Comping Tips & Tricks.

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I have put together a comprehensive list of things you can do to help you win competitions.  These steps are not guaranteed to make you win all the time because as you know competition wins are always random but if you follow these steps then this will give you a greater chance of winning.

The first thing you need to do is make a decision on what type of comper you want to be, if you are only going to enter 3 or 4 competitions a day then obviously you are not going to be as successful as someone who enters 100 – 200 a day.  Comping is a great past time and can be very rewarding but be careful because it can become very addictive, very quickly.

1. You have to be in it to win it, this is a pretty straight forward thing to say but if you are not in it, you can’t win it.  Whether you are entering through facebook, twitter, post or any other format, if you don’t enter, you ain’t gonna be picked.  The main thing here is enter as many things as you want but be careful to look at the t’s & c’s because I have been guilty of entering competitions that I will never win because of the terms and conditions. Things like specific locations etc. and also what’s the point in entering a competition you might win only to then find out it’s going to be impossible for you to use the prize.  A prime example would be tickets to something in Scotland and you live in Cornwall and its for something that’s happening in the next few days.

2. Stay Positive, if you are under the illusion that you are never going to win then guess what, you probably aren’t going to win. The most successful compers are those that believe they are going to win everything they enter.

3.  Be a creative comper, competitions that take a little more effort to enter are going to sift through those who aren’t serious about comping.  The more effort the competition is going to take to enter, the less people are going to enter and in return the better the odds of winning.

4. Stay connected, this is one of the best ways to make sure you don’t miss out on wins and also to keep you informed of new competitions and also fellow compers can tag you in comps.  This also relates to keeping in touch with comps that you have entered.  If you enter a competition on FB then make sure you have liked the page of the company who has posted the competition.  They do not always tag you for the win and may just announce it under the post. Staying connected will let you know when they have posted something new to their page.

5. Be mindful of the t’s & c’s, as I mentioned above in (1.) if you are entering a competition that is only available in the U.S. and you live in the U.K. then there is no point in you entering it and you are wasting your time.  Just as much as a competition that states you have to answer a question or do certain steps before being entered then make sure you have done everything they have asked you to do.

6. Enter everything, if you are out and about and you see a competition advertised in a shop or on a billboard, grab your phone and enter there and then.  If you can’t enter there and then then grab your phone camera and take a picture of the competition and enter when you get home.  remember the more you enter the better your chances.

7. Automatic form filling, the best way to enter competitions is to let software enter all your details for you.  I currently use a program called Norton Identity Safe but this comes at a cost and will also cover you for viruses.  Free software is available and the best I have found for this is called RoboForm and this can be downloaded here.

8. Get a dedicated email address, when entering competitions you will receive a lot of emails and the best way to keep this separate to your personal emails is to get a different email address.

9. Don’t give up – comping can be very time consuming sometimes and some compers get disheartened when they are not winning, concentrate on number 2 above and if you stay positive and enter competitions then the law of averages will reward you at some point.