Green's Help and Hint's thread for new sweepers!!

[amyshulk]

Amy..I think you are looking for screencapture of a winning screen after winning an instant?

1. have the screen up and showing on the computer.
2. click your "PrtScrn" button (on a desktop it will be above the number pad, on a lap top near the end of the F keys)
3. open a paint program (windows paint comes with every windows program and can be found by clicking the start button, then click on "all programs", scroll to "accessories", and then scroll down to "Paint and click)
4. once your paint program is open, right click on the blank screen and scroll down to "Paste", click
5. then click on "file" and "save as" and save your captured picture what ever name you want to name it (I usually name mine the name of the win...example if I won a Nestles crunch bar and screencaptured the win, I would name it "Nestleswin.jpg) MAKE sure you have saved it someplace you can find it again such as in the My Pictures folder!!! or email it to yourself by using the instructions given by Penny in the above post!
6. go to www.imageshack.com
7. click on the "browse" button and go to where you saved your screenshot, once you have found your picture, click on it and then click the OK button.
now click the "Host it!" button and wait
8. once the picture has uploaded at imageshack, it will open a new page, and look for the line of HTML coding that at the end of the line says [Forums (1)] behind the coding. Now copy the entire line of coding
9. come here to the forums, go to the winners circle, start a thread talking about your win, and paste that entire line of HTML coding into your message box..and suddenly that [http://www.imageshack.com] coding will look like this (this is an old win btw);  :D

P.s. I used the line that says "Thumbnail for forums (1)" behind it, so it will be a small picture, but if you click on the small picture, it will open up to fullsize in a new window!

Yep GT, that's exactly what I was looking for, thanks!!!  8)

But... when I get to:

4. once your paint program is open, right click on the blank screen and scroll down to "Paste", click

I can't get a menu with R clicking either my winning page or paint???  

I KNOW I did this before, so my lack of comprehension really ticks me off!!!  :twisted:

I want to save my Superman returns win page - it's in FF, maybe that's why it doesn't work?

Belay my last - Bobby helped me!!!

I used http://www.imageshack.us/ instead  8)

[greensthings]

sponsors having a hard time giving things away
http://promomagazine.com/contests/marketing_cant_give_stuff/index.html

A consumer takes the time and effort to enter a sweepstakes, is selected at random from among thousands of entrants, is informed that he is a winner, then either refuses the prize or fails to fill out the rudimentary paperwork necessary to claim it. In several recent cases, it has become a mad scramble to meet post-promotion deadlines for filing winners' lists in New York and Florida because, after numerous drawings and prize refusals, we have yet to find a consumer who will accept the grand prize.

What's going on here? I've recently interviewed consumers who have refused a sweepstakes prize or failed to respond to prize notification letters. As a result of these interviews, I've developed the following theories:

It's a Generation Thing: In a recent sweepstakes targeting young adults, we selected 20 potential winners of a $250 online sporting goods gift certificate, notified them by phone and e-mail, then sent prize acceptance affidavits to their confirmed home address — complete with a return air bill already filled out. The timing couldn't have been better, since the prizes were to be awarded before the holidays.

But five of the 20 didn't return their paperwork, despite follow-up phone calls and e-mails. When we selected five new winners, one didn't return the document. So it took 26 selections to find 20 consumers willing to accept the prize. One of the original “winners” explained, “I didn't want to go through the hassle of signing the paperwork and getting it notarized. It didn't seem worth it, man.”

It's the Taxes, Stupid: When the grand prize of a deluxe trip for four to Las Vegas was not claimed in a recent on-pack game, it was to be awarded in a second-chance drawing — the historical domain of the sweepstakes hobbyist. Since the Las Vegas trip was the only prize scheduled to be awarded in this drawing, one would assume that any consumer who entered would leap at the prize. We conducted five separate drawings over 70 days before finding a consumer who would agree to accept it. The first four all refused, citing the fact that state and federal taxes on the prize made it undesirable. “I tried to get three buddies to pay me the amount of the taxes I'd incur in exchange for joining me on the trip,” one winner informed me, “but they all told me to go jump in a lake.” Indeed.

It's Online Overload: The proliferation of online sweepstakes has expanded the base of sweepstakes entrants and hobbyists. After all, pointing and clicking into a sweeps is much easier than filling out entry forms, 3" × 5" cards, and envelopes — and there's no postage involved.

