How to win competitions
Winning Tip Six:
Be organised
Organisation and strategy will make your comping hobby easier and more fun. In fact, for some people, keeping records on what competitions they’ve entered and ticking them off when the prizes roll in is all part of the excitement! But even if spreadsheets aren’t your idea of fun, once again there are plenty of little things that you can do to improve your chance of a prize.
Most importantly, make sure that you never miss a closing date. If multiple entries are allowed in a competition and you fancy extra attempts, then plan to spread these out right up until the closing date. Always pick up entry forms as soon as you see them, as they won’t be around for ever. Likewise, if you need a certain number of promotional labels or tokens, buy these as soon as you can – even if it means buying more products at once than you normally would. Don’t be fooled by a long closing date on some on-pack competitions... I’ve known them to sometimes disappear within a week, especially on fresh or seasonal products.
At home, always make sure that you never run out of essential comping stationery (pens, plain paper, postcards, stamps etc.), and it’s also a good idea to always carry a pen and a couple of stamps, cards and envelopes around with you in case you come across a comp that needs entering urgently. The shorter the closing date, the lower the number of entries there’ll be! 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.
