You have to be in it to win it

It’s an old adage, but it’s a true one. If it’s a genuine competition, then the company are legally bound to offer the prizes that they are promoting. That means if you don’t enter, someone else will win the prize that could have been yours.

So don’t be afraid to enter, and enter as often as is permitted by the rules and in as many things as you can. All you have to lose is the cost of the postage or the text message or the time it takes to write the email (as long as you steer clear of things you can only enter by listening to long calls on premium rate numbers).

Do not allow yourself to be overcome by the fear of losing. Always remember that even the most consistent of winners will lose far more times than they will win.

To be in competitions, you need to know where to find them. There are lots and lots of competitions that you can enter online – in fact you could spend all day finding them and entering them. A good idea for online competitions is to set up a separate email address for entries, which you can periodically change, say every six months. Regardless of whether you tick the right boxes, your email address will inevitably find itself on lots of mailing lists, so you shouldn’t enter with an address you want to keep in the long term.

As well as the Internet, print publications such as magazines and newspapers are excellent sources of prize draw and other competition entries. In fact, as well as the ones advertised in magazines, there are whole magazines devoted to the subject! You should try out a few different magazines and newspapers (which tend to prefer ‘reader offers’ than outright competitions) preferably ones from different publishing houses, as the advertisers often do a deal that encompasses a number of different titles. Bear in mind the prizes you want to win when considering which publications to buy – the advertisers will be looking for long term converts to their products, so only buy an equestrianism magazine if you want to win something that has to do with horses, the outdoors, or country life.

The other place to look is in your local supermarket. Many competitions are specifically for people who purchase a particular product. If you look round the shelves at the packaging, you are bound to find plenty of offers, giveaways and competitions.