Winning Strategies Simplified

• How many times you enter a sweepstakes
• The number of sweepstakes you enter
• The difficulty level of the sweepstakes you are entering

Step 1: How to maximize the number of times you enter a sweepstakes

Winning sweepstakes prizes from a ballot type style entry (i.e., enter your name/phone number/etc) - comes down to simple odds calculation. If you enter once, and there is only one entry in a sweepstakes - then you have a 100% chance of winning. (1 entry/1 total entries * 100% = 100%). If you enter once - and there are 99 other entries, then your chances of winning are 1%. (1 entry from you/100 total entries * 100% = 1%).

On the surface - it might seem that it would be really hard to win sweepstakes. The perception is that 'thousands' and 'thousands' of people must be entering. While in some cases this is true, in many cases it is not. This is because many times the company hosting the sweepstakes may not know how to promote themselves that well, so very few people know about the sweepstakes. In many other cases where there are lots of entrants - the companies provide you with tools to 'tip' the odds in your favor.

• Sweepstakes Entry Frequency - Many companies allow you to enter once per day, per week, or per month. In other cases, they will allow you to enter multiple times per day, or even an unlimited number of times. The idea (from the companies perspective) - is that the more often you see their brand - the more likely you are to purchase from them, should you decide to purchase.
  
  This is good for you. If you enter every single day - you can maximize your winning chances. So if a sweepstakes ran for 30 days, and was 'daily' entry, while most people might only enter once - if you enter every single day - you increase your chances of winning by 30x. So, if only 100 people entered once - but you entered every day - you would increase your chances of winning to 23%. (30 of your entries / (100 other people + 30 your entries) * 100% = 23%).
  
  That is an almost a 1 in 4 chance of winning a prize! If the sweepstakes was offering more than 4 prizes, you would have a very high chance of winning something. In reality - most people have the best 'intentions' of entering every day, but rarely do so for various reasons. So if you can make sure that you follow a strict entry regimen, you will maximize your chances of winning on this front.


• Extra Entries - Many companies will allow you to earn 'additional' entries simply by telling a friend (more specifically, that your friend enters as well), liking a facebook page, retweeting some content, and so forth. If you take advantage of this, you can further maximize your winning chances.
  
  Using the same example as above, let's say you now have an additional entry per day, and enter for 30 days, and everyone else only enters once. You have now increased your chances of winning to almost 38%! (30 daily entries + 30 bonus entries = 60 of your entries. When 100 unique people enter - everyone else only having entered once -> 60 your entries/(100 other people + 60 of your entries) * 100% = 37.5%!)
  
  That's more than a 1 in 3 chance of winning a prize! So you can see it obviously makes sense to take advantage of bonus opportunities when possible.

Step 2: Maximize the number of sweepstakes that you enter

This is pretty straightforward. If you only enter one sweepstakes in a month that offers one prize - then you only have a chance of winning one prize. But - if you enter 100 unique sweepstakes that each offer a prize - then not only do you have a chance of winning one of 100 different prizes - but you could also win MULTIPLE prizes in a single month! Many people do win multiple prizes.

You can find additional sweepstakes by looking in sweepstakes search engines, websites that you know offer sweepstakes on a regular basis, sweepstakes directories, sweepstakes newsletters, and so forth. Some of these resources are listed in the 'Other Online Sweepstakes Resources' section of this website. (Use the menu at the top to navigate there).

Step 3: Enter difficult to enter sweepstakes

"Difficult" sweepstakes are those that require more information than just simply a name and an e-mail address. These tend to be much easier to win - simply because the majority of people tend to view it as too much "work" and will skip them - meaning your chances of winning are that much higher. If 100 people entered an "easy" sweepstakes - many times, out of that same 100 people, only 10 of them would take the time to enter a "difficult" sweepstakes. This means that you would have 10x the chances of winning a prize!

Difficult sweepstakes tend to include one or more of the following elements in their entry form:

• Detailed Entry Information - Some sweepstakes require more than just a name and an e-mail. They may require an address, birthdate, and so forth.


• Short Essay - Some sweepstakes will require you to write a short essay, or create a slogan to enter. Many times you will see 'recipe' types of sweepstakes, or mother's day/father's day sweepstakes having this entry requirement.


• CAPTCHA Sweepstakes - Some sweepstakes will require you to type in a phrase, play a game, or click on a few items before entering. Since many times it can be difficult to read the phrase, or time consuming to play a game - people will skip these sweepstakes. And that's good news for you!


• Survey Style Sweepstakes - Some sweepstakes will require a short survey to be filled out. Automobile sweepstakes from well known brands tend to do this. Since it is extra 'work' - many people skip these, meaning your chances of winning are that much higher!


• Multi Page/Age Gate Sweepstakes - Some sweepstakes will require you to confirm your age before entering. Or - they may have the entry form split into several parts (e-mail address, then residential address, then a short survey). Many people skip these because it is too much 'work'. If you enter these types of sweepstakes - you have much higher chances of winning!