How to Win Giveaways - Insider Secrets for Winning More Often

Always read the blog giveaways entry information carefully and follow the rules.

This may seem like common sense, but you would be amazed at how many people don't read the entry information carefully.

Bloggers DO throw out entries that don't follow the rules. You are kidding yourself if you think otherwise!

Include your email address with each entry. If the blogger can't contact you, they will choose another entrant. Don't miss out!

Each comment counts as 1 entry. If you receive multiple entries for an action, be sure to leave multiple comments. For example, if you receive 2 entries for tweeting about the giveaway, leave 2 comments.

Take Advantage of ALL Entries

Winning blog giveaways comes down to odds. You are more likely to win a blog giveaway with 10 entries than with 1 entry. Yes, it is time-consuming, however most blog giveaways offer 10-20 entries each. Take advantage of them. If you need more information on how to take advantage of the different entry methods, check out How To Enter Blog Giveaways.

Sign up for social media accounts that are frequently used in blog giveaways. You will want a free account with Twitter, Facebook, and StumbleUpon to start.

Sign up for a free blogger blog. Many blog giveaways give 3-5 entries for blogging and including a link back to the giveaway. Your blog posts don't have to be elaborate. Check out the Blog Giveaway Directory to see how I format my giveaway posts. It's quick and easy and you will benefit from all the extra entries. You can also use this free blog to take advantage of all those entries from posting buttons.

Sign up for email updates using a separate email address. This way you gain the entries, but it doesn't clutter your main email address. Also have a dedicated account for all the RSS feeds you subscribe to for entries.

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Schedule Your Daily Tweet Entries to Be Sent Automatically

Schedule your giveaway entry tweets in advance using Social Oomph. It's free to use, by the way! Schedule one tweet a day until the giveaway ends. The service will then tweet for you. It makes things so much easier!

I schedule my tweet entries to go out between 5 and 6 in the morning. Then when I get up at 6, I can easily open my list of sent tweets on twitter and go down the list. (It's the Your Tweets link at the top right of your Twitter homepage.)

Since your tweet about the giveaway should include a link to the giveaway, it makes it easy to enter each one directly from twitter. For each tweet I sent out, I open the giveaway link from the tweet and then leave a comment with the tweet link on the giveaway post. I takes me all of 5 minutes each morning and ensures that I get the maximum number of entries in each giveaway.

Several people have told me that they would never tweet for entries because they don't want more people entering. I am going to let you in on little secret though. Around 30% of all giveaways I win are from a daily tweet entry! That's one out of every 3 prizes I probably wouldn't have won had I not tweeted about the giveaway daily.

Use Software to Speed Up Your Entry Time, So You Can Enter More Giveaways

Entering blog giveaways can be time-consuming. There are a couple of great pieces of software I use to help speed things up. The faster I enter, the more giveaways I can enter. The more giveaways I enter, the better my odds are of winning.

Texter
This software creates keyboard shortcuts. When I am entering blog giveaways, I use it for entry comments that I find myself using all the time. For example, whenever I type in "~2", Texter automatically replaces it with "I follow you on twitter as Greatgiveaways." It saves me so much time typing. I have about 30 keyboard shortcuts that I use frequently. The best part - it's free to download and use!



Roboform
This software fills forms with a simple mouse click. It saves all your login and passwords. I use Roboform for many purposes, but it comes in handy for entering blog giveaways that use forms. It is also useful for daily entries. Click here to download a free trial of Roboform. (You are limited on the number of passcards you can save, but it is fully functional and quite useful for entering blog giveaways.) No more manually typing in your name, address, or email address on Wordpress Giveaways. Think of all the time it could save you!

Improve Your Odds By Seeking Out Giveaways With Low Entries

Enter giveaways the day before they end and look for ones that have less than 250 total entries.

Do a Google blog search for the phrase "first giveaway". Bloggers holding their first giveaways typically don't do as much advertising. So they will have way fewer entrants.

Attend Twitter parties. These last for about an hour or so and typically quite a few prizes are given away. A lot fewer people enter because of the time commitment so your odds are better of winning.

Enter for smaller prizes. Bigger prizes tend to get 1000 entries or more. Go for the prizes that are $10 to $20 in value and your odds are better. Keep an eye out for $5 Amazon gift certificates giveaways. This is a popular prize for bloggers hosting their first giveaway and less people enter because of the small value. However, since the gift certificates stay in your account and add up, I find it worthwhile to enter.

Enter giveaways where you have to check back to see if you won. Most people can't be bothered to do this and won't enter. So entries for these types of giveaways are typically low. Just make sure you make note of when you need to check back.

Use SayandWIn when sending one-time tweets or posting to Facebook for double the chances to win.

SayandWin is a free service you can use to post to both Facebook and Twitter. By using this service when sending tweets and posting to Facebook as part of your giveaway entries, you have the chance to instantly win Amazon gift certificates. The prize is usually a $1 or $5 gift certificate, but I have won many times. So not only do you get your entry in the blog giveaway, but you can also instantly win Amazon gift certificates. So you have twice the chances to win a prize with that one action.

Focus on the Prizes You Really Want to Win

Since blog giveaways are more time-consuming, it is a good idea to focus on the prizes you really want. Keep a list by your computer of all the prizes that would make good gifts or you really want. Enter those giveaways first. Chances are the same prize will be given out on several sites so enter for as many as you can find to improve your odds of winning.

Be sure to search the Blog Giveaway Directory for those prizes you really would love to win!