I have listed a few of tips and tools I use every day and why I think they are important to successful and secure sweepstaking.

Most Important Tip: Be careful what information you give out:
A sweepstakes entry form should never ask for more than your: Name, Address, Age, and Phone Number. Occasionally you may have to fill in other information pertinent to that particular sweepstakes, but never give out any information that might pertain to personal accounts or financial information and unless a purchase is required never give your credit card information. I do my best to try to list only “safe” sweepstakes but I am not perfect. So always be careful.

Most Important Tool: Sweepstakes Only Email Account:
You must have a unique email address just for entering Sweepstakes. Often part of the results of entering a Sweepstakes is that you agree to receive marketing emails. Because you will often receive a large number of emails it is much better to have an account dedicated to your sweepstakes entries. I actually create a new account for every month of the year so I can track how much email I get from any entered sweepstakes.

Sweepstakes Only Password(s):
Some sweepstakes require you to sign-up for an account. Along with your unique email account you should always use a unique password. Never use the same password(s) you use for personal accounts. Keep everything unique to entering sweepstakes.

A Sweepstakes only phone number:
A number of sweepstakes entries require a personal phone number to receive a valid entry and/or to be notified of your winning. Their are a number of different online phone services that will give you a local phone number that you can use just for voice mail. You will then receive an email notification when you receive a voice mail. If you are like me, I only have a cell phone, you do not want to be giving my number out to every one.

Get FireFox Web Browser:
This is perhaps one of the best tools for sweepstaking. Along with providing a much safer Internet browser it has one of the best auto fill solutions. Since most sweepstakes are voided if you use an auto fill robot, Firefox provides a great safe alternative. Firefox also works great with both Winzy.com and Blingo.com, you can add both into the search window so that you always perform your searches with an Instant Win solution.