So you’ve seen a few sweepstakes online, in print, on television, in magazines, just about everywhere you look now there is someone giving away something. Some questions you might ask and that I am going to strive to answer are:
Is it safe?
Do these sites really give away prizes or is it a scam? Can you prove it?
How can the promoters of sweeps give away such large prizes?
Doesn’t it involve a lot of spam in your email box?
Isn’t it tedious to enter some sweepstakes over and over and over again?
Are there tools that can help me with *sweeping*?
Should I join a group or club?
What is the best way to enter sweeps?
What is an affidavit?
Why should I use my time to enter sweepstakes?
Can more than one person in a household enter the same sweepstakes?
How should I protect my computer?
Getting started.
The very first thought I give you is: You cannot win if you do not enter.
The 2nd thought I give you is: Keep it fun.
So is it safe?
Like any other activity on the internet it is as safe as you make it.
First and foremost you should make a new email address that you use only for sweeping. If more than one household member is going to enter sweepstakes they need their own email address that is used only for sweeping. This also eliminates spam in any personal or work email inboxes and if it ever becomes necessary you can delete your sweeping email and get a new one. I use Google’s Gmail http://www.gmail.com . It is safe has some good features so that allow you to sort the emails in your inbox and allows you to check your mail with external programs like Outlook Express and you can use it effectively with multiple accounts. Secondly make sure that you have a virus program and preferably a browser protection program as well. I use AVG’s Free Virus (http://free.avg.com ) and a combination of Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware (http://www.malwarebytes.org ) and Adaware by http://www.lavasoft.com .
Dealing with personal information:
If you come upon a site that you just don’t like the look of then don’t enter your information on that site. Never enter information that you are uncomfortable giving out. Most sweeps ask for your name, email, mailing address (some stipulate no po boxes), phone number, and birthday (for age verification). If you win something many sites will send you an affidavit for you to sign that will ask for more information including your social security number so that they can assign the tax responsibility for the win to you.
Tools:
I suggest using the browser Internet Explorer 7 for now. The reason for doing so is that there is a nifty little button that you can add on that allows you to control the flash content on the websites that you go to. Flash content is all the nifty adds that start playing automatically when you open a webpage. Most are run now with Adobe Flash Player and there isn’t an off switch for the content unless you get very technical. These adds gobble up the free memory from your computer to bring you their special message. This little download (that only works with IE 7) (http://flash.melameth.com ) puts a clickable button on your IE 7 browser. The way it works is you open a webpage (like a list of new sweepstakes). You click the button to turn off flash content and then you open the sweepstakes from that page that you want to enter. Whether you open one or open 100 you don’t have to worry about flash content starting automatically to slow down your computer by using up your available memory. If you need to enable flash content (like to play an instant game that is powered only through flash content) you simply click the button and refresh your browser and the content is enabled on that page again.
A lot of the sweeps communities use Firefox which also has an Adblock and a form filler but I have never used Firefox myself so I can’t speak as to how it compares to IE 7 or roboform.
Another tool that I use, as does 90 percent of the sweepstakes community, is Roboform. Roboform is the only service in sweeping that I have ever paid for. Roboform is an information storage program that allows you to store passwords, it allows you to store as many personal profiles as you can make, it allows you to enter the information on a webpage form and then store that information so that the next time you visit you only have to click the one button to fill the form. You can set it to automatically fill forms when a page loads or to wait until you click a button and then fill the form. Roboform and the other form filling programs (there are several) makes sweeping so much easier. The free version is good but I prefer the unlimited options for the pro version plus I have both a home and work computer so I not only have a license for each computer but also use their sync program to keep my information on both computers the same and as if that wasn’t enough they have a program you can put on a usb storage chip so that you can use Roboform with ANY computer (I don’t have this option but it sounds great).
The last tool that I suggest getting is the IE New Window Maximizer (http://www.jiisoft.com/iemaximizer/Default.aspx ). What it does is when you open a link from a parent page (like opening a new sweeps from a list) it automatically maximizes that page and if you hold down control when you click the link it sends the page to the background.
Do these sites really give away prizes or is it a scam? Can you prove it?
