Going forward: 2019

Last year, my new year’s resolutions were simply to enjoy myself and to start extending this blog onto Instagram. How did that go? Well, my @garywasabi insta feed is proceeding at a rather pedestrian pace, averaging slightly over a post a week, which is less than I hoped for, but given the aforementioned pledge to be kinder to myself, I’m not going to beat myself up about it. I’ve also gone easy on myself in terms of trying not to overdo it (advents aside) and not worrying about missed deadlines. I stopped seeing my counsellor a few months back but I think she’d be pleased with my progress.

But what about this year then? Well, one of my plans is to have even more fun. To this end, I’ve started playing wishlist bingo with a bunch of other compers. So far this year I’m drawing a complete blank, but I'm hopeful of ticking off most of these things by December. A full house, however, might be wishful thinking!

I’m also planning to minimise time spent in my comfort zone. Instagram has been really good to me, but as it’s slowing down, I really need to diversify. Having updated my bookmarked searches to include everything on the bingo grid, I’m sure to be entering more web-based comps. I’ll also be entering purchase and effort comps where I can - although this will require more organisation on my part - even if that just means writing a shopping list!

Truthfully, I’m unlikely to stop being a fair-weather purchase-comper, but when it comes to promotions with hundreds of prizes, such as last year’s Bonne Maman Madeleine promotion and the Doritos & Pepsi Perfect Match giveaway, I’m sure I can make an exception.

As for those effort comps, I probably should update my photo library for those effort comps, but I fear that might be a step too far!

That’s probably enough to be going on with, but if you think I’ve missed anything, do let me know in the comments below!

New Year, New Wishlist 2018

I’ve just had a look at last year’s wishlist. It was 28 items long, and while I didn’t tick off much, it’s nice to see that some wishes were fulfilled, namely the flask, a wireless speaker, vouchers and tickets to the football. It’s fair to say that I could have tried harder to win certain items (a major problem when you focus your energies on lower-odds comps) but at the same time, have you any idea how hard it is to find prize draws for tampons?!

With this in mind, I’m tweaking the wish list for 2018. Naturally, some things will never change: like any normal human being, I still want spa days and scotch. Following a particularly vibrant festive period with my children, however, I’m wondering if technology could make me a better man, hence my new-found hunger for noise-cancelling headphones.

As ever, I’m broadly grouping my desires into basics, boring things, tech, experiences and cash & cash equivalents.

Basics are the kind of thing that should come through the door instead of credit card bills. Were granola distributed under a kind of universal credit system, for example, the world would be a better place.

Then comes the one-off purchases that I keep postponing, on account of my preference for comfort acquisitions, such as trainers and biscuits.

As for tech, not only do I find it hard to justify investing in home entertainment when that money could be better spent addressing the children's most recent vandalism, I am also a documented luddite. My telly, for example, predates HD, and the only reason I don’t still have an enormous CRT one is because my cousin kindly gave me his old one when he updated a few years back!

Cash and cash equivalents are, I’m sure on everyone’s wishlist. I’m desperate to extend into our loft, so if I can divert any of our regular income towards this massive goal then I’d be over the moon.

Finally, experiences fall into three categories: jollies for me; jollies for the children; and jollies for everyone. The colour scheme of my wishlist would suggest that I’ve filed “spa” under “jollies for everyone”. The argument here is that it is actually in EVERYONE’s interest to send me on spa breaks. The simple fact is that if I am submerged in a hot tub for two days, isolated from the incessant hullabaloo of my offspring, I do become a slightly more patient parent. I grant that sometimes the transformation lasts only for an hour or two, but I assure you it’s worth it.

What about you guys? What are you hoping to find in your comping stocking in 2018? Let me know in the comments below!

About those resolutions…

Back in January 2017, I set myself three comping goals: get organised, run a giveaway, and lay off the protein comps.

One of these was an unqualified success, the other two not so good.

The success was of course my little collaboration with Brush Baby. This opportunity came out of the blue, after my son’s letter from the tooth fairy went viral, and if there’s one thing I like to do with opportunities, it’s bite their hands off. Several hundred people passed through here while the comp was live, and some of you even stuck around, so come here and let me give you all a great big thank you hug (or firm handshake if you’re not so touchy-feely) - you guys are the tops!

My relationship with protein comps meanwhile blew hot and cold. Mainly cold: for the bulk of the year, I managed to stay clean … but then December struck. Due to time restrictions, my Advent season didn’t stray far beyond the confines of Instagram, at which point I became overwhelmed by a tsunami of competitions to win hairbrushes and energy bars. Well, let’s just say I didn’t win any hairbrushes.

