What makes a good sweepstakes?

by Sweepy McSweeperson

I get asked that question all the time….it goes something like this “Hey Sweepy, how do I know which sweepstakes are good and which are scams?”  These days, its tougher and tougher to answer that question, so you really have to do your research.

Here’s what I do before getting into a new sweepstakes.  Now, you don’t have to do this, its more of a ritual for me as I am involved in blogging and writing about the industry.  **Disclaimer – remember, these things are supposed to FUN!  What i’m about to show you is not fun, haha, so lets not loose sight of why we play lotto or sweeps, we are trying to have fun!

Lets start with 3 rules today and then later this week I’ll give you the last 3 rules which are really the ones to focus on.  Sorry for the cliffhanger, but we have to pay the bills here too!

  1. Site – check the site, look around, are the links all active, are there any broken links or pages? Do you see 404 redirect pages, or outdated material?  That’s usually a good sign that you may want to poke around a bit more.
  2. Rules – by law, every sweepstakes must have a long-form rules page explaining how winners are picked, how many, when, and what your odds of winning are (more on this later).  You don’t have to get into the weed here, you can usually get your answers just by poking around the first 4 paragraphs.
  3. Location, Location, Location – I do not play sweeps from outside the US.  Strike that, I actually have played Canadian sweeps and once played a Mexican sweepstakes. OK, but the idea is that you should focus on U.S. competitions as they are regulated far more then other countries.  Or at least in terms of the regulations we are familiar with.

As always, don’t forget to signup for our newsletter and unlock the most amazing sweepstakes available online.  Stay lucky!

Win $250 A Week? Sure, sounds good to me!

by Sweepy McSweeperson

Happy Monday!  This one is hot, hot, hot! $250 weekly cash giveaway.  Who wouldn’t want a nice fat check sent to them weekly?  Yea, so $250 doesn’t sound like that much, but it sure adds up. How many cups of Starbucks can you get with $250?  How many times can you fill your gas tank with $250?

They are picking a new winner every 7 days.  Enter for your chance to win.  And Let’s go!

Don’t forget to signup below for our newsletter and reap the benefits of exclusive sweepstakes’ available only to our subscribers.  Until next time….Stay Lucky!

The Disney Vacations Sweepstake

by Sweepy McSweeperson

Here’s another hot one…for all you family folks out there, this is one of our favorites. While we don’t operate this sweepstakes internally, we do love it and try to promote it whenever possible.

Disney, yes Disney!! I can just picture myself sitting on the Haunted House ride with my 4 year old at Disneyland, gearing up for that mildly scary (its actually not scary at all) ride that we all know and love so much. But really i’m in it for the churros and massive turkey legs that follow. Maybe its a cruise you prefer on Disney Cruise Lines? Or maybe its one of their smaller water parks. Whatever you’re into, this one is unique and allows for some customization. You are essentially entering to win $5k towards a Disney Vacation. This could be any of their various programs from theme parks like Disney World and Disneyland to their more unique experiences like Disney Adventurers, and Disney Cruise lines. Good luck, and make sure you pack comfortable shoes! See you at Space Mountain!

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Damn, That Wheel Is Hot!

by Sweepy McSweeperson

Happy Monday, I hope everyone had a nice Easter Sunday. I’m still recovering from annoying family, too much wine, and a fridge filled with colored eggs so i’ll keep it short and sweet. Late last week we unveiled The Wheel of Prizes and opened up this sweepstakes funnel to our blog readers only. Thank you all for the outpouring of positive feedback, while we personally got a kick out of this new way of presenting sweepstakes, we had no idea the how excited our followers would be.

In light of this success, we’re opening this baby up for our blog readers for an additional spin before we let the rest of the public jump in. Here you go, have at it!

And as always, remember to signup for our newsletter below so you are always in the know!

