If you want to win, start with an advantage. You must know the
basics!
Ceaseless as the surge of the sea, wave after wave of prize
contests sweeps across the nation, engulfing millions in the
constant struggle to win wealth and fame at a single stroke.
By television, radio, newspaper and magazine come the
startling announcements of ever-growing awards by the contest
sponsor. Fortunes that would mean retirement, life time
annuities, trips around the world and an innumerable host of
lesser prizes are the targets at which the millions aim.
And with the flood of announcements comes a universal plea
from the vast majority of participants: “Where can we get help
to assist us in winning?”
Contesting has grown into a national pastime, and with its
growth the suspicion that the so-called contest experts have
the inside tract to wining and that the amateur or beginner
is hopelessly outclassed. And to a certain extent it is true.
The records of contesting are full of stories about men and
women who have accumulated fortunes, not through one big
winning, but from successive contests. There are women who
have furnished their homes and built up their bank accounts
through contest checks. There are men who abandoned their
former means of earning a livelihood to devote all their
time to contesting, which they found more profitable. In
nearly every contest of considerable size, it is a certainty
that the entries from these “repeaters” will be included.
Their skill, accumulated by years of contesting, adds to the
odds which the average person encounters when entering a
contest. But the task is by no means hopeless. For the law
of averages, unswerving and unbiased, proves that the vast
majority of prizes won every year go to the so-called beginners
in contesting. All men were created equal, but nature put an
individual set of brains in all our heads. and that means
that anyone, at any time, is likely to get the idea that
means prize winning checks.
The prize winning idea may come at a most unexpected moment;
again, it may be the result of painstaking effort and research.
In either case, the prossessor is just as apt to be the
beginner as the veteran. The first entry seldom brings a prize.
Failure to win must not bring despondency and a shrug of the
shoulders attitude. Instead, it must serve as a stimulus to
greater effort. Ingenuity seems to grow with practice. The
law of averages stays the same and if ingenuity shows an
improvement then the chances of winning become much greater.
Without ingenuity the entire case becomes hopeless, because
the casual entry, without any special preparation or serious
thought, is usually a waste of time and postage.
There are many things which might be listed as among the
requirements of a contest entry, but because the types of
contests are so numerous it could be impossible to give one
word that would be descriptive of the entire lot. So the
contestant himself must decide when he enters the contest
just what the nature of his entry should be.
The first lesson in contesting might fittingly be described
in these words: “Are you entirely positive that you understand
the rules?” The slightest doubt should be erased before actual
work on the entry is started, provided of course, that a brilliant
idea hasn’t struck simultaneously with hearing or reading the
contest announcement.
The records of prize contesting show that a terrific percentage
of entries in every contest is ruled out because of failure to
comply with the rules. The percentage in some contests is so
great that the average contestant would be amazed if he learned
the true figures. Strict adherence to the rules, no matter how
simple the contest may be, is the first lesson which every prize
contestant must learn. The prizes cannot be awarded to entries
which do not conform to the rules and nobody knows how many
excellent entries have been cast aside simply because of some
infraction that made it impossible for the judges to consider
its merits.
Next in importance might be ranked some of the tools, which
every profession and trade requires. There are hundreds of
persons who follow contesting with all the determination a
profession or trade requires and that is the most certain road
to success in this fascinating “profession.” Hit or miss
methods are not conductive to repeated winnings. Careful
methods, sometimes brain-testing determination and constant
alertness for progress are all required.
the contestant must have a good dictionary, and a thesaurus
and also to be recommended are good publications on the subject.
I do not hesitate to recommend subscriptions to some of the
outstanding magazines in the field, which can be procured
at newsstands. These magazines are filled with hints and
suggestions and they change from time to time, for the
contest picture is like a kaleidoscope – constantly
changing. Also, a number of good books on the subject can be
found at your local library.
Likewise, a file which contains as much information about
contesting as can be procured should be started at once and
kept up with unfailing devotion. Here should be kept records,
copies of all entries, winning entries from every contest
where procurable, and similar data. The contestant who wants
to enter seriously into the field must be on the alert constantly
with paper and pencil to jot down anything that might have a
bearing on any angle, from bright and unusual sayings to
unexpected comments of friends and associates. These must all
be filed away in the proper place where they are instantly
available.
It might also be said that if a person is determined to become
a contestant he can have no other hobby because this one will
require his entire spare time – and there are thousands who
devote their full time to it. This thought should serve the
purpose of showing the importance of careful consideration
of every angle in contesting. the slightest detail must be
considered as important if success is to be achieved. Casual
methods do not succeed. Thoroughness is the mother of winning
entries.
