time, but I think of it like any other hobby. I enjoy the process, and who doesn't like free stuff? It's like getting little presents in the mail when they arrive. Good luck, and have fun!
TIPS
1. BELIEVE you will win. A positive attitude is everything. It keeps you going when you aren't seeing the prizes roll in. Everyone has dry times. Be happy when someone else wins something. Good karma, people.
2. Remember it is a hobby. You are not going to get rich. You will win some cool stuff, but you have to enjoy the process, or don't do it. Find a hobby you do enjoy. Your time is the most valuable commodity you have.
3. Make friends. There are tons of people entering sweeps. Get to know them. Use them as referrals to get more entries, and click on their links to help them as well. You never know who you will meet and end up keeping as a lifelong friend.
4. Don't pay for anything. Period. Don't do it. The sweeps sites will try to sell you a "secret" section or whatever, to lure you in. You can find the same sweeps anywhere on the web for free.
5. Use Roboform, Google Autofill or whatever program will help you save your info and fill the forms out faster. This is the secret to entering 50-100 sweeps per day.
6. Set up an email account strictly for sweeps. You're going to get a lot of crap you don't want. Most of the sites will send you a newsletter or coupons. They're in this to sell their product. It's just another form of advertisement for them, and a smart one. They're giving away a prize, but they're getting hundreds or thousands of people to view their website in the process.
7. Read the fine print. Know what you're entering. Are you signing up for a magazine when you hit that enter button? You need to know, so you don't get a bill for a subscription you don't want, after those "free" magazines keep coming!
8. Look for smaller sweeps, with fewer entries. The Travel Channel has a $100,000 vacation giveaway. Sure, enter that every day, but know that your odds aren't great. You're going to do much better on some of the smaller ones.
9. Watch Facebook and Twitter for short-term giveaways. They may be called "flash" giveaways, and usually only last a few hours. These are great opportunities to win gift cards.
10. If you don't use Twitter, learn how. You will be shocked by house much stuff is given away on Twitter, and how easy it is to enter. Wednesday and Friday are the big days to win on there. You can follow me (@middleagecray) or you can search for hash tags such as #giveaway #win #contest etc.
11. Don't bother entering a bunch of stuff you don't want, unless you can sell it. It's better to spend your time entering stuff you really want.
12. Use sweepstakes sites to find sweeps. Also, look for them as you're out doing your shopping. From what I understand, hardly anyone enters candy sweeps. Open that wrapper up and enter it!
13. Don't enter anything for timeshare companies. They will drive you nuts with phone calls.
14. Keep a list of your wins. I have a special folder in my email for the winning notifications, so I can go back and review them. I have never had a prize I didn't receive, but I have had to touch base a couple of times to check the status. They don't get in a big hurry after they notify you that you won.
15. Make a folder for sweeps you need to be entering daily. Delete them as they expire.
16. Enter sweeps that are more complex, because nobody wants to be bothered with them. One company just gave away 200 cell phones, valued at $599 each. I missed that contest, but most of my sweeper friends won. You had to write a little blurb about your cell phone breaking, or something of the sort. It wasn't that complicated, but most people will skip those. Some contests will ask you to post a pic of something, or pin their post to Pinterest.
SWEEPS SITES
