Winner

As someone who spends a significant amount of time entering giveaways, it is always nice to get that winning email in your inbox. It really is satisfying. Knowing that your time and effort was not a complete waste. I would say for every 50 I enter, I win 1. Maybe? I don't really know. But I can tell you that since August 2009, I have won over 400 giveaways....more even. I used to be really good at keeping track using google notebook. But google closed that and so I began using a physical notebook. But somehow that has been misplaced. 

What do I win? Tons! Books, books, and more books. A play kitchen (that was stolen when we moved so we are getting the kids a new one). Two digital cameras. Cloth diapers. Toys. Winter boots for myself. Gift cards. Clothes for the kids. A play mat for the twin grandsons. A car seat for my daughter. A step 2 cozy coupe. DVDs. A black and decker drill. Wine glasses. A high chair (which I am waiting on). Most recently.....an iPad mini! That was exciting to say the least! I gifted it to my fiancée. He has never had anything like it of his own and I already have my own iPad mini. It was an early Christmas gift! I recently won a Haba toy for my daughter that I have hidden to save for Christmas. A Umi Shoes gift card which will allow me to order a pair of shoes for one of the kids to save for Christmas. A gift card to Toys R Us which will be great for Christmas shopping. And a few other things. 

Do you enter giveaways? Do you follow along with blogs that are interesting to read and also host giveaways on products they have reviewed? That's all it takes! Find some blogs that interest you. Start reading. Start entering for items and services that interest you. 

The basics:
* You need an email address. One that you check daily. And really, you need to check daily, because winners usually have somewhere between 24-72 hours to reply to a winning email. And if you miss the specific deadline to respond...well, you have most likely missed out and another winner will be chosen. And that stinks when you take the time to enter! It happened to me once when I was giving birth to my daughter. I missed the deadline and lost out on several cloth diapers and a few other related items because I was to busy pushing! 
*You also need to make sure that you are following the rules of each giveaway. Some are only open to the Us, some are just for Canada. Some are both the US and Canada, and some are worldwide. The majority of them state who can enter. 
*You need to make sure you do the mandatory entry....95% of the time there is one. Sometimes there are two mandatory entries. It just depends on the giveaway and the host. And you need to make sure you are really doing what you say you are. So if you say you follow the blogger on Twitter, make sure you are. If you say you did, and that comment or entry is chosen as the winner you will be disqualified if you are not really following. And believe me....they check! I have been lucky in a few instances that I forgot to verify email subscriptions and a few bloggers let me know. But that is NOT typical. 
*If there extra entries, do them if you can! It gives you more chances to win. 
*And basically one last thing...there is never any reason to be rude through comments. If you don't agree with someone on their views that is okay. There are ways to excess yourself without being rude. You don't have to enter a giveaway. They are optional. 

Do you need help entering a giveaway? Or just have a question? Let me know here or email me privately at bekki1820cb at gmail dot com I would be glad to help you and answer any questions you may have. 

Good luck! 

Rebecca