#WinTheWorld - My Comping Hobby
When I launched my WHISKEY EXPLORER GIVEAWAY (click to enter), I promised that I would post some more about my hobby of entering competitions, or as the initiated call it, ‘Comping’. Today I published my #WinTheWorld page, on which I’m going to curate all the competitions and opportunities for your to win great Travel prizes on - from all over the web! So I thought, what better tie to tell you a bit about my ‘Comping’ hobby. If you can't wait to find out WHAT I WON, click HERE!
HOW DID I FIRST GET INTO ‘COMPING’
I have been a ‘Comper’ on and off since I was at University, but I only got seriously into it as a hobby over the past few of years. I was working on a polling stations for a local election, and quite by chance, the polling officer on the day was a seasoned Comper! We chatted to pass the long day of polling, exchanged tips and pointers. That night, I decided to maximise my efficiency at ‘comping’. I set up separate a separate email, and social media accounts specifically for sharing competitions (I didn’t want to annoy my personal friends or singing customers by filling my Facebook timeline with giveaway adverts! I set up text shortcuts on my computer (which sync to my phone) so that typing comments and tagging fellow Compers became a matter of typing three letters - super speedy!
Now I regularly check in on a few of my favourite competition listing sites COMPERS NEWS, LOQUAX and THE PRIZE FINDER. Once you become a member (some are free, some have a small annual subscription), these sites have handy tools that let you edit down the huge lists of giveaways, either by marking them as entered, or ignoring prizes that you don’t want.
SETTING MYSELF SOME RULES:
NO PAY FOR PLAY
… this could get very expensive, very quickly.
I know that I have quite an addictive personality. My food issues are bad enough, without having to deal with gambling addiction! I will enter purchase necessary promotions, but only if it’s an item that I would normally buy anyway (toilet rolls, soda, a certain type of cereal etc)
SET A MINIMUM STANDARD
If I entered every competition on every site, I would never have time to do anything else!!
I have a minimum value standard (£50) to enter a competition.
It’s not worth my time to enter a million competitions for £10 worth of prizes.
FOCUS ON PASSIONS & CASH-INs
Well, it nearly rhymed!
This is another method of lowering the number of competitions you enter, and thus time invested. Some people enter competition simply for the thrill of winning, whether its a BMW or a bog-brush! Others love to enter puzzles for the sake of having a gentle mental work-out.
I do like getting creative for ‘effort-needed’ competitions, but I do limit myself to only entering for THREE categories of prize:
1) Things that I actually WANT.
2) Things that I would be happy to win for someone else (as a gift)
3) Things that I could realise some decent cash from.
ONLY AFTER YOU’VE DONE YOUR HOMEWORK!
Comping is a hobby after all. I make sure that I’ve ticked off my list of chores and work items for the day before I allow myself to settle down to comp. Entering competition MIGHT bring nice things into your life, but putting the work in is the thing that DEFINITELY brings good things into your life. So you can be sure that, by the time I let myself open a comping website, I have already done my exercise, my paid work for others, my household chores, cooking blogging and music practice! I have got the comping down to a bit of a shortcut fine art these days, and can easily knock out a daily list of entries while simultaneously watching TV, listening to podcasts, or learning a new song. I actually find it’s quite a nice way to pack productivity into my otherwise passive pass times.
WHAT HAVE I WON?
In the last few years, I have won everything on the list below (not exhaustive):
£5,000 Holiday to Paxos Island near Corfu
£8,000 Holiday of my choice (to be taken after Covid!)
£2,800 Holiday to Turkey (TBA)
European Flights or EuroStar plus Hotel Stay (to be taken after Covid!)
UK Hotel Stay with Spa Day
Theatre tickets with 4* London Hotel Stay
65” Samsung Smart HDTV
Samsung Bluetooth Sound-bar and SubWoofer
Sony PlayStation 4 (1TB)
£780 of Sainsbury’s Gift Card credit
£200 of Tesco Gift Card Credit
£250 of Restaurant Choice Vouchers (Pizza Express, Yo!Sushi & more)
£200 in various cash prizes
SCUBA Diving Equipment
FitBit Versa 2
Crafting Equipment & Supplies with over £300
Smaller Gift Cards for Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and more
Runner-Up Prizes like Hoodies, Drinks, Gift Hampers, Toiletries, Sweets, Chocolates, Towels, T-Shirts, Water Bottles, Socks, Snacks, Accessories, Jewellery
… and I’m sure a few smaller items that I may have now forgotten!
So - what are you waiting for?! Get comping, and bring some joyful surprises into your life!
You can get started HERE by visiting my #WinTheWorld list of travel competitions, or by CLICKING HERE to enter my own WHISKEY EXPLORER GIVEAWAY!
