End of Month

Goodluck to everyone today, whatever your deadline is!

Meanwhile...

Rafflecopter

Ah, Rafflecopter competitions!

What I love about them is:

• you can see how big the entry pool is 
• they are easy to enter
• multiple entries are often available

The downsides?

• When the promoter requires entrants to 'like' each and every sponsor (all 100 of them)
• When there is a great prize on offer...but you are unable to enter because your facebook account is disabled from liking too many pages (usually from previous rafflecopter comps!)

Rafflecopter comps.  What are your thoughts?

The importance of sticking at it

Every now and then a 'Competition Winners' segment in shown on Australian TV.

Generally these segments are positive and show how rewarding comping can be...however, the one criticism I always hear from fellow compers is, "They make it look so easy!  They never say how much time and effort goes into it!"

And I tend to agree.

While I believe that there are definitely certain strategies that increase the odds of a win (and this article has some of my favourite tips), the best advice I always give to people starting out is to enter, enter, enter!



What do you think about 'Competition winners' segments on TV?

Online Comping clubs for Australians

A great way of finding competitions is via a competitions club or website.  There are several online competitions clubs and websites for Australians, which can basically be broken down into forums  and websites.

 - Forums are great for meeting like-minded people and discussing tips, sharing entries and discussing comping problems (missing prizes, scams etc).

 - Comping websites are often clearly set out, easy to navigate and good for people who just want to view competitions (but not things like offers, general chat, movie reviews etc)

Forums

OzBargain competitions

OzBargain is primarily a deals website, however it also has a fantastic competitions section.
The competition section is completely free to use, so you can view competitions without having to pay for a membership or make a donation, like some other websites and forums.

If you decide to become a member (it's free to join), you can change your settings to exclude international competitions for example.  You can also set reminders for daily competitions, or competitions that allow entries once a month etc.


Pros:

• There's a large list of competitions available, especially international competitions for those who are interested. 
• You can change your settings to exclude gleam and international competitions.
• Referrals for extra entries are permitted in the comments (just make sure you use the last person's before adding yours)
• OzBargain do not allow competitions that are run with the sole purpose of marketing.
• The site is transparent about who runs it, where it is based etc.
• You can register using any email address, including free web-based email, such as hotmail and gmail.
• It's a very friendly and supportive comping community.

Can you 'mark' competitions? Yes - if you're logged in you can mark a comp as 'Entered', 'Won', or 'Seen', and view a list of all of the competitions you've entered.

Cost: Membership is free but you can view competitions for free if you don't wish to join.

Privacy Policy: Yes

Lottos Competitions

Lottos is a forum-based site that has been around since 2000.  Created by Australian Andrew Lindner, it has an active member-base, and lists a large amount of competitions.  Lottos has an extensive list of competitions which can be sorted into various 'reports' (eg. Instant win competitions, mail-in competitions etc)

Pros:

• There's a large list of competitions, and they are usually posted very soon after the competition first appears online. 
• Lottos are very careful not to list competitions from promoters that ask for a lot of info and then engage in heavy marketing, such as planet 49 and Ola prizes.  They also have a list of 'banned' sites (from which competitions can't be posted).  
• The site is transparent about who runs it, where it is based etc.
• This is one of the better sites if you're looking for competitions that require purchases.
• You can register using any email address, including free web-based email, such as hotmail and gmail.

Can you 'mark' competitions? Yes - lottos has CompTracker, which allows you to mark competitions with a tick, cross etc.

Cost: Membership is AU$44 for 1 year, $82.50 for 2 years and $120 for 3 years.  There is a free 3-day trial available.

Privacy Policy: Yes

Websites

Competitions Guide is run by Craig and Helen Seitam.  It's a free site that lists competitions and also has a great blog that's worth reading for competition news, tips and articles.
Pros:

• The pages are clearly set out and easy to read, and featured competitions are clearly marked as such.
• Craig has worked as a promoter before, so has excellent information and knowledge about comping from a promoter's perspective.  
• The free ebook is great and definitely worth reading for those starting out (and for experienced compers too!).  There's some great information in there.

Cons: -

Can you 'mark' competitions: Yes
Cost: Free
Privacy Policy: Yes (Under Terms of Use)

Competitions.com.au is an good, easy-to-navigate comping website.  

Around 20 new competitions are added to the site per day, with the aim to build Australia's largest and most comprehensive competitions website.  It has a great list of competitions, and has a free guessing game for members (a $50 Giftcard is offered as a prize at the moment).

Pros:

•  Nice, clear layout.  Easy to navigate
•  The list of competitions can be filtered (eg. you can just select competitions open to your state)
•  A good selection of competitions listed.

Cons: -

Can you 'mark' competitions? Yes
Cost: Free
Privacy Policy: Yes

The Competitions


The Competitions is another great comping website.  It has a different layout to the others, with images attached to each listing.  It also clearly lists each competition title, and how many days are left to enter.

Pros:

•  I've noticed that this site often picks up a few competitions that aren't listed on other comping sites.
•  You can sort by category from the list (eg. 25 words or less competitions, Ending soon etc)

Cons: -

Cost: Free
Privacy Policy: Yes

Images of Comping: the 'Congratulations' email

I'm sure the promoters do this on purpose!

The missing receipt

Back in the old days, promoters would request barcodes be sent in.  You'd cut them out, stuff them in the envelope, send them off and hope they'd arrive.

And then if you won, you knew you'd won straight away and there'd be no dispute.  These days, you can purchase promotional products and then enter online, via SMS, phone etc.  Which is GREAT!

Until you win and they ask for your receipt.

And you find yourself sorting through a mountain of receipts, just so you can claim your prize.