Introducing the Prize Wheel!!

by Sweepy McSweeperson

Hey guys, sorry about the hiatus, its been a busy month working with the guys at IgiveAwayPrizes to launch their new exciting Prize Wheel!!. After weeks of testing, we are finally ready to give you a spin! In full disclosure, as I mentioned in my previous posts, I am consulting for our friends at iGiveAwayPrizes.com and what’s really cool about that is i’ll be able to lift the curtain and offer my readers a glimpse into the sweepstakes sausage making process! Its not always pretty when these sweeps being developed, but its certainly pretty to look at when they are completed.

So why the Prize Wheel!!? Well, we want to engage you, we want you to have fun playing our sweeps and we want you to come back for the entertainment aspect, along with the chance to win. At the end of the day, its the process we all enjoy when it comes to sweepstakes, its the feeling of a chance to win, and of course the ultimate high is when you get that email or call with those words you are waiting to hear “you are the winner!”

So what are you waiting for, give that baby a SPIN and see what you can unlock. Will you unlock freebies, exclusive coupons, or Cash Sweepstakes

Remember to signup for our newsletter below to unlock exclusive sweepstakes that ONLY our newsletter subscribers are invited to join. These sweepstakes tend to have less entrants, which means a greater chance for you to be a winner.

Until next time, Good Luck!

Win Two Tickets To NCAA Final Four – $1000.00 Value

by Sweepy McSweeperson

This is a good one, hot off the press! As we’re all finalizing our NCAA brackets for tomorrow’s kickoff of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tourney, why not get into some action with a blisteringly hot sweepstakes? Considering my Arizona Wildcats are a very popular pick as a 2nd seed to make it to the Final Four this year, I’ll definitely be entering this sweepstakes.

Ok, here’s the deal, you are entering for a chance to win 2 tickets to the Final Four in Phoenix, Arizona at the University of Phoenix Arena April 1-3rd. This doesn’t include travel or lodging, but does have a value of $1000.00!

But here’s the kicker: along with the tickets the winner will receive 2 jerseys of their choice. For me this makes it personal, I could really use some new jerseys…i’m literally sitting here typing this wearing my 17 year old beat up jersey I bought over 20 years ago! Let’s go Wildcats!

And don’t forget to signup for our $2k cash sweepstakes (below) which also gives you access to our weekly newsletter with exclusive sweepstakes! Until next time, stay classy Sweepers!

They Call Me the Luckiest Man on Earth

by Sweepy McSweeperson

I have been called the luckiest man on earth at certain points in my life.  I don’t feel so lucky usually on a daily basis, I tend to get loads of bad luck in my personal life like most of you do.  I’m divorced, and have had some health issues over the years, as I’m sure many of you have experienced as well.  But I am very lucky when it comes to one thing: Winning Sweepstakes!

I love a good sweepstakes, I’m also a sucker for a good lottery, so even when the odds are stacked against me, I know there is always a chance to win.  I’m not going to sit here and say that everyone is going to be a winner, because we know that’s not possible or there wouldn’t be any actual “action” if that were the case.

Sweepstakes are nostalgic to me, and remind me of the good old days.  The days when everyone didn’t get a trophy for participation, the days when kids could still play dodgeball, the days where everyone didn’t have to be so politically correct and the days where everyone has a chance, but only ONE person wins.  As my dad used to say, and I still live by this, second place is FIRST LOSER!  Sweepstakes are for winners, not for participation, so it’s important you take the process serious.

I enjoy the action and have learned it’s a numbers game.  As a past winner of numerous sweepstakes over the years (47 and counting), that’s what keeps me coming back for more action!  There’s always a chance to win when you’re playing a sweepstakes presented from a reputable source (I’ll be sure to point you towards the good guys and away from the bad guys in the sweeps world).  I won my first sweepstakes on iGiveAwayPrizes.com a few months ago and was given the opportunity to start writing a blog for IGAP , that’s after years of playing sweepstakes ranging from product giveaways to cash, and even a trip to a cheese factory believe it or not!  I’ve won a week-long all expenses paid cruise to the Caribbean, a trip to Disneyland with the family, and even a grocery store shopping spree!  There have been gun sweeps, the opportunity to be the MC at a circus, and the first one to ride a brand-new rollercoaster at a major theme park.  My favorite sweep that I won allowed me the opportunity to fly on the supersonic Concord commercial jet (I may be dating myself here as the Concord no longer flies).  I’ve done it all and I don’t regret a minute I spent playing these sweepstakes over the course of the last 30 years.

