I Won

I was jitterly happy on 2-18-20008 when I received another notification from National Examiner that I had won 20 dollars in the secret word winner # 48. Thank you National Examiner! Now I’m ready to start my scrapbook of my winnings to get me through those dreary waiting periods when I’m pining  for the next prize.

Two of my favorite things to do, is read celebrity gossip and work on contests where we have to circle non-matching items and do word searches with a chance to win if sent-in by mail. Keep those contests coming and let me win every so often and I will be a happy camper as long as I live.

WINNING MAKES ME THINK I’M NOT READY FOR THE REST HOME, (Diane Haley)

The Hobby That Pays

The most favorite way of  entering sweepstakes is online. A consumer survey found that 82% of online consumers are willing to provide various forms of personal information to online retailers in exchange for a chance to win small prizes, in my case, I won a Hungry Man T-shirt to enter a sweepstake for a chance to win a car. The online merchandiser dangles prize incentives in front of their target audience to establish a data-driven relationship which they nurture, using many different tactics. This gives them the opportunity to deliver personalized and relevent offers instead of a mass marketing approach. Permission based programs are now being developed that open a direct-line dialog of communication with customers to build cost effective databases after the merchandisers encourage the customers to take action by registering, or visiting a retail store, or trying out a new product, or referring a friend, or completing a survey. By training and educating the customers they strive to build brand loyalty and increase purchases.

To run a sweepstake to accomplish these goals has the benefit of being on a fixed budget. The prizes are determined up front and there is no worry that the sweepstake goes over budget while other promotions like games, premiums, coupons and rebates are more open-ended.

The big drawback for the online sweeper is the millions of consumer that may enter any one sweepstake because it is so easy to be in the drawing for a new car or a nice bundle of cash. The saying is still the same: don’t enter, don’t win. There is a winner for every sweepstake.

A world-wide trend that has been lagging but is catching on in the good old USA is entering sweepstakes on a mobile phone. I was surprosed to find out that there are more mobile phone subscribers world wide than there are landlines phone subscribers or internet subscribers. The mobile phone is a primary means of communication for voice and digital services like email, digital photos and navigation. The marketers just love to connect with their consumers through a mobile entry to promote their brand because the audience can interact immediately. We don’t have to be rocket scientists to realize that wireless promotion is the way of the future. I am debating if it would be to my advantage to get a mobile phone subscription to become part of this high-tech sweeping community. Is there a hobby left that pays where we don’t have to bring an arm and a leg to the table is my final question?

CHANCE FAVORS THOSE MINDS WHICH ARE PREPARED. (Louis Pasteur).

Tidbits

Cindy Adams wrote in Parade magazine what celebrities did with their first big-paying job. The list shows what a broad range of possessions people are interested in that I want to immortalize it here in my blog. After all, my blog is my prized possession.

Edie Falco from the Sopranos bought real estate.

Judge Judy from TV Judge paid full price for a pair of black shoes instead if buying the same pair in a different color on sale.

Matt Lauer of the Today Show found property in the Hamptons and built a house.

Rosie O’Donnell, a comic, bought a new Mazda.

Julianne Moore, actress, bought her mother a hugely expensive cashmere sweater.

Kristin Chenoweth bought herself a dog and a pink doggy car seat.

James Earl Jones spent the money on a wedding ring.

WEAR A SMILE AND HAVE FRIENDS,

WEAR A SCOWL AND HAVE WRINKLES,

WHAT DO WE LIVE FOR

IF NOT TO MAKE THE WORLD

LESS DIFFICULT FOR EACH OTHER. (George Eliot)

Enter To Win

Grandpa Look-a-Like contest during the ‘Frozen Dead Guy Days in Netherland, CO in the scond weekend in March  7-9, 2008. For details, call (720)374-6742 or go to www.americanprofile.com and click on the story ‘Frozen Dead Guy Days .’

18th Annual Nebraska Handwriting Contest opens March 1 and must be received by March 31, 2008. Prizes will be awarded in four categories: ages 12 and under; ages 13-16, ages 17-49, and ages 50 and over. For details go to http://www.nsea.org or http://coe.unk.edu/contest

The state of Michigan has an Irish festival in Clare, March 10-15, 2008 with an Irish recipe contest thrown in. For details, call (888)282-5273.

