Coupon Queen Meets Competition Queen

Comping is the latest trend to inspire us money-savers, some do it for the thrills and others to extend their current thrifty savings. I myself have caught the comping bug and have teamed up with Super Lucky Di Coke to bring you an insight into the fabulous world of winning competitions!

I have avoided entering competitions for far too long! I always thought it was too much effort or there is no chance I will ever win. Well as soon as I stopped being so stubborn and started entering I was soon proven wrong. So far I have won a few hampers, a Ben & Jerry’s T-Shirt and 2x Wireless Festival Tickets all in one month! I contacted Di as I felt that the Queen of Comps would be able to explain to you all a lot easier the perks of comping and all the tips and tricks of the trade. So here is our Q&A you can also find Di’s blog post on myself and Coupons here.

So Di tell me how did you get into Comping?

In the late 1990s I started entering competitions to win tickets to music festivals,  creating my own customised postcards to send off with collages and drawings. I won almost every competition I entered, and realised this could be a fun and lucrative hobby! I looked for bigger prizes in magazine and was soon winning holidays, laptops and cash prizes – then I discovered the online Compers News forum where there were loads of competitions listed. I was very successful with tiebreaker comps until the mid 2000s, but these aren’t so popular with promoters now. These days I enjoy a bit of everything, so I’ll try radio, text, instant win and magazine comps – but I have most success with photo and creative comps on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 Tell me how did you become the Competition Queen?

‘Competition Queen’ is a phrase I started using after Bella, Chat and the Daily Express all used it in my interviews – my friend Carolyn in Canada is known as the ‘Contest Queen’, and I’m often seen as her UK equivalent! I may not be the biggest winner in the UK, but with 18 years experience in all types of prize promotion I do know an awful lot about winning – and running! – competitions, which is why I started blogging at SuperLucky six years ago. I spent so much time answering the question ‘How do you win so much stuff?’ that I decided to share my answers and tips on the blog and in my book ‘SuperLucky Secrets’, which has just been published.

What advice would you give to beginners?

Don’t give up. Too many people take up the hobby and expect instant prizes – it doesn’t work like that. You need patience and persistence to succeed. Comps that require a little effort – a reply on Twitter, blog comment or photo for example – will give you the best chance of a win. Search on Twitter or Google and listen to the radio for local comps with a low number of entries. Join Facebook comping groups (and real life comp clubs!) for support and to share competitions with friends.

Is it very time consuming, what tips or tricks can you suggest to save time?

I don’t actually spend that much time comping – I don’t want it to become a chore! I love RoboForm, which is free software to fill out forms and log in to websites quickly. Set up a ‘comping’ email account and set an email signature for it, with your name, address and phone number. If you use a smartphone or tablet, set up keyboard shortcuts for your essential details so when you type ’40’ for example, your whole address will appear! Use your spare time efficiently too – I search and enter Twitter comps on my phone if I’m waiting in a queue, or while walking to school. It’s easy to enter simple giveaways and prize draws while you’re watching TV in the evenings. I also recommend if time is tight, focus on searching for the prizes you really want to win – the hobby is more manageable then!

What has been your favourite win?

Winning a VW Beetle was a dream come true – it was the only car I’d ever wanted! Winning a honeymoon to watch the Brazilian Grand Prix was such an adventure – and taking my son to snowy New York this year was so exciting for him!

Where can we find competitions?

I recommend people split their time between using listings sites (Loquax, PrizeFinder and MoneysavingExpert), checking Twitter & Facebook news feed (this works well if you follow/add lots of comping friends!) and searching for comps on Google & Twitter. Try the creative comps and blog giveaways I share on SuperLucky and my Facebook page. There are comps in magazines, comics and newspapers, on the radio – and of course, couponers are always in the supermarket so look for promotional products while you shop!

Don’t have any regrets – take every chance you get to make the most of life! Comping is definitely a hobby that helps with that – I would never have flown a plane or done a bungy jump in New Zealand if I wasn’t a comper!

Win! A Serenata Hamper worth £59.99!

Di and I have also been kindly given a red wine hamper by Serenata Flowers, to enter our competition all you need to do is enter your details in the Gleam App below and simply answer the question, and you’ll be in the draw. But you can earn bonus entries by following@serenataflowers, @couponqueenemma & @superluckydi on Twitter, subscribing to my YouTube channel, or Di’s YouTube channel. You can also earn bonus entries by referring friends who enter too!  Closing date for entries is 1 September 2015 and it’s open to UK residents aged over 18 – check the widget for full T&Cs. The same Gleam widget is installed on SuperLucky, Coupon Queen & our Facebook pages, and there will be one winner.