2. 'Crinkle' your entries. The rationale behind this is that if your entry is all 'scrunched' up (instead of just a smooth/flat piece of paper), then it increases your chances of winning when someone makes a  draw. This is simply because it would be 'easier' to grab onto than say a flat, smooth piece of paper that could slip through your fingers.

3. Carry business cards with you so you can drop them in the 'business card' box when you go out to lunch or dinner! It is a great way to win a lot of free lunches and dinners! Plus, what is even BETTER is it doesn't have to cost you anything! There are online 'business' card services which will print 'free' business cards for you. One service I am aware of is called 'VistaPrint' which will print 250 cards "free" for you. (I put it in quotes - because it is 'kinda' free.  When you pick something you like, and go to get them shipped, they will have a whole bunch of "upgrade" options to get you to buy something, and then when you skip past all of that, they will print their logo on the back of your business card but give you the option of 'removing' it for 'only' about $5. And finally, if you do just choose to optin with the 'free' cards, you will pay about $5 in shipping charges for a 3-week delivery). HOWEVER... :) It is an inexpensive way to save yourself a ton of time - think of it as '250 entry forms' that you don't have to write by hand - and you look pretty classy when you enter.

4. Go to strip malls/outdoor malls/etc.  A lot of people go to big malls because they are convenient, which means that sometimes the 'smaller' strip malls don't get as much walk in traffic. They still oftentimes have sweepstakes/ballots, but not as many people enter, meaning you have a better chance of winning. PLUS - big bonus! :) You are getting exercise! (I know for me sometimes it is too easy just to sit in front of a computer, so if I have a good excuse to get up and walk around, then this helps!)

5. Join Loyalty Programs! Almost every major department store, major chain, etc, etc, has some kind of 'regular' sweepstakes running for people who have taken the time to sign up for their cards. Plus, usually you will get something 'free' like air miles, etc. (In fact, I was recently walking through an airport and if I signed up for a Visa card they would give me 15,000 'free' airmiles, which apparently is worth about $600 for a flight. I didn't, but now I am thinking maybe I should have).

 

Now - I don't recommend buying up a bunch of stuff "just" to get an entry . BUT, if you are going to be buying something 'anyways', then you may as well use a loyalty card at the same time. You can then accumulate points for things like trips, merchandise, etc, and usually ever 2-3 months, if not sooner, there will be some kind of sweepstakes offered. (As an aside - if you are wondering how the companies benefit - they generally use the data/purchasing habits to determine which products sell well, which don't and so forth, so it actually helps their business grow as well. So they analyze your purchasing habits as well as many other customers, together, in order to come up with this information). Anyways, bottom line, if you like to buy from a particular store anyways, might as well get their customer loyalty card!

BONUS TIP:  For this tip, while not 'technically' a sweepstakes - many smaller mom & pop shops will have 'in-store' customer loyalty cards as well. They don't always publicly display it (i.e., you have to ask), but when you do - they will take your name and record your purchases. Every 'x' number of purchases you will usually get a 'free' item. (I used to go to this small restaurant in town for breakfast. Every '5th' breakfast I would get free - which was really nice! But I had to explicitly ask them about it. I think I had only noticed it one day simply because someone else was getting their name entered into a book one time when I went to pay, and I asked what that was all about. And it paid off! :))