From The Contest Queen

2009 Sweepstakes Convention - Day 3

carolyn — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:28:31 +0000

Day 3, Saturday July 4th was a wonderful day. It had rained off and on since we had arrived in Manchester NH. The sun decided to grace us and was much needed for the final activity of the day; a full convention, with families, outing to a Fisher Cats baseball game followed by fireworks.

The day began with a great talk by Dave Biron from the USPS. I wish I had a link to the amazing video shown about the history and statistics of mail in the U.S. (In Canada, I have not sent in any OEBs - Original Entry Blanks - for three years now, and have only recently begun to see an upswing in my outgoing sweepstakes mail, but only for NPE - No Purchase Entries.) It will be interesting to see how this entry method changes over the next few years…

Of course, the talk was followed by; PRIZE DRAWS!

After lunch and an optional session on eBay we began the afternoon session. We had a wonderful talk and slide show presentation by Valerie of Cherryfield ME. She was the lucky winner of the MasterCard Seven Wonders of the World Sweepstakes. She talked about the first of the four first class trips she won. On this leg she went to India and China to see the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China, with her daughter. (I was most impressed by how gracious and appreciative winner Valerie is. I believe you must be to win big.) And, she has three more trips to go!

Of course, her presentation was followed by; PRIZE DRAWS!

At 6pm we all began to walk over to the Merchantsauto.com Stadium. I wore my Toronto Blue Jays baseball hat as the Fisher Cats are the double-A affilaite team for the Jays. We had a buffet dinner followed by the game and fireworks. I missed most of the game as my daughter spent it playing in the Kids Zone. We did get back in time to see the Fisher Cats win and watch some amazing fireworks.

What a great way to end the day. It doesn’t get more American on the 4th of July than hot dogs and baseball followed by fireworks. AWESOME!

Due to the location, there were no prize draws at the stadium. They were saved for Sunday morning!

ENJOY, GOOD LUCK & HAVE FUN!

2009 Sweepstakes Convention - Day 2

carolyn — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:12:01 +0000

WOW! If you have never attended a convention, you must plan to. They are so fun, exciting and busy. This is the first chance I have had to blog in several days. My days at the convention were filled with; attending sessions, vending and most importantly, connecting with all my sweeping buddies. (Plus, it took me two days to catch-up upon my return. So today’s blog post is about Day 2, Friday July 3rd.)

Friday morning’s session began with Eric Freidberg. Eric owns CFA Promo (@cfapromo) and It’s Easy To Win (@itseasytowin). His talk was very interesting and interactive. As he spoke, we played his BINGO game LIVE. (To play online, click here.)

I will share his most important points he covered in he speech here:

1) Always opt-in to receive a sponsor’s information, newsletters and samples.

Companies run sweepstakes to increase consumer interaction, brand awareness, customer loyalty and SALES! When you opt-in, you help the sponsor reach their goals. You can always opt-out at anytime.

MY TIP: The best reason to opt-in is, most companies let their subscribers know about new contests sweepstakes first.

2) Only enter for prizes you really want to win.

3) DO NOT brag about being a contestor or sweeper.

He told the story of an older gentleman that won a trip to the set of Sesame Street. Not only did he not have any children or grandchildren, he bragged about how he was a sweeper, how much he won, etc. (I could feel my stomach tighten as I imagined the horror of the sponsor after spending so much time, energy and money running a promotion, only to have it end like that.)

4) Be grateful and support the sponsor.

Always send a thank you note. If it’s a small prize, an email will do. If the prize is large, hand write a letter to the President or Vice President of Marketing to the sponsoring company(s). Also buy their products or services because when they deem a promotion to be successful, they will run MORE.

When Eric was done, we had prize draws!

If you were not able to attend the convention, you can listen to my interview with Eric here, or check out all the It’s Easy To Win videos on You Tube.