Another angle which should be touched upon is the often
repeated doubt over the honesty of contests and the judges.
Any person can rest assured that a contest by television or
radio, or scanned in the daily newspapers and reputable
magazines will be fairly conducted, without bias or prejudice.
The powerful weight of Uncle Sam’s authority alone is enough
to protect against frauds, but equally as great is the value
the sponsor places upon good will. There is absolutely no basis
for the often repeated statements that contests are not conducted
fairly, and most generally these comments come from disgruntled
contestants who didn’t win anything.
The true contestant does not spurn a contest because the prizes
are comparatively small. On the contrary, for these smaller
contests hold the power of revealing just where the contestant’s
strength lies. There is just as much of a thrill in winning
small contests as there is in many of the larger ones. And if
the technique of winning can be developed, these smaller
contests prove a profitable source of investment in the matter
of time.
Because many of these smaller contests are conducted locally
the winning entries usually are announced. Comparison can then
be made and the reason determined why somebody’s offering won.
In virtually every instance where this happens the contestant
who lost will admit, if he is fair, that the better entry won.
So it’s always easy to profit from our defeats in the struggle
for prize contests.
And because it’s a local contest, or a small-prize contest,
the contestant must not assume that slip-shod methods will win.
The same painstaking care for ingenuity, brevity, force and
vitality that is desired in the larger contests must be present
here. The contestant can have this proven for his own
satisfaction after several unsuccessful entries are submitted.
In many ways contesting can be compared with running a race or
any other kind of physical or mental contest. An athlete must
keep in shape if he wants to compete at his best. A bowler,
baseball player or football star must keep in practice if he
isn’t going to slip before his time. and in contesting you
likewise must practice and keep in shape, but happily there
is no set time in life when retirement is forced upon you.
You can start early in life and keep at it until the end.
The author is reminded of the manner in which a close friend,
who since has won consistently in contests of many types,
was started in the field of contesting. His wife was handed,
about 10 years ago, an entry blank for a contest sponsored
by a nationally known maker of detergent. The prizes were
a number of items valued at from $100 to $5,000. The contest
consisted of writing an entry blank furnished by the sponsor,
a brief statement indicating the part the wife plays in the
management of the home.
This friend happened to be employed by a newspaper and was
regarded as a writer of considerable skill. When his wife
handed him the entry blank and suggested that he write the
brief essay he immediately started for his portable type-
writer and dashed out what he considered a fitting entry.
Then he prepared to copy his effort on the entry blank
when his wife intervened.
She explained that she had heard how more experienced
contest winners prepared and submitted entries to various
contests. She suggested that he take more time with the
entry, consider the situation from all angles and then put
the result of hard concentration and thought on paper and
perhaps revise and condense until it was considered perfect.
The newspaperman thought the suggestion over and complied.
In fact, it was several days later before he believed he
had the necessary thoughts in the proper sequence. The
entry was posted and it wasn’t long before his wife was
awarded a prize of considerable value. This started the
contest mania in that home.
Just a few days later the newspaperman noticed a local
contest in which a large beverage company offered as a prize
a year’s supply of their product for a brief letter stating
why the writer liked their product. Again he concentrated,
made actual test with the product in comparison with others
and was one of the winners.
Since that time he has won scores of contest prizes. He is
regarded as one of the authorities on contesting in the city
where he resides. But his methods have changed greatly since
that day when he started to dash off a statement with hardly
any thought and without any preparation.
Today his den is a store of contest information. He subscribes
to contest services, contest magazines and is constantly filing
clipped contest information, advertisements, copies of winning
entries, and much similar data. The time he has spent in
accumulating the information has brought dividends of great
value.
CONTESTANT’S READY RECKONER – Taken from many national contests.
Average percentage of entries disqualified for
violation of rules – 30%
Average number obviously too inferior for
final consideration – 37%
Average percentage received after closing date – 3%
Average number of replies bearing no name or address – 1%
Average number disqualified for illegible handwriting – 4%
AVERAGE NUMBER ACTUALLY PRESENTED TO JUDGES AFTER
PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION ONLY – 24%
Before you seal the envelope, be sure that you haven’t made any
of the mistakes listed in the table above. One final check
should always be made before the envelope bearing the results
of many hours of labor is sent away on its way to the contest
judges, bearing the hopes of the contestant under its flap.
And be sure that your entry has the right label, boxtop or
similar requirement firmly attached or neatly enclosed. Although
the announcement always includes “or a facsimile.” It’s better
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