Get a little creative when making the most of a prize wheel. Prize wheels can be used for both internal business incentives and external consumer promotions. Prize wheels offer an element of fun and anticipation that can be incorporated into any function to engage the attendants.

For your employees, you can offer highly sought-after rewards, including vacation days or a free lunch. For customers and other professional relationships, you can use a custom prize wheel to educate them more on your business and offer them prizes all at the same time. Consider the following when evaluating how to incorporate a prize wheel into your business:

1. Use the prize wheel to get your employees excited about a new product or service.

2. Let the prize wheel entice potential customers over to your booth at your next trade show.

3. Lighten the mood at a professional conference with a lottery wheel.

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Engage your employees by using a prize wheel to test their knowledge on a new product or service

It never hurts to offer your employees extra incentive to do their best. The next time you are rolling out a new campaign for a product or service, enlist the help of a prize wheel. You can encourage your employees to brush up on their knowledge of the new campaign by using your prize wheel at a companywide meeting to offer prizes to those who know the most. If you really want to raise the stakes, offer prizes that no employee will be able to resist, such as vacation days, flex time or free food.

I recommend: Prize-Wheels.com carries numerous prize wheels that are numbered in a nonspecific way so you can use them to play by your rules. Casino Supply also offers numbered spin wheels that you can either use as is or have customized with your company logo.

Bring along a prize wheel to your next trade show event

Use a carnival wheel as your next trade show wheel. Who doesn't like to play games and win prizes? Entice potential customers to your booth with a prize wheel, and send them off with prizes that have your logo strategically placed on them. You can also offer discount coupons for the next time they stop by your store or hire you for a job.

I recommend: PromoQuip offer dry erase prize wheels that you can further customize to each event. Interactive Inflatables carries a variety of lottery wheels you can use to attract potential customers.

Spice up your professional conference with an unusual game prize wheel

Professional conferences and meetings are always the most exciting events, but you can add a little fun with a simple prize wheel spinner. Consider offering special raffles for industry-specific items or services that all of the attendees would find useful. Placement is important in a meeting setting, perhaps as the conference-goers enter the building or meeting room to get them excited about the conference before they even get inside.

I recommend: Flexi Displays offers both tabletop and floor model prize wheels to help with placement. Ultimate Office has a variety of prize wheels to accommodate your needs.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Keep your prize wheels fresh and new if the same people are going to be seeing them time and time again. If you plan on using a prize wheel for your employees, consider getting one that you can customize easily for each event to keep it exciting each time they see the wheel.

A carnival wheel can be a fun addition to any business. Although you may not have considered a lottery wheel for your business, it can provide a number of benefits:

1. Prize wheels let customers “spin” for discounts or cash prizes, which will keep them coming back.
2. Employees will love spinning the wheel for rewards and incentives.
3. A carnival prize wheel is much more fun for customers than scratch cards or straight discounts.

Even with small discounts or rewards, spin wheels will be a popular part of your marketing strategy. People love spinning the wheel and hoping for the “big” prize. It’s a great way to earn some positive word of mouth and let your employees have some fun.

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Decide on where you want to put the carnival wheel

Both floor and table top models are widely available, but you'll want to decide where to put the lottery wheel before you buy it. A table top model will look out of place on the floor if you decide it's not going to work.

I recommend: Try a table top clicker prize wheel for smaller areas. Prize Wheel has a number of different sizes including a super wheel and a mini wheel.

Choose how many slots you'd like on the trade show wheel

Trade show wheels generally have either 12 or 18 slots. Depending on the number of prizes you want to offer and the look of the wheel, you may have a preference of one over the other.

I recommend: The Prize Wheel Store has a number of different sized prize wheels with varying numbers of slots. Casino4You also has a number of sized carnival wheels.

Consider what prizes you'll offer on the prize wheel

You can include a number of small prizes and discounts along with one larger one or any other combination that you want. For company picnics or events for employees, you can offer actual prizes. For customers, use discounts, cash off offers or products related to your business.

I recommend: With any of Flexi Display’s prize wheels, you can decide what prizes or discounts to use. Casino Supply has money wheels, numbered wheels and slots for inserts.

Print out the inserts for the prize slots

Many lottery wheels come with templates for slot inserts or you can customize your own. These interchangeable inserts make it easy to offer different rewards or discounts for special events.

I recommend: Create prize inserts with Ultimate Office’s lottery wheel with their enclosed software. You can also have a customized prize wheel made just for your event or company.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you use the custom prize wheel for customers, you may want to have slots that include a free service or product. If the wheel is for employees, include a 'free' vacation day or 1/2 day off.

A prize wheel can benefit any business. Whether you use a carnival wheel at your next corporate event or a trade show wheel at the next show you attend, you can find prize wheels for many uses. Maybe you want to consider using a small prize wheel to help motivate your employees in the workplace or use lottery wheels as promotions in your retail store.

