A Hint For NEW Contest/Freebie Posters *Please Read*

[cndlady]

Welcome to Smart Canucks. It seems that we have a lot of new people who have joined our happy little family. We are always happy to have new members.

Here are a few little hints to make posting a little easier for everyone.

1. Please check a link before you post it. This way you will know that the link is still valid

2. Please remember to put the contest end date in the Title of the post. This makes it much easier for the mods when they are trying to clean up a section.

3. Please do a search before posting a contest or freebie to see if it has already been posted. We all miss things that have been posted from time to time and repost but the more reposts there are the bigger the chance that a person could enter the same contest twice.

When searching for a contest, search by prize, sponsor and contest name before posting. Sometimes you have to do more than one search to find a post.

check out this thread for help on searching
http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/showthread.php?t=6009

4. Put a little info in the title of you post.
Example Energizer - win a psp ends Apr. 30/07
this helps when searching for a contest.

5. If possible put in if the contest is daily or single entry...most people will check again anyway but it gives contester a quick though when entering.


Mostly have fun and win lots...if you win be sure to brag about it in the I won something thread. We all love to hear about one of our own winning

**NOTE** if it is an American based contest. Brokers fees, Canada postal fees, & or taxes may be applicable**

[Prue]

Great post cndlady, hope the mods make it a sticky! (hint hint)

[bcteagirl]

Great post! Will come back to it tonight and see if we should make it a sticky or merge it Great post! I would also add that searching with more than one word (eg pink laptop just as random example) *almost never* works.. I would suggest searching laptop, pink, and the sponsor seperately in this example.
My computer here today at the university is so slow! waaa! Havent even caught up on contests, and lunch time is almost over!

[cndlady]

There have been a lot of dbl & triple posts of contests in the last couple of days...
PLEASE SEACH FOR CONTEST BEFORE POSTING!!!!
Do Not stop at one search..
Search by Prize, Sponsor and Contest name
Use single words where possible EXAMPLE: The Slice.ca contest
Search under slice, Ford, Fusion, Vice
All of those would have brought up this contest.

[bcteagirl]

And make sure it is not already in the coupon codes posted at the top (eg. daily codes).

[alajen]

This is work in progress, so feel free to post suggestions or comments to improve the write-up and I will edit as I go.

Thought I would put together this post, since it is a common question among new folks on the forum. I borrowed from many sources and modified with my own style on top of that. Referenced the site/original poster where relevant.

Topics covered:
- how to search
- how to post new contests
- how to browse
- how to enter
- how to track what you've entered

I. Finding a New contest to post on SC (thanks cndlady!)
So you found a great contest and quickly log in to Smart Canucks to post it. Next thing you know, five other people have posted the same thing. What happened?

1. First, check a link before you post it. This way you will know that the link is still valid.
2. Check to see if it has already been posted. This is important because the more reposts there are the bigger the chance that a person could enter the same contest twice and be disqualified.

• Use the “Super Google” search and try several search terms.

• People make spelling mistakes when posting, so you may not find a duplicate post if you run a search on just one word. An X-Box could be “Xbox” or “Xbox360”.
• When searching for a contest, search by prize, sponsor and contest name before posting. Sometimes you have to do more than one search to find a post.
• Search by individual words instead of phrases. So, “Maytag” and “washer” instead of “Maytag washer”
• Website addresses are a good way to search as well. For example, the Top Dogs X-Box giveaway can be searched using X-box, or topdogsrfun (as in, www.topdogsrfun.com)

II. Posting a new Contest (thanks cndlady!)
Ok, so now you’ve searched and no one else has posted this contest yet. Yippee! Now what?

1. Title of the post should contain the following information:

• The product/sponsor
• The Prize
• The expiry date – so the moderators can remove the post at the end of the contest and keep the section tidy for contesters
• DATE format - please use type out the date in words, meaning September or Sept, instead of "09". It makes it easier for moderators to search/sort posts to clean up a section.

This is important because sometimes there are multiple contests being held where the prize is the same (e.g. Nintendo Wii). Also make it easier for people searching for a contest.
Examples
Energizer - win a psp ends Apr. 30/07
Saputo – win Whirlpool kitchen appliances – expires May 27/07

2. In the Body of the post
· If possible put in if the contest is daily or single entry...most people will check again anyway but it gives contester a quick overview when entering. If it is an instant win, make sure you state that as well.
HINT - AOM = Age Of Majority (18 or 19, depending on the province)
· A link to the contest rules would be useful


3. UPC code or Special answer required.
· Some contests ask for a product bar code (UPC) or there is a puzzle answer (word scramble, identify the symbol, secret word of the day). To protect the hard work SC members do to find these answers, take a moment to put them in a text file (*.txt document) and insert it in the post as an attachment, like this: Attachment 982

Only SC members can open/view attachments, so this stops non-contributing "lurkers" from browsing the site and grabbing the answers.


