stations, and so forth.

* Enter the sweepstakes for which you are uniquely eligible -- ones that have restrictions that would exclude others. For example, if a sweepstakes is open to households with children under a certain age, we would enter that one more often (as long as we meet all of the requirements) than sweepstakes that are open to everyone.

The odds decrease drastically.

* Stagger your entries throughout the life of the sweepstakes.
Many people flood the mail bags or online entries at the end of the sweepstakes, right before the deadline, trying to get in a few more entries before the sweepstakes ends. This means that your odds of getting picked from one of those last mailbags is greater. You have much better odds of winning a sweepstakes if you enter throughout the life of the sweepstakes, getting your entries in as many mail bags as possible.

* If you have an unlisted phone number, please state so when you fill out your 3x5 or postcard. The judging agency will disqualify you if you do not provide a phone number if one is specified. If you let them know your phone number is unlisted, they should not pass your phone number on any further -- but you will still meet the requirements of the sweepstakes.

* If you are on a budget for postage, for example, one roll of stamps a month, choose your sweepstakes wisely. That brand new car might be nice, but if it's the only prize offered in the sweepstakes, you might be better off entering the sweepstakes giving away a different grand prize with a few smaller prizes. Your chances of winning something would be greater. Also, enter online whenever you can for additional savings.

* Smaller wins make great Christmas or birthday presents. If a contest has a particularly uninviting grand prize and lots of smaller ones, we still send in a few entries. You can always decline the grand prize, and you'll still have a chance to win the smaller prizes.
Sweepstaking is a very rewarding hobby. For a small investment of supplies, postage, and time, the results can be very satisfying. Instead of dreading those bills and piles of junk mail, you can begin to look forward to the occasional prize notification.

It can help to make those special occasions even more special by providing things that you may not otherwise be able to afford to buy. For example, Christmas at our house last year was almost completely funded through prize winnings. Each family member received a large gift from a sweepstakes win: a portable CD player for our oldest daughter, a Little Tykes play house for our middle daughter, a bike for our son, a Toys "R" Us shopping spree for our youngest daughter, and a digital satellite system for the whole family.

We also won two round-trip tickets good for anywhere in the continental US, so Grandma and Grandpa flew in for Christmas with us.

We've had many other big wins, too. While we are still dreaming of someday winning those his-and-her minivans, the wins along the way are not only worthwhile, they're fun!

Next month, we'll present more tips on how to win, plus some important information to consider when entering sweepstakes online!

About the author: Susan Donahue is the publisher of Winning Ways, a national online sweepstakes newsletter available at http://www.onlinesweeps.com/ If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Susan at winningways@onlinesweeps.com. or visit her website at
http://www.onlinesweeps.com/.