Article on competition hints, tips and info

The following article is an extract from Brita Bevis' book: 'I am a Winner because..: A guide to winning consumer competitions'. For further details & information, please contact Brita direct by e-mail at britab@ntlworld.com or visit www.123bang.com

Take a look at Brita's site regularly - she has some super competitions!

By Brita Bevis

COMPING AS A HOBBY

Not many people know it, but comping (the art of entering competitions as a hobby) has been around for a very long time. As far back as the 19th century, in fact. And now, at the start of a new millennium, it's still going strong, with comping having taken off in a big way on the world wide web. Is it really surprising though, when you discover that for an outlay of maybe just a few pence, you could end up the owner of a brand new shiny car, or even a house?

In 1983, when I entered my very first proper comp, I had a vague knowledge that some people had won big prizes from the odd article I'd read. But it was probably very different for you, as these days, hardly a week seems to go by without seeing a smiling winner beaming from the pages of a newspaper, or being interviewed on TV, on one of the many programmes that have publicised the hobby. I have even been there myself, many times - extolling the benefits of belong to the very exciting world of comping. Yes, comping holds an endless fascination for many, but how to join us, and where to begin? Firstly it is handy to know a little comping jargon, so here are the most frequently used comping terms:

Comp/comper/comping: Terms for a competition/competition-entrant/entering competitions.

LWE: The LONG WHITE ENVELOPE! This is how the prize notification letter usually arrives.

Qualifier: This is the item purchased to allow an entry where a purchase must be made.

Proof-of-purchase/POP: Usually the till receipt, label, or piece of the qualifier wrapper, that shows a purchase has been made.

TR: A till receipt.

EF: An entry form. These are a loose leaflet (usually displayed in a rack near the promotional product); on-pack (e.g. cereals); printed in newspapers/magazines' small labels stuck-on promotional packs (bacon/cheese etc.); or bottle neck collars. But could take any form, such as beer mats in pubs, portions of packs, etc. Or may not be required at all, as with plain paper/postcard/telephone entries. Keep your eyes open absolutely everywhere!

Tools of the trade!

It is useful to possess a few 'tools of the trade'. Experienced compers will own at least one of the following:

Thesaurus; rhyming dictionary; reference/fact books; encyclopedias; book of quotes; slogan books; book of phrases, etc. Most libraries stock these in their reference sections, along with other useful books such as; Halliwell's Film/Video guides; Guinness books of Records / Hit Singles; Bloomsbury Phrases and Sayings; Pears Cyclopedia, to name just a few.

Solutionist magazines/publications; These are specialist publications that research current competitions, and provide the answers, give tips and advice, and other comping news, information. Well known ones (most are mail order/subscription only) are:

Competitor's Companion: Chartsearch, 28 Charles Square, London N1 6HT.
All-In-Won: All-In-Won, 7 Broxash Close, Bromyard, Herefordshire, HR7 4TU.
Winner's Friend: 11th Floor, Centre Point Tower, 103 New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1QQ.
Competition Grapevine: P O Box 398, Fleet, GU52 7WY - First time enquirers quoting retirement-matters as their reference will be sent a free copy of the current issue, just write giving your name, address & postcode and mention www.retirement-matters.co.uk. Please send a C5-sized sae. Read all about the magazine at www.compersgrapevine.co.uk

Competitors World Magazine (on request from Newsagents): Unit 5, Ryhall road Industrial Estate, Gwash Way, Stamford, Lincs PE9 1XX.

Handling Houses: These are companies that 'handle' various promotions, which can be anything from cashback offers, or freebies, to opening/sorting/judging competition entries on behalf of other companies. When a handling house is used, you may notice that the promotional address differs to the address of the competition sponsors, but both could be displayed on the entry form. Always read the form very carefully, to make sure you send your entry to the correct place.

Entry form suppliers: Yes, these days you don't even need to go entry form hunting yourself (although I have always enjoyed this, finding it to be a bit of an adventure as well as keeping me fit!) Try:

Formseekers: 8 Northfield Gardens, Watford, Herts WD2 4RE
Formwork: P O Box 67, Bishop's Stortford, Herts CM23 3NW.
Born To Comp: 33 Bells Hill Green, Stoke Poges, Bucks, SL2 4BZ.
Stimson's Supapack: A. Stimson, 4 Fox Covert Drive, Road, Northampton NN7 2LL.

You can also find details of entry-form suppliers in solutionist magazines.

Brainstorming: An intense session of slogan writing, using all the tricks/ideas you can muster.

Old Chestnuts: Much used old slogans. They were probably brilliant first time around, but one can have a little too much of a good thing! And as they are definitely not original, some handling houses refuse to choose these as winners. Whether you use one or not is up to you, but remember they cause a lot of irritation among more industrious compers. I personally don't bother with them, much preferring to create something fresh and different, but might possibly adapt one for a last-minute entry as a last resort.

