Most sweepstakes participants evaluate a contest by looking at the prize and asking one question: do I want this? That's a completely reasonable starting point. But there's a second question worth asking that most participants never think to consider, and it turns out...

There's a way to lose a sweepstakes prize that has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with preparation. It happens after the drawing, after your name has been selected, after the win notification arrives and the genuine excitement of having won settles in....

Most sweepstakes participants start out using their primary personal email address for contest entries and gradually discover the same set of problems. The inbox fills with a mixture of things requiring genuine attention and a growing accumulation of entry...