After lunch and an optional Sweepstakes Workshop for Winners, Eric came back and answered all types of sweeps questions followed by prize draws!

That evening we had a 4th of July BBQ buffet (yes, it was the 3rd) followed by more prize draws!

What a great day, and there was still two more days to go!!

ENJOY, GOOD LUCK & HAVE FUN!!

2009 Sweepstakes Convention - Day 1

carolyn — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:21:39 +0000

Like sweepstaking, convention is always an adventure. This year has been no different. We decided to combine a family vacation with convention again this year. Unfortunately, at the last moment, my husband Craig could not attend due to work commitments. We were very lucky and the convention organizers were able to change Craig’s registration to my assistant Aprile (see, good luck flows into all areas of one’s life). So it became a girl’s road trip; myself, my daughter Nicole, the nanny Jennifer and Aprile.

We left on Monday morning. We could drive all the way to Manchester NH, but we decided to break up the drive to make it less of a long haul along with allowing us to sight-see along the way. We drove to Burlington VT, then stayed the night.

Tuesday morning we began our trek to Manchester. We had two important stops to make first. Our first stop was the Vermont Teddy Bear Company factory.

We began with a tour and Nicole left with a new teddy bear. Then it was off for lunch before we got dessert, at the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory.

We made spin art, a tye dye t-shirt, took the tour and, of course, ate ice cream! We arrived in Manchester just in time for dinner.

Wednesday we had planned to go to the beach (an hour east of Manchester), but the weather was not co-operating. So we did what four girls would do, we went shopping! After lunch we took Nicole to the SEE Science Center. It’s a small hands on centre for kids (of all ages). They have a really cool Millyard LEGO installation that used over 3 million pieces of LEGO.

Wednesday night we went to the famous Red Arrow Diner. I had my first Whoppie Pie. YUMMY! !

Thursday at noon the convention officially started with the Vendor Room opening. It was wonderful to see so many of my sweepstaking buddies. Lots of hugs all round.

After a quick dinner, the festivities kicked off with an Ice Cream Social and PRIZES! (Lucky me, I won 100 Forever stamps, WOOHOO!!)

If you didn’t make it this year, make sure you attend the 21st Annual National Sweepstakes Convention.

Hope to see you there!

Be Aware

carolyn — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:17:43 +0000

It seems that the many complaints sent to the Competition Bureau did nothing. Club Season Canada is running their “contest” again, offering a free vacation a year for the next 10 years as the prize.

BE AWARE! This company sells timeshares. They legally do give away the prize. However, there is a catch. You must pay the annual maintenance fee, which by my last calculation added up into the thousands.

In my opinion, it is not worth your time entering. There are hundreds of wonderful contests out there. Go enter those.

To review, read my last two posts on Club Season Canada:

Borderline

There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

GOOD LUCK & HAVE FUN!

First Wendy, Now Aprile!

carolyn — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:38:09 +0000

Earlier this week I wrote about how I helped Wendy win a house by recommending she learn from Helene Hadsell, “the woman who won every contest she entered” and author of The Name It & Claim It Game.

Well, since I like to multi-task, I play motivational CDs, MP3s and videos while I work. Since Aprile and I share an office, she is subjected to all the wonderful inspirational and motivational messages. Of course, one of my favourites to listen to is Helene Hadsell’s program.

Aprile took all of Helene’s teachings to heart, followed her SPEC (Select, Project, Expect and Collect) method to heart, and today she won a trip for two to Jamaica from EZ Rock 97.3 FM.

Aprile told me how she decided she to Select a trip to win:

This year is our 5th anniversay and I was hoping to win us a romanitc trip for two. One morning while listenig to EZ Rock, they announced they were giving away a trip a day. I thought to myself, “This will be an easy contest to win.” When I got to the office, I went on my laptop, read the rules, and took the picute of the resort from the EZ rock website and made it my wallpaper so I could Project plus envision Barry and I poolside with fru fru drinks. I made sure I was up in time every morning to hear when the cue to qualify would be that day. Three days went by and I did not qualify, but I knew I was going to win. Thursday I qualifed. When I hung up the phone, I said to Carolyn, “They are going to call me back.” I Expected to win. And they did!