III. Browsing Contests (thanks Prue!)
When you are on a sections main page (i.e. contest main page) if you click the little + sign next to the posters name it will show you the first post without actually entering the thread. Then if you want to close that box just hit the minus sign.
Boo's thread about this feature: http://www.forum.smartcanucks.ca/sho...83&postcount=1
You actually can tell if a contest is a single or daily entry before clicking on the post - provided the original poster entered that info on their initial post.



IV. Entering a Contest

TYPES of Contests
Single Entry – these are the easiest to enter. Need to keep track of these to make sure you don’t enter more than once or you get disqualified from winning.
Daily Entry – self-explanatory
Weekly – self-explanatory
Monthly - self-explanatory
Instant Win - special category, usually combined with one of the above types. There are randomly assigned prizes, usually based on what time of day you fill in the entry form. The site will tell you right away if you've won a prize. NOTE: you usually need a special code or UPC or have to answer a math skill question.

There are variations of the above contests where you can enter multiple times per UPC code, or there is a maximum number of total times. Always read the Contest Rules carefully for any special conditions. In case of doubt, email their Customer Service to ask – please post their answer to help your fellow SCers, if you contact customer service

Filling in the Entry Form
Many companies hold contests in order to collect personal information for marketing purposes. Here are some ways to protect yourself from spammers or unwanted telemarketing/junk mail:

NAME: Use a first initial or change one letter in your first name (e.g. Janie instead of Jane, or just J.). Keep your last name the same for identification purposes in case of a win.

ADDRESS: Full and complete address – no real way to get around this

PHONE: This is usually a mandatory field. Read the Contest Rules carefully to figure out how they contact the winner.
· If they phone the winner, then you must use your real phone number if you want to win that prize. Otherwise, don’t enter that contest. If you decide to enter your real phone number, keep track of which contest so you don’t get scammed that you won a prize for a contest you never entered.
· If the winner is contacted by email or the prize is mailed out, then go ahead and use a fake phone number. My personal favourite is XXX-555-XXXX. Some people change one digit off their real phone number. I don’t do that, since that is probably a real phone number that belongs to someone else – who is wondering why he is suddenly getting so many telemarketers.

EMAIL: a way to collect email addresses for SPAM. Recommend you open a free email account that you use just for contests and freebies – yahoo, hotmail and gmail all offer free email accounts.

BIRTH DATE - all they really want to know is whether you are old enough to enter the contest. I usually just enter the month and the year, and leave the "day" blank, or just enter "01". I don't like to enter the real date, since that plus your name (if you chose to use your full first name) can be used to dig up all sorts of info - like your credit info.

V. Tracking Contest Entries (some material borrowed from mycontests.net by Susan Francis)

The main thing is to enter and enter consistently. Best results are by keeping to a schedule: daily entry contests I try to enter daily- while you can win a daily entry contest with only one entry, each entry increases your chances.

WEEKLY - try to enter the same day each week, since some contests track the week as a seven-day period (e.g. cutoff is every Tuesday). If you always enter on the same day, you will avoid accidentally entering the contest twice in the same week and disqualifying yourself.

MONTHLY - Many of them end on the same day of the month - too many to tackle by picking one day to enter. Try and split them up and pick two or three designated dates to always enter that batch of contests. It doesn't matter when during the month you enter, just as long as you remember to enter.

Everyone has their own way of tracking contests, depending on their personal style. Here are a few examples of how some of our pros track their contests. Feel free to adapt to your own needs.

1. Spreadsheet
This is convenient because you can order your contests with headings for Contest, End date, web links, special info for the entry (e.g. UPC code) and of course FREQUENCY.

Also makes it easier to search when checking if you have already entered the contest - especially important for single entry contests. The list can be sorted so that the expired contests are removed. Note: the "1X" is used for single entry contests so that they always end up at the top and don't get entered twice. Some may choose to move these on a separate tab altogether to avoid any confusion.



2. Use the "Subscribe Thread" Function

This method works well contests requiring multiple entries (daily, weekly, etc.). When you find a well-written contest entry - done according to the above guidelines, of course - it removes the need to keep a separate spreadsheet. If the contest post is incomplete, I just hit reply and post the missing info (end date, frequency, whatever). Then I subscribe to the thread.



The information is kept on your SC User ID. So you just have to go to User CP, then "List Subscriptions". That will show you all the threads you added and you just click through them one at a time, instead of searching for them on the forum.



When the contest is over, just tick the box and delete the subscription.

3. Use the "Thank you" method.

This is especially useful for SINGLE entry contests.

CAUTION: you need to be careful of REPOSTS, since if the same contest is posted twice you could accidentally enter it more than once and be disqualified.

Easy to do - just enter the contest and hit Reply and say "Thank you" to the poster. Even if you use other methods to track contests, I still recommend posting "Thanks", since it the polite thing to do.

Now that you've posted in the thread, you can see that you've "thanked" the posted when browsing by looking at the little envelope icon next to the thread.


VI. Additional tips (thanks to remarker for finding this site: mycontests.net by Susan Francis)

ALWAYS READ THE CONTEST RULES:
Don't bother filling in the entry form if you didn't read the contest rules. Some contests have specific instructions for eligible entries - if you don't fill in the required form completely, your entry will just get rejected.