In one sweeps that offered a collection of toys and a U.S. Savings Bond, only seven of 10 winners selected in the first random drawing accepted the prize. “I don't have any kids, so I don't need toys,” replied one entrant. What about the bond? “It takes too long to mature.” Another admitted, “I don't even remember this sweepstakes. I enter 200 a month. I wait to see what prizes I've won, then decide which ones I really want.” Ugh.

This phenomenon is not limited to sweepstakes. We are administering an in-pack instant-win game offering more than 125,000 prizes. With the game drawing to a close, we have just reached a one-percent redemption rate.

But how do you increase the level of prize redemption and quality of entrants? Here are some ideas:

Offer cash alternatives: Although this is not always economical (since many prizes are provided “in trade” by promotion partners or are sourced from the client's own inventory), offering the retail value of the prize in cash — particularly when its value exceeds the minimum federal tax reporting threshold — will often result in happier winners and reduced fulfillment costs.

Swim in your own pool: When formulating your prize pool, ask yourself this question: If I were a member of the target audience, would I consider this a “must-have” prize, or would I be hesitant to waste a 34-cent stamp to claim it? When is comes to on-pack or in-pack games, it is no coincidence that high-end or “cool” prizes are redeemed at a much higher rate than low-end prizes. Sometimes, “more” doesn't translate into “better.” The perceived benefit of loading up a prize pool with low-end prizes is often outweighed by higher surety bond costs and the additional expense associated with shipping unclaimed prizes back from the fulfillment warehouse.

Increase interaction: Online sweeps entries tend to skew toward the growing number of hobbyists. This is not to say that these folks aren't desirable targets. They are, after all, consumers. However, if your goal is to create true interaction with your site, there are many targeted, effective means of creating the intended result.

[greensthings]

Sweepers that commit fraud
http://www.icgroupinc.com/company-information/news/2006/2006-05-06-CrackDown.html

Every promotion is vulnerable to fraud. Marketers have come to expect it. Agencies administering them have learned to establish layers of protection to prevent it. Still fraud continues to creep through the cracks.

Who can forget McDonald's famed Monopoly fraud when a Simon Marketing employee fixed winning prizes and swindled more than $13 million, sending shockwaves through the industry. The covert operation to hijack the big-prize winnings became the poster child for companies who engage in contests, games and sweeps.

Fraudsters are sneaky and swiftly change tactics if one is discovered.

In some instances, scam artists download programs that create hundreds of e-mail addresses with slight variations, which then automatically submit entries multiple times to online sweeps, says Joseph Lewczak, partner in advertising/marketing promotions at Davis & Gilbert LLP, New York City.

Also targets: promotions that allow consumers to vote online for their favorite entrant. Consumers use these contests to submit entries then repeatedly vote for themselves. To combat the problem organizers have resorted to placing cookies (a virtual fingerprint) on participants' computers to prohibit multiple votes that skew the results, Lewczak says.

Many organizations are surprised when 10,000 entries arrive but only 1,000 or 100 are unique, says Duncan McCready, executive-VP IC Group LP, Toronto. To remedy the problem online, some marketers have implemented CAPTCHA (for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart), a technology that distorts letters on the Web. Consumers have to interpret and enter what they see before completing an online submission; this bars computers from automatically creating entries. The method has helped weed out illegitimate entries, McCready says.

“It used to be that once in a blue moon someone would come in and check an agency's system, now it's a regular thing,” says Bruce Hollander, executive-VP, Don Jagoda Associates Inc., Melville, NY.

[greensthings]

sweeps that are too complicated, Arbys takes a slamming....
http://prblog.typepad.com/strategic_public_relation/2006/08/arbys_needs_a_c.html

http://www.marketingshift.com/2006/8/arbys-online-marketing-store-contests.cfm

After I ordered 4 meals at full price I see that they're having a contest of some sort. They've attached pull off tickets on every super duper large cup and you peel the tickets off in order to see if you won... or so you think!

What actually ends up happening after you pull the ticket off of the cup is you realize they're asking you to enter your code online to see if you won!!!