Finally, the organisation. This was calamitous. I tried a hard-copy diary, a list on my desktop, bookmarks on Chrome, and even emailing myself, but could I keep a handle on what comps to enter and when? NOPE! I suspect part of the problem is that my work patterns changed this year, leaving me with less free time (or at least, less brain energy). Then again, maybe I’m just getting old. Whatever the reason, my line manager is stamping a great big black FAIL on this bit of my annual review, and I’m under strict orders to get my teeth into this “development opportunity” before it bites me.

So what’s it to be this year?

My counsellor tells me I should make my goals more realistic, so I’m tempted to knock organisation on the head this year … but then again, I do so hate to be a quitter!

My counsellor also tells me to be kinder to myself, so I’m going to keep doing this for the craic. That means enjoying every win, no matter how small, and not beating myself up about days off or missing closing dates - there will always be more giveaways!

As a more formal goal, I’m going to see how well this blog can extend onto Instagram. Possibly it won’t translate at all, but you’re welcome to follow me @garywasabi during my awkward early stages. (Here, I should add that the plan is to use the account for comping natter rather than comping per se, as I’ve neither the time nor the inclination for the moral murk of comping with multiple accounts!)


What about you guys? Did things work out to plan? Let me know in the comments below! Oh, and if you’ve got any tips on organising me - just let me know!

2017: A year in numbers

2650: Total prize value (£). Amazingly, that’s the exact same number as last year. Well, semi-amazingly anyway - there’s a fair amount of rounding goes into these calculations as it’s impossible to attach an exact cost to things when most products can be bought at any number of prices from any number of vendors, with the result that RRP is largely meaningless. To further complicate matters, I’ve got some prizes in America that I’m yet to see, so can’t really say what they’re worth. With this in mind, let’s just say that I did no worse than last year, which is pretty good considering my patchy efforts.

1600: Biggest prize value (£). Oh my, this was nice - four mountain bikes and a GoPro camera from WD40! When I read the winning notification I actually felt a bit queasy, and if I’m honest, I’m still a bit numb - one bike would have been a great prize, as would the camera on its own. The fact that it was from an effort comp made it even sweeter! I’m highly indebted to my second-born for this win, as he undoubtedly added a little x-factor to my entry (see below).

130: Total value of vouchers won (£). This broke down into a £100 Amazon voucher, a £20 high street voucher and a £10 PayPal voucher. The Amazon voucher arrived just in time for my Christmas shopping so was especially appreciated.

44: Number of wins. Actually, my name was pulled out of the hat a total of 47 times, but two of those occasions were for a football match I was unable to attend due to a change in itinerary (the same match!), and I’m reluctant to count the “free” bottle of Lucozade I won during the Made to Move promo as the voucher actually cost me 4p to redeem. On the plus side, my mum gave me the football she won from Walkers, so I’m adding that to the tally!

14: Wins on Instagram. Instagram was my luckiest social channel - but only by a whisker. What’s more, half of my Instagram wins came from the advents, so it wasn’t a consistent source of good fortune. What is interesting, however, is that in contrast to my Facebook success, most of my Instagram wins came from simple comment/tag/regram prize draws. This highlights how much shorter the odds for no-effort comps can be, compared with, say, Facebook or Twitter. Indeed, three of those wins came from comps with under five entrants, while another one had less than ten. On Facebook, meanwhile, all of my wins required some degree of effort.

3: Total piggyback wins. I love piggyback wins! I’m talking, of course, about competitions where prizes are awarded to winning entrants AND their friends - a form of giveaway that I’ve observed most often on Instagram, though I’m sure exists elsewhere. In 2017, I got a free-ride on tea bags, a Corcicle canteen and about £50 of Bach flower remedies, thanks to my brilliant comping buddies - fingers crossed, they’ll get some payback in 2018!

1: Pointless skill learned. I can now flip a half-filled bottle of water. I am so 2015.

I hope you also got a chance to look at your prize spreadsheet in more detail during the festive season - let me know if you spotted any unanticipated patterns! 

Deadwood

Recently, I’ve not been enjoying the comps. Sure, I’ll always love winning, but the process of entering has been leaving me cold. I’m bored by forms, muddling my closing dates and drawing a blank with ideas for effort comps: in short, the mojo has taken a sabbatical.

And yet I can't get comping out of my head!

Some of that, of course, is compulsion (another good reason to ease back), but another part is the desire to get my head in the right place for the season of comping bedlam commonly known as December.

As I’ve said before, the advents can take a lot out of you, so it’s important to prepare as best you can - and to look after yourself as you go.

My last week has therefore focused on deadwooding my social media feeds to ensure I receive a better stream of interesting content once the season - and my mood - pick up.