CHECK YOUR EMAIL INBOX DAILY:
Many contests have a time limit for the selected winner to respond or else they drop your name and pick another winner.

KEEP GOOD RECORDS OF YOUR WIN AND NOTICES:
It is always a good idea to print out your win notices- that way if the prize doesn’t arrive, (and I have had some that I have never received) you will have proof to use to complain to the site owner if the email has been accidentally deleted. My email is automatically deleted after twenty- seven days by my ISP. The same is true when the notice is mailed to you-make a copy of the notice. For cross border wins, it’s a good idea to have a copy anyway so you can recover any taxes or duties charged by customs. A good answering machine is also a good idea. I missed out on a win because I couldn’t make out the number of the person I was to call to claim my win.

CANADIANS AND CONTESTS FROM OUTSIDE OF CANADA:
I have had dozens of wins from contests not based in Canada. The only country that a win sometimes leads to grief is the United States. Sometimes the sponsor does not label the package "gift" or "sample" or indicate it has no value. When this happens customs inspects the package and will charge you tax and duties. They also randomly inspect parcels, asses value and charge tax and duties, as well as a five dollar inspection fee. However, contest winnings valued at under $65 are not taxable, or covered by duties. What you need to do is: pay the fee at the post office or to the mailman, get a receipt, carefully remove the yellow label that states what you were charged, and fill out the refund form on the back, and mail it into revenue Canada along with a copy of your winning email and/ or congratulatory letter (support documents). You can also request and/or download a copy of the form from the government’s website. It takes about six weeks, but they will mail you a check. I have won contests located in both Great Britain and Australia, and received my winnings fairly quickly without any customs inspection. Since I only enter contests where I can read the rules I don’t enter contests from non-English speaking countries. Japan does run some that available in English, but to date I have not won any of them.

[remarker]

This is going to be wonderful.
Thank you for putting in all that hard work for us newbies. It will save thousand irritations as well, for both old and new.

It's so easy to understand and everything in the same place!
The screenshots really help since it's hard to know what everything is at first.

Keep up the great job because we really need this.

once again....
Thank you

[remarker]

I wanted to try and see if I could start a "thumbs up" in the listing too but couldn't figure out how.....

[cndlady]

I wanted to try and see if I could start a "thumbs up" in the listing too but couldn't figure out how.....

at the top of the thread there are 2 arrows one pointing up and one pointing down...
the arrow pointing up will give a thumbs up and the one pointing down will give a thumbs down

****may I also suggest if posting UPCs or contest answers please put them in an attachment where possible****

[remarker]

at the top of the thread there are 2 arrows one pointing up and one pointing down...
the arrow pointing up will give a thumbs up and the one pointing down will give a thumbs down

****may I also suggest if posting UPCs or contest answers please put them in an attachment where possible****

I made a "thumbs up!". Had read that before but there's just so much to learn here. See , we really need a collected edition. Thanks!


And a about the attach. too. It feels so special to open a secret file!

[remarker]

Another one:
Could the dates possibly be entered in a predetermined form that is easy to enter like mm.dd.yy or dd/mm/yy? I think people would gladly follow an outline?

This makes it easier to read and search.
If someone writes June 27, 2007 (like I've been doing here)
then June and 27, and 2007 are seperate searchwords and many funny posts can come up so now I've learnt to search just by month or month andyear and see what turns up.

It's really great to search for contests by closing dates because there are so many different ways people may choose to describe contest and prizes
(unless cash prize). +there's less room for spelling mistakes then. Although, if the dates are entered in different formats it makes it difficult

[WandaJean]

Thanks for all the helpful tips and advice..as a new contester..I really appreciate it

[alajen]

Another one:
Could the dates possibly be entered in a predetermined form that is easy to enter like mm.dd.yy or dd/mm/yy? I think people would gladly follow an outline?

This makes it easier to read and search.
If someone writes June 27, 2007 (like I've been doing here)
then June and 27, and 2007 are seperate searchwords and many funny posts can come up so now I've learnt to search just by month or month andyear and see what turns up.

The challenge with number format with dates is that the French and English convention for dates is different - this *IS* a Canadian site, after all.

French put day then the month, English is month then day. Sounds trivial, until you read a date like 10/06/07
Is it October 6 or June 10? Hmmm...

Course the international way is YYYY/MM/DD, so 20070630.

Then there's the problem with punctuation, since some folks use dashes, and others use a slash, and some folks don't use any punctuation at all.

Agreed that a standard date format would make things a lot easier to search. We just have to agree on what that standard is. If there was a way to select from a scroll-down menu, then the expiry date entries would all be standard - and easier to search.

Maybe Boo can come up with something. (hint, hint)

[alajen]

****may I also suggest if posting UPCs or contest answers please put them in an attachment where possible****

Added, thanks! Silly me, should have thought of that...

[Coolmama]

Thanks all, great info!!