Real Sweepstakes Winner Shares Secrets to Winning

Most people believe one of two things. Only lucky people win sweepstakes, or that no one really wins them at all. I am here to tell you people really do win. In fact, I am a real sweepstakes winner. My biggest win to date was a trip to Maui, Hawaii. Airfare, hotel and a rental car were included with my trip to Maui. Not only were my expenses paid, but my husband's too. We used the trip as a second honeymoon, for our 20th wedding anniversary. Wouldn't you love to win a trip like that? I would love to help you win, and win big.

First let us start with the myth, "only lucky people win sweepstakes". While there might be a few people that get lucky and win, that doesn't mean you have to be lucky to win. When you imply that it is all luck, you actually take away the work that goes into sweeping. Like anything else, you have to work toward your goals. Sweepers like me, spend several hours or more entering sweeps everyday. I honestly take offense when someone tells me, " Your just lucky". Start thinking of luck as, "the law of averages". The more you enter, the more likely it is that you will hit a winner. Now what you win, that might be just luck. You never know what is going to hit. It might be a book, of which I have many, or that dream win of a trip to Hawaii.

The second myth, " No one really wins", isn't true. My winnings already dispel that myth. Sponsors really do give prizes away. It is a great way for them to advertise their products. Usually sweepstakes require you go to their web site to fill out the entry form. I can tell you from experience, that I personally remember what company is giving away certain prizes. I am also faithful to many brand name products because of their sweeps. I am also a blogger, and I always blog about my wins, and mention who I won from. Companies know that word of mouth travels fast. Especially when it's good news.

The first and foremost tip I want to express is, never pay or send money for a prize. If you get a notice that you have won a prize and you need to send a check, delete that email or throw away that notice. A legitimate win will never ask for money. Remember, your the winner, they are suppose to give you the prize for free. In fact, the majority of my wins have just shown up on my doorstep. I like to call them surprise wins! They are the best. I must admit I can hear the UPS, or Fed Ex truck a mile away. I always stop in my tracks, and wait to see if they are going to stop in front of my house. Usually if the prize is over $500, then you will be asked to fill out an affidavit , and probably a tax form. Yes, wins over $500 in my state are counted as income, and taxes have to be filed on them. That is something you might want to remember. You may not want to enter that sweepstakes for a $100,000 diamond, considering you will have to pay taxes on it.

Where do you find sweeps to enter. There are literally thousands of them on the Internet. I usually only enter sweepstakes that are on-line. They are free. You don't have to pay postage mailing your entry forms. Some sweepers do mail in forms, because they believe they have a better chance. Many people are like me, cheap and don't want to pay postage. So entering snail mail sweeps might be an advantage if you want to try it.

There are on-line communities you can join too. They have links to 1000's of sweeps all over the net in one place. I personally belong to one of these communities. I find it is the easiest way to find legitimate sweeps on the net, all in one place. I do pay for the site, but it is well worth it. A paying member gets several perks. You are able to keep track of what sweeps you've entered. It even keeps track of the day and time you entered them. This is very important! You don't want to disqualify yourself when your entering a one time sweepstakes, by accidentally entering it twice. It is great for daily sweepstakes too. Another added bonus is they actually keep track of the expired sweeps you have entered. This is great, because you can go back and look up sweeps you have entered. This helps you to verify that you actually won a prize, for a sweep you really did enter. I only pay $30 a year, and it is worth every single penny.

The next step is actually entering. The best and fastest way to enter is by using a form filler. They are wonderful. They keep you from having to type your name, address and email address a hundred times day. Be advised that some contest do not allow automated form fillers. Most do, but occasionally you might find one that don't.

It is up to you what type of sweeps you want to enter. You can enter everything insight, or just enter for the items you really would like to win. Generally I enter everything I want to win, or everything I can use as a gift for someone else. One Christmas I actually won the majority of our Christmas presents. It was wonderful! Santa was able to give my kids a Wii, an Ipod, Ipod charger, Ipod speakers, a Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt, several gift certificates, books, and video games. That is something I would have never been able to accomplish without sweeping.

When your entering sweepstakes, the next best tip is to create an email address, that you will strictly use for sweeping. You find you get a lot of junk mail. A separate email address helps you to distinguish what are real wins, and what are not. Expect to get tons of emails stating you have won $100,000,000, and all you have to do is send them all your information. They are usually from some foreign country, and use very popular companies like Yahoo, or BMW in their letter. Please note that these are always fake. Report them as spam, and rid of them as soon as possible.

Here is a recap of the best tips and secrets for winning. Use a separate email account. Find a sweepstakes community to join. There are basically two big places on the Internet. They are not hard to find. Do not join any web site that promises you wins, and enters sweepstakes on your behalf. That actually is against the rules of most sweepstakes. A great community will offer you the option of keeping track of what you enter, when you enter, and how many times you have entered the sweepstakes on their site. I love this feature, and it keeps you from disqualifying yourself. If you want to be a serious sweeper, then those features are a must. Keep track of all your winnings. The IRS will want to know about your wins. You can check with your state on how much you have to actually win, before you have to legally claim it. Use a form filler. This will make entering faster, and make it less likely that you will enter the wrong information by accident. Last but not least, remember the saying, " You have to be in it to win it." Those people that complain they never win anything, is because they never enter anything!

I guarantee if you enter, enter, and enter again you will win. Remember it is all about the numbers. The law of averages. The more you enter, the more likely you will win. Be forewarned though, once you get your first win you will be hooked. May your wins be plenty and be big!