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One of the nice things about entering online sweepstakes is that it doesn't cost anything -- there's no purchase necessary, no stamps or envelopes required. So time is your only "expense." But when you're entering a lot of sweepstakes, it can get pretty time-consuming. Here's 5 ways you can enter more sweepstakes in less time:

1. Improve your Typing Skills: Hopefully you're already using RoboForm and software like Texter or TextExpander to minimize the amount of typing you have to do. (If not, start by reading this and this.) But you can't avoid typing altogether. More and more sweeps are using CAPTCHAS, those letter/number combos you type in to prove there's actually a human (not just automated software) submitting the form. If you're still "hunting and pecking" at your keyboard -- or if you have a lot of typos -- those CAPTCHAS can really slow you down. Find typing software that fits your skill level, and practice with it regularly. Or if you're already a skilled typist, weekly visits to a site like Typing Test can keep your typing up to speed. Additional time-saving tip: Some sweepstakes sites (such as ePrize) will automatically convert lowercase letters you type into capital letters to match the all-caps CAPTCHA code. On these forms, don't worry about pressing Caps Lock or Shift as you type.
2. Skip the Games: Many Flash-based instant-win sweepstakes have a link that says "Click here if you can't see the game." Use this link to save time -- you'll still have a chance to win, but you don't have to sit through the animations.
3. Limit Time-Intensive Entries. Unfortunately, not all games have one of those handy links. If you're trying to enter lots of sweepstakes quickly, then games you have to play, or trivia questions where you have to search for the correct answer, will slow you down. Only enter these if you're really interested in the prize. And keep an eye on the rules. If there's a game you have to play to enter, but where your score doesn't matter, try letting it "play" in the background while you enter other sweeps.
4. Upgrade your Browser. Tab-based browsers (such as Firefox or Internet Explorer 7) are great for entering sweepstakes. My preferred method? Open a SweepsGoat's page worth of sweeps, with each sweepstakes in its own tab. (In my experience, more than 10-20 open tabs can start to slow down my browser, so I just do a few at a time.) The sweepstakes open in background tabs, with RoboForm automatically filling in the forms based on my saved passcards. I then go through each tab, hitting the "Submit" button and allowing my browser to load the confirmation page in the background while I move to the next tab. (This way I'm not wasting time waiting for pages to load.) After one pass through, I go through all the tabs a second time, looking for the "thanks for entering" text (or taking any additional steps I need to take). Once I've closed those 10 tabs, I open the next set. Whether you use this method, or find another that works better for you, using a tab-based browser can really help you speed up your entries.
5. Use Shortcut Keys. Switching between the keyboard and mouse can slow you down. These shortcut key combinations work for Windows in IE7/Firefox. (If you're using something different, do a search for keyboard shortcuts that work in your environment.)
   • Ctrl + End: Go to the bottom of the web page. Saves you some scrolling, since many "Submit" buttons are at the bottom of the page.
   • Ctrl + Home: Go to the top of the web page.
   • Ctrl + Page Down / Page Up (Firefox) or Ctrl + Tab (IE7): Switch between open tabs.
   • Ctrl + W: Close the current tab (once you're finished entering a sweepstakes).

Follow these tips, and you'll speed through your daily entries. You may even have time to enter a few more sweeps & improve your odds a little!

Do you have any additional tips for speeding up sweepstakes entries? We'd love to hear about it -- just leave us a comment below!

Programs like RoboForm are great for speeding up sweepstakes entries, but they don't always work. Sweeps with games to play often have Flash-based forms that RoboForm can't fill out. To speed my way through those I use text substitution programs. These programs run in the background, watching everything you type. When you type a special "abbreviation," it's replaced with the full text you wanted. For example, filling out a form like this:

First Name: Horatio Last Name: Hornblower
Address:15388 Mockingbird Lane
City: Tallahassee State: FL Zip: 32301

Could be done as easily as typing this:

ffn lln sst cct FL zzp

For Windows users, I recommend Texter. Mac users should try TextExpander. Both programs work basically the same way. After you install them, you create short words that, when you type them, will be replaced by the long version. The great thing about these programs is they work everywhere: they monitor what you're typing all the time, in any program you use, so they're always available when you need them.

