Family Dollar "Free For All" Sweepstakes & Offer

Family Dollar Store is sponsoring a sweepstakes with 20 Grand Prizes of $100 in the form of a check. This sweepstakes offers two forms of entry, one by using the official entry form, available at Family Dollar Stores,

which can be paired with a gift certificate offer when purchasing certain brands, and one with no purchase necessary for sweepstakes entry only.

When using the official entry form, each household is also offered the opportunity to receive a five dollar

Family Dollar Store gift certificate. In order to enter the sweepstakes AND receive the gift certificate, along with the official entry form one must send a cash register receipt from Family Dollar Store dated between June 1, 2007 and June 30, 2007, with the name and price circled from one of the following brands: Tide, Dawn, Charmin, Luvs, Pringles, Always, Gain, Febreze, Bounty, and Tampax. There is a limit of one gift certificate per household, and one sweepstakes entry per outer envelope.

In order to enter the sweepstakes without the official entry form, on a plain piece of 3x5 paper, hand print your name, street address (no p.o. boxes), city, state, zip code, date of birth (mm/dd/yyyy) plus (optional) daytime and evening phone numbers. Mail in a stamped envelope no larger than a #10 to:

Family Dollar "Free For All" Sweepstakes

P.O. Box 5014

Ellenton, FL 34222-5000

Limit one entry per envelope. All entries must be received by July 16, 2007.

Dollar General "Win a Fast Million"

This sweepstakes offers one Grand Prize of an all-expense-paid trip for two to the Ford 300 & 400 Championship Weekend in Miami, Florida, $10,000 cash in the form of a check, and the opportunity to win $1,000,000 in the form of a twenty-year annuity paid at $50,000 a year. The Grand Prize winner receives the million dollar award "if the No. 77 Dollar General Stores Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS participates in and is declared the official winner of the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Ford 300 Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway completed on November 17, 2007", according to the official rules. If the number 77 car does not win the race, the million dollar portion of the prize will not be awarded.

Ten first prizes of a $500 Dollar General Gift Card are being awarded, with fifty second place prizes of a $100 Dollar General Gift Card, and 100 third place prize winners receiving an autographed cap and t-shirt fan pack valued at $50.

To enter this sweepstakes, you can mail the official entry form available from Dollar General Stores, or you can use the alternate mail-in entry as stated in the Official Rules, or you can enter online HERE.

Entrants must be 21 years of age or older, and residents of the fifty United States or Washington D.C. One online entry per person and email address per day. Sweepstakes ends October 13, 2007.

Miller Lite is offering an interactive sweepstakes that allows you to "build" your ultimate summer Jeep, then gives you a chance to win it! You will also be offered the opportunity to fill out a Miller Lite survey, though there is no obligation to. Entrants must be twenty-one years of age or older to enter the site, one entry per person/email address per day. Sweepstakes ends July 31, 2007.

Your sweepstakes host, Mad Mike, patiently, and sometimes not-so-patiently, walks you through the entry process, and offers comments and input, along with showing you pictures of the jeep you are building throughout the process. It is actually quite an entertaining sweepstakes to enter, though it may not work well with slower internet connections.

To start off, you will be asked to choose your paint style. The choices include: micro blue, flame thrower, urban legend. Along with this you choose your interior. Interior choices are: speed style, lounge lizard, and casual comfort. Once you make your choice, you can hit the "show me" button, and Mike "draws" you a realistic-looking picture of it. Then you are offered the option to keep it, or to trash it and choose a different style. Taking too long to make any one of your choices will bring on some infernal ribbing from Mike.

The next choice is rims and tires. Available selections are: twist-off, lollipop, liquid gold, dirt flirt, nite lite, and 360 degrees. Upon making your final choice in this area, it's on to thesound system. You may choose "party starter", "drive-in", "center stage", or "after hours".

The final choice is the "blow it out" section. This area allows you to customize the final prize package. There are four different categories to choose from, and you are allowed to pick five prizes from within your chosen category to go along with your Jeep.

The first category is: "I'm a beach bum". Prize choices for this category are: a surfboard, slide, hammock, tiki torches, volleyball net, ice cream station, baloon launcher, lawn chairs, beach awning, and a shower.

The "I kick it by the campfire" category offers the following options: a grill, tent, kayaks, awning, picnic table, torches, hammock telescope, firepit, and satellite.

In the"sports, sports, and more sports" category you will find: a volleyball net, basketball hoop, goal posts, practice nets, pop-a-shot, massage chairs, scoreboard, P.A. system, floodlights, and a bicycle rack.

