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Online contesting: Something for nothing

No job? Win your way to new stuff

 

By Sharon Miki

over my keyboard for hours,

desperately trying to make a cartoon
baby pass gas. I enter a code. Try again.
“Okay, this is the last time,” I say to the
sleeping dog nestled on my lap. I type
in another code. This time, instead of
blowing cheeky bubbles at my screen,
the baby grins and farts. A familiar shaky
surge of euphoria fills my body as I follow
the prompts to claim my instant win
prize—a restaurant gift card. “Dinner’s
on me tomorrow, Max,” I say to the dog
as I go to bed $25 richer and secure with
the affirmation that, once again, I am
officially a winner.

Online contesting is a pastime that
pays. By visiting websites and providing
information, anyone with Internet access
has the chance to win anything —from a
free screensaver download to a fantastic
trip to a far-off land. While there are no
guarantees when it comes to contesting,
strategy and determination can make it a
fun and free hobby.

Contact information, feedback
and newsletter subscribers are valuable
marketing tools for most companies,
and they are eager to exchange products
and services for consumer input. While
contests traditionally involved snail-
mail and ballot box entries, more and
more companies are now using online
giveaways to drive traffic to their
websites, promote their products and

10

|: three a.m. and I’ve been slumped

reward customer loyalty. In this way, it
is easier for anyone to access a variety of
contests online.

As Canada’s unofficial Contestgirl,
Linda Horricks has witnessed the
emergence and evolution of online
contests first-hand. Since she began
entering contests in 2004, Horricks has
won thousands of dollars in merchandise
and created the successful contesting
community website, www.contestgirl.
com. Through her website, Horricks
enters and updates contests for upwards
of five hours each day. While Horricks’s
time and dedication is extreme, it pays
off in wins. Horricks consistently
wins several prizes each month and
has accumulated a multitude of wins
ranging from the odd, like a hand-made,
intentionally ugly holiday sweater, to a
business-class airline ticket to Hong Kong
worth more than $8,000.

More important than the cash
value of prizes, Horricks recommends
contesting as a hobby that can expose
followers to the otherwise unknown.
“One of the pleasures of entering—and
winning —contests is that it sometimes
gives you the opportunity to try a new
experience, or just try a product that
might seem too expensive or out of
reach for one reason or another.” This
is especially true of the most commonly
available types of prizes, such as tickets
and event passes. In tight economic times,
cultural and entertainment activities often
fall out of priority, and winning even

1.

relatively low-dollar-value prizes can
provide priceless experiences.
Even those who can’t set aside hours
a day to enter contests can still win with
regularity if they enter strategically. 2.
Contesting strategy can be divided
into three main categories: number of
entries, number of people entering and
method of entry. The odds of winning
a one-time entry contest that involves a
participation component (such as voting,
writing, photos, or video submissions)
and is only available to people living in
a certain province are inherently higher 3.
than an unlimited entry contest available
internationally to anyone who provides an
email address.
Community contest websites
like Contestgirl are another tool new
contesters can use to maximize their
winning potential. By sharing contests,
answers to skill-testing questions and 4.
experiences, contributors are able to save
each other a lot of time and energy. Sites
that offer entry-trackers are also useful
as a way to keep track of entries in order
to avoid accidental disqualification from
over-entry.
The community nature of online
contest clubs can also be helpful in Ss
weeding out illegitimate contests and
scams, which are among the possible
pitfalls that new contesters are particularly
at risk for. Horricks warns, “You must
make sure that you trust the source of
the place you plan to give your info, and
educate yourself about the scams that

are out there.” It’s important that people
learn to read the rules to help separate the
legitimate giveaways from phishers or
identity thieves. Further, entering contests
means that companies will be sending
plenty of email to participants. Anyone
serious about contesting should consider
setting up a separate email account, with a
spam filter, just for entering contests.

While it is intrinsically a pursuit of
chance, effective online contesting is also
a skill that can be learned. By considering
the rules and tools developed by the
contesting community, even hobbyists
can hope for some degree of success
if persistent. In any case, winning is
addictive. Armed with the correct tools
and strategies, it’s hard to resist the lure of
something for nothing.

Besides, how many people can say
that a gassy cartoon baby paid for their
dinner?

Sidebar: Top Five Tips for Newbie
Contesters

Find a form filler program.

A variety of free software
programs such as RoboForm are
available that will fill out forms
with your contact information

at the click of a button, saving a
lot of time and typing.

Join a contest tracking
website or set up a
spreadsheet to track when you
enter. Many contests limit the
number of entries to 24-hour,
daily, weekly or monthly entry.
Keep track so you can enter as
often as possible without over-
entry.

Look for local contests. Local
contests have fewer people
entering and provide better odds
than national or international.
Check out local television

and radio stations, malls and
tourism sites.

Check out blogs for
giveaways. Many bloggers
offer giveaways for readers and
commenter’s. Search for blogs
on topics you’ re interested

in so that you can reasonably
comment and win prizes suited
to your interests.

Set up an alert on your
Internet browser. Set up an
automatic search with your
browser to look for key words
such as “contest” and “Canada”
and let the browser do the work
to find new contests. Get the
results emailed to your contest
email address every few days.