Competition tips to help you win more prizes

I love entering competitions – I call it window shopping with the added bonus of actually getting some of the items you want. This frugal hobby can help you to save money too, by winning cash and vouchers as well as prizes. You can then choose to keep and use your prizes yourself, give them away as gifts, sell them on eBay or donate them to charity. I want to share some of my best competition tips in this blog post. 

My first competition win

My very first competition win, apart from colouring in competitions at school, was a phone in competition when I was a child. I won a box full of push pops which, when you are about 10 years old is amazing! I also went on to win two tickets to go and see Gladiators being recorded which was an amazing experience, especially as a child! I remember that day so fondly, and it also gave me a glimpse into the world of television recordings, and how much of it is staged.

Restarting entering competitions

I starting ‘comping' again in 2013, and my first couple of wins were small – a box of cereal and a key ring. 

Until I checked my emails and I had only gone and won a £3,000 holiday!

That holiday was one of the most luxurious things I've experienced in my life, with two nights at Chewton Glen alongside being chauffeur driven. It was incredible!

Make comping friends

Having comping friends is great – they give you someone to tag in competitions where you need to tag a friend, and they will also let you know when there are giveaways for prizes that you want to win.

Not only that, but they can also look out for your name appearing as a winner and let you know, which is great if you've missed the social media tag or haven't seen the email.

Competition tips – Use a competition website to track your entries

There are so many competitions out there to enter, and it is easy to lose track of what you have and haven't entered.

Not only that, but you might also want to search for specific prizes, which you can so more easily with a competition website.

That's why I like to use a competition website to find the competitions I want to enter, and keep track of what I have entered.

Start a new email address

When you start entering competitions then your inbox will be flooded with newsletters, entry confirmations and hopefully winning emails. 

One of the best competition tips I have for you is to start a new email address.

By having a dedicated competitions email address you can easily log in to see just your competition emails. 

You can get a free email address from Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo and others. 

Consider dedicated competition social media accounts

Opinion on this one is divided – some people think that companies won't allow compers to win their giveaways, whereas others love the freedom that having dedicated ‘comping' social media accounts gives them.

I personally love having dedicated competition social media accounts. It means that I don't see the accounts I follow in my usual feeds for following my friends and family members.

I do still try to post ‘normal' content too, so it doesn't just look like a competition account.

Set up an email filter

One of the best competition tips that I have picked up is to take a few moments to set up an email filter for emails containing the words ‘winner' or ‘congratulations'.

Make sure these go to a special folder where you can easily see if there are any new emails in just that folder. 

Only enter competitions for prizes you want to win

There is no point in entering competitions for prizes you don't want. You can start by writing a wishlist of prizes you want to win and entering competitions just for those prizes, or you could set up a minimum prize amount that you want to win. 

You might win fewer competitions this way, but when you do win it will be for something you want. 

Competition tips – Check the rules

This is one of the best competition tips. When entering competitions it is worth taking a few moments to check the rules. You might have entered to win a prize that can only be picked up from a shopping centre…200 miles away. Or you might win a holiday but still have to pay for the flights. 

Be sure to check the rules carefully. 

Use a form filler

Entering competitions means entering your data over and over…and over again. 

You can use a form filler like LastPass and RoboForm to save you from having to type the same information over and over again. 

Be sure to still eyeball the information to ensure that everything is as it should be

Put the effort in

Most of us are lazy, which means that the harder a competition is to enter then the bigger chance you have of winning. 

This could be things like taking a photo, a caption competition or any other effort-based competition. 

With fewer people entering you have a higher chance of winning. 

Competition tips – Enter local competitions

Local companies such as shopping centres, newspapers and smaller businesses might only get a few entries, meaning that you stand a good chance of winning. 

You can find these competitions by following local companies on social media to see when they have competitions running. 

One of the best competition tips: Have fun!

Remember that entering competitions is meant to be fun, and you aren't guaranteed to win. These competition tips are to help you increase your chances of winning.

Like most hobbies, if you aren't enjoying it then you can move on to doing something else that you love.