There is, however, a low risk and sometimes completely free way to add significantly to your income and while there are no guarantees, the potential rewards involved are simply huge. The concept of winning cash or big prizes has been with us for a number of years but with the increase in online activity, there are more options now than ever before.
Getting started
Chances are that you’ll already know of some competitions that you’ve come across in your normal day. Maybe they’re on television or in your national newspaper. Alternatively, perhaps you’ll see links online to some fabulous prizes.
Maybe you’ve been cynical about these in the past but it’s true to say that someone has to win them and it is also true that the best ‘compers’ can actually make many thousands of pounds a year and therefore make a comfortable living in this way.
Stephanie Mamo is a full-time comper and has won over £24,000 in prizes, including a holiday in Miami, laptop computers, clothes vouchers, spa days and concert tickets. Don’t say that it’s not possible!
How to be a Comper – Reducing the element of chance
In order to get started therefore, keep looking for those opportunities but make some specific online searches and you’ll find that an extensive choice of competitions appear on a daily basis.
Competitions tend to fall into two categories: There are the ones where you have to think carefully and use your skill to construct something such as a slogan for a new product or you may be asked why you like a particular brand, service or holiday destination and then to translate your thoughts into less than 25 words or so.
This is where the serial compers score heavily because over time they get to understand exactly what companies are looking for. It’s also true to say that you’ll need to have a creative mind and a certain level of writing skills to be successful.
In those cases, the chance element is reduced but the other types of competitions are a complete lottery. Usually these come in the form of a multiple choice option where one answer is easy and obvious while the others are completely ridiculous – e.g.
What is the capital of France?
- Paris
- London
- Edinburgh
The ‘competition’ is therefore reduced to complete luck of the draw so how can you increase your chances of winning?
Multiple entries
With many competitions there may not be a limit as to how many times you can enter but a majority may insist that there is only one entry per household.
In these instances, career compers make sure that they include friends and relatives as many times as they want or are able to. It may mean coming to an agreement and splitting the winnings but it is still a window into a world of possibilities.
Making money
As you will no doubt be aware, some contests offer a straight cash prize while others might award a car, boat, or a smaller item. If your reward is an object rather than a wad of money then how do you make some extra cash if you don’t need it?
The answer is simple – just sell it. A number of prizes end up on the auction site eBay and are a quick and simple way of converting those prizes in to money in your bank account. A prime example of this sees TV’s ‘The Gadget Show’ give away equipment worth around £30,000 in the shops and there are similar contests all over the TV channels. Even if your eBay sales brought in 50% to 75% of this figure then you will have a major contributor to your annual income.
The next step
Your next step really is to get started: So try those TV and newspaper contests and keep on trying until you make a breakthrough.
Additionally, if you visit any number of online forums such as the highly regarded portal at moneysavingexpert.com, then you can find updates being posted to the site several times a day. These will give you links and warnings of impending competitions and in many cases, the helpful poster might even give you the answer!
It can also help to study those forums just to see what is achievable and previous success stories will tell you that it really is possible to add to your income or even make a living from entering competitions. Remember too that any cash prizes that you win are completely tax free!
The information and possibilities are all out there so now it’s over to you to get involved and see how much you can make.
About the Author: This post was written by Ben Skinner the Marketing Director of online competitions site MyOffers. MyOffers are a free online competition site offering cars, holidays and cash prizes. Visit them at http://www.myoffers.co.uk/