Contest Tips, Tricks  And Terms You Must Know

Contest Tips, Tricks, and Terminology

It's hard not to want to start contesting when you see quality sites like those listed at The Greedy Brain. Most of these sites have a forum where users can list what they've won recently. You find yourself wanting to be the one to win the new car, the extravagant vacation, the new HDTV or for that matter, anything at all!
Before you jump in feet first, there are a few things you should know about entering sweepstakes, contests and competitions that will save you time and make contesting much easier.

General Contesting Terminology:

• Daily – Can enter the contest daily during the contest period
  

• Eligibility – Within the contest rules there will be a description of who is eligible to participate in the contest. This may indicate the age, country, membership required or other specific information. This may also stipulate limits such as “One entry per person per household or per email”.
  

• Exp – Expiry
  

• FB – Facebook (the contest is only available on Facebook)
  

• Instant – Instant win contests – You can win a prize usually by playing a game in the contest, but you can win some contests instantly by entering your contact information
  

• Monthly – Can enter the contest monthly during the contest period
  

• NPN – This refers to the No Purchase Necessary option of entry. The NPN can generally be found in the contest rules
  

• No QC – Quebec residents are not permitted to enter the contest
  

• Once – Can enter the contest only once during the contest period
  

• Other – Some contests, sweeps and competitions are bi-weekly, annually or even several times daily
  

• OP – Original poster of the contest in the forum
  

• QC – Quebec residents are permitted to enter the contest
  

• Rules – This refers to the contest rules. Contest rules will list the eligibility, terms such as dates, limits of entry, manner in which you can enter, prize information, secondary prizes, legal requirements, waivers, disclaimers and more
  

• STQ – Skill Testing Question (sometimes contests will have one STQ on the entry form and then another on the prize declaration form.
  

• Twitter – The contest is only available on Twitter
  

• Voting or Vote – Indicates that there is a voting component to the contest (least preferred by hard-core contesters as they can be manipulated very easily)
  

• Weekly – Can enter the contest weekly during the contest period

•  

• WEH - Winner every hour

Contest TIPS and TRICKS :

1. Blog contests and smaller prize contests are for the most part easier to win because they have fewer entries which in essence, increases your chances of a win

2. Creative contests (where you submit a photo, story, video, recipe etc.) often have fewer entries. If you're the artistic type, you may have a better chance of winning these types of contests. These are often voting contests and many people believe the results are easily manipulated when voting alone produces the winner. If you're going to enter a contest like this, we recommend you review the rules on judging. If it is a random draw or a panel of judges then your chances are on an even playing field. If it's one where people log-in to vote, it's likely a waste of your time.

3. Always read and follow the rules of every contest. Failing to do so may cause you to be disqualified.

4. Enter as often as it states in the rules to ensure you are getting the maximum entries and it's an equal competition. It's always good to bookmark the contests and change the title of the bookmark with the “contest type” such as Daily, Weekly, Monthly etc. This will help you to arrange your bookmarks more efficiently. Some people also use a calendar system to pop up reminders for more infrequent or obscure contest entries.

5. Some people use Roboform or other commercial electronic software and auto-fill / auto-form programs to help speed up the process of entering their details. This is a really handy way to get through your entries quickly, however many contests prohibit their use. Watch the rules with regard to electronic entry to avoid disqualification if you use one.

The main thing to remember when entering contests is to enjoy yourself! It's an addictive hobby when you start to win, even if it's small prizes at first. Scoring the big one is definitely a rush, but it certainly doesn't happen every day! There are plenty of contests out there, why not try entering a few and see how you make out. Don't forget to post it to the forums though – Bragging and congratulating are all part of the fun!

Check out our contest pages for your country right here at TheGreedyBrain.com :