Friday, May 3, 2019

Are People Who Win Sweepstakes Just Lucky Ducks?

I love to enter sweepstakes.   Most of my friends, acquaintances, and even random people tell me "You are so lucky!"  I try to tell them that sweepstakes is a numbers game and the more you enter the more likely you are to win.

Few people actually keep good records of how many sweepstakes they enter.  I do, though.  The reasoning behind it is because I can usually see trends that follow how much I enter and how much I win.  If I am not winning much, a quick look at the chart tells me if I was not entering as much and my wins SHOULD be fewer than usual.

This post contains affiliate links.

Each year I get a new incentive chart.  I need one that has at least 24 columns across and at minimum 31 rows down.  I always use a fine point Sharpie marker to help it stand out from what I write inside the boxes.


Across the top I write the names of the months TWICE.   (Jan- Dec, Jan- Dec)  Between these two, I make a hard line.  To the left of this line is where I record how many online sweepstakes I entered that day and to the right how many mail ins I did.

Down the side of the chart I write the numbers 1-31.  I black out the days that don't exist.  (Such as February 30, 31).  The only other time I use my fine point Sharpie is if I am out of town, I will put a box around those days so I can see at a glance when I was not at home.

Then, I keep an Ultra Fine Point Sharpie nearby and before I go to bed each evening I record how many entries I did that day.  This is easy to calculate because I enter through Online-Sweepstakes.com and have it set to show 10 sweeps per page, so I know if I've entered 20 pages worth of sweeps, I've entered 200 total for the day.  I don't count one time entries on this chart because I know if I have done my onlines, I would have entered as many new one time entry giveaways that interested me that I am eligible for!

While this is not necessary for entering sweepstakes, I like it because I  can see at a glance how much I have entered.  If I'm having a "dry spell" (where I'm not getting many wins) I can look back and see what was going on a few months prior.  I might not remember that I was feeling really poorly in April and hardly entered anything, but my chart will remind me of that fact, and to hold tight because I started entering again in May, so some wins should be around the corner.  This gives me encouragement to NOT give up and keep entering!

Also, I am always sure to enter everything I can from the weekly iWinContests newsletter.  It comes as a weekly e-mail and highlights the most win-able sweepstakes that are out there.  Between that and the website, there are a number of sweepstakes I have won I never would have heard about otherwise. (If you subscribe, please say Jenn Wilson referred you!)

So what were my stats for 2012?  I entered on average over 160 online sweepstakes a day.  Many days I entered none.  (I wasn't home for a whole week in August, and I was in the hospital for over a week in February.)  Even though some days I entered none, one day I entered 420 in one day.  For mail-ins, I averaged mailing SEVEN entries every single day.  (Again this is average.)

This equates to me losing over 99.9% of the time.  In much of life, we would say someone who loses approximately 99.96% of the time a failure.  What do you call that person in sweepstaking?  A winner.  That's that .04% that keeps you entering.  No, I don't win everything I enter like many people assume I do.  (I wish!)  There are times I have seen few wins, but I keep entering.  After all, you never know what tomorrow's mail mail bring!

My friend Carolyn over at ContestQueen.com is discussing this same topic today.  Take a stroll over to her blog for another perspective on the same topic on her post I Win Every Contest I Enter!  (Not, no, she doesn't win every contests she enters, but she is doing a bit of myth busting with her blog post today!)

I have a number of blog posts about sweepstakes.  Please check them out to learn more. 

Basics of Winning Sweepstakes and Contests
Are You Pressing the Lever on McDonald's Monopoly?
How to Win Sweepstakes and Prizes
5 Way To Win an Online Voting Contest
How to Win Twitter Party Sweepstakes and Giveaways
How to win Giveaways on Blogs
How to Win Amazon Giveaway Sweepstakes -- Getting Wins from the Bouncy Box!
How to Find Sweepstakes and Contests To Enter
Should You Keep The News of A Contest or Sweepstakes Win Quiet?
I won a Sweepstakes or Contest -- Now What?
How to Win A Creative Skill Contest
Will I lose Government Benefits if I Win a Sweepstakes?
















No comments:

Post a Comment