I have mine set up with all my basic information: name, address, phone number, etc. The trick is to come up with a short version that you will remember, but you're not likely to type by accident. If you'll notice in the examples above, I always start with a double letter, and avoid vowels if I can. Of course, I don't use a short version for the state abbreviation, because it would probably end up being longer.

And this is just the beginning of what these programs can do. Try them for sweepstakes forms and you'll soon find other places where you tend to type the same things often. With a little practice there won't be any sweepstakes form you can't fly through!

Have you ever carefully sent off a postcard entry to arrive before the sweepstakes deadline -- only to find it back in your mailbox the very next day? Apparently the post office machinery can get confused if there's two addresses on a postcard. But if you're required to include your address info to enter a sweepstakes, how can you make sure your postcard arrives at its destination, instead of back at your home?

• According to my local postal worker, the trick is to put your return address at the top of the postcard -- or at least make sure it's higher than the "To" address. The machines read from the bottom of the card, and if they find your return address first, they'll route it back to you.


• Or you can try this method, suggested by SweepSheet:



Tilt the postcard 90 degrees and print your own entry information along that direction.


(See lots more postcard tips in SweepSheet's FAQs.)

Whichever method you try, be sure to mail your postcard entries a little extra early. That way if they're returned to you, you'll still have time to try again.

Good luck!

Birthdays. Everybody gets 'em. And most people over a certain age dread 'em. But for sweepers, they can really be a hassle. Not only do you have to remember that new age (which can be a little tricky for those whose "rememberers" don't work so well anymore) -- but you have to update it in your form filler. Another reason to dread birthdays!

Having just had my birthday, I figured now -- while I still remember -- would be a good time to write up the yearly steps to take to keep RoboForm updated. After all, nobody wants to be DQ'd cuz they forgot to update their age!

Update RoboForm

Since RoboForm stores "age" and "birthday" separately, you have to manually update the "age" field every year.

1. From the RoboForm dropdown, click Identities, then Edit.
2. Select the Identity you want to modify, then find the Person tab.
3. Change the value in the "Age" field to match your new age.

Update Your Passcards

This corrects your age for all forms you fill going forward. But but it's not as simple as that if you use RoboForm's Passcards. In that case, you'll need to fix any forms you saved that have your "old" age.

1. From the Roboform drop-down, click Logins, then Edit.
2. From the top menu, select Edit, then Search Files. (You could also use the F3 shortcut key.)
3. In the "Search For" field, put your old age (i.e., 30). Checkmark the boxes for "Match whole words only" and "In content." Click "Search."
4. Double-click each search result to bring it up in the Passcard Editor window. Change the age to your new age.

This still won't catch 'em all, unfortunately. Some forms use an age range (i.e., 18-35), which makes it a little tricker. My suggestion on those? From the RoboForm drop-down, click Logins, then Edit, to get to the Passcard Editor. Select the top listing on the left-hand side, then use your arrow to scroll down, one-by-one through the listings. On each listing, glance through the data stored on the right-hand side and look for anything that looks like an age range. This process actually goes fairly quickly -- it only took about 15-20 minutes for me to look through about 125 passcards.

Course, if all that sounds like a lot of trouble, you could just pay extra special attention the next time you enter sweeps. Check each form, then change & re-save any changed forms as you go along.

Birthdays can be a hassle... but hopefully if you follow these tips, you'll age easily (if not always gracefully). Here's wishing you all lots of luck -- on your birthday & every other day!