Are you kidding me? This has to be a joke right! Of course, at this point I'm pretty ticked off and that's why I'm getting upset (aka losing objectivity) because the truth of the matter is that this kind of marketing happens all the time. It's just like the mail-in rebates that I let lure me into Circuit City or Best Buy, only to lose a week later. Businesses are based on the people that don't follow through with mailing stuff in or with going online to enter their code and see if they won a free song from Yahoo! Music.

But Wait There's More
At this point I knew it was only going to get worse but I had also already decided I was going to rant about Arbys deceitful marketing on my blog anyway... Yes I did it, I went online and tried to enter my contest codes.

Then I realized they required me to register, just to enter a coupon code for a lousy song on Yahoo. But again, at this point I'm in it for market research cause I knew it was going to get ugly. So I registered using a fake name, my brother's cell phone, and my real zip code.

First You Register, Then They Collect Your DNA
Well they don't collect your dna but you can't log into Arbys.com and enter your contest codes until you fill out a survey regarding the frequency of your visits to fast food restaurants and your favorite delicasy on Arby's menu. No, I'm not kidding, they actually get you to fill out a survey, just for the chance to win a prize that's worth $1. Does anybody actually do this stuff?

But Wait, It Gets Even Better
Of course I didn't read the official contest rules because there was no need to do that. I mean, why would I need to read a 10 page document that tells me about how they're going to require a ton of data from me and that I would win nothing for prividing this valuable market research?!

So I finally enter the code off of my cup (remember I had two contest codes to enter because Shannon had a drink too) and it tells me I've won but that they'd email the details to me...

Ha ha ha, of course they're doing this to validate my email address (helps thwart spam attempts and gives them the ability to double-opt you into their email address without you realizing it. Of course it also ensures you put a valid email address in your registration form... Thank goodness for GMail ;)

So after it tells me I won I decided to enter the second contest code. Then I was informed that I am only eligible to enter a single coupon code in any given day. What kind of sense does that make? I mean, that's like saying I'm only allowed to purchase one meal from them per day. At this point I'm feeling that their contest and entire marketing plan was even more ruthless and one-sided than any company I've ever purchased something from previously.

Final Thoughts - Arbys Boycott
Honestly, I'm not going to redeem the first song I won, nor will I enter the code for the second cup.

[greensthings]

Rule of thumb, any email that says you *won or you won a *free whatever...
that little asterisk * means it is a fraud email!
Do Not Fall For it!

[celticbikerbabe]

This has been a facinating thread to read, particularly the stories of sweepers gone wild! Thanks for posting such great stuff!

[flutesong]

Green, I can't find the upload button on my image.      What am I missing?

[flutesong]

   whoops, that should have been "host it".  Do I need to register for this? 

[greensthings]

As you can see from the photo capture of the imageshack website, in the top right hand corner I am not logged in.
The "Host it" button is at the bottom (just under the purple "Hot jobs" mini banner).
if you are not seeing it when you open the page, it could be the site is running slow and you just need to wait a few more minutes, or refresh the page.

Remember;
1. You do not need to sign up to upload a photo
2. you do not need to enter your email address
3. you must select a picture first with the "browse" button (it will open up a pop up box, were you can browse through your own computer to find the picture you have saved on your computer that you want to upload to the website)
4. when you get to the new page it takes you to, after clicking the "host it" button, make sure you copy the line with "Hotlink for forums (1)" after it
5. paste that line into your reply box here at SA.

[flutesong]

   Arg!  I feel like a dolt!  I've figured out the avatar thing with imageshack, but where is my reply box? thanks

[greensthings]

  Arg!  I feel like a dolt!  I've figured out the avatar thing with imageshack, but where is my reply box? thanks

your reply box is the box where you typed out that ^ question (right before you posted it)
it looks like this

[greensthings]

After you paste the entire line of coding (remember it is the line with "Hotlink for forums (1)" after it)
It will look like this

after you click the "post" button it will magically transform that code to look like this

[destynez]

 
THANKS SO MUCH!!! BLESS YOU FOR UR HELP...

[destynez]

 
Thanks again, i got allot of info and the horror stories on the wins, well LOL hope everyone has read it and repects that it is a win is a win who can complain about that??? God Bless You, u did a great job on this post.. kristie 

[greensthings]

You are most welcome!