Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Good-Bye Contest Junkie!

All good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, the end is here now.

Good bye Contest Junkie. I'll be officially leaving the team with effect from 7th February 2012. Cee Jay (after taking her long break) has decided that she will not be coming back to the blog, and I won't be taking over the blog from her. Contest Junkie will then turn into a huge archive for contests with nearly 3000 contest!.

Why? Partially it's because of the lousy contests (which I'll touch on later), and the behavior (cheating, hacking, unsporting, selfish, greedy) of participants, and I find that I'm putting in too much effort for the ever decreasing payout each month from the blog. I suppose the tide has changed and a contest blog is no longer as profitable as compared to the past. Facebook is an easy to use, amazing traffic and (quite) cheap advertising platform for companies to promote their contest. And there are many companies out there that provide apps to create a custom contest page for their facebook page, and that eliminates the need to host their contest on blogs like this one. On average, I take about $50 or less a month, and that relates to $0.80 per hour, if I work 2 hours per day. If it wasn't passion and the support from readers, I would have thrown in the towel months ago. Of course, we can also choose a pay to view model, but how many people are willing to pay just $1 a month to see 30 to 50 contest a month? Not many. So that makes the model not profitable as well.

My next point is about all the cheating and all the lousy contests that is going on. I'll touch about the cheating part first. Since over half the contest that is going on is now on facebook, many companies (mainly small ones) who are lazy to pay for a proper facebook app, turn to using the "Like" feature as the main mechanics of the contest. We've seen enough. People like Joan Teo, who create multiple facebook accounts to vote for herself. Where is the fun in contest now? Years ago, contests are mainly based on lucky draw, and others required effort like writing essays, taglines, taking photos and such (and they are judged, not voted). And that comes to my next point. Lousy contests. I don't understand how companies can create complex and fancy facebook apps for their contests, and leave out important information like closing date! Other things include missing information on how the winners will be chosen, misleading information (which I touched on not too long ago), and what many of us dislike: voting contest. It makes perfect sense to a company to hold voting contest. They have a budget, and they want to get the maximum exposure for every buck spent. Maybe they know participants hate that, or maybe they hate that too. But business is business. I could make a thousand word essay rant on this topic but I'll pass, because I don't want to bore you.

So will this be the end? I suppose you could say so. I won't be going back to my old contest blog "CornFlict" (if you still remember it), or starting up a new contest blog. But, I have created a facebook group:"Special Contest Zone", where you can join to share and see contests that others share. However, I won't be posting on the group everyday like on Contest Junkie. My ultimate goal is to set up an exclusive place for people who actively share contests. It won't be for everyone. I've seen my fair share of selfish people.

So what's next? Now that I have more time for myself, I'll be putting in more time into my photography blog: http://dallaseye.blogspot.com and train harder to be a professional photographer (that's my dream!). Do help me out by dropping by often and sharing my photos if you think it's nice.

That's not all! Special thanks to Cee Jay for the awesome blog, and Contest Junkie's loyal readers for dropping by daily and sharing valuable contest info and great lobangs! Also to readers who have been following me since 2008! I'll still be participating in contests, so if you need people to spam your invites to increase your chances of winning, you can always direct them to me if you add me up on facebook. That's it! I'll see you soon on my photo blog or the facebook group!


Edit: My apologies. The facebook group will only be opened to those who are willing to share. It will be stringent. Not everyone will be accepted. Only those who prove themselves. If you think you have what it takes, then drop me a facebook message or email me about your application after applying for the group.

Win a Romantic Valentines Day Dinner for 2 @ Rang Mahal Pavilion!

Sponsored Post

When: Contest ends on 12th February 2012
Where: Rang Mahal Pavilion Facebook
Contest Type: Creative Writing
*No purchase required



3x Prizes: A romantic Valentine's Day Set Menu for two worth over $100

Thinking of where to take your partner this Valentine's Day for a unforgettable romantic dinner? Have it at Rang Mahal Pavilion!

All you need to do is write a love letter to your favorite dish at Rang Mahal Pavilion by leaving it as comment under the notes section! Top three entries selected by judges will each win a romantic dinner for 2 worth over SGD $100!


Dallas Ratings:
Prize worth it or not: 3 / 10
Effort Needed: 2 / 10
Chance of Winning: Good chance!

vPOST for my Valentine

When: Contest ends on
Where: facebook
Contest Type: Essay
*No purchase required



Prizes:
1x Grand prize: 50 Red Roses, SINS Chocolates, US$300 Gift Card from selected U.S. merchants, Surprise delivery to your Valentine, Video recording of surprise, Live Broadcast of surprise on YES 93.3FM
2x Runner-up prize: 12 Red Roses, SINS Chocolates, US$100 Gift Card from selected U.S. merchants, Surprise delivery to your Valentine, Video recording of surprise



Show your love to your valentine in less than 500 words. Certainly a prize that will impress and be remembered. Thanks to Gerald for the lead.


