WANTED: Your comping questions

Submitted by SuperluckyDi on Tue, 2012-02-14 09:14

Recently lots of you have been asking us comping questions both here on the blog and on our Facebook page. So we thought it would be a good idea to collate them all together and put together a series of blog posts and do some Facebook 'comping clinics' to offer advice and tips on your favourite hobby!

If you have any questions please feel free to leave them here as a comment, email them through to me at di@theprizefinder.com (use the subject 'Comping Questions') tweet them to us or post them on our Facebook page.

Here are some suggestions for topics we could cover:

• Postal competitions
• Roboform
• Automated entry services
• Competition magazines
• Photo/video competitions
• Facebook competitions
• Voting competitions
• Organising your emails
• Twitter
• Blog giveaways
• Finding competitions
• Terms and Conditions

…but we welcome questions about ANYTHING at all comping-related! I'll regularly choose a topic to cover on the blog and we can have a Facebook chat about it too.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Comments

Submitted by esthermate on Tue, 2012-02-14 14:11

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Hi Di, I have a question!

Is there anything you can do if a prize is not as described. I recently 'won' a competition that was advertised as a prize pack worth over a £1000 but when it arrived it was just a box of fliers and a few posters- Definately not worth what the promoter was saying! I know a few other people who have also won with this competition and have been really disappointed with the prize.Is there anything I can do about this?

Submitted by esthermate on Tue, 2012-02-14 14:15

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I recently entered a Facebook competition where the promoter does not appear to have carried out the prize draw when they said they would. I posted on their wall asking when the prize would be drawn but no response. Is there anything I can do?

Submitted by esthermate on Tue, 2012-02-14 14:28

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I would definately like to know if the automated entry services are worth investing in. I also am unsure how applications like tweetdeck can help you when comping on twitter. I know a lot of compers use it but I don't have a clue!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2012-02-14 14:54

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Some comps require you to play a game and acquire points or complete in the shortest time. Some people are getting impossibly high scores or short timings. I believe there are software tweaks that allow you to 'cheat' I'm sure it is not sour grapes on my part.

You're right, a geeky friend of mine told me once how easy it was for her to cheat these games by slowing down her computer - that's why I never take part! I can't understand why promoters insist on rewarding the highest scores with a prize - they should just enter you into a prize draw if you reach a certain level, to give more people a chance!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2012-02-14 16:56

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I know you've probably been asked this a bazillion times, but how do you win so much? Predominantly on about web comps (FB, Twitter, websites, etc). I've been comping for close to a year now, I follow everyone elses lead basically, do everything right, but I've won very little for my efforts, I think the last comp I won was an Advent! I'm reaching the end of my comping teather! I enter as many as I can, not 100's daily, but pretty close to that, I just don't know what to do anymore!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2012-02-14 16:56

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Does it matter what your profile pic is (when it comes to entering comps)?
And does using a nickname make a difference?

Submitted by Melsiebug on Tue, 2012-02-14 17:09

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Do promoters ever choose winning entries based on location?
I live in the South East but often enter comps promoted by radio stations or magazines based hundreds of miles away, not the sort that are for meals out or show tickets in local places and so on, but for more general prizes. It must be clear from my address that I'm not a listener to or a reader of their products and I wouldn't blame them if they did favour local people, but as they don't have any restrictions on who can enter I often wonder.

Submitted by aimo2284 on Tue, 2012-02-14 22:55

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Hi Di, I just wondered if it's worth the extra effort and cost to enter postal entry comps?! do these tend to get less entries? in your experience have you won more with postal entries than online comps? thanks!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2012-02-15 21:22

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I have created a twitter account, but have no idea of how to enter the comps using it. Some advice on the basic do’s and don’ts of competition tweeting would be really helpful.

Submitted by Carolle on Thu, 2012-02-16 20:29

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Whenever a winner is interviewed on Daybreak, This Morning etc, they always mention the fact that they won after sending in a text. I was wondering if it's worth doing the free entry ? Thanks !

Submitted by darcey09 on Sun, 2012-02-19 10:39

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.. in response to Carolle's comment to Di re: Daybreak and This Morning competitions ... ive not won those particular competitions (yet!;) but I did win on Dickensons Real Deal last yr and I always do the free entries only... I never expected to win as the odds are im sure pretty scant! Wishing you luck!

Well done for winning on Real Deal and thank you for your comment. So far I've only heard of winners like you on RD but no free entry winners on the others. I will keep trying though. Thanks again !

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2012-02-19 15:23

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I find this site more difficult to get around now it is "improved" I don't know if I'm putting this in the right place but when I enter the comps they don't change colour or fade so I don't know what i've entered Also what happened to the friendly message board where we posted our winnings and other people said 2Well done or "i got one too" etc.

Thanks for your comment - I presume as you're commenting as 'Anonymous' then the problem is that you're not logged in to the site when you're entering the competitions. The tracker only works if you're registered and logged in!

We removed the message board when we redesigned the PrizeFinder in November - it wasn't used very often and unfortunately we had lots of problems with spammers! However you're welcome to post your wins on our monthly thread (find the February one at http://www.theprizefinder.com/blog/2012/02/02/our-february-wins ) or tell us about them on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/theprizefinder!

Submitted by kellee on Mon, 2012-02-20 14:03

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Hi all, I'm having a problem with new competitions by date not changing colour recently, although competitions entered are still fading out - anyone else experiencing this? Thanks :)

Submitted by SuperluckyDi on Wed, 2012-02-22 22:52

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It seems like there were a lot more new comps last month doesn't it? There are loads on Facebook at the moment so will try my best to add a few more to the website as well as sharing them on our Facebook page!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2012-02-21 22:35

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Hi Di

Facebook competitions are a minefield but is there any benefit of sharing a competition when they ask more than once? I try and share more than once if I can but I have been told some promoters think this is spamming. Surely promoters want you to promote and share their competition and their Facebook page
Some actively ask you to share all their posts.
Mel

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2012-02-22 08:02

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you went on the box to advertise and recruit users to your site. How does this help your existing users. How did you lobby to get on the telly?? I unsubscribe, its hard enough to win without you telling people you have found the magic formula to win £200000, when i have won a considerable less amount. Ta ta

Since you ask, a fellow comper (from a rival company) turned down the BBC interview and suggested I do it instead. From your point of view, of course it's better that nobody new takes up comping, so any mention in the press is a bad thing. But if The PrizeFinder didn't get any new members signing up, Steve and I might be out of a job!

If you're struggling to win prizes, why don't you take my advice and spend a little more time on the comps that are harder to enter? I'm here on the blog, on Facebook and on Twitter to 'help existing users' - and any time I'm asked for advice or tips I'm happy to help out. If you check out our Facebook page I regularly share the comps that have LOADS of prizes, because I know PrizeFinder users will have a good chance of winning.

Submitted by maci234 on Fri, 2012-02-24 17:50

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hi di , you have done amazing with your wins , i have been with prizefinder now for years but no much to write home about boks,cds ,i do check alot of winners pages and there is never alot of wins from scotland area ,do you think we get discriminated against if we live in scotland or our postcode is too far away , thanks

Submitted by treboreuk on Sat, 2012-02-25 14:19

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is there a official body i can complain to if i think competitions are being unfairly run, on the whatsontv site it seems to be the same names appearing on the winners list every month, now some may think it is sour grapes, but check it out, it seems to be the same names over and over, i noticed one month, the same person won the same prize twice