Prize wheels for sale can range in price depending on the size and the artwork you want displayed. On average, prize wheels run around $300 to $500. A custom prize wheel may run slightly more if the provider charges a setup fee for designing the wheel. Ask yourself these questions when assessing the pricing and costs of prize wheel:

1. Do you want your company logo displayed on the prize wheel?

2. Do the slots on your prize wheel need to be customized for a unique game or prize?

3. Do want to purchase a lottery wheel that is a specific well-known game?

4. Do you need a tabletop prize wheel, or do you want it to sit on the floor?

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Decide whether or not you want to customize your prize wheel

The price for a custom prize wheel depends on a couple things. You may be charged an extra fee if you would like the provider to design the wheel for you. You also need to consider if you need more then one customized wheel because some providers have an order minimum that will reduce the cost of each individual wheel, but the total cost will obviously be greater. A few money-saving ideas include purchasing a custom overlay for an old prize wheel you may already have or purchasing a plain dry erase prize wheel so you can customize it on your own for each event.

I recommend: Prize Wheel Store offers customized prize wheels with no extra artwork fees. SpinningDesigns carries dry erase prize wheels that cost around $100 less than printed wheels. Atlantic City Games offers overlays for either individual slots at a few dollars a section or for a whole wheel starting under $100.

Purchase a game prize wheel that is a popular game

You can offer prizes and incentives for winning certain popular games where your employees or customers already know the rules. Casino or lottery wheels may be familiar to passers-by at a trade show or to customers in your store, which may make them more comfortable with participating. In some cases, purchasing an already designed prize wheel may save you a little money upfront, but it is more likely you will see the return from your prize wheel after you have already bought it. Purchasing a more versatile prize wheel will open up your options for using your prize wheel at varying events. Depending on the size, of course, premade prize wheels run around $300 to $400 -- slightly less than customized wheels. You are mostly saving on artwork and design fees.

I recommend: Try this roulette wheel at Displays2Go or the ever-popular cash wheel from Siegel Display Products.

Consider whether a tabletop prize wheel or a floor model is a better investment

Depending on what you plan on using your prize wheel for, you may prefer to have either a floor model or a tabletop prize wheel. For the most part, tabletop spin wheels cost about $100 less then the floor models. If you are really on a tight budget, you can find mini-tabletop prize wheels as well that run in the $200 range.

I recommend: PrizeWheel.com carries both floor and tabletop prize wheels. BigPromotions.net carries the mini-sized prize wheel.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When setting your prize wheel budget, remember to factor in the other costs that may come with your prize wheel. You will need a stand or wall mount for your wheel, so take into consideration whether or not the stand is included in the price of the wheel. Also factor in shipping costs if you are ordering online or from a company out of state.

For a trade show, corporate event, team-building seminar or promotional day, a prize wheel can be a great way of attaining the "audience interactivity" that a business wants. Prize wheels draw people in because of the simplistic design, the promise of reward and the inherent interactive element of spinning the wheel. Knowing about some of the main terms for prize wheel models and gear can help business buyers get good picks for the company's next big event.

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Table-top prize wheel

This handy type of prize wheel setup gives the wheel a little more visibility than many floor-standing models. A nice setup and surrounding sometimes gets more eyes toward the prize wheel display.

I recommend: See specs and visuals on a table-top prize wheel model with tripod at Displays 2 Go.

Prize slot swapping

What can make a prize wheel more useful during an event is a feature allowing managers to change out specific prizes in the 'slots' of the wheel.

I recommend: Find more on prize slot swapping for prize wheels at Flexi Display.

Coupon-generating online prize wheels

These kinds of 'e-prize wheels' are made for directing web traffic to a business location. The prize wheel dispenses coupons online, and customers take their 'winnings' to a restaurant or other location.

I recommend: See great visuals and get details on coupon-generating prize wheel marketing strategies at Mystic Net Marketing's Winning Prize Wheel page.

Carnival wheel of fortune

Some prize wheel makers base their designs on this traditional carnival game. This can be a visually appealing setup for running trade show games or other events.

I recommend: Get a fuller explanation of the wheel of fortune game at The Wheel of Fortune Guide online.

Prize wheel clicker or pointer

Many prize wheels have an element called an indicator (or a clicker or pointer) to measure where the spin ends up.

I recommend: Find out about how a clicker or pointer fits into an overall prize wheel design at this detailed guide to setup from Prize-Wheel.com.

Custom prize wheels

Other prize wheel makers can adjust colors, styles, content and other features for the specific client. Check out the variety of prize wheels styles available from vendors and choose one that fits your overall business goals.

I recommend: Find out more about possibilities for custom designs at Interactive Inflatables.