The final category of "block party, anyone?" allows the options of: turntables, buffet table, misters, basketball hoop, disco ball, dance floor, dance lights, dance video game, big screen, and a popcorn machine.

Upon making your final choices, hit the "win it" button to move forward and decide whether you want to register the jeep and prize package you've created in order to receive a chance to win it, or if you would prefer to share it with others, or design another one. You may design one Jeep package per day for your chance to win it, more if you'd just like something to play with. Should you choose to register your design, you will be sent an email with the link so you can go back and look at the your chosen package for that day.

You can enter this sweepstakes HERE

The "Heroes" TV series is based on the idea that there are everyday people in the world that posses super-human qualities, and focuses upon the lives of some of these people. This year, the show was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards. The show was nominated for "Best Television Series - Drama", and Actor Masi Kosa (who plays Dilbert Hiro, a hero with the ability to bend the time-space continuum) was nominated for " Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television".

The NBC show "Heroes" (airing Mondays at 8pm central time) has inspired a limited-edition print, two copies of which are being offered as Grand Prizes in "The Heroes Sweepstakes", sponsored by Entertainment Weekly. The prints, designed by Tim Sale and James Dimmock, are signed by some of the members of the cast, and are (currently) valued at $1,500 each.

Twenty first place prizes are also to be awarded, with each first place winner receiving a "Heroes" 9th Wonders comic art t-shirt, a "Heroes" brushed logo cap, and a "Vote Petrelli" coffee mug.

Daily online entry is allowed for this sweepstakes, with additional entry options available. See the official rules for alternate entry guidelines, with entry "as often as you wish". (While you're there, you may wish to scroll down and check the odds of winning.)

Enter HERE

Heroes - Season 1

Sweepstakes Newsletter Review: Sweeping America

Sweeping America is a weekly newsletter that can be subscribed to either by email or through postal mail. For the purposes of this review, I will be referring to the online version, which comes in two formats, PDF and Doc. Both versions com as an attachment to a single email, so can be opened in either format once the email is received. Again, for the purposes of this review, I will be referring to the PDF version. I find the format and styling of this version to be an easy-to-read, and something that works with most computers. These can easily be printed out in order to have a "hard-copy" version, if one so desires.

Generally, there are about thirty sweepstakes and contests in each newsletter. The headlines for each sweepstakes are done in blue, which is a beneficial feature as it makes it easy to separate one sweepstakes from the next. The pages have boxes under each contest which can be checked for "not entering", "done" and # of entries done". This is another nice feature to have, especially when skimming through past issues, in order to keep sweepstakes entries within the alloted number according to the official rules.

The newsletters are scattered with inspirational messages, pictures, and humor, along with extra tips for particular sweeps. If there is anything unusual stated in the rules for a specific sweeps, it is usually highlighted. These things help "break up" the sweeps from one another, and make it "flow" smoothly.

Along with the newsletter, emails are sent out regularly giving notice of start dates for particular sweeps, end dates when phone calls are to be made to winners, and various other odds and ends of information. These are usually offered with lighthearted comments and humor added to the usual sweepstakes information, keeping it friendly and somewhat personal. Though this may be an added benefit for the serious sweeper, someone who is not so avid may find it a bit too much email, and somewhat overwhelming to keep up with.

Competitively priced, I find Sweeping America an excellent choice for the serious sweeper.

Jack Getze is holding a new contest awarding 10 winners signed copies of his new mystery novel "Big Numbers" and "Darkly Comic" T-Shirts. I contacted Jack for his comments, and here is what he had to say:

Jennifer: Tell us something about yourself...

Jack: I hated high school and had no interest in college, so I pursued writing by going to work for the LA Herald-Examiner as a copyboy. I earned my first newspaper byline at the age of 19, and went on to spend the next 13 years writing about business and finance for the two largest LA newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times. Divorce, remarriage and a new baby pushed me across the country to New Jersey where I began a new career as a stockbroker. I was always working on a novel, though, and wrote 11 manuscripts before I sold Big Numbers.

Jennifer: Tell us something about your book, "Big Numbers"...

Jack: I heard a supposedly true story one day about a stockbroker who married his biggest client's widow, and I thought, wow, what a perfect tale for what I want to say about stockbrokers and the investment business. The first version I wrote didn't sell, though, because the main character was too greedy--not likeable enough. When I got stuck on another manuscript two years ago, my agent said why don't you try Big Numbers again? This time, it worked.