(She then Collected her prize.)

Aprile is going to the Sunwing Vacation Grand Palladium Resort & Spa in Jamaica.

If you want to know more about Helene Hadsell, and her winning techniques you can:

Helene Hadsell Helped Wendy Win a House!

carolyn — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:37:48 +0000

Months ago Wendy emailed me. She required my help and encouragement. A pair of radio stations in her city had teamed up to give away a house. They were taking 700 qualifiers for a key-turn competition and Wendy had qualified. She was on disability and her husband was unemployed. She was desperate to win the house as it would change their lives, their fortune.

I told her to banish desperation from her mind as it would only push her desire away from her. I told Wendy to listen to the interview I did with Helene, take her advice, and go win her house.

This is the email I just got from Wendy:

Hello,
I just wanted to follow-up on my email to you. You may remember I qualified on the radio through our two local radio stations; Rock 95 and 107.5 Kool FM. 700 contestants, over approximately four months qualified for a chance to turn a key to the house. On Friday May 8th, we attended the Gala Party, where upon entry you deposited your ballot with assigned number into a drum. Throughout the evening there were thirty numbers selected. Mine came up in second to last group of five. All thirty of us came to stage where thirty actual keys were in a fish bowl. You would pick a key from the bowl and try to open the door. Twenty-one people before me were unsuccessful. I chose the key that opened the door to a $250.000.00 home.

2 DAYS PRIOR TO THIS EVENT YOU SENT ME THE LINK TO HELEN HADSELL I LISTENED,…..I SELECTED, PROJECTED, EXPECTED AND COLLECTED. Is it a coincidence? This is my biggest win so far. Like the words in Elton Johns’ song SOMEONE SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT. I am on disability and with my husband out of work, we just had signed the papers to re-mortgage our current home to pay off debts. We were able to cancel the re-mortgage because of this wonderful event, and that is my story. THANK YOU!

I feel my purpose is to teach others how to bring more fun, excitement (and even prizes) into their everyday lives. I am so glad I was able to help Wendy do just that.

If you want to know more about Helene Hadsell, and her winning techniques you can:

What NOT To Do When Running a Sweepstakes

carolyn — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:16:37 +0000

Coca Cola Tells $10,000 Winner He Did Not Win; Gives Him $500 Instead
A Connecticut limo driver with six kids was thrilled to discover he had won $10,000 in scholarship funds in a new Coca Cola sweepstakes. He even got a message from Coke congratulating him on his win. Read balance of blog post…

This is exactly why I want to consult with even more companies in advance of a sweepstakes launch. If you, as a marketer, know your client’s products are going to be on store shelves before the launch date of the promotion, then your live testing must be done before the product ships. It’s poor marketing to anger your client’s loyal cutomers and generate negative media.

So, are you going to enter the Twist & Text Sweepstakes? It’s open to the US and ends January 31, 2010.

Rimouski, QC - Day 3

carolyn — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:27:56 +0000

It was so nice to sleep in. (When I say sleep in, I mean 8am. I have a 7-year-old.) After doing my morning exercises (yes, I even packed my wrist weights) I got ready for the day. I then had tea, an apple and potato chips for breakfast (Hey, you gotta support the sponsor!) while I sat at my computer catching up on my contesting. (My husband Craig can sleep through anything.)

When he got up we we thought we would go our for brunch only to discover it was pouring rain out. (When did it start raining? The sun was out when I was exercising.) So after a eating in the hotel restaurant, we went back to our room. I continued to drink tea and enter contests. After a few hours I said, “I wonder what time that game starts tonight?” I pulled the tickets out of my purse. They were marked 16:30. I looked at the clock. It was 4:15pm. “Holy Cow! The game starts in 15 minutes. Let’s go!!” Thankfully, there was a courtesy shuttle car available. We only missed 2 minutes of the game.

