A Competitor’s Companion GUIDE

How to Win
Competitions

Your 7-step Guide to

Winning Competitions £2.99
 1
How to Win
Competitions
I’m Lynne Hargreaves and I would like to share some of the
comping secrets that have helped me win £250,000 worth You’ve got to
be in to win
of prizes.

A lot of people just think I’m lucky, but that’s not the case;
you’ve got to know how to find the competitions that give
you the best chance of winning – and of course you have to
actually enter them. My first win was a modest pack of crayons,
then some playing cards – my friends and family laughed then.
But I kept at it and since those early days I’ve won everything
from cash and cars to luxury holidays.
Here’s My Top Tips for Winning
1. You’ve got to be in it to win
2. Stick to the rules
3. Never say never
4. The harder it is to enter,
the easier it is to win
5. Write great slogans
6. Be organised
7. Be in the know
Prize competitions are everywhere. Even if you don’t make a
point of looking out for them, you probably still notice them. In
supermarkets, newspapers and magazines, TV and radio – the
fact is that, at any given time, there are probably THOUSANDS
of competitions and prize draws on the go throughout the UK!
And the chances are that if you take a little more time to look
out for these winning opportunities, then the prizes really will
start coming your way. Why am I so confident? Well, believe it or
not, entries to competitions – especially those where an element
of skill is involved – are on the way down these days, while the
number of valuable prize opportunities remains very high. In fact,
it’s not unusual for a competition with a large number of prizes
to have more prizes than entries... so make the effort to enter,
and sometimes your success is guaranteed.
So my first tip is the most important one for any potential winner.
If you don’t enter a competition, then it’s 100% certain that
you won’t win a prize. But if you DO enter, then who knows?
Especially if you follow the other tips in this booklet, to improve
your winning chances even more.

Read on to discover how to be a successful Comper! A Competitior’s Companion guide 3

 2
Jen Richards
From tenby
My husband
Steve has be
and over th en converted
e years we h ,

Stick to
excellent “c a ve m a d e an
omping” tea
always exce m. Steve has
lled at sloga
whilst I have n-writing,

the Rules
been respon
record-keepi sible for
ng; observin
deadlines; ch g rules and
ecking that
important qu the all-
The small print for any competition is very important. Quite often alifier (eg.
is enclosed; till receipt)
it can even hide a ‘free entry’ route to save you some money, so generally en
spelling, pu su ring that
you should always get into the habit of reading it thoroughly. nctuation a
Never fall into the trap of thinking that, since the writing’s so are correct; n d grammar
making sure
small then it can’t be important. Trust me - nothing could be entry form is that the
further from the truth! ready for po
sting.

Pay special attention to the closing date of the competition, and

always make sure that your entries arrive on time. Take special
care to attach the correct proof of purchase if one is needed.
Look out too for any entry restrictions, and whether you must
enter the competition in a particular way – using a postcard, or
an official entry form for example. If the competition has a skill
task, answering a question perhaps, then read the instructions
carefully to make sure there’s not a ‘trick’.

I’ve heard of competitions where less than one-third of entries

have made it through to the judging stage. The rest were
disqualified for, in most cases, the most minor Rules infringement.
So if you want to improve your own winning chances, it couldn’t
be easier to give yourself a flying start. Simply read the rules!
4 How to Win Competitions A Competitior’s Companion guide 5
 3
philip denham
from yorkshire
“I opened a
letter and to
said I had w my amazem
on £3,000 in ent it
the Co-op ‘U travel vouch
ncle Ben’s’ Co ers in

Never
mpetition.
I had been
comping for
won a fitnes three years
s DVD, a bott and only
paperback bo le of perfum

say never
ok and a T e, a
complainin shirt. Not th
g, because I at I am
the “Big On always kept
e” is coming. saying

