God, January is being LOOOOOONG this year isn’t it? It’s so miserable, all the rain and dark mornings.
What you need to to WIN A COMPETITION! How much better would you feel about life if a hamper of cheese turned up on your doorstep?? With this in mind, I asked the super lovely (and lucky) Di Coke to come up with some tips to help you win competitions. Di is something of a comping expert. She’s been winning competitions for twenty years, since the good old days when it was answers on a postcard, and she shares her tips on her own hugely successful blog, Super Lucky.
Here are Di’s seven habits of successful competition winners:
1. Buying random stuff they don’t need
A successful comper will have cupboards full of toilet roll, toothpaste, tuna and crisps, bought as ‘qualifying’ products for competition entries. But in addition to these useful products, expect to see them stocking up on Tena Lady pads and random baby products too. Because if a competition offers a decent chance of a win, compers will buy the product to enter regardless of whether it’s any use to them. Oh, and they’ll buy in bulk too – just in case the promotional packs disappear off the shelves. Don’t worry though, those 40 packs of sanitary towels will be donated to a local FoodBank or Women’s Refuge once the comp’s over!
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2. Embarrassing themselves, ideally in public
Back in the old days, competition entries were secret – 12 word slogans sent by post, never to be aired in public unless they appeared on a winners list. But 21st century comping is far more terrifying. Brands want their fans to take selfies with sausages, or to film themselves peeling bananas with their feet. So a successful winner will be prepared to go to extremes to win prizes – from gardening naked to waiting outside a new Joules store at 5am hoping to be the first customer!
3. Pretending they’re a loyal customer
Compers are fickle, and will switch allegiance at the drop of a hat depending on what prize is on offer. They’ll be tweeting Seabrook Crisps to tell them they never eat anything else, yet posting a selfie with a bag of Walkers five minutes later. But they’re clever about it – they will research the promoter or product and use that information to embellish their competition tweets and comments, demonstrating how much of a brand ambassador they are.
4. Checking emails and messages every 5 minutes
Most busy compers are glued to their phones. If they’re not entering comps, they’ll be looking for comps, or chatting about comps in Facebook groups or forums. And of course, if they win a prize they’ll usually find out via an email or message on social media. So they’re checking ALL THE TIME! And not just the obvious places – compers know that there are hidden folders on social media too, for ‘message requests’ and ‘filtered messages’. They never know where their latest prize is hiding… and they’ll be doing their best to find it.
5. Making a 50 mile round trip to enter a competition
Successful compers can’t resist a challenge, so if British Airways are giving away flights every hour in King’s Cross station, they’ll be on the next London bound train. And if there’s a Manchester car showroom giving away a new motor, you can guarantee the entire Yorkshire comping population will be in line to enter. That’s because they know that the harder a competition is to enter, the easier it is to win.
6. Setting an alarm for 4am
Instant win competitions are a fabulous source of prizes, and successful compers know how to maximise their chances of winning. If it’s a ‘winning moments’ promotion, the first entry after a certain time will win a prize. So rather than entering during the daytime, compers enter overnight. And yes, they really will set an alarm to do it. After all, nothing beats the buzz of winning a toy troll at 4.30am!
7. Spotting the word WIN from a mile off
Once people start comping, they can’t resist that magic word. They’ll be unable to stop themselves walking into banks, Budgens and Bargain Booze, tempted by those three big letters in the window. But it’s not a bad thing – competitions that are spotted out and about in shops, at events and in magazines usually don’t find their way onto online forums like Money Saving Expert, so there’s a much better chance of winning.
Thanks so much Di for your competition tips! If you want to read more of Di’s advice on being a successful winner, she has a Beginner’s Guide to Comping on her blog. Do leave a comment if you’ve ever won a cool competition!
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Great read!
Great blog post – I’m a competition too and have had some amazing holidays as a result
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No way! Where have you been Christine?
So funny!
I am a comper too – won a holiday for 2 to Las Vegas but the promoters kindly changed it to a family holiday to San Francisco, that was definitely my best prize. That was in 2015.
Also won Cumbria magazine’s 70th birthday prize last year which included 2 nights in a youth hostel (we paid for another one) and a trip on the Settle-Carlisle railway.
This month everyone is saying they have won Dartington glasses from the Waitrose comp. I, however, am far happier with an email telling me I have won some eggcups in the Hovis comp. We never have enough eggcups.
Best places to look for comps are Superluckydi (of course) and Compers News. I don’t understand Facebook but I have won bits and pieces on twitter.
This is so funny! Great post. :)
haha
I love comping too and recently won a prize with Waxx thinking it was gonna be tons of natty knickers, as the quiz was what pant are you?! entered every day for about 10 days in a row and it was my first Rafflecopter win…..got a gorgeous heavy duty wallet which hubby instantly snaffled! However, if you buy the current issue of My Weekly, on page 3, under MY PASSION, you will see that comping IS my passion…I am pictured with my year’s supply of Tetley Teabags won just before Christmas in a swipe to win Tesco clubcard comp – 4 cups a day for 365 days!!
Great tips! As a fellow comper, I always enjoy reading about what works for others. It inspires me! One of my best wins was a $17,000 holiday to Thailand! :)