Go to www.parade.com/underthesea for a chance to win a trip to NewYork to see Disney’s musical ‘Under the Sea.’ This sweepstake ends 3-13-2008.

Remember that in contests all entries are judged and/or evaluated while in sweepstakes winners are randomly selected and the remaining entries are never opened, instead they are all disposed of.

Contests may require a purchase and they create a database of confirmed users unlike in sweepstakes where there is never a purchase required.

Types of contests: write a song, create a video, upload a photograph, compose a themed essay, whip up a new and creative recipe, you all heard of Elvis Presley and Abe Lincoln look-a-like contests, kick a 50 yard field goal, toss bean bags into the open window of a moving car, a hole-in-one attempt on a golf course

IF WE FIND PEACE WITHIN OURSELVES, WE  HAVE LITTLE NEED TO FIGHT OR STRUGGLE AGAINST OTHER PEOPLE.

Tips

Are you running out of money to buy postage and supplies for mail-in entries into sweepstakes? Somebody suggested to use the Visa gift cards that some sweepstakes give as prizes. You could also sell some of the smaller items that you won, or go on ebay and sell some of your no-more-needed items, or have a garage sale, or spend less on one of your other hobbies, or you could even forfeit your daily Starbucks. Where there is a will, there is a way.

For daily online sweeps, I get sometimes confused exactly what their sweeping requirements mean. Some say, enter only every 24 hours, others say enter once a day. Then when I enter at night like today and again in the morning when I wake up, it will say I already entered. That gets so frustrating that I make it a habit to only enter every other day to avoid having to make the distinction between sweeps that run from midnight and those that run from noon to noon.

EVIL TRIUMPHS WHEN GOOD MEN DO NOTHING. (Edmund Burke)

The Hobby That Pays

I am really tired to enter hundreds of sweepstakes every day online. So now I let Fastsweeper do it. For a 3-months membership fee of 28.95 they enter hundreds of sweeps for me and if I don’t win anything in 3 months I will get three months free.

This service claims that they are the most advanced Sweepstakes entry system available. They use a unique system that places my entries like I am doing everything manually. Fastsweepwe automatically opts-out from all newsletters and email promotions from sponsors.

Members should use the sweepstake engine at least 1x per week to be fully entered into all sweepstakes. After having no wins from the Sweepstakeswizard, I give this site a try.

Have a good Sunday.

AN EXPERT IS A MAN WHO TELLS YOU A SIMPLE THING IN A CONFUSED WAY IN SUCH A FASHION AS TO MAKE YOU THINK THE CONFUSION IS YOUR OWN FAULT. (Willaim Castle)

Enter To Win

Are you an amateur poet? go to www.poem3.com Mail one original poem, 24 lines or less, any subject, any style. It’s free and 100,000 in prizes awarded annually!

www.mylifetime.com has two sweepstakes. Both end on 2-29-2008. 500 copies of the book: Why hasn’t he called? will be given away, by Matt Titus and his wife Tamsen Fadal.

You can also enter to win a trip for two th the Turtle Islands. It sounds exciting  for a couple to relive their honeymoon or something along thoses lines.

Good Luck!

DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE END COMING TO AN END TODAY. IT IS ALREADY TOMORROW IN AUSTRALIA. (Charles Schulz)

Enter To Win

The Today show announced yesterday that Google has a student contest, K-12; where one student wins a 10,000 scholarship for himself and a laptop plus laptops for the whole school.The student submits a doodle for the Google page. They have to be hand drawn and be submitted through the school, the student is attending. Check with your school.

Go to www.monopoly.co.nz and enter to win a trip to one of the cities that Monopoly will be touring this year.

Go to http:/better.tv for a 50,000 dream vacation from Better Homes & Garden. It includes also 20,000 dollars cash; ends 4-15-2008.

You can also enter at www.pizzahut.com and www.subway.com for prizes to be given away.

There is a Congressional Art Contest where one student, 9-12 grade, from each district gets to go to Washington DC for the awards ceremony and the student’s art work will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for the year. Go to http:/www.artnetnebraska.org/yam.html.

EXPERIENCE IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU DON’T GET WHAT YOU WANT. (Tory Filler)

Tips

Winning tips for 2008.

1. Read the rules so you don’t waste time and money on disqualified entries.

2. Don’t cheat. Only enter for the people who are authorized to use your email acount. Many fulfillment companies track ISP addresses, not email addresses. When using the same internet provider for unauthorized sweep entries, all your entries will be disqualified.

