13 easy New Year’s Resolutions for compers

New Year is a great time to make changes to your comping routine, and get motivated for the year ahead. Here’s a few suggestions for some comping related New Year’s resolutions you could make!

Ans if you really want to get stuck into your comping, then make sure you order a copy of my BootComp Planner! It’s full of motivational ideas, comping tips and goals to help you make 2023 your most successful comping year yet – plus you’ll also have access to my special BootCompers Facebook group!

1. Only enter for prizes you want to win

Decide which prizes you would love most to win in the next 12 months, and write them in a wishlist. I use a fun bingo card format for my wishlist, which you can save into your Google Drive files – or simply download a JPG copy to print out and fill in by hand (or fill out the bingo cards on page 8 of BootComp!). Don’t get distracted by going to listings sites and entering every comp you see – if you focus on the prizes that you really want and look for comps to win them, you’ll find the hobby more manageable and won’t have boxes full of unwanted prizes! It’s also a good idea to let your tagging friends know what you want to win – it’s no good being tagged in comps to win toys if you don’t have children to give them to.

Copy my bingo card template to your Google Drive, or print off a JPEG copy – then share a photo of your wishlist on our dedicated post in the Lucky Learners group!

2. Set a daily target for comps to enter

Having a measurable and specific goal can help push you to enter more comps, which should in turn result in more success! Write your monthly target onto the goal-setting pages in BootComp, then tally your daily comps on the planner pages. Or print off a copy of my monthly ‘Comping Challenge’ tally chart, and write in your daily goal at the top. Some days you might not have chance to enter any comps, but other days you might enter double! Work out your average at the end of the month by adding your daily totals and diving by the number of days in the month, then write it onto your sheet. If you reached your daily target, increase it for the following month.

Download my tally chart as a JPEG or PDF

3. Enter radio competitions

Radio competitions are some of the easiest to win – but for most you’ll need to be on the ball, and ready to text or call in at the right time. For some comps you can register online, meaning you don’t even have to be listening in! You might be nervous about chatting to a presenter on air, but what have you got to lose? You could end up £10,000 richer! Check for the latest updates to the radio competition posts in Lucky Learners, get into the habit of turning on the radio every morning when you wake up – and set an alarm on your phone as a reminder for specific on-air comps!

More tips: How to win radio competitions

4. Keep a prize spreadsheet

Keeping track of your wins helps to keep you motivated, as it’s easy to forget about all the little prizes as the year goes on. It’s also a good idea to keep track of which prizes have arrived, so you can chase up any missing ones! And at the end of each year you can check out your statistics to see what type of comps you did best in, and what your total prize value is.

• If you want to use my template to track your 2023 prizes, go to https://bit.ly/prizesheet which will prompt you to save a copy to your own Google Drive.
• If that doesn’t work, go to http://bit.ly/PrizeSpreadsheetTemplate then click FILE and MAKE A COPY.

More tips: Setting up a prize spreadsheet

5. Use browser bookmarks effectively

Do you find yourself typing in the same website names into your browser address bar over and over, or using Google to search for websites? Using your Bookmarks and Bookmarks bar in a web browser makes it simple to visit all your favourite links, and will free up plenty of comping time! Bookmark your Google searches for favourite prizes or types of comps, and links to all your favourite posts on SuperLucky or in Lucky Learners.

More tips: How to use bookmarks in Chrome and Safari

6. Check your junk email every day

Winning emails often get filtered into our junk (or spam) folders. Don’t miss out on an amazing prize because you’re not checking! Make it one of your daily habits. And why not start the new year by getting to inbox zero and unsubscribing from some of those newsletters you never even open?

More tips: Tips for a tidy email inbox

7. Organise receipts and packaging

If you enter a lot of purchase necessary competitions, ensure you keep your receipts and packaging safely! I always take a photo of my receipt next to the product as soon as I return home from the supermarket, but it’s important to keep the original safely too, just in case! Consider investing in an expanding file to keep everything in order.

More tips: How to organise quallies, receipts and POPs

8. Read the rules before entering

I run competitions as well as enter them, so I know an awful lot of compers can’t follow simple instructions! Follow, reply, tag one friend, use the hashtag – make sure you do everything that’s required, or your entry won’t be valid. Especially important is checking the dates of prize events or holidays – too many compers win amazing prizes they are unable to use, because they didn’t read the T&Cs before taking part…

More tips: Why you should read the rules

9. Comp sustainably

This might be a tricky resolution for a lot of compers, but think twice before you enter a competition with thousands of non-recyclable prizes that you’re not really that bothered about winning, or have no one to give them to (for example plastic or soft toys). Of course, it feels great to win a prize, but consider if you really need to collect boxes full of stuff that you’ll never use. I’m also making an effort to remind promoters about this too – I think there are already enough Cadbury scarves and Oreo earphones on the planet already!

10. Set your alarm half an hour earlier

This is a brilliant resolution that’s not just for compers. Getting up earlier is a great way to start the day – use your extra 30 minutes to make a cup of tea and check through the latest additions or posts on your favourite comping forum or group – or go through your list of daily entries and instant wins! Turn on the radio too – some Heart FM competitions require entrants to text or call in before 7am. My first job every morning is updating the Compers Shopping List with new comps, and removing the closed ones. Or simply use your extra half hour to do some exercise – three times a week I go for a run and make plans for the day ahead!

11. Have more fun!

Don’t treat comping as a chore, or sit entering comps on the same website every day. Search out and enter creative photo or video competitions, have a go at a TikTok comp, snap a selfie, go to events, apply for a game show, or meet up with local comping friends! Remember that our hobby is designed to be a fun way to spend time, and the prizes are a bonus!

More tips: How to get on a TV game show

12. Check your camera roll every day

I screenshot lots of messages, social media posts, take photos of promotions on products, magazine pages and all sorts with my iPhone – then I check through my camera roll every day, and add details of the comps to Lucky Learners, to the compers shopping list or my own ‘effort comps to do’ Google spreadsheet. If you also tend to take screenshots, set yourself a daily reminder to check your camera roll and get up to date, just in case you miss out on something special!

13. Take on TikTok!

I know from the messages I get that lots of compers are keen to try TikTok competitions, but are struggling with the app. Lots more brands are running comps on TikTok and they’re generally low entry compared to other social media. I’ll be posting a beginners guide to TikTok comping in early 2023, but in the meantime you can download the app, sign up and set notifications for our TikTok Competitions post in Lucky Learners!

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Do you have any comping resolutions for the new year? Share them in the comments!