Not only are these “winning” ideas…but they’re literally “winning ideas”.

Over the past year, I’ve gotten all sorts of freebies online…everything from a Troxel riding helmet, a dozen roses from California Blooms, Amazon gift cards (courtesy of Swagbucks) and most recently, a Nexus One from Issuu and an iPad from Tweetshare (yeah, I thought those last two were pretty awesome myself). All of this free stuff just makes my friends and family shake their heads in awe and ask me, “How’d you win that?” I just shrug my shoulders and tell them I’m always online. It’s really not that hard for me to participate in a lot of contests on a regular basis.

Okay, in all honesty, I have no special secret to winning. I just happen to be in the right place at the right time, I guess. But if you want to know how you can increase your chances, I certainly can offer a few tips.

Tip 1:

When you see a contest, check first to see if it’s from a reputable company or brand name. The last thing you want to do is to get caught up in a scam (bleh!).  If everything checks out, feel free to proceed!

Tip 2:

Read the rules over carefully. Make sure you complete every step…there would be nothing more disappointing than winning a contest only to later find out you were disqualified for not completing a step.

Tip 3:

Enter every contest you see. If someone’s tweeting about a contest that I find to be reputable, I enter it. Why do you think I win so much? HINT: It really helps to have a Facebook and Twitter account. Often times, contests will require that you follow and plug them on both social media platforms…at least.

Tip 4:

As an afterthought of Tip 3, be sure you’re active on your social media accounts. This will increase your chances of finding new contests to enter, and you’ll be able to hear who the winner is. Most contests require that you respond to your prize within a certain time period, and if you don’t see the announcement for the winner, you could miss out!

Other than those four ideas, just spend some time online every day if you can. Don’t follow people on Twitter that are just blowing off air and have no specific purpose for being online…those are pointless won’t get you anywhere (no offense if those people are your personal friends, but maybe they need a little help to get them on the right track ). By the way, if you’re not following me on Twitter yet, you should.

Recently, I contacted the SwagBucks team and asked about the possibility of adding Bit & Bridle to their SwagStore. For those of you who haven’t heard of SwagBucks before, it is a search and win site that works much like Google only with rewards. SwagBucks was more than happy to assist with my request and the magazine is now available for “purchase” with a minimal amount of SBs.

To view Bit & Bridle in the SwagStore, click the link below. To sign up for an account, click here (please note that this a referral link and only counts if you do not leave the page it immediately takes you to; if you click away, please come back here to be directed back to my referral link).

If you would like to purchase a one year subscription to Bit & Bridle in the meantime, please visit www.bitandbridlemag.com.

If you like to win FREE prizes, go on over to the Bit & Bridle Facebook page for a chance to win a FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION!

To enter, all you need to do is COMMENT on the newest post (on Facebook, not here) and your name will automatically be entered in the drawing!

Bit & Bridle Magazine

Want to earn a Star Wars collectible item, an acoustic guitar, or maybe even an iPhone?!?! Then sign up to win SWAGBUCKS. The catch? You just need to use SwagBucks as your new search engine! It’s that simple! Just sign up by clicking the banner below and watch the “cash” flow in.