Let's talk about contests

One of the ways that I get a lot of free stuff is through contests.  I used to be one of those people who thought that they were not worth entering, boy was I wrong. Here are some of my contest winnings...

-12th row seats to see the Cubs. I know I know I will have everyone know that I wore my Sox tee, cheered for the Nationals and my friend had a Sox Rule sign. I have to say I like the history of Wrigley and it is nice to say I have been there. The seats were so flippin good.

-TONS of concert tickets (not huge venue shows but at Hard Rock, etc) and Wine Fest tickets!

-TONS of prescreen movies. I love being able to legally see a movie before it is released to the general public.

- Tickets to three different events on the Mystic Blue (one of which was called "Party like a yacht star"). Can I say I loved this ship.

-Books. My most recent book was Artisan Breads in 5 minutes a day. I literally just got it Friday!

-Lisa Hoffman skin care set (spa bath soak, spa body wash, spa body polisher, spa body creme, spa bath hand and foot butter, spa bath packette and Madagascar Orchid Fragrance Oil. This is supposed to be here this week.

Truth is I don't enter that many contests. When there is one that crosses my path I try and take the two seconds to enter. I have been surprised with a prize enough that I keep doing it. It also gives you an opportunity to try something new that you wouldn't normally do. Here are some tips:

1.  Local contests give you a better shot then National contests. This is a big duh, right. Your chances of winning are dependant of the number of entries. More entries equals lesser chance. Less entries get you a greater chance.

2. Blogs. A lot of blogs are solicited to have giveaways, generally for items related to the blog. Smaller blogs would yield a better shot then the larger blogs.

3. Twitter. I owe so many wins to my twitter. Hey twitter fam, miss y'all! I haven't been on there as much as I should lately. (BTW not sure if he is still but a one point Tommie Harris (Bear) was one of my followers, I love him).

4. Facebook. A lot of the products you use everyday have a facebook page. You should have a "contest/coupon/gaming" facebook account where you "like" the page to enter a contest, get a sample or high value coupon.

So there are a couple tips to get you started. Do y'all have any to add?