A guide to boosting your chances.
Entering sweepstakes is incredibly easy, and anyone can do it. Winning sweepstakes is also easy, but you have to enter to win. People have always told me that I’m lucky, but I don’t see it that way. I believe that I am successful because I put in the time to enter every day. Here are some things that I do that have helped me be successful.
Here are my tips to help you start winning:
- Only enter sweepstakes from reliable sources
- Read the rules and follow them
- Follow entry restrictions
- Enter as often as allowed
- Use accurate contact information
- Answer the phone or reply to the email
- Enter local sweepstakes
- Use autofill to speed things up
- Enter at off times
- Get out of your comfort zone
Only enter sweepstakes from trustworthy sources. Major companies like Coke and Budweiser frequently run sweepstakes, contests, and instant win games. If you’re unsure about a particular sweepstakes, do some research. Visit the company’s website to see if they mention it, or use a search engine to find more information.
Read the rules and follow them. There are obvious things to look for like age restrictions, start and end dates, eligibility, and prizes but sometimes there are surprising things. For example I read this in a recent sweepstakes:
“Verified Grand Prize Winner’s guest must complete and return a Liability Release, or any other paperwork required, within two (2) hours of notification to accompany Verified Grand Prize Winner on the Grand Prize trip.”
Two hours! That is very unusual. The quickest deadline I was ever given was 12 hours. It was the biggest prize I’d won so believe me I sent it back in under 12 hours and asked them for verification that they received everything correctly.
Follow entry restrictions. The rules will tell you how many people per household can enter. It could be that there is only one entry per household, it might be limited to 5 household participants, and it might not be limited at all. You don’t want to be disqualified.
I’ve set up a special page just for those who are under 21 to easily find ways to win that apply to them.
Enter as often as allowed. If it’s single entry, that’s great! I love it when it’s one and done. I have broken my sweepstakes category into sections for Single Entry, Daily Entry and Weekly Entry. For monthly entries, pick a date and enter all the monthly entries on that day every month. For weekly entries, pick a day of the week and stick to that day. Enter each week on the same day so you don’t accidentally enter too often or miss a week.
Enter using accurate contact information. People always ask me if I use a fake email. I don’t. When I win I want it to be very easy for the sweepstakes administrators to get in touch with me.
Answer your phone and check your email often. Official rules often tell you how the winner will be contacted. Here is one example:
Potential winners will be contacted by telephone and/or email. If any potential prize winner cannot be reached within forty-eight (48) hours of first notification attempt, if any prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, if the potential winner rejects his/her prize, or in the event of noncompliance with these Official Rules, such prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner will be selected from among all remaining eligible entries. Upon forfeiture of any prize, no compensation will be given.
Enter Local sweepstakes. Check your radio and TV stations as well as local newspapers and magazines. Keep an eye out for displays everywhere you shop, grocery stores, liquor stores, drug stores, and gas stations commonly have promotional displays promoting sweepstakes.
Google Chrome will automatically fill in your name, address, phone number, and date of birth. This is a huge time saver. Check to make sure all of your information is accurate before submitting an entry.
Try to enter instant win games when no one else is entering. For example, I always try to enter the Starbucks instant win game in the middle of the night, but I’d do a Taco Bell game first thing in the morning.
Sweepstakes that require you to enter more than just your basic info get less entries. The fewer entries the better the odds. If a picture, story, recipe, or video is needed to enter don’t pass it up. Take the extra time to enter. When I categorize something as a sweepstakes it is not judged. Anything that is judged I label as a contest.
Currently, there are more sweepstakes than I have ever seen, which means you can win about anything your heart desires.