We all can fall into a sweepstakes slump. I'm just coming out of one after putting all my energy into school and work. Now that school is over, I'm ready to start sweeping again. I've found a few helpful tips to get back into the swing of things.

Newsletters

I subscribe to a couple of print sweepstakes newsletters—Best Sweepstakes and SweepSheet—which I've been neglecting over the last few months. But they arrive like clockwork and have been an easy way to start sweeping again.

Online Sweepstakes Directories

Sweepstakes Advantage, OnlineSweepstakes.com, Infinite Sweepstakes and Contest Hound are good sweepstakes directories with sweeps organized by type and end date.

Going Back to Where You Left Off

Where was the last place you were entering sweeps before you got into your slump? Did you spend a lot of time in one particular forum and make friends there? That's a great place to get the latest contest news and tips.

Everyday Tech

Do you use your cell phone every day or an iPod? You can quickly enter text sweeps with your phone, and there are sweepstakes apps for the iPod. If you spend a lot of time on social networking sites, then check out the opportunities to win. Companies use Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter sweepstakes promotions to spread the word about their products.

Getting Inspiration

Still in a sweeps rut? Why not get inspiration from others? There are some fun memoirs by lottery and sweepstakes winners and fiction too.

• Bubba Jones: Lottery Winner: The description for this book doesn't say whether it's based on a true story, but it would heartening if it was. Bubba Jones is a humble, God-fearing family man. Will a lottery win change him completely? This story shows you that acquiring money doesn't always mean loss of values.


• Manifest Your Millions: A lottery winner shares his Law of Attraction secrets: Eddie Coronado claims to have put the Law of Attraction to use with his lottery win.


• We Won the Lottery - Real Life Winner Stories: A group of UK National Lottery winners share their stories and their purchases including everything from holidays for cancer patients to a boob job for a sister. Talk about making dreams come true!

If you think a lottery win could never happen to you, these books remind you of the old adage, "If you don't enter, you can't win."

Welcome back to your sweepstakes hobby. Have fun and good luck!