Dallas Ratings:
Prize worth it or not: 5 / 10
Effort Needed: 5 / 10
Chance of Winning: Maybe

Monday, February 6, 2012

Win Grand Park Orchard F&B Vouchers & Goodie Bags

When: Contest ends on 29th March 2012
Where: Grand Park Orchard
Contest Type: Lucky Draw
*No purchase required



Prizes:
- 10x $88 F&B Vouchers
- 25x Goodie Bags

Simply fill up the form and you'll stand a chance to win! Sounds all too easy right?


Dallas Ratings:
Prize worth it or not: 2 / 10
Effort Needed: 1 / 10
Chance of Winning:Very Low

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Win Tickets to the Singapore Airshow 2012

When: Contest ends on 14th February 2012
Where: facebook
Contest Type: Design / Voting
*No purchase required



Prizes:
1x Designers: 1 Helicopter Simulator ride worth $1500 + 1 pair of Singapore Airshow Ticket
11x Voters: 1 pair of Singapore Airshow Ticket


Now this is one interesting contest. I feel like being a voter more than a contestant. Seem like having 1 prize for the contestant and 11 for voters is a little ... unbalanced?

To join, use the design tools within the facebook app to create your design. To vote, view the gallery and choose your favorite.


Dallas Ratings:
Prize worth it or not: 5 / 10
Effort Needed: 2 / 10
Chance of Winning: Very Low

Friday, February 3, 2012

Win 50 Pairs of GV Movie Vouchers with SingPost!

When: Contest ends on 10th February 2012
Where: facebook
Contest Type: Online
*No purchase required



50x Prizes: A pair of Golden Village Movie vouchers

Answer a 3 question quiz related to SingPost and their services and stand a chance to win one of 50 GV movie vouchers.

Stick close to this page, there should be more coming your way!



Dallas Ratings:
Prize worth it or not: 1 / 10
Effort Needed: 2 / 10
Chance of Winning: Maybe?

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Win a Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY!

When: Contest ends on 6th February 2012
Where: facebook
Contest Type: Online
*No purchase required



Prizes: A Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY

Answer a simple question and stand a chance to win. There are over 6 million fans on this page! If you win, this, you should consider buying for the $10 million TOTO draw.



Dallas Ratings:
Prize worth it or not: 4 / 10
Effort Needed: 1 / 10
Chance of Winning: 1 in a million!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Win a 4D/3N Trip for 2 to Western Australia!

When: Contest ends on 10 February 2012
Where: facebook
Contest Type: Online
*No purchase required



Prizes: A 4D/3N trip for 2 to western Australia (worth $4500)


Watch the 3 minute long video carefully and the question listed right below the video and stand a chance to win.

Then proceed to inviting your friends for a higher chance to win. The good (or maybe, bad) part is that friends do not have to accept your invitation for you to increase your chances of winning. Happy spamming your friends.



Dallas Ratings:
Prize worth it or not: 5 / 10
Effort Needed: 2 / 10
Chance of Winning: fat chance!!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Win $1000 Takashimaya Vouchers!

When: Contest ends on 6th February 2012
Where: ST701
Contest Type: Online
*No purchase required



Prizes:
1st prize: $380 Takashimaya shopping vouchers
2nd prize: $280 Takashimaya shopping vouchers
3rd prize: $180 Takashimaya shopping vouchers
4x Consolation prize: $40 Takashimaya shopping vouchers


Enter your particulars, and then spam click the roll button until you hit the magic number 0701. Don't think you've won because you hit the magic number. You just won a chance in the draw. If you want more chances, you can either spam click to get the magic number a few more times, or invite your friends to play.

And, the webpage doesn't load correctly on IE. If you don't want to waste time, just use Firefox to play it.


Dallas Ratings:
Prize worth it or not: 4 / 10
Effort Needed: 1 / 10
Chance of Winning: fat chance

Monday, January 30, 2012

Win 100 Pairs of Movie Tickets with SAFRA!

When: Contest ends on ?
Where: facebook
Contest Type: Survey
*No purchase required



100x Prizes: A pairs of movie tickets


SAFRA is giving away 100 pair of movie tickets just by completing a 5 minute survey!

No closing date stated in the terms and conditions, so act fast! And don't forget to share this around!



Dallas Ratings:
Prize worth it or not: 1 / 10
Effort Needed: 2 / 10
Chance of Winning: Good chance?