It's probably happened to every sweepstakes hobbyist. You hand-write a stack of entries, you address and stamp the envelopes, then you put the stack on the counter... planning to send one entry per day. You send one or two, but then the stack gets pushed aside. Before you know it, the sweepstakes is over & you're left with a stack of worthless entries. Don't ya hate that?!

Here's a good way to keep that from happening: Set up a tickler file.

Don't worry -- there's not actually any tickling involved. A tickler file is just a filing system used to remind yourself about things that need to be done on a certain day. And it works great for organizing mail-in sweepstakes entries.

Basically a tickler file consists of 43 file folders: 1 for each day of the month + 12 for each month of the year. To use it, you file your item (a completed sweepstakes entry, for example) on the day you're actually going to need it. When that day comes around, you take out the envelope & put it in the mail.

For example, if you're sending in 14 daily entries for a sweepstakes that ends in two weeks, you would send today's entry, then put an envelope in each of your next 13 daily folders. Each day when you process that day's folder, you'll see only the entry that needs to be dealt with that day. Take it out, put it in the mail. It's that easy.

It's just a bit more complicated over a longer time period. Let's say you want to send in 6 entries to a mail-in sweepstakes that ends in 6 weeks (Sept 18). You want to spread the entries out a bit to get the best odds -- so you'll send in 1 entry each week. You send one today (August 7), leaving 5 to spread out over the next few weeks.

• File 1 entry in the "14" folder. You'll send this on August 14th.


• File 1 entry in the "21" folder. You'll send this on August 21st.


• File 1 entry in the "28" folder. You'll send this on August 28th.


• File 1 entry in the "4" folder. You'll send this on September 4th.


• Since the "11" folder still refers to August 11th, you'll need to file the remaining entry in the "September" folder. You may want to write the appropriate date (11th) in pencil on the back, so you don't have to re-figure it later. When you do process the September folder (on September 1st), you can move this envelope to the "11" folder that will now refer to September.

Once you get the hang of it, you'll realize that tickler files are a great way to handle your mail-in sweepstakes entries (not to mention your bills & birthday cards!). All you have to do is check that folder daily. For more info on using Tickler Files, download the free PDF from David Allen's site, or read his excellent book, Getting Things Done.

If you like mail-in sweepstakes, you might be interested in the Sweeping America newsletter -- the weekly newsletter for people who are serious about winning "snail-mail" sweepstakes and contests. Sweeping America is one of the sponsors of our contest, which ends in just a few hours. Get your last-minute entries in now!

If you think RoboForm is just a form-filler like Google's AutoFill, then you probably haven't tried the Passcard feature. Here's how you can use RoboForm's Passcards to enter sweepstakes faster & easier.

[Full Disclosure: RoboForm is one of our sponsors for the SweepsGoat contest, and we also have an affiliate agreement with them. That said, I liked RoboForm Pro enough that I bought it myself (and paid regular price for it) -- and for me to buy software is saying something!]

• Step 1: Install & configure RoboForm. Create an Identity, filling in all the relevant info (name, address, phone, birthdate, etc). Since I'm primarily using RoboForm to enter sweeps, I play it safe & don't include credit card numbers, etc. in my Identity.
• Step 2: When you visit a sweepstakes, use that Identity to fill the sweepstakes form.

Note: This is all I thought RoboForm did at first. And if this is all you used RoboForm for, you'd probably still see an improvement over other form fillers -- more fields and better pattern recognition make for a lot faster sweeps entries. But we're just getting started!

• Step 3: Make any needed corrections to the sweepstakes form that RoboForm auto-filled. You know, check the box that says you've read the rules, un-check the subscription box, that sort of thing. Then, if it's a sweepstakes you'll be coming back to (dailies, weeklies, etc.), use RoboForm's "Save" button to save the form. This saves every field on that form to a "Passcard" that you can use when you enter that sweepstakes next time.
• Step 4: The next time you visit that sweepstakes, use RoboForm's saved Passcard to fill all the form fields. Since it saved all the changes you made to the form, you don't have to proofread it every time. Just hit submit to enter the sweepstakes.

