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to comp v to enter competitions —comper n someone who comps

“I never win anything, I’m just not lucky.” Whenever I hear someone say that I ask them how many competitions they have entered lately. The answer is invariably –none. There seems to be a commonly accepted viewpoint that winning is what other people do. I certainly used to agree with that … but not now.

About a year ago my husband told me about a book he had heard discussed on the radio. It was written by an Australian Sherry Sjolander who claimed that she earned $50 – 60,000 worth of prizes every year simply by entering competitions. Could this really be possible – I wondered? My mind was divided between disbelief and curiosity with regards to her claim. It seemed so outlandish, but what if it was true? There was only one thing to do – try it myself.

I decided that I would focus on online competitions. I didn’t have the patience to write my name and address on the back of hundreds of envelopes. Not to mention the cost of the stamps. So I searched the net for competition websites and found a New Zealand based one, free to join and chock full of current competitions. That’ll do for a start – I thought. And so I began the slow process of following up links and entering my details in order to win books, games, kitchen appliances, toys, holidays, cinema tickets … and so much more. There seemed to be a prize for everyone. And best of all, all the competitions were free to enter. I was beginning to get quite excited about this new hobby of mine.

Competitions (or ‘comps’) can be divided into two types: (i) random draw and (2) skill test. The first is self-explanatory, just give your details and keep your fingers crossed until the closing date that your name is drawn ‘out of the hat’. They’re pretty easy to enter. The second type involves the ‘25 words or less’ question or other similar creative task. These ones take a bit more thinking about. Personally I like them because it gets the brain buzzing and also because I know that many people will be put off from entering because of the extra small effort involved.

After a month of entering online comps I received notification of my first win. A small win, a CD of New Zealand birdsong, but I was overjoyed. As Sjolander so correctly puts it, “Regular compers know that often the prize has little to do with comping. It’s the thrill of winning that creates the rush.”

For my comping experiment, I spent half hour every night on the competition website, filling in my name and address and thinking up witty slogans. I guess on average I must have entered 40 contests a week – and, to my surprise, the prizes started rolling in. In truth I was winning 2-3 items a fortnight. I also discovered early on that most competition organizers don’t notify winners – your prize turns up unexpectedly in the post box. Which is kind of fun.

After a couple months I was getting used to winning frequently and I actually started to be disappointed when I found the post box empty. My belief had reached the point whereby I expected to win. Winning the smaller gifts reinforced my expectation that some time in the future I would win one of the better prizes. And have I? – Yes, I have. Some of the better prizes I have won over the last year include a digital tv recorder worth $800, cash prize of $2500 cash and a mobile phone worth $700. It’s a tremendous hit to win those types of prizes, I can tell you. Those items were probably the best things I have won in a financial sense, but I think my favourite prize overall was the year’s supply of Timtams. 52 packets of deliciousness.

My Competiton Winning Top Tips

• Enter, enter and enter again

Even if you are not particularly interested in the prize, then it’s still best to enter as every win reinforces the expectation that one day you will win something you want. This is great motivation for keeping going.

• Join a competition website

It provides you with a daily list of new competitions saving you the time in searching for them yourself. These websites are updated by generous, friendly people willing to post competitions and often the answers knowing that they are lessening their own chance of winning. So don’t forget to give something back. If you find a competition, share it with the comping community.

• Read what others have won.

Competition websites often have a section for winners to proclaim their gains. It is inspiring to know that someone is winning and that the next time it could be you.

• Don’t be put off by the skill questions

I have won skill-based contests on merit, but equally I have won them with, in my opinion, a quickly scribbled, poorly thought out answer. I came to the conclusion that some skills competitions were randomly drawn after all.

• Check the terms and conditions

Is the competition still open? Is it open to New Zealand residents? You don’t want to waste your time thinking up a masterful entry only to discover that the competition finished the week before.

• Download ‘form filling’ software

You’ll be entering most competitions online and it becomes quite tedious entering your name and address a myriad times. Form-filling software will (usually) complete all fields on an entry form with one mouse click. Mozilla Firefox has a free add-on called Autofill Forms that is very easy to use.

• Be prepared for mail box overload

Many competitions require you to sign up to a newsletter or website before entering, so be prepared to receive lots of emails and you WILL get some spam. I just read the newsletters I’m genuinely interested in and delete the rest.

• Be patient

You will win something at some point

So, after a year of comping, I had to agree with Sjolander. Anyone can win, just as long as they entered competitions on a regular basis. And although I can’t claim to have won anywhere near $50,000 worth of prizes this last year, I certainly have won about $4-5,000 worth. I sold two-thirds of the items (Trade Me to the rescue once again) and kept the rest (the really good stuff I wanted) for myself.

I’m still entering competitions regularly though not as frequently as before due to work commitments, and I’m still waiting to win the holiday or the car. I really do believe that one day I’ll be the big winner.

To enter competitions online, I recommend www.contest.co.nz

Book details: Sherry Sjolander, How To Win Competitions (Crows Nest, Australia: Allen & Unwin), 2008.

Tags: Competitions, winning