You love winning prizes or are excited to start winning prizes but you could be making these 5 common mistakes when it comes to contests.
Top 5 Online Contest Entering Mistakes
1.Not Reading the Rules in their Entirety
The first thing a true contester does is head to the rules and regulations to see the terms of the contest. There are some very important details you need before entering. First thing to look for is who is eligible to enter the contest, is it open to Canada? After checking for location of the contest you need to know duration of the contest and if you can enter daily. Many times contester's forget to go back to do daily entries because they failed to check the terms to see that they could be adding up bonus entries.
Checking the rules is paramount for the delivery of prize too. So many contesters lose out on prizes because they didn't read the terms to see that they in fact have to pick up a prize they won and can't. Not only have you lost out on a prize, but you pretty much ruin it for others that were local enough to pick up that prize if they had won instead of your invalid entry.
Contesters end up entering a fake or scam contest by not checking for the rules and regulations before entering. If there are no rules, walk away from the contest and don't waste your time.
2. Keeping Track of Every Contest Entered
This is one that can be a real waste of time and actually discourage you from entering contests. If you are tracking every single contest you have entered all you see when you look back at it is all the prizes you weren't able to win. Think that will encourage you to enter more? It won't.
In an average day a contester can enter anywhere from 50-150 contests, keeping track of every single contest entry is a total waste of time you could be spending entering another contest. Pick 10-15 current contests that really interest you and keep track of only those.
Keeping track and making a list of prizes you have won is a great way to keep yourself feeling positive about winning contests and motivated to get your daily entries into your current contests.
3. Entering Everything Even Spam & Fake Contests
New contesters get super excited about contesting and enter everything they come across. This is a total time waster and you open yourself up to having your email accounts hacked, your social accounts at risk and you won't win anything from a scam contest. Entering only contests that are offering you a prize you actually want to win can really increase your winning. You stay more focused on daily and bonus entry options and checking in to see when winners are posted.
There are more fake and scam contests online than real ones, new contesters tend to waste their time entering more of the bad then the good. I see this daily in the private group when people try to post fake and scam contests all day long. It's not hard to get duped into thinking a contest is legitimate but there are ways to get really good at spotting only real and legitimate contests.
4. Missing Winner Notifications
Winning emails or winner private messages often get lost among emails and messages and prizes go unclaimed. This mistake goes along with mistake number 1. Reading the rules lets you know when the winners will be announced and how. Some contests never post winners names and winners are only contacted privately by email or on social platforms through direct messages.
When you win a prize from a contest posted on Facebook, the page owner may tag you to let you know you have been deemed a winner. But if you are not an actual fan who has liked and followed the page you won't get that notification when you win. Being able to access your hidden Facebook messages folder is important. Winner messages go into this hidden folder since pages aren't on your friends list and can't be.
5. Entering International Contests
If you are wanting to win prizes and get the hang of being a pro at contesting, picking low entry contests is the best way to start winning small. Winning your first few local or small contests can really boost your confidence and attitude about contests and winning prizes.International contests are generally swamped with entries and a ton of fake and spam entries.Your odds of winning a prize in an international contest are much lower than contests open to your own country , province or even city.
Searching out contests and giveaways with fewer entries is a great way to increase your chances of starting to win. You can see how popular a contest is by seeing the amount of likes or comments it has received so far. Local and provincially located contests will yield better chances to winning prizes.
Instagram tagging contests often can be saturated with entries because they allow unlimited tagging as entries. These are contests best to not waste your time entering. You can spend that 30 seconds to a minute entering a contest you could actually win.