Yes. People win sweepstakes everyday. Just this month the people I talk with the most at www.sweepsadvantage.com have won many prizes. I remember seeing where a guy’s girlfriend won a smart car, a guy won $4000, a man won a 2010 Camaro, some ladies won some trips, and there were so many other wins that I couldn’t count them. I myself recently have won a couple of books, a bamboo tree, a couple of movie passes, a few jars of salsa, a tackle box, and a DVD. My wins are generally posted at www.sweepsadvantage.com/smf/empty-t55383.0.html . Look at any sweepstakes community and you will see multiple lists where people have won prizes large and small.
How can the promoters of sweeps give away such large prizes?
Large prizes draw people like moths to a flame. Promoters take advantage of this by lengthening the period that people have to enter a sweepstakes so that they and their sponsors can heavily sell their products to me and you and other sweepers through advertising and email. It is apparently a recipe for success because everywhere you look someone is giving away something of interest to someone. Another tactic that magazines and internet ezines use is to give away a lot of little prizes thereby increasing the chance that more people will win their promotion but also usually ensuring that those same people come back month after month, promotion after promotion, to try to win or win again.
Doesn’t it involve a lot of spam in your email box?
Yes and no. The majority of the sweepstakes that I have entered usually involve requesting permission for me to receive emails from them or their sponsor or perhaps a newsletter. The good thing about these entry forms is that most have an option that allows you to not receive email from them OR their sponsors. I always go through every form that I submit and make sure that I have the options set so that I don’t have to receive their emails. Occasionally you do have to agree to receive a newsletter and believe me these build up. Some that require you to sign up for a newsletter will tell you that you can unsubscribe later and still receive a winning notification.
On the other hand there are a few fake forms out there that are designed only to get your information. The people behind these fake sites then sell the information they collect from me, you, and every other sweeper that falls victim to them. There are also fake sites that use deviant programs to try to inject your computer with malicious content. That is why I stress at the beginning to make sure you have both virus and malware protection and that you use a separate email for sweeping. I have used a spam filter for my emails but the training process is tedious and I found that I missed some winning emails that the program thought was spam and deleted.
Isn’t it tedious to enter some sweepstakes over and over and over again?
It depends on how you look at it. The more you can enter the same sweepstakes the more your odds improve of winning. If you enter a sweeps everyday for a year and another person enters that same sweeps only once you have a much higher odds of winning. Remember sweeping should always be fun. Using a form filler does cut down on the tediousness of entering the same sweepstakes over and over again. Also many of the daily sweepstakes are instant win types. Winning some of these smaller prizes keeps you excited for the dry spells between larger wins.
Should I join a group or club? Should I pay for a *membership* to enter sweepstakes?
It depends entirely on you. I’m a skimmer. I belong to most of the larger sweepstakes listing sites so that I can enter sweepstakes listed on each one. I also read and post in the forums as it’s a great place to learn strategies and to hear about who won a sweepstakes. It also is fun when you find a few people who enjoy the same hobby that you do so that you begin to share and make friends with people.
As for paying to learn about which sweepstakes to enter I have to say no. Companies list their sweepstakes for free on their websites making them for the most part easy to find so that people can enter. Sweepstakes listing sites get most of their revenue from advertisers and from kickbacks from companies listing their sweeps on the site. Making people pay to enter a sweepstakes is just overkill in my opinion. There are enough sites out there that find and list the majority of sweepstakes for free so that paying a premium to a site is a waste of money.
Some sweepstakes groups/clubs/sites I‘ve found are:
www.sweepsadvantage.com My favorite sweepstakes listing site.
WinPrizesOnline A close runner up as I really like their listing format.
www.sweepstakestoday.com
www.online-sweepstakes.com
www.carstakes.com
www.cashnetsweeps.com
www.cashprizestakes.com
www.contestalley.com
www.contestformoms.com
www.contestgirl.com
www.contestguide.com
www.contesthound.com
www.gimmesweeps.com
www.grandmajam.com
www.monsterwin.com
www.prizequeens.com
www.sweepsgoat.com
www.sweepstakeslovers.com
www.sweepswire.com
www.sweetiessweeps.com
www.technostakes.com
Paid Sites
www.online-sweepstakes.com
www.yoursweepstakes.com
www.bestsweepstakes.com
What is the best way to enter sweeps?