I'm not the most organised person, but after hearing of people who'd missed out on prizes after losing their receipts, I bought myself a cheap container from the $2 shop.  I did have a folder, but the amount of wrappers, jars etc warranted the purchase of a decent-sized container.  Now after entering online, I store all comping receipts/barcodes straight away.  Too easy!

How do you store your comping stuff?  Have you ever had the stress of searching for a receipt for a major prize?

Where can I donate my unwanted movie tickets and DVDs?

One of the great things about winning is the opportunity to share your prizes and donate them to people who will really appreciate them.  Here are some ideas of where to donate:

Various items (movie tickets, whitegoods, clothing, books, etc)

Givit is a fantastic organisation, particularly for those who prefer to donate material goods as opposed to cash.   I check the Givit list regularly for items that can be donated by post, such as movie tickets, toiletries, vouchers etc.

Givit.org.au

It's easy to donate - Just subscribe to their list (which is sent by email each week) and if you have an item they need, click to 'Give it' and they will send you the contact details of the charity to send it to.

Now is a good time to sign up too, as there are a number of charities on the list looking for items in time for Christmas.

DVDs
A great place to donate DVD's is to the DVD library at the Royal Adelaide Hospital that has been set up by the 4B's group.  More information on how to donate DVDs can be found HERE.

Baby and Maternity items

The Caroline Chisholm society in Melbourne

"We welcome donations of babies’ and toddlers’ clothing, nursery equipment, and maternity wear."

Books

The Benjamin Andrew Footpath Library

The Footpath Library donates near-new and new books to homeless and marginalised people.

Clothes, Toiletries and Homewares
Angels for the forgotten Inc.
Angels for the Forgotten is dedicated to giving dignity, hope and joy to our community's most vulnerable who are entering foster care or living in crisis.

****

Do you know of any other places to donate your prizes?  Do you have a favourite charity?

The comping cycle

Comping addiction can strike at any time, although it is usually more evident following the screening of a comping special on ACA or Today Tonight.

The comper enters the world of comping...and enters everything in sight

Usually shortly followed by the first win:

The comper then develops a sixth-sense for finding In-store comps:

And may purchase products just for the competitions

Bigger prizes usually follow...

And then a WPC (Winning phone call) for one of the big prizes!

And then the drought hits.

This may last weeks...or longer

This is usually when the comper decides to resign from comping

However, the resignation is often shortly followed by a random, unexpected win.  
Not always a great prize...

...but enough to start the cycle again

My favourite comping tips

When I started comping, I was given heaps of tips and hints from fellow compers.

Some were useful, some not so useful.

So what are my favourite tips for beginners?

1. Open a separate email account.

This is the one you'll use just for comping.  It only takes a couple of minutes to open up a hotmail or gmail account, but it's definitely worth it to avoid getting inundated with newsletter and spam in your regular email inbox.

2. Always enter 25 words or less competitions, even if you don't have a 'good' answer

I usually try and think of a funny or witty answer, but if you're stuck you can try rhyming, giving an honest answer...or just writing the first thing that comes into your head.

It's always worth putting something down, because rumour has it these competitions are sometimes randomly drawn (sometimes its even specified in the terms and conditions).

3. Use pictures in email entry competitions

I've won several competitions by adding a picture to my answer, or by using an image or photo as my answer.  I usually perform a google image search and then just copy and paste the image into the email.

For example:
Q. Tell us in 25 words or less how you’ll be decorating your Christmas table...



A. With one of these:

Image source

4. Sometimes it's good to enter late...but not too late!

There's nothing worse than preparing the perfect answer, trying to enter...and then finding out the promoter has closed the competition early.  I've had success entering in the week before closing date, but I usually try not to enter right on closing day (especially as some competitions close early on the day, eg. 09.00am)

5. Join a comping club!

There's heaps out there.  Some are free, others require you to purchase a subscription.

It's a great way to meet fellow compers, get extra tips and advice and of course find competitions to enter.

Some of the Australian online comping clubs include:

Australian Competitions Club

Lottos Australia

Competitions Guide

Competitions.com.au

Win Free Stuff

The Top 4 Most Controversial Consumer Competitions

These days, more and more promoters are looking beyond the traditional 'easy entry' competitions and running competitions that actively engage entrants. 

However, these competitions aren't without risks, particularly when they involve social media and/or voting.

Here are my top 4 Competitions that didn't quite go to plan.

#1 Bonds Baby Competition

Facebook.  Voting.  Competition.   Enough said.

The Bonds baby competition made the headlines after some of the entrants got a little carried away and started posting nasty messages about other babies in the competition.  This was the first year Bonds included a 'People's choice' component.  It'll be interesting to see how they run the competition in 2013.

#2 Vegemite Competition

In 2009, Kraft ran a competition to name their new vegemite creation, which attracted over 40,000 entries.  The name iSnack 2.0 was chosen as the winner, and everyone was confused, wondering if it was all a PR stunt.

Shortly afterwards, the product was renamed "Cheesybite".

Image source

#3 Nissan Micra competition

In 2011, Nissan ran a competition to win a car.  Great prize, lots of interest...until the winner was announced as a friend of the promotion manager.  There was a huge outcry and a lot of unhappy entrants who'd invested time in the competition.

Image source

#4 Qantas twitter competition

When Qantas decided to run a competition on twitter, with the prize being pyjamas and an amenities pack.  To enter, people were asked to describe their dream luxury inflight experience.  In case people needed any encouragement, it added "Be creative!"

And so people were.

Some of the tweets included:

@Colvinius "Getting from A to B without the plane being grounded or an engine catching fire. #qantasluxury".

@the-aaron-smith "#qantasluxury is chartering a Greyhound bus and arriving at your destination days before your grounded Qantas flight".

Qantas' response:

Source

Comping Image #1