It's that easy. You only have to study the form the first time. After that, you know everything's right, so you can just submit it. It makes entering sweepstakes a breeze!

Here's a couple of extra tricks:

• The AutoFill option is handy -- it'll automatically fill your forms with saved Passcard info as soon as you load the page. But I only enable AutoFill when I'm ready to enter sweeps. I disable it when I'm just browsing the internet to avoid accidentally filling out forms I don't mean to.

  By default, the controls to enable & disable autofill are a little hard to get to. If you want to switch that setting back & forth more easily, go into "RoboForm -> Options -> AutoFill" and select the "Show Enable/Disable AutoFill command in main menu" option. This adds an "Enable/Disable AutoFill" command to the RoboForm menu on your toolbar.
  



• When you have a form just like you like it, you can hold down "Alt" while clicking the submit button. This saves the form to a Passcard and submits your form.
  


• Depending on your machine, having too many Passcards may cause things to slow down. Keep your list of Passcards smaller by routinely clearing them out. The way I keep track of mine is to name the Passcard with the expiration date plus the sweepstakes name -- e.g., "081507 MalibuLights." At the end of the month, it's easy to go in, sort them by name, & delete all the outdated Passcards at the top. (Keep in mind, though, that you may not want to delete generic forms that are always the same -- for example, I use one generic Passcard to enter all the various Redbook sweepstakes.)

RoboForm's Passcards speed up sweepstakes entries significantly. Hopefully these tips will help you enter faster and win more. Good luck!

Try RoboForm free for 30 days by downloading it here. Or win your own license of RoboForm Pro in the SweepsGoat contest.

Want to win the SweepsGoat sweepstakes by adding new sweepstakes to the site -- but you don't know where to start..? Here are 10 good sources for finding new sweepstakes listings:

Online Sources

• Del.icio.us: See the sweepstakes others have bookmarked by searching del.icio.us. A few words to start with: sweepstakes, contest, instant win
  
• Google Alerts: Let Google email you when it finds new sweepstakes. Try setting up a Google Alert with the same words listed above -- or any others you can think of!


• Website Ads: Yeah, ads can be annoying. But companies are paying big advertising bucks to get you to click on their ads -- & oftentimes they offer something free (like a sweepstakes!) so you're more likely to click. Of course, you'll want to check out the site & make sure it doesn't seem spammy before you give them any info. (Actually, that advice applies no matter how you find a sweepstakes!)


• Blogs: Read blogs regularly? If so, be on the lookout for contests & sweeps on your favorite blogs. These usually offer smaller prizes, but they often have fewer entries & better odds.


• E-mail Lists: If you don't mind churning through extra emails every day, most companies will be happy to alert you whenever they have a new sweepstakes. It's usually as easy as checking an opt-in box on a sweepstakes form -- then they'll deliver the new sweepstakes info straight to your inbox.

Offline Sources

• Newspaper: You can usually find a few sweepstakes in the newspaper. Pay special attention to the coupons section and inserts like Parade.


• Magazines: Many magazines have whole pages listing this month's (or even this week's!) sweepstakes. It's also worth checking if the magazine's website has a contest page -- many do.


• Stores: Gas stations, grocery stores, and fast food restaurants often have signs and displays for their latest promotion.


• Product Packaging: While soft drinks and candy bars may not be good for your waistline, they could make you a winner. Double-check the packaging before you throw away (or recycle) it!


• TV Commercials: It could be worth your while to watch those commercials! If you're the TiVo type, you'll have to keep your eyes peeled while you fast forward through 'em.

Remember, now 'til August 7, you receive 2 entries into SweepsGoat's "Sweepin' Up A Storm" sweepstakes for each new sweepstakes you submit to the site (up to 10 entries per day). Prizes include RoboForm Pro licenses, a Sweeping America subscription, an Amazon Gift Certificate, and more -- so start adding sweeps now to win!