About a wee
k later I rece
The ‘comping’ scene is always changing, but it’s very easy for even £3,000 and ived a vouch
in Feb 2006 er for
regular ‘compers’ to get stuck in a rut. A decade ago, the most cruise to the I went on a
Caribbean a two week
common forms of competition were slogan contests, postcard weeks cruise nd in Octob
to the Medit er a
draws, and other skill tasks such as orders-of-merit, estimations erranean.
or seeing how many words you could make from a given phrase. If I ever had
any doubts
entering co about
mpetitions,
after I receiv it went awa
Nowadays, new technology has brought us instant wins, internet, ed the letter y
phone and text competitions. It’s always a good idea to keep Uncle Ben’s. from
I will never
now and ha give up
up with changing trends, and to try as many different types of ve realised a
I have alwa dream.
competition as you can. But we still hear of ‘old school’ compers ys wanted to
a cruise and go on
saying that they would never try for an instant win prize, or thought I n
would, but tw ever
newcomers to the hobby shuddering at the thought of writing o in six mon
ths
is just unbeli
a slogan. Well, look again at our number one tip! The more evable.
competitions that you enter, the more chances you have of I am thankf
winning a prize – it’s as simple as that. And if other people are ul for any

TS
win which co
put off by having to text a code, or writing a slogan, then it only mplements
what is for m

KE
improves your own chances. e, the best
hobby in the
world”.

TIC
UR
YO
6 A Competitior’s Companion guide 7
 The harder it

4
karen gammon
from walsall

is to enter, the “To me com

ping is all th
e “ATIONS”.

easier to win
I love search
ing for prod
ucts
for QUALIFI
CATION. I lo
ve the
DELIBERATIO
N over sloga
By ‘hard’ here, we don’t necessarily mean a task that will take FRUSTRATIO ns and the
you weeks to complete. The fact is, a simple free prize draw that N when you
can’t get
can be entered on a postcard is going to have many more entries them quite ri
ght. My ASPIR
compared to a similar free draw where an entry form is needed to win. I lik ATION is
e the CREAT
from a particular supermarket. Typically around 50% more entries, ION involved
in different
in fact – even though, for most people, making an effort to visit ways of ente
ring and
a different store to pick up the entry form in question is – well the EVALUAT
ION needed
– not really much of an extra effort at all! Likewise, a requirement to
make choices
to collect labels or tokens from a particular product to enter a ”.
competition will put off a huge number of people, either because
they simply can’t be bothered, they’re not organised enough to
see the task through, or they’ve bought Brand X baked beans
for the last 50 years and habit alone stops them buying Brand Z
for a couple of weeks to collect the necessary labels!

To be frank, the ‘effort’ required in comping tends not to be a

real effort at all... more a willingness to do things a little differently
once in a while. Visit different shops occasionally, buy different
magazines, different brands of products – and sometimes even
new and different products if a prize really takes your fancy. Who
knows, you might even discover something new that you like...
and this, after all, is why companies usually run competitions.
8 How to Win Competitions A Competitior’s Companion guide 9
 5
Write great anne eggleston,
northumberland

slogans “I have coll

rhyming bo
ected thesau
oks and even
rus books,
poetry to
Leading on from the last tip, the type of competition that gets by help with slo
far the fewest number of entries these days is one that needs a gans, which
favourite ch are my
slogan. Which means that if you make an effort to enter a slogan allenge. I en
ter obscure
comp, then your chances of a win are statistically the best ever! magazine co
mpetitions a
up with five nd ended
Don’t think that you can’t write a slogan. Even seasoned comping Swiss Army k
nives once
pros will tell you that they’ve probably won as many prizes with having won
all the prizes
last minute efforts as they have with entries that they’ve spent a
shop raffles, ! Charity
lot of time on. The simple fact is that no-one knows what judges garden fete
tombolas,
might be looking for. Indeed, they might prefer a charming village even
t draws can
‘amateur’ effort from the heart compared to a more professional all be hand
to test your y
sounding line – so EVERYBODY really does stand a chance in a luck, and b
ring a surpri
slogan competition. or two. Thin se
k away from
obvious at a th e
Some slogans – known as ‘chestnuts’ – win prizes over and ll times with
over again. “Experts perfect them, connoisseurs select them” is entries and
slogans and
probably the most famous chestnut of all, and this continues to you will att
ract the priz
win prizes to this very day. A generic, ‘one size fits all’ slogan like e
you dream
this remains the Holy Grail for slogan writers, but don’t be put off of, I know a
s
if you think that this sounds out of your league. Just try to praise it worked fo
r me time
the product and promoter, tie this in with the prize on offer to
and time ag
make the line ‘apt and original’, and you won’t be going far wrong. ain. Keep
Judges today also tend to prefer rhyming slogans, so perhaps your instinct
s on high
write the headings ‘Product’, ‘Promoter’ and ‘Prize’ on a piece of alert at all
paper, write down all of the related words you can think of in each times”.
column, and if you’re lucky a rhyme or recurring theme will jump
out. It’s easier and much more fun than it sounds – honest!
10 A Competitior’s Companion guide
 6
RD
POSTCA
Miss M. Madge
from Middlesex

