1. ALWAYS ON THE LOOK OUT
You have to be alert and always on the look out of on-going contests around. There are so many contests out there, usually held by big sponsors to promote their products, etc. You can find all types of contests such as online contest and sweepstakes, slogan, essay writing, signature, designs, rank and count and so on. You can find all these contests information and the forms in the internet, newspaper, magazines, mailing group, radio, TV, your local supermarket or grocery stores and so on.
2. KEEP JOURNALS AND SCRAPBOOKS
Always make it a habit to keep your thoughts, interesting words and phrases in a journal. This will keep your ideas flowing and help you create creative slogans or beautiful essays later. You can also keep a scrapbook to put interesting pictures, designs or patterns that you find in the newspaper, magazines, etc. This will give you some ideas when you need to design creative signature and so on.
3. DO WHAT YOU LIKE AND WHAT YOU ARE GOOD AT
You have to find out which type of contest you prefer and also good at. For instance, some people are good at designing rather than writing, so contests related to creative signature or design would be most appropriate for this group of people. Find out your forte and keep on practicing.
4. IMPROVE AND BE CREATIVE
You have to keep entries of your contest submission and keep your creations, be it slogans, designs, etc. This is important so as not to waste time whenever you enter another contest at a later stage because you can use some of the phrases you have created earlier and improvise the phrases to create slogans which are more interesting and powerful to become a winning entry.
5. GO FOR BIGGER CHANCES OF WINNING
You have to be tactful in order to win. Go for the contests which you think you have bigger chances of winning. For instance, you could concentrate less on the "free-joining-entry" kind of contests because this type of contests usually attract more people and difficult to win.
6. READ THE RULES AND TERMS AND FOLLOW THEM
You have to read the rules and terms of the contests and follow the instruction carefully. Be alert on the duration of the contest especially the deadline.
7. DON'T BE AFRAID TO SPEND A LITTLE
Don't be afraid to spend a little of your money and time to join contests. Usually some contests (not all) require you to attach proof of purchase of their products in the contest form which means you have to buy the products in order to join the contest. You have to take calculated risk in this kind of contest and treat it as an investment.
8. ENTER AS MANY AND AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN
The idea here is for you to have bigger chances of winning. The more you enter the higher probability that you can win the contest.
9. SHARE WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS
Join the contests and share creative ideas, money and time with your friends and family. You can safe a lot of resources by sharing things together. Besides, some contests only allow one entry per person. So you can put your friend's or family member's names to send additional entries in order to increase chances of winning. Please make sure that you inform them and get their approval first before using their names for the contests.
10. DON'T GIVE UP
Some people give up trying after they lose the first time. Keep on trying as you will get better with lots and lots of practice. With time, you will also learn the tricks and trades of competition as one contest might be different from the other. Lastly, don't give up trying and have fun in whatever you do.
