When I was a kid,in the days of analog phones and before the advent of the Internet, we used to call in to local radio stations to win prizes. If you were lucky, and you timed it just right, you might win a prize. Over the years I've won tickets to Bruce Springsteen (fourth row, bleachers at the old Exhibition Stadium), Duran Duran, a number of tickets to movie premieres, and a chance to win Breakfast in Barbados (I got a free breakfast and witnessed a live broadcast of my favourite radio show out of that one).
In the Internet age, I've come to believe contests to be thinly veiled excuses to get me to subscribe to mailing lists and read a lot of advertisements.
Boy, was I ever wrong.
Having recently won a $400 Amazon gift certificate from The Kindle Book Review, I've learned that one of the best ways to win a contest is to find one that's above board. The Kindle Book Review is one such site. In his book, Reader Giveaways, author Jeff Bennington details the best way to win Amazon products from your Kindle or digital device. The answer is quite simple, really: check out his site, The Kindle Book Review. But that's not all. In his book, Bennington gives tips and addresses for giveaway and sweepstakes sites, in his book as well, and all of them are free.
Post secondary institutions often complain that they can't give away many of their grants and bursaries because people just don't apply. If the same applies to online giveaways and sweepstakes, Reader Giveaways can help its readers clean up.