Sweepstaking: A Cheap (and Potentially Profitable) Hobby

Ever since I was a little kid, I remember my dad entering sweepstakes. It was his hobby. But over the years he won trips, money, and countless t shirts and other prizes. Sweepstaking is a great hobby that with a little time and effort can gain you some awesome rewards. So how does one get started? There are several ways. The money way and the free way. Your choice.

---Subscribe to a sweeping newsletter.

There are several newsletters out there. The popular ones are Best Weekly (www.bestsweepstakes.com/newsletters.php) and SweepSheet ( www.sweepsheet.com/). For a relatively low cost these newsletters will give you a whole list of sweepstakes, rules, and list of prizes. To have them all located in one place can be a huge time saver. The newsletter might also list ones that are not available online or are not as advertised ( which means your odds of winning goes up!).

Free way: Google "free online sweepstakes" or anything along those lines.

Most sweepstakes allow you to enter online. This way you only have to enter your registration information ( which takes a couple minutes per website) and you are done! Depending on the contest, you can enter every day. By registering the first time, you need only to sign in after that and you're done! There are literally thousands and thousands of sweepstakes online. Take your pick!

---Keeping Track of yourself

Newsletter way: This will sound silly, but make a chart of what sweepstakes you enter, how many entries you did, and what the dates of the sweepstakes are. By doing this you will not only know when you definitely did NOT win a prize, but this will also help you keep track of what you are investing into sweeping. Envelopes, stamps, and postcards add up. Try to buy these items in bulk as you can usually get them for less than face value by doing it this way.

Free way: Make a new email

You are going to enter a lot of contests. By creating a sweepstakes email address, you have all your sweepstakes websites all located in the same spot. Once you are registered at the sites, you can zip through the emails and do your daily entries that way.

---Which ones to enter

This all depends on what you are looking to get. Trips, cars, money, your pick. Keep in mind though that the sweepstakes with the bigger prizes, like cash or cars, will have more people entering them in general. For beginners, here are some general rules. If you have to do something like play a game, write a poem or something of the like, your odds of winning are higher because less people are likely to do them. You are putting in the effort into entering, why not spend a couple extra minutes to play a fun game! In general, enter sweepstakes that offer lots and lots of prizes and let you enter every day to start. Don't be discouraged if you don't win, because most of the time you won't. Its the times you do win that make it all add up!

My dad has done the math and has won prizes that amount to far and above what he has invested into this fun hobby. And if you win something you don't want, sell it on eBay! BUT do not forget that whatever you win, YOU are responsible for the taxes. Good luck and Happy Sweeping!!