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Some of the seasoned sweepers will remember when every sweepstakes was a write-in sweep.  To enter, you would need to handwrite your contact information on a 3×5 paper and mail it in a regulation sized envelope to the sponsor.  If you could afford the postage, you could usually send in as many entries as you wanted.  There's an old Val Kilmer movie called “Real Genius” where Laszlo fills out a ton of entries and wins more than 30% of the prizes available in a Frito-Lays sweep.

Obviously, times have changed.  Now that we have the internet, it is both easier and less expensive to enter sweepstakes.  That part is good.  On the downside, there are more sweepers than ever, and sponsors have tightened up rules so that in most cases, there is a limit to the number of times you can win prizes from the same sweep.

Blog sweeps are a relative newcomer to the world of sweepstakes.  Bloggers love the opportunity to work with sponsors and offer prizes, but not all sweepers love blogs back.  If you haven't visited a blog sweep in a while, I would invite you to take a second look.  The prizes available cover a large spectrum.  A lot of the “mommy blogs” offer onesies, baby toys, diapers and toddler gear.  Great for parents of young'uns, but not a match for the rest of us, these sweeps only account for a fraction of blog sweeps.  Keep looking.  Blog prizes keep getting more impressive.  You can find blog giveaways for electronics, gift cards, sports equipment, cosmetics and all sorts of interesting items. 

While the blog prizes are not always as impressive as the big sponsor sweepstakes prizes, the odds of winning a blog sweep are much better.  Many of the entry forms ask you to post a comment or visit a sponsor site and comment on one of their items.  A minute of window shopping and a sentence to reply is a small price to pay for a decent prize.  Many of your fellow sweepers won't bother to enter, so your chance of winning a blog sweepstakes is actually much higher.