It’s different for each person. As you get comfortable entering sweepstakes you will develop your own style and preference. My personal strategy is that I go to www.sweepsadvantage.com when I wake up and do the new sweepstakes. I then check their expiring sweepstakes to see if there are any that I have missed that are closing. From there I check www.online-sweepstakes.com and www.sweepstakestoday.com to see if they have any new/expiring that SA missed. If I find a sweepstakes that has a prize I really want I add it to my roboform list. Usually by now I have to go to work. I get to use my computer for personal use at work so I check www.winprizesonline.com every other day or so to make sure I have their new/expiring sweeps covered as well. I do the sweepstakes that I have saved to roboform. After work I finish my roboform sweeps if there are any left and then spend the rest of the evening doing whatever paid surveys I have received and chatting/posting in the various forums.
What is an affidavit?
If you win something many sites will send you an affidavit for you to sign that will ask for more information including your social security number so that they can assign the tax responsibility for the win to you. People have reported that they have gotten affy’s for prizes as small as $20 value but the majority cut it off at around $400. While on this subject never report the assigned value of the prize on your taxes. Some sponsors grossly over-value their prizes and it is unfair for us to have to carry that burden so I suggest that if you win something you feel you need to report on your taxes find the true market value (eBay or a price comparison site) or the actual cash value (like every dime you spend on a trip you win).
Why should I use my time to enter sweepstakes?
Several common reasons are: To win prizes, to relieve boredom, to join a community with similar interests, because it can be very fun and even addicting, and most importantly because you want to. I spent years playing the online video games and all I had to show for it was a virtual character with virtual awards that could be deleted or taken away at any moment. With sweepstakes the prizes I win are real and tangible and there is always that hope of winning something big.
Can more than one person in a household enter the same sweepstakes?
You will see this question on almost every forum. The answer is it depends on each sweepstakes rules and every sweeps listing site will tell you repeatedly to READ THE RULES. (I hardly ever read the rules however and I enter sweeps for myself and my disabled mom but we live at different addresses and have different emails). Each sweepstakes has a set of rules that tell you about the sweeps you are going to enter. It defines the prizes, how to enter, the frequency you can enter, who is eligible to enter, how the prize will be distributed, what happens in a dispute, the odds of winning, and any other number of hoops and rings that you have to wade through to be able to enter that sweepstakes.
In this question the rules might say one entry per household or one entry per email or one entry per ip address or it might combine all of these. If more than one person in a household is going to do sweepstakes then you will have to read the rules more carefully to make sure that you aren’t disqualified to win which would be a real disappointment for a large win.
Reading the rules also helps to define the prizes which can be vague in the basic listing. An example is there is a 7 day cruise for 4 people with all expenses paid and all people in the US are eligible to enter. At first you think hey that is a great sweeps and you enter it without reading the rules hoping your family wins. You then get a notification that you have won and the company sends you an affidavit for the prize and calls you to find out when you are flying to Morocco to the port of call to begin the cruise. Umm… Morocco? Yep there in the rules it clearly states that in order for you to take this cruise you have to enter from the ships port of call which is in Morocco.
Perhaps you see a sweeps for a Smart ForTwo car (one of those newfangled deals) and you enter the sweeps without paying attention to the rules. You get an email stating that you won and they ask you when you are coming to Maine to sign the papers and pick up the car and you live in New Mexico. You go back and read the rules and there in the small print it clearly states you have to come in person to Maine to take delivery of the car. Enjoy your flight and your road trip.
How should I protect my computer?
Update your virus and malware programs every few days and please do a virus scan AND a scan for malicious browser files each week. If you don’t use a backup program at the very least learn how to make a system restore point. At this point I also use Glary Utilities (http://www.glaryutilities.com ) and Ccleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com ) with the reason being that virus and malware programs do not clean out the temporary files, images, videos, ads that build up in your computer from viewing hundreds of sites each week. Every time you view a site it leaves a little bit of itself on your computer so that the next time you visit it doesn’t have to take so long to reload it’s information. On the other hand someone is on the other end constantly updating those sites so that when you revisit them the data is different. Your computer reads this new information but DOESN’T rewrite the information in the temporary files. It just makes another file usually. Over time these build ups of left over scrap clog your computer just like a clogged sink in your home and you have to clean it out. Keep your flash player updated at Adobe.
Thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to read my guide. I hope that I have given you good up-to-date information so that you feel more confident as you begin the great hobby we call *Sweepin*. It is a fun hobby that can be very rewarding. Feel free to post a comment.
I hope that if you win you will come and post a comment on my blog telling me what you won.
Good luck to you.