We weren’t in our seats one minute before Windsor scored against Kelowna. Pregame, Craig was sure Kelowna was going to win against whoever won Friday’s semi-final game.

Kelowna managed to get in one goal before they finally lost 4-1. “That’s why they play the game.” ~ Chris “Boomer” Berman

We got the courtesy shuttle to drop us off downtown and we went looking for a restaurant for dinner. Our first choice turned out not to be open on Sunday’s. However, we got lucky and found a really funky little spot, Le Bien, Le Malt. It was empty because it was the first Sunday of the season it was open. We had drinks, snack plates and played Mille Bornes. It was so relaxing. It was like hanging out at home. The perfect end to a perfect weekend.

THANK YOU OLD DUTCH!

Rimouski QC - Day 2

carolyn — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:48:36 +0000

Where does the time go? How can it be Wednesday already?! I thought before a whole week went by, I had better finish blogging about our adventures in Rimouski QC.

Saturday was wonderful. As a mom, I don’t get to sleep in very often. And when I say sleep in, I mean 8am. I awoke to find my husband, Craig, up and working away on his computer. So, I got ready and when I emerged from the bathroom, he had gone back to bed and was fast asleep. (I didn’t think I was really that high maintenance!)

So I got myself a tea, sat down at my computer and finished my newsletter. (One of the best things about owning your own business is you can work when ever you wish. One of the worst things about owning your own business is you can work whenever you wish.) Since I was already three days behind in getting it to my webmaster, I thought I had better finish up.

At 11:30am we headed out to the “Ceremonie de Remise des Trophees Individuals“. We had been given tickets to the VIP cocktail reception and tickets to the ceremony itself. I had packed for the weather, cool and damp, so upon arriving in jeans and sneakers, I felt very under dressed. I said to Craig, “Why didn’t I think VIP meant VIP dress?”

The award ceremony was very well done. They had two presenters: one French and one English, and they even had comic relief, in the form of Miss Memorial Cut, to provide some laughter to a potentially very dry ceremony.

The Brian Kilrea CHL Coach of the Year Award was sponsored by Old Dutch. It was won by Bob Boughner of the Windsor Spitfires for the second year in a row.

We then when out for a very late brunch at Chez Oeufs followed by a carb coma (aka afternoon nap). We woke up in time to have a swim in the hotel pool followed by dinner in the hotel restaurant.

It was the perfect day. Relaxing and indulgent with a fun mixed in. Exactly why I enter contests to win trips and adventures. What would be a perfect day on a trip win for you?

Live from Rimouski QC - Day 1

carolyn — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:17:13 +0000

It is amazing how quickly a winning weekend passes!

My husband Craig and I left home at noon on Friday to catch our afternoon flight from Toronto to Montreal. We changed planes to fly to Mont Joli. We then caught a shuttle bus to our hotel; Hotel Rimouski. We got our room, dumped our bags and headed to the semi-final game of the 2009 Memorial Cup hockey game between the Windsor Spitfires and the Drummondville Voltigeurs. We arrived halfway through the first period.

What an exciting game! Both teams played hard. At one point the score was tied 2-2. During the third period we got to have a VIP tour of the Rogers HDTV broadcast truck. It’s was amazing to see an entire TV broadcast room squeezed into an expandable 18-wheeler. As we watched the clock countdown I knew the game was going to go into overtime. On our way back to our seats we got to stand behind the goal and get another view of the game along with spotting the winners of the Right Guard Extreme Fan Memorial Cup Contest. We sat down to watch the Spitfires score the winning goal 5 minutes into overtime.

This trip is one reason why I enter many contests. I get to have adventures and experiences I would never have in my everyday life. Make sure you are entering contests that could add adventures into your everyday life!