Jennifer: Tell us about your newest contest...

Jack: 10 signed books, 10 T-shirts, and the deadline is June 21.

Jennifer: How will the winners be chosen?

Jack: It's going to be a drawing from the pile of correct answers. I didn't fool anybody with this one. But I'll probably send out more than 10 books. I gave away almost 100 last contest.

Jack's Online Media Contact, Eileen Cruz Coleman of CruzColeman Communications, offered the following guidelines for those interested in entering the contest:

"Be one of 10 people to win a signed copy of BIG NUMBERS and a "Darkly Comic" T-shirt (one size fits all) by answering the following
question:

Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?

WARNING: This is a trick question. Check your facts people! Email your answers to jgetze@aol.com"

Jack will be speaking and signing books at various locations starting May 25th and throughout the month of June. If you are interested in seeing him in person, you can find the details on his website HERE.

Big Numbers

Famecast is an online competition for talented artists in various categories, which is currently running its season two contest. Contestants can upload a video presenting their talents for the chance to win $10,000 and the title of Famecast Fenom. Submissions will close on May 28, 2007 for this season's contest. Multiple videos are accepted, though not required until the top ten round.

Starting May 21st, submissions will be presented to website visitors who will vote for their favorite talents, and the top 50 will then move on to the next round. The voting will then continue progressively, next choosing 25 of these for the following round, then the top ten from this group. The top ten will then submit a new video, from which five will be selected, again by viewer votes, for the final round. Those in the top ten group who don't make it to the top five will be featured on Center Stage and critiqued by an industry expert, still a very worthwhile experience.

For the final round, those voted as the top five talents will be flown on location for a live webcast beginning on July 23, 2007, where viewers will vote for the winner in each genre.

It is advised that contestants consider a strategy for submitting multiple videos, in case they are chosen for the advanced stages of the competition. In other words, you may wish to consider your finest work for one round or another (early rounds or final ones), according to your strategy.

Entries are being accepted in the following categories, referred to as "stages" for the competition:

Pop

Rock

R&B

Country

Hip-Hop

Comedy

Metal

Spoken Word

Singer/Song Writer

Dance

Animation

Short Film

Entries must be in either ASF, AVI, MOV, MPEG, QT, DV, or WMV format, with videos being six minutes or less in length, excluding short film and animation artists who will need to keep their films at twent minutes or less. Contestants must be at least thirteen years of age to enter, with anyone under age eighteen required to submit parental consent. The competition is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and Northern Ireland. All copyright laws apply.

Find out more HERE.

I recently interviewed Linda, owner of the Contestgirl website. This is part two of our interview. You can find part one HERE.

What are some of the challenges you've faced in running a website?

Fortunately, I do get a lot of assistance from my husband when he's not at
his day-job. He knows computers and programming and has done most of the
technical work. Without his help, it wouldn't be nearly as efficient and
easy to use. The site is becoming very popular and this sometimes creates
slowdowns in the functionality. We're looking into ways to improve any lags
created when the sites usage peaks. Also, it's very easy to find lots of
contests every day, but takes a long time to put it all onto the site,
because I need to skim the rules for each. I also get lots of email from
the sites users and try to answer in a timely manner. I do like to have
time during the day to run errands and keep the household running, so, I'd
say finding enough time to keep the site fresh, answering my email and
running my home are the biggest challenges at the moment. I'm doing it all,
but it's a balancing act.

What are some of your future goals for the Contestgirl site?

At some point, I would like to add a modified forum. Because the site now
takes up so much of my time, I'm not quite ready yet to do this. A forum
would require a lot of moderating, as they can become flashpoints when
people don't get along. I have a lot of wonderful people contributing
'comments' and interacting now and love the co-operative nature of it all.
I have a real contesting community and it would be nice to give people a
better way to interact with each other.

I'd like to share an unexpected benefit of running this website, is that
I've made some terrific contesting friends and have also connected some of
my contesting community contributors to each other for friendship. I've had
so many people thank me for making their day brighter. Some of these people
are housebound because of illness and have found this hobby and the people
they interact with in the 'Comments' makes their day much brighter. I also
get such a kick when people write to me to tell me how happy they are that
they won a prize or received a free sample. I get a lot of positive
feedback from www.contestgirl.com users, and it really makes my day a little
brighter too. The level of pleasure the website has brought to myself as
well as others was not something I had planned or expected.

For more information, visit the Contestgirl website HERE