A Bit About Contests...

Though "sweepstakes" has become something of a generic term, often encompassing the whole realm of sweepstakes, giveaways, and contests, the three are not the same thing. Contests involve some level of skill in a specific category, so are not governed by the same rules or laws. Winning a contest means yours was the "best" entry according to the criteria set, and according to the contest judges.

Someone who is new to entering contests may have doubts about which types of contests to enter. When making the choice as to whether it will be worth your time or not, look at your own interests first, and start with something you feel you'd be good at, or that you'd enjoy learning how to do. There are so many to choose from, you will surely find something to suit your needs.

Of course, if you’re already highly skilled at something, no matter what it might be, entering contests might just bring those skills to the next level. It's a lot of fun, and could earn you a nice amount of cash, or some other nifty prizes. Aside from the prizes, or along with them, it is a very rewarding experience.

There are contests for most anything one can think of, including:

Archery
Babies
Bands
Bartending
Bass Fishing
Ballroom dance
Beer
Brides
Cakes
Camping
Card-house Building
Cartoons
Cats
Chefs
Chili recipes
Choirs
Comedians
Content Writing
Dessert recipes
Dominos
Environmental inventions
Equestrian Skills
Farm animals
Film-making
Float decorating
Flowers
Food-eating
Graphic Design
Ice-Fishing
Ice-Sculpting
Investing
Jingles
Jumping Dogs
Knowledge
Lumberjacks
Logos
Magicians
Muscle-Building
Nasa Inventions
Newspapers
Photography
Pick-up Artists
Poetry
Quilting
Restaurants
Sales
Sand Castle Building
Sewing
Short Stories
Singing
Slogans
Song-writing
Spelling
Square-Dancing
Survivalists
Treasure Hunting
Trivia
Truck-pulls
Ugly Dogs
Vacationing
Vegetables
Website Design
Wine
Yo-yo-ing

Though this list is just the tip of the iceberg, it will give you some idea of how widespread contests really are. If you have an idea for something you'd like to enter that isn't on this list, you can still quite likely find a contest for it.

Industry news carriers from the realm of your choice are always a good first place to look for any area-specific contest, along with any related websites. Most of the industry-related contests will have an ongoing annual contest, a good portion of them with additional contests throughout the year, in different geographical areas, to gather finalists for the last phase. The majority of the "one-time" contests will be related to the specific sponsor, or to a specific event, such as the grand-opening of a business.

Contests are a fun challenge. I find myself entering certain ones year after year. Each year I learn something, so the next year's entries are better. Some people like crossword puzzles... oh, there's a contest for that!


Good Luck!