Neat sociohack: make a career playing contests

Carolyn Wilman has got a neat racket going on: play as many contests as possible. Wilman, who lost her job five years ago after the dot-com bust, now devotes her working hours to finding and entering various contests.

Last year she won more than 150 contests, bring in about $34,000 in cash and prizes. In 2004, she won 125 of them worth much the same. She plays everything from 99-cent music downloads to $10,000 Greek Island getaways.

"I actually think I'm on the cusp of where I want to be," Wilman says. "I'm with my family a lot. I've parlayed a passion into a career. For me this hobby is more than a hobby — it's now my life."

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