Plagiarism: Is the act of using someone else's work (slogan), instead of creating an original one. There are a lot of plagiarist's out there, who have won big prizes this way, but for me, the shame of winning, would offset the pleasure of the prize!

The Internet:

The Internet is fast becoming a huge source of competitions and prizes to rival TV, Radio and traditional media sources. You can use search engines such as www.google.co.uk and www.yahoo.co.uk to type in different words such as: competitions, prizes, UK, car etc. Try to use at least 3-6 words to give the search results more relevance to the prize or comp you may be looking for. Be aware that many search engines are US based both in location and as the main source of their info and will return search results with numerous USA based sites. A better option might be to try one of the many competition/prize sites now springing up in the UK, they give details of hundreds of different competitions on the internet. Some of the best are: www.loquax.co.uk , www.prizes.co.uk

TYPES OF COMPETITIONS:

Tie-breakers: These do exactly what they say; they 'break a tie', and are used to select a winner when more than one correct entry is received (which is almost always the case), often following another task. This could be anything from answering questions (factual competition); spotting the difference between two pictures (spot-the-difference); putting a list of items in order of importance (order-of-merit/OOM); finding words hidden in a grid (wordsearch), and so on.

The form of tie-breaker can also vary. Sometimes the promoter may ask you to estimate a distance in miles between two places, or the time of day a photo was taken, etc. But more often, you will be asked to complete a sentence in a given number of words, following a lead-in. For example; Complete in 10 words or less: 'I like ....(promoter's name) because ....'. And the sentence that fits in with what the judges are looking for (aptness/originality/humour, etc.) wins. Simple as that! This is what compers call a slogan competition. Sometimes these can be 'stand-alone' slogans, which means there is no other task involved other than completing a sentence.

Prize Draws: Most of us have entered one of these at some time or other. They are virtually the same as a raffle, and merely involve writing your details on the entry form/plain paper/postcard, and sending to the address given. It is always worth making a few entries (aiming towards the latter part of the contest), as someone HAS to win, and may just as well be YOU! But remember that the easier the comp - the harder it usually is to win. This is the reason that I, personally, prefer comps that present more of a challenge, as for me, the 'thrill of the chase', is almost as much fun, as actually winning!

Limericks: Everyone must have heard one of these. They are simple rhyming ditties that rhyme in a set pattern. Do try and keep your entries clean! Judges certainly won't pick something only fit for a rugby club, as they may have to publish the winning result.

Creative competitions: Any comp where you are required to design, or make something.
These can involve many tasks. You have no doubt seen some yourself, as specialist magazines often feature in-house contests that ask you to: Design a garden feature (Gardening publication); create a recipe (cookery magazine); take a photo (photography mag) write a short story/poem (general interest periodical), and so on. All these sort of comps are worth considering, especially if you have a special talent. And the more specialised the source - the less entries there will be. So don't chuck down that mag', make a start, and who knows? Always try to diversify, as the more you do this, the greater chances you'll have of joining the legions of big time winners!

Estimations: Are often the hardest competitons to win, and may ask you to find the shortest route between two places on a map (see tie-breakers above), or estimate how many cans/packs of the promotional product will fit in the boot of the prize car. If you are mathematically inclined, you can have a field day with estimation comps. One gentleman I have heard of, has actually won SEVEN cars this way! There can be problems arriving at an exact figure, as there is often a rule that states the entry nearest to the judges' opinion, will be the winner. Sit it's best to skirt around the figures you have come up with, and make multiple entries (if permitted). I won a top-of-the-range microwave with this method, with a supermarket comp that asked how many brand x pizzas were bought from them, in one year. They also gave two figures with a difference of 10,000 between them, stating the answer lay within those numbers. As there was a guaranteed winner in every store, and it was unlikely someone would get the exact figure, I felt it was worth making 5 goes, and spaced them out with 2,000 between each answer. And it paid off, as I was awarded the first prize.

Order-of-merit (OOM): These are toughies too! You normally will be given a list of six or so items, describing the merits of a product, which you have to list in the correct order of importance (according to the judging panel). If multiple entries are permitted, a good way of defeating the odds is to choose two 'banker' places; i.e., the most important, and least important items, then keeping these in 'first' and 'last' places, make permutations with the remaining items. The fewer items you have, the easier your task. for example, with three items, there are only six combinations; 123, 132, 321, 312, 213, 231. So it would be worth making six entries, as one entry would definitely be correct. If a tie-breaker slogan is also called for, use the same one for all entries. As only one would be correct, the others would be discarded, and there would be no chance of a duplication (or need for six separate slogans).

Now armed with the basics of comping, are you ready to take on the challenges that lie ahead? And what are the chances of winning? Not an easy question, but most experienced compers find it's not unreasonable to expect to win 5 - 10% of the comps they have entered. My own prizes, number some 1000 - and cover a wide range of items - but it is hard to give an exact value, as with inflation, they must be worth at least £200,000 in today's money. Not a bad return for a comparatively low outlay.

GOOD LUCK!