A Day in the Life of a Comper
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Today I have a guest post from Nikki who blogs about her life as a full-time comper. Here she shares a typical day in the life of a comper, how it fits around her family and some top tips for anyone looking to get started with this lucrative hobby. You can find her on Instagram – Glam and Geeky.
A Typical Day In The Life of A Full Time Comper
I’m what’s known as a comper. Not someone who gets lots of complementary freebies at hotels or casinos – but someone who enters lots of competitions!
I’d like to think I’m a moderately successful one too, but I’ll let you judge for yourself! From winning holidays, and Playstations to experiences like chocolate-making workshops – winning all these prizes give me the opportunity to do things I wouldn’t be able to do with my usual budget. I’m often asked how do you win so much, so I’m here with a post all about my daily comping routine!
Having three kids (one of which has additional needs) means my comping time can be limited. I’ve come up with a schedule that works for me and my family and still seems to bring in the prizes (which are always welcome!). Having a lot of medical appointments for my eldest means I need to be flexible sometimes but comping is just that. Entirely flexible and there is no right or wrong way to enter competitions!
What Are The Best Days To Enter Competitions?
December; A Month of Discounts, Freebies and Advent Comps!
Comping Tips: How To Win A Holiday
Life of a Comper – Morning Routine
Once the eldest has gone to school and the youngest has her first nap of the day that’s the start of my comping day. I use this time to have a flick through my favourite competition listing site competition database and enter as many of these as I can. This is the core of any of my comping routine and I always try to get through these first before I attempt anything else.
I have to admit although I prioritize this, it’s definitely not the best way to win lots of competitions, The reason for this is that 1000s of other compers will be on this website also entering the same competitions. This greatly reduces the chances of winning. It doesn’t, however, mean you won’t win so I still like to include it. Also, it’s a very hassle-free easy way to enter lots of competitions quickly without any effort. It also allows for distractions such as the 3-year-old deciding she wants a dance party with me or the 1-year-old waking up suddenly!
Afternoon
Straight after lunch it’s time for an hour-long nursery run (deep joy!) But once back it’s usually time for the youngest second nap of the day. Provided I’ve managed to get some housework done I’ll usually jump on my laptop at this point and start having a look for some creative competitions. I usually bookmark these on my browser to come back later.
If I’ve already got some bookmarked I’ll get started brainstorming and jotting down in my notepad what I’m going to do for my entry.
I do love competitions that require a little bit of creative effort. I particularly like it when they include the children in some way. Whether it’s making a video together or something simple like a drawing competition. It’s a great bonding experience and it gives them the opportunity to also be creative. I will usually do these as and when we have the time around nursery, school and medical appointments.
Evening – Life of a Comper
Once the kids are in bed and the housework has been done this is where the real fun starts! I’m currently very lucky to have all three children sleeping through the night which means I can dedicate most of my evenings to comping.
The first task of the evening is to finish off any entries on competition database that are ending that day. I like to filter by prize amount making sure I enter the highest-value prizes first to make sure I don’t miss any. I will always make sure I get the big prizes entered and then if I’ve got time I’ll go through the smaller prizes entering the ones I’d like to win.
One this is done it’s over to my Facebook. I’m lucky enough to belong to some excellent comping groups which share a lot of competitions. I scour through and enter any I like the look of as well as bookmark any that will require an effort entry for me to fit in at some other point.
Once I’ve had enough of looking at my comping groups I then pick up my Compers News magazine. This is a monthly magazine that you can subscribe to with a wealth of information on comping as well as listings of several competitions too.
The final part of my comping routine of the day is probably also my favourite. On the days I have enough time and energy I go looking for my own competitions. This means finding competitions that are not listed on a competition listing website.
I love finding these type of competitions as typically they won’t have anywhere near as many entries. This means a much higher chance of winning. The other benefit of finding your own comps is sharing them with your comping groups. I feel this gives me a little bit of comping karma- besides it’s only fair to share competitions back to a group that I’ve been actively entering competitions from!
How I Use Tweetdeck As A Comper
There are several ways to find your own competitions, but by far my favourite is Tweetdeck. Tweetdeck is a powerful organisational tool for twitter users enabling you to view several timelines in one simple interface.
Most importantly with the right working knowledge of it, you can use it to quickly filter through a huge amount of information to find not only twitter competitions; but Instagram, Facebook and web entry competitions too. If you’re interested in learning more about how to use Tweetdeck there will be a ‘how-to’ guide launching soon on my blog.
Isn’t This A Lot of Work? Is Comping Worth it?
So that’s it! A typical day comping for me. If you think that sounds like a lot of work then you’re not wrong. Entering a few small competitions here and there isn’t going to win you a lot of prizes ( but it might still win you some!).
I started off small and worked my way up to the routine I have today. There are always days that I can’t follow this routine and that’s ok.
The reason I love comping is it’s a fantastic hobby. I love finding and entering competitions and the buzz I get from winning is fantastic. Comping has allowed me to pay for Christmas and birthdays as well as experience things I wouldn’t have otherwise afforded to. If I have days when I don’t get the chance to enter as many as I’d like that’s ok as there’s always tomorrow!
If you’re reading this and thinking ‘this is great, how do I get in on this action?’ carry on reading for my top 5 tips for getting started in comping!
Top 5 Tips For Compers
1. Find A Comping Group
Finding a comping group is a great start to this hobby. You could look on Facebook or join a comping forum such as MSEs or Loquax. There are loads out there and they will contain a wealth of information and competitions. Most will have very helpful members who will be able to answer any questions you may have!
2. Set Up A New Email Address
This is particularly important. As you enter competitions you will notice that a lot of them may require you to sign up to a newsletter. That or you accidentally miss the tick box and end up agreeing to receive junk mail. Having a dedicated email means your normal inbox won’t be getting clogged up with possible junk mail. It also means you, won’t miss, an important winning email!
3. Read The Terms and Conditions
ALWAYS read the terms and conditions. This is especially important in effort competitions or prizes of large value. If it’s a holiday are there required dates to take it? does it include flights? does the prize require collection? If it’s an effort competition how are the winners picked? I could probably write an entire blog post dedicated just to this subject so I’ll just leave this point as make sure you read them!!
4. Diversify
Entering many different types of competitions, across many different platforms has worked best for me in terms of winning. Don’t just stick to entering competitions on Facebook, or Twitter or Instagram. Look for chances to enter anywhere you can. I found when I went out of my comfort zone and started entering competitions that required more effort I started to win more!
5. Life of a Comper – Be Patient
It could be 1 day, it could be 3 months (or even longer!) until you get your first win. Typically when you first start entering competitions it may be some time until you get your first win. This is usually because you’re not entering as many whilst you figure out what you’re doing. Or maybe you’re not finding as many low-entry competitions. You will have dry spells where you don’t win anything but the key here is persistence you will win eventually!
If you want to see more of what I win then please check out more of my blog. I update monthly with what I’ve won and how I’ve won the prizes!
Great post! As a fellow comper, I love to read about what work for other people. It inspires me! 🙂
Great Ideas here ! An interesting read !