Be organised Competitio
ns
igh Str eet
itions
Compet treet
183 High S n Town
Competitio
Organisation and strategy will make your comping hobby 183 H“I hanve
easier and more fun. In fact, for some people, keeping records wn
petitio To a system, mABy1 cD2
on what competitions they’ve entered and ticking them off Comco goodie box
ntains postca
when the prizes roll in is all part of the excitement! But even if ABP1 cD2 rds, envelop
ritt Stick, pen es,
spreadsheets aren’t your idea of fun, once again there are plenty
s, pencils, ru
of little things that you can do to improve your chance of a prize. stamps – but bbers,
most of all a
to day diary day
Most importantly, make sure that you never miss a closing date.
which I use
If multiple entries are allowed in a competition and you fancy record every to
extra attempts, then plan to spread these out right up until the competition
closing date. Always pick up entry forms as soon as you see them, that I enter
on a daily b
as they won’t be around for ever. Likewise, if you need a certain asis.
number of promotional labels or tokens, buy these as soon as you
can – even if it means buying more products at once than you I spend prob
ably a coup
normally would. Don’t be fooled by a long closing date on some
hours a day le of
on-pack competitions... I’ve known them to sometimes disappear comping, an
within a week, especially on fresh or seasonal products. mostly all d d
ay on Sund
ays.
I buy a lot o
At home, always make sure that you never run out of essential f Sunday pa
comping stationery (pens, plain paper, postcards, stamps etc.), plus magaz pers
and it’s also a good idea to always carry a pen and a couple ines – but ove
I have becom r time,
of stamps, cards and envelopes around with you in case you e more select
come across a comp that needs entering urgently. The shorter over which co ive
the closing date, the lower the number of entries there’ll be! mps I do no
w”.
Also think about getting yourself some name and address labels
made to save having to write out your details on entries over
and over again.
12 How to Win Competitions A Competitior’s Companion guide 13
 7
lynne hargreaves
From lancashire

“I needed so
mething to
saw an adve keep me busy

Be in
rt for Compe and I
magazine so titor’s Compa
I took out a nion
subscription
.

the know
I won my firs
t prize after
My prize wa a few month
s a box of cr s.
laughed at a yo ns and ever
me, telling yone
more on sta me I was spen
mps than I ding
The final tip is to make sure you know about as many competitions was winnin
after a few m g. But
that are running at any one time. Competitor’s Companion is a ore months
better things I started win
monthly newsletter, which provides you with everything you . ning
need to enter competitions. Each issue contains around 160
competitions with hints and tips such as; where to find the entry If it wasn’t fo
r Competito
form, if you need to enter by postcard or plain paper, where to wouldn’t be r’s Companio
in the know nI
send your entries to, the closing date and even the answer! The , it is a great
of finding th so urce
list is endless. e best compe
With 25 yea titions arou
rs of experien n d.
the most info ce, it’s certa
In order to be a successful comper, you need to enter as rmed compi in ly
many competitions as possible and every month Competitor’s An essential ng magazin
for all compe e.

anion
Companion will be delivered direct to your door with all the rs.
p
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information you need. All you need to do is start entering and

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