The brand new TLC show "High Stakes Sweepers" has caused an increase in online sweepstakes and contests searches. I saw the premiere of the show on Sunday night and became so convinced that I had a chance to win that I ended up entering into 20 Canadian sweepstakes contests. I do not usually enter any contests at all, but the new show made entering sweepstakes look like a lot of fun. Here is a look at the new "High Stake Sweepers" show which airs every Sunday evening on The Learning Channel. From TLC, the channel that brought us The Lottery Changed My Life and new hit Extreme Couponing, we now have High Stakes Sweepers, which is about obsessed sweepstakes-chasers and their winnings. I’ve watched all of these shows and in this current recession-plagued world, it’s very clear that there really isn’t a lot of patience or place for old-school wish-fulfillment shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous anymore. Watching other people live the lives we want is called reality for the majority of us nowadays, so it’s no wonder that reality shows that function as quasi “how-to” videos that provide skills on amped up couponing or sweepstaking are a lot more attractive to most of us today. There’s an attainable quality to these shows because of the low financial investment which leaves you thinking, “Wait, I could totally have a tower of free pork and beans in my basement!”With High Stakes Sweepers, you quickly come to understand that to participate there’s a lot less military-like planning (and math!), which is necessary in the extreme couponing game. All you need to sweep is a computer. In the hour, we meet six extreme sweepers that essentially make it their day job to enter massive amounts of primarily online-based contests and sweepstakes for impressive returns.First off there’s Ron, who has a daughter getting married so he is targeting bridal contests with the goal of getting the wedding expenses and honeymoon covered with won prizes.Then there's Barbara and Patricia, sister sweepers from Florida, who have been entering contests for 20 years and together have won over $2 million worth of cash and prizes. While Patricia goes after traditional instant win and sweepstakes contests, Barbara is obsessed with skill-based competitions like cooking contests.Ret Fortuna is a sweeper that believes in research and has been at it for 50 years. She’s won a million in cash and prizes including three cars, a motorcycle and a trip to Australia. She also loves going to grocery stores with her sweeper club to scour for instant win prizes on products.Carolyn, “The Contest Queen,” from Canada found herself unemployed ten years ago and turned to contests where she's since won $250K in cash, trips, and a plethora of prizes in between. She’s also written a book and maintains a website about how to sweep.Lastly, Rob makes sweeping a family affair as he gets his kids and annoyed wife to help him enter traditional mail in sweeps which have more upfront investment but better pay off odds. He’s won many family trips, 3 plasma TVs and was trying for a bikini model vacation in Las Vegas. Classy, Rob.All of the featured sweepers have made a lot of money on their hobby and overall it seems to feed their addiction to winning in a safer and less damaging way than traditional gambling. What they all seem to lose the most is time as their endeavors on average take about four to five hours a day to create the bulk of entries needed to tip the odds in their favor.As for how entertaining High Stakes Sweepers is as a TV series, it certainly lacks the cash register pay off that Extreme Couponing achieves each week. The producers try to create a mailbox moment cliffhanger for each sweeper but often the result ends up being bad news and that means a boring pay off. Aside for some specific tips, the show felt repetitive after 30 minutes.
However, here are some tasty tips we gleaned from episode one:
# Weekend sweeps have better odds because internet traffic decreases by 50%.
# Work together with buddies to better the chances of finding sweeps and entering them.
# Make sure you can pay the taxes on your winnings!
# If you like to recycle dive, check soda caps for promo codes that often get ignored by the drinker and could provide winnings.
# Read the official rules for contests to make sure you enter according to the requirements so you don’t waste your time.
The 'Contest Queen's' Five Tips for Sweepstakes Success :
Carolyn Wilman of Ontario, Canada, is serious about her sweepstakes. So serious that she has a nickname, the "Contest Queen," a book, "You Can't Win If You Don't Enter," and a website, www.contestqueen.com, all devoted to winning things for free.She's also one of five "sweepers," people obsessed with entering sweepstakes, profiled on the new reality show "High Stakes Sweepers," premiering Sunday, Aug., 14, at 10 p.m./ET on TLC.Wilman, 44, has won almost $250,000 in cash and prizes over the 10 years she's been entering sweepstakes, ever since she decided to turn a hobby into a full-time career.I worked in marketing for 15 years and found myself unemployed," she says on the show's series premiere. "I I read an article about a couple who entered sweepstakes on a daily basis. I thought, 'What a great idea. I won't have to work. I'll just win for a living.'"To win, Wilman enters an average of 100 to 300 contests per day, often enlisting the help of her 9-year-old daughter, Nicole, to get the job done.Over the years, she's won clothes, cosmetics, kitchen appliances. She estimates she wins five to 15 sweepstakes per month, including one lucky month in which she won three trips in one week alone.
Sweepstakes Prizes:
Grand Prize: A 4-night trip for four to London, England, to attend Rapunzel's royal celebration into the Disney Princess family at Kensington Palace, October 2, 2011. Prize includes a $500 Disney gift card, a VIP visit to the Oxford Street Disney Store, admission into the celebration ceremony and all festivities, a privately chauffeured tour of Disney's London, and $2,000 spending money. (ARV: $10,500)
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