Why would you enter a contest if you don't really really want the item being given away? Well here are a few things you might want to consider when saying yeah or nay to an entry.

 Everyone likes to be a winner.  It’s a feel good thing.  Something free is always welcome.  Other people want to hear about it, you can brag about it and so can your family.  It can boost your spirits, and even give you the encouragement to enter another one, perhaps for something you really do want!

 Isn’t it great to win something you know you wouldn’t buy for yourself.  Those pamper me items, those what-nots that are neat but not a necessity, those extras that you’d never budget for?  I love those and that feel-good feeling extends not only when I receive the item, but when I use it!  But what if it might be valued or great to someone, but not you?  THAT sounds like the perfect gift.  Take your winnings and turn that into a great personal gift for someone on your list who would really love it.  You save money and they get something they would really like.  Don’t have someone like that on your gift list?  Gain some great tax deduction by donating it to a charity.  Watch for charity events that could use the item as a silent auction to raise money.  You can deduct the monetary value of the gift as a donation.  Now you have a reason to enter in contests for anything and everything.

Contests often involve the launch of new products, so if you win one of these, you get the first opportunity to really test the results at no cost to you!  Ever try that new countertop cleaner and discover it isn’t near as good as what you were using?  Now you could do that for free!   Companies will sponsor these giveaways to promote a new product.  They hope you will get the product, like it, and talk about it with your friends.  This is the best “free advertising” they can get; from 1 contest winner, they could reach 5 to 9 people, on average. And that's true for verbal announcements: email or social networking announcements can be many many more.

What does entering a contest do for your blog? Well, gives you a cool, hot topic to write about that is a positive thing for your readers. Telling your readers how they can earn something free, even if it’s offered by someone else, keeps readers loyal. Plus, you can let the contest site know about your blog post; many will return the favor by:

a) blogging about your site

b) agreeing to guest blog a post on your site

c) creating reciprocal links between your site and theirs or finally

d) running a future contest involving your site/product directly.

You can totally control the time you spend working on contest. No, you don’t have to do this full time, like the ladies in The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. You can do this only on your lunch hour if you work, just in the morning before the kids get up for school, or only on evenings when your family is home. Yes, you can pick and chose, but I’ve given you pretty good reasons not to leave out too many. It’s a great way to get your name out there, on the internet and get to learn how these work, which can be great if you ever think or already want to host a contest yourself, sometime in the future.