Yahoo Finance reports that a Canadian woman, who recommends not spending more than an hour or two a day entering sweepstakes, has won over $250,000 in prizes in sweepstakes. She has been winning prizes for at least 34 years, and has authored two books about how to win sweepstakes.
3 Questions That Arise From This Story
1. Is gambling that you will be lucky really better than working? We’ve done the math, and if a person spent two hours a day over 34 years entering sweepstakes, she would have spent 24,820 hours. Which, if they won $250,000 in prizes works out to about $10 an hour. Or less than minimum wage across Canada. In fairness, the article indicates she has only recently upped her sweepstakes entry, but we suspect “You could win less than minimum wage entering contests!” would be a less exciting headline or book title.
2. Hey, if you tell everyone that the best way to win sweepstakes is to enter sweepstakes, doesn’t that mean people will win less often. Of course! You’re welcome for the free advice, potential sweepers.
3. Hey, if only a small group of people actually enter sweepstakes, doesn’t that mean they are a waste of marketing money? You’re welcome, too, marketers. You can dream about the free trip you just gave away to the Santorini Islands to someone who is too busy entering sweepstakes each day to buy or use your product.
