SWEEPSTAKES

YOU WON!!!  Who doesn’t like to hear those words? I believe we all try at one time or another to win something. I’m one of those who is stuck on these online sweeps, after all it is FREE to enter so what do you have to lose? Time is one thing you lose a lot of and also the disappointment of not winning…AGAIN.

Keeping YOU in the flow with what are the best "sweepstakes" to enter is what this blog is all about.

What does the word "sweepstakes" mean? A form of gambling, in which all the stakes are divided among the winners. A  “sweepstakes ticket" is divided among the winners. A promotional  drawing in which prizes are given away at no charge to the participants.

In the U.S. a consumer sales promotion is known as a sweepstakes, it has become associated with marketing promotions targeted toward both generating enthusiasm and providing incentive reactions among customers by enticing consumers to submit free entries into drawings of chance (and not skill) that are tied to product or service awareness wherein the featured prizes are given away by sponsoring companies. Prizes can vary in value from less than one dollar to more than one million U.S. dollars and can be in the form of cash, cars, homes, electronics, etc., because of their potential for abuse, sweepstakes are heavily regulated.

Among the most popularly known sweepstakes in the U.S.  is “Publishers Clearing House” which strongly persuades entrants to purchase magazine subscriptions or buying articles without paying in advance with a choice of  making monthly payments by placing stickers on contest entry card stock or online while promising multi-million dollar winners who will be "announced on TV."

Sweepstakes are frequently used by fast-food restaurants to boost business. One of the most popular has been the McDonald's Monopoly "instant-win " game-piece promotion (free game pieces are made available by requests through the U.S. mail) although the odds of winning the McDonald's Monopoly jackpot prize are usually much greater than the odds of winning many U.S. state lotteries.

Sweepstakes must be carefully planned to not only comply with local laws but curtail forms of entrant fraud and abuse. Before home computers were popular, a common method of entry was a mailed, plain 3" × 5" index card with the entrant's name and address. In most sweepstakes, entrants and their relatives must not be related to the sponsor or promoter or work in any way with that company.

What are the best sweepstakes to enter? There are so many sweepstakes out there, and I can't enter all of them every day. Of course, I'd prefer to spend my time entering the sweepstakes that I'm most likely to win. So how can I decide which are the best sweepstakes to enter, and which have the best odds of winning? In general, you can say that there are three aspects of any sweepstakes that can increase your chances of winning: there are fewer competing entries, you can boost your number of entries, and more winners will be selected.

Some sweepstakes have an astonishingly low number of entries. When you have a 1 in 50 chance of winning as opposed to a 1 in 50,000, your odds are obviously much better. So how can you tell if a sweepstakes has a lower than average number of entries? It's impossible to know for sure how many entries a sponsor has received, we can make a guess based on the sweepstakes rules. For example, a sweepstakes that is void in Florida automatically rules out the 18,089,888 residents of that state. The more states that are prohibited, the more your chances rise (assuming, of course, that you are not a resident of any of those states!). Sweepstakes that are only open to your local area have the best chances of winning. Similarly, a sweepstakes that is only open to men rules out roughly 50% of your competition (or more, since a lot of women enter sweepstakes!) Also if the sweepstakes is annoying to enter - it has a long survey, for example, or requires multi-page registration. Not everyone will bother with it. If a skill is required to enter, such as video, writing, photography, or poetry contests. If the prizes are attractive only to a certain subset of people - for example, a gift certificate to a local restaurant, or a high-tech gadget that only engineers will understand or crave.

You Have Better Odds When You Can Enter More Often. The best sweepstakes odds come when you can get more entries than other people. For example, most people don't really enter daily sweepstakes every single day. If you are diligent about entering daily, your chances will rise. You can get the best odds of winning sweepstakes by entering the maximum number of times specified in the rules. Keeping your eyes open for other chances to get extra entries that the sponsor may offer. Some will give extra chances to win for watching an advertisement or completing a survey.

The best sweepstakes to enter for really high chances are those that offer a lot of prizes. Sweepstakes that are giving away 100 prizes have 100 times the odds of winning compared to those giving away

just one prize. Even if the prizes have a lower value, the motivation that comes with winning makes them worth entering. While I love to win high-value sweepstakes, it's those little prizes which arrive frequently that keep me energized to enter every day. Some sweepstakes generally have quite low odds of winning. If the prize is good enough it might be worth the long shot. However, sweepstakes that are advertised across the nation, with few prizes awarded, with a very long entry period, unlimited entries, prizes that are not guaranteed to be awarded all have low odds of winning.

By comparing these aspects of each giveaway, you can decide which are the best sweepstakes to enter, and focus your energy on winning more prizes.

Come back tomorrow and I will tell you about the odds of entering different sweepstakes and perhaps a few other statistics.

til’ then…GOOD LUCK!

 

Shirl