3. Only enter for prizes you want and need, to keep from getting overloaded and paying taxes that you cannot afford.

4. Watch the codes on packages like Banquet dinners andd make sure they’re not expired. Some products like the Dream Home sweepstake include instant win game pieces. Keep them organized. Read carefully if they are second chance sweepstakes you can enter. Become a good and careful reader!

5. Find sweepstakes in your local area. Local newspapers and in store ballot boxes are good sources as well as Radio- and TV station websites. Radio stations have expanded their call-in contests to their websites and TV shows advertise their website contests all day long where you can sign up for their contest announcement newsletter so that you don’t have to depend on having the TV on all the time. Always remember, the less entries a contest or sweepstake attracts, the better are your chances of winning.

6. Watch for the # of prizes a sweep offers. The more prizes are offered, the better your chance of winning one. You don’t even have to be a Rocket scientist to figure this one out. The do’s and don’ts of sweeping can be learned with very little formal education. In this high tech world, it takes more money than smarts to make sweeping and contesting your hobby that pays.

7. Like any gambling activity, it’s a numbers game. The more you enter, the better the chances of winning, with luck being a contributing factor.

8. Keep taxes in mind when entering sweepstakes. They can eat you alive.

9. Budget your time and money carefully.

I FIND THE GREAT THING IN LIFE IS NOT SO MUCH WHERE WE STAND AS IN WHAT DIRECTION WE ARE MOVING. (Oliver Wendell Holmes)

Tidbits

Sweepstakes Categories.

Online Entries.-This is the cheapest and fastest way to enter sweeps. It is free and to save time you can use some automated form to enter a whole bunch every day, week, month or try instant games on the Internet where you know right away if you won. Sometimes you have to wait to collect your winnings until a game closes, but at least you have something to look forward to.

These games come in several shapes and forms: play a game – spin a wheel – fill in a form or scratch a virtual game piece. Use an online decoder. As soon as you click “submit,” you find out right away that you’ve either won a prize or you need try again the next day. These instant wins keep many sweepers motivated and break the daily grind of entering daily and being left in the dark about winning or losing an entry. I’ve read that it is almost impossible to win an instant game but a short while ago I found out through the grapevine that these games are winneable if you play them when you wake up at 2am or 3am. Give it a try and leave me some feedback. I wish you the best of luck in these instant gratification games.

Mail-in Sweeps Lately I have pretty much concentrated on this type of entry because I like the idea that I am writing out the entries by hand and that I am more involved in the winning process than just clicking online entries all the time. This gets me trough my burnout period which hopefully will pass pretty soon. I have been reading the rules for mail-in entries for unclaimed and left over prizes. These entries are called “second chance sweepstakes. Mail-in sweeps give usually a better chance of winning than online sweeps because we have to buy our own envelopes, postcards, 3×5 cards and paper, and of course the postage, which is now 41 cents for letter post and 26 cents for postcards.

Text Messaging is keeping up with the times.Many TV shows offer this type of entry. The cost per entry varies, and many times the same sweep can be entered for free online

Ballot Box Sweeps can be found locally at banks, restaurants or at new store openings. These are the local sweeps and easier to win than the national ones.

Video Entries are part of the new technology, and coming staight from the grapevine, they give the sweeper and contestant an excellent chance to win because so many people, including myself don’t know how to produce a video without paying somebody through the nose. In a recent Visa 30,000 dollar giveaway, there were 672 videos sent in as opposed to a few million online entries. This gives you an idea what method to use when entering sweeps, if you have the know-how. I have seen Tv talk-shows lately who have given away cars based on video entries. This is definitely a method of entry to research to become a big winner.

Sweepstakes services There are companies on the Internet that enter you consistently in hundreds or even thousands of sweeps for a fee. I’ve joined the Sweepstakes Wizard and have yet to wait for a prize after several months.

Watch for Affidavids. They might appear out of the blue in the mail, by private carrier, as an email and even in your spam folder. These forms of winning a sweepstake notifications, require that you send more personal unformation like picture ID, SS# or what have you, to collect your prize.

To cut down on Spam you could set up a free email account for your sweepstakes activities.

NO MATTER WHAT MAY BE YOUR LOT IN LIFE, BUILD SOMETHING ON IT.