I decided to write this blog to impart some of my experiences, stories, and most importantly share with you the best sweepstakes out there so you can have the same chances I did.  I will be brutally honest, I will be negative from time to time, but most of all, I will point you in the direction towards the best sweepstakes available.  These sweepstakes may be simple cash giveaways like PCH, awesome sports experiences like a March Madness trip, or even daily sweeps that offer $100 per day payouts.

Are you ready?  Let’s go!

10 Tips to Help You Win More Sweepstakes

by Sweepy McSweeperson

Lets start off simple here and go through some of the basic rules to the sweepstakes game.  Remember, this is a game at the end of the day, but if played right it could also be quite rewarding.  After 30 years of experience, here are some basics to get you going.  Remember, it’s a numbers game, but if you don’t follow the rules carefully you could be just wasting your time!  Here are our top 10 tips to help you win more sweepstakes:

Enter in as many sweepstakes as possible — consistently.

The more you enter, the better your chances, right?  If you carve some time out every day for entering sweepstakes, you’ll make sure your name is always in the running for one prize or other.  It can be as little as twenty minutes a day.  The key is consistency.

If you enter a daily sweepstakes, make sure you enter daily.

Most people who enter daily sweepstakes only enter once or twice.  Naturally, people forget, or move on, or lose interest.  If you make sure to enter every day, you dramatically improve your chances of winning.  Set a daily reminder on your phone to make sure you get your entries in.

Don’t be afraid to share the wealth.

Sometimes, you can be tempted to keep a good sweepstakes to yourself, hoping to increase your chances of winning.  But lots of sweepstakes these days give you extra entries for referring others to the sweepstakes.  Share the wealth, and watch your chances increase!

Read (and follow!) the rules before you enter.

It would be the worst thing ever if you won a sweepstakes with a great prize, only to find out you can’t receive the prize because you didn’t follow the rules.  Some of the rules can be confusing, but you should make sure to read them carefully anyway.  For example, One Entry Per Person and One Entry Per Email might sound like they’re the same thing, but one allows you to enter only once, while the other allows you to enter a potentially-infinite number of times.  It pays to follow the rules!

Don’t get disqualified.

Did you win a sweepstakes, only to be disqualified because you live in Hawaii?  That’s probably because the sweepstakes only allowed entries from people living in the “contiguous” United States, which means the 48 states that share borders with each other.  Alaska and Hawaii are excluded from that definition.  Make sure to read the fine print, and look up words you don’t know so you don’t end up wasting time you could have used on entering sweepstakes you’re qualified for.

Check your email every day.

So many sponsors communicate solely by email these days.  You don’t want to miss out on your prize simply because you went a week without checking your email, right?

Organize your sweepstakes entries.

Keep a running entry on an Excel sheet with the name of the sweepstakes, the date the sweepstakes is over, the number of entries you’re allowed to submit, and the prize.  That way, you have an idea of all the sweepstakes you’re entered in, and an easy way to know if and when you need to submit more entries.

Claim your prize quickly.

Many sponsors have a window in which you’re allowed to claim your prize after they notify you, before moving down the list of potential winners.  Make sure you respond in time!  And if you have to send anything by mail, make sure you request a return receipt so you have proof that you sent it.

Keep a record of your wins.

This is mostly important because, when you have to file your taxes at year’s end, you’re legally required to report your winnings to the IRS.  You don’t want to be hit with a hefty fine or worse just because you forgot to report your win!

Don’t get discouraged.

You’ll have dry spells where you won’t win anything – it’s part of the sweepstakes game.  That doesn’t mean you should give up, though.  You might not win that great prize you had your eye on, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other great prizes out there.  Don’t give up, and you WILL win!