The Secret to Winning Sweepstakes: The Three Ps

Wondering How to Win Prizes? These Three Ps Are the Answer

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By
Sandra Grauschopf
Sandra Grauschopf
Sandra Grauschopf
Writer
  • University of Maryland
Sandra Grauschopf has been working in the contests industry since 2002. She is a passionate sweeper, with tens of thousands of dollars worth of prize wins to her name, and she has been sharing advice about how to be a winner for over a decade.
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Updated on 12/29/21

Are you wondering how some people win sweepstakes prizes regularly, while you never seem to win at all? If you put it down to another person simply being luckier, you're making a mistake. The real secret to being a winner is a philosophy that sweepstakes fans call "The Three Ps".

There's nothing magical about The Three Ps and everyone can use them. They simply stand for:

  1. Patience
  2. Perseverance
  3. A Positive Attitude

Here's a look at how The Three Ps relate to sweepstakes and how you can put them to work to help you win more prizes.

1. Patience

The first of the Three Ps is patience, a trait that is absolutely critical if you want to win. Entering sweepstakes is frustrating if you're impatient — finding out that you've won a prize takes time.

Think about it this way: Even if you're lucky enough to win a sweepstakes prize on the very first day you enter, the following things must happen before you find out you've won:

  • The sweepstakes entry period has to draw to a close.
  • The entries must be verified.
  • Your name must be drawn as the winner.
  • The sponsor has to get in touch with you to let you know you've won.

Each of these steps can take a while — as in weeks, or even months

For most people, the minimum length of time to wait before they know they've won a prize is three months.

But patience isn't only important for your first win. Even the luckiest sweepers go through dry spells where they're entering tons of sweepstakes, following all of the recommended tips to win, and still don't receive a prize notification for quite some time.

That's why patience is an important part of winning sweepstakes. If you don't have the patience to wait for wins, sweepstakes entry won't be fun and you won't stick around long enough for the prizes to come in.

Here are some tips that can help:

2. Perseverance

The second of the Three Ps is perseverance. You need to enter sweepstakes regularly, whether the prizes are rolling in at the moment or not. If you give up, you'll never win.

This doesn't mean that you should spend every waking moment of the day entering giveaways — but you should set aside an achievable amount of time that you can commit to every day. If you're a busy person, as most of us are, that might mean half an hour or even 15 minutes. However much time you can spare, commit to it.

More important than the length of time you enter is that you put in that amount of time every day, whether you're feeling lucky or not.

Here are some tips that will help you persevere and get a good number of daily entries, regardless of the time you have available:

3. Positive Attitude

The third of the Three Ps is a positive attitude toward your sweepstakes hobby, which will make being patient and persevering through hard times so much easier.

It's important to remember is that entering sweepstakes is not a job or a way of earning money you can bank on. If you're doing it out of desperation, you're probably better off spending the time on a side gig that will bring in regular income.

Remember, sweeping isn't just about winning prizes, but also about making friends, dreaming about where your prizes might take you, learning about interesting products, and sharing the excitement of your wins with others.

So how do you do it? Try having a little fun with sweepstakes by decorating your sweeping area with lucky charms, creating a scrapbook of the prizes you've won so far, or coming up with a winning mantra.

Here are some tips to help:

Even if you're not a lucky person, you can win amazing prizes with a little bit of time and dedication — and you can have fun doing it! These links help you take the next step and start winning fantastic prizes.

Where to Find Sweepstakes

Now that you have the key to winning sweepstakes in your hand, it's time to get started. Here are some great places to look to find trustworthy sweepstakes that are offering amazing prizes to win.