WEBSITE INFORMS, HELPS YOU MANAGE ONLINE CONTESTS
Ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Evidently millions are
asking themselves that very question when they go online to enter
into some kind of sweepstakes or contest. Loosely defined, a
sweepstakes requires only a simple entry that wins via a drawing
while a contest requires some kind of competition between all those
who enter. Maybe it's a sign of the times but the numbers show that
more and more of us are cruising the Internet to enter into all
kinds of promotions that hold the promise of winning anything from
automobiles to vacations with lots of cash in between. But given
that there are so many of these sweeps and contests out there, how
do you know the legit ones from the scams, and of the ones you do
find and enter, how can you keep track of everything?
Let me draw your attention to a website called SweepstakesToday.com.
It's creator and full time operator Craig McDaniel goes by the
handle of "Mr. Sweepy." I've interviewed Mr. Sweepy and I've had him
appear several times on my radio talk show, Computer America.
McDaniel says he's won over $75,000 in retail value from online
sweepstakes, contest and promotions and he's taken his expertise and
applied it to his free website. I've also spoken with several people
who use SweepstakesToday on a regular basis. All of them say that
the website has made their sweeping so much easier than their
earlier random efforts and it's pretty easy to see why.
SweepstakesToday maintains a comprehensive database of currently
running online sweepstakes, contests and promotions and lets you
search for them in a number of ways such as Prize Categories.
Examples include Clothes and Jewelry, Electronics, Furniture,
Houses, Sports, Tools and Equipment, Food and Restaurant and of
course, Cash. You can also search for specific sweep participation
types. These include 24 hour daily entries, Instant Win, One-Time,
Weekly, Monthly, Unlimited Entry, Watch and Win, Second Chance
Drawing and many other types. All of these categories can be further
sorted by expiration date and rating.
Mr. Sweepy provides his ratings, one to 5 stars, based on several
criteria which he clearly defines on his website. These are the Odds
of winning, the type of sweep it is (daily or one time), how long it
runs, how easy it is to enter, and of course, the retail value of
what's being offered up as prizes.
But the real power of SweepstakesToday is the "My Lucky List"
feature. After a simple free registration, SweepstakesToday lets you
track every sweep you want to enter on a regular basis and there is
no limit to how many you can manage. For example if you have entered
a promotion that allows only a one time entry, your Lucky List will
display you've entered so you don't waste your time doing it again.
Once you've found a sweep you want to enter, just click on the red
My Lucky List. The banner goes to green so that the next time you
come across the same contest in another search, you'll know you
already entered it. Going to your Lucky List page displays all the
promotions you have entered along with the day you entered it, the
last date entered, end date and the actual link to the sweeps page.
It really does make the job of entering and monitoring a breeze.
Other features include a New Sweepstakes page that aggregates every
type and category promotion by date to better see what's new since
you last visited. SweepstakesToday also offers tips on winning as
well as forums where participants can post messages, get their
questions answered, collaborate and share ideas and information.
If you are looking for a better way to find out what's being offered
out there, keep track of it all and do it with a feeling of
security, check out SweepstakesToday.com. It's completely free. Who
knows? You may find yourself joining the ranks of all those people
who answered "Yes" to my opening question.
www.SweepstakesToday.com
| Craig Crossman is
a McClatchy-Tribune newspaper columnist writing about computers and
technology. He also hosts the nation's longest running nationally syndicated radio talk show on
computers and technology, Computer America, heard on both the Business TalkRadio
Network® and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network®, weeknights at 10PM Eastern
time. Visit his website at http://www.computeramerica.com |
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