Deadwooding Twitter is probably the easiest. With an app like ManageFlitter it’s a doodle to review your follows and remove any that are no longer of interest (for more details, check out Di Coke’s post). That said, unless you’re approaching your 5,000 follow limit, there’s no urgency here, as the average Twitter feed is such a barrage of jibber jabber that the likelihood of a decent, low-odds comp falling in your lap are marginal. Indeed, most seasoned compers will tell you that the best way to enter Twitter giveaways is to take the bull by the horns and go find them yourself. In this regard, Nikki Hunter-Pike’s Tweetdeck tips are essential reading.

Onto Facebook then. Personally, I have little love for Facebook. I’ve no desire to spam my entire family with comps, but since Mark Zuckerberg now shares my every last like, reaction or comment with my entire social circle, I seem to have no choice in the matter. Furthermore, while Facebook is happy to unlike pages off its own bat, it appears less keen for users to do so under their own steam. Sure, you can unfollow pages as and when they come into your newsfeed, or go to your likes page and unlike to your heart’s content, but either way, the process is plodding and painful. To this end, I prefer UnlikeIt - a really simple app for removing like clutter. Yes, it can be a little slow, but given that Facebook refuses to support it, we’re somewhat over a barrel.

Finally, Instagram. Until the middle of 2016, follows were listed in chronological order, making it relatively easy to thin out old, redundant profiles. All that changed when Instagram introduced the present pointlessly opaque system. Now, the profiles at the very top of the list are the ones with which you have most interaction. The rest? Well, they’re just tossed in with no regard for order whatsoever. Thankfully, however, this update islimited to the app only. The desktop version of the site still shows follows in chronological order. In other words, if you’re logged in on your desktop, just pull up the list of who you are following, scroll to the bottom, and deadwood your way up.

BUT HOLD YOUR HORSES!

Before rushing off on a mad orgy of unliking, know this: massive unfollow binges put your account at risk of temporary suspension. This is because such behaviour is often associated with automated tools that can contravene the various social media platforms’ terms of use.

Furthermore, unliking promoters simply because their giveaway has closed and you didn’t win is a bit, well, mercenary. Give these guys a chance! That said, if it’s six months down the line and not one of their photos, memes or messages has had the remotest impact on you, then they're wasting their time marketing to you, and it's probably best for both parties for you to be honest about that.

Good luck getting those newsfeeds back in hand!

If you'd recommend any apps for managing your social media profiles, let me know in the comments below!

The last of the admin?

It is, by definition, a work in progress, but I've set up a Pinterest account to link up with this blog - so if you're that way inclined, then do please follow @garywasabi.

So far, I've set up three folders: two for picture competitions (one of winning pictures and one of, erm, not winning pictures) and one for my prizes.

I'm not sure that my prize history will be overly inspirational - though I'll happily stand corrected - but I, for one, am a big fan of seeing what works and what doesn't when it comes to creative comps. To this end, I hope this will ultimately prove useful to the comping community.

Some of the pictures I know I've taken will take a bit of scratching around to find, but once this is complete, I'll finally have my comping history compiled and ready for public scrutiny.

I hope it cuts the mustard!

Do you have any further suggestions for comping-related Pinterest boards? If so, please let me know in the comments!

Season’s tweakings

January is rubbish. It’s the month that none of the others want to sit next to. December gets all the glitz and parties, and February is at least over quicker, so the paycheque goes further; but January? January gets diets, dubious resolutions, and a whole bunch of abstinence.

I don’t really buy into abstinence, but when it comes to comping in January, I don’t really get much say in the matter. That’s not to say there’s nothing out there, just that (with a handful of notable exceptions) most of it doesn’t exactly blow my skirt up.

So, what’s a comper to do?

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been focusing on my admin. Sounds pretty dry, right? Maybe so, but if this foundational work means 2017 goes off with an even bigger bang, then it will all be worth it.

Let’s have a look at my progress so far:

• New spreadsheet: Easiest job of them all! These are the columns I’ve been using, but I’m open to suggestions if you think I’ve missed any.

• New diary: Last year, I used a notebook to record ideas and deadlines. This worked tolerably well till the middle of the year when extraordinary events blew all my routines out the window. This year, I’m insulating against disorder with a proper, fit-for-purpose diary that shows a whole week across a double-page spread. I can now find things throughout the year much more easily. All that remains now is to train myself to consult it every day…
• Calendar dates and hashtag days: I suppose I could write these all in the diary, but it seems like a lot of hard work. I’ll probably just print out Di Coke’s list and stick it in the front. With Blu-Tack, so I don’t have to print it next year!
• Managing likes/follows and unsubscribing from newsletters: I’ve long been a fan of Crowdfire, so getting my Twitter house in order hasn’t been too onerous. As for Facebook, I recommend Unlikeit. It’s not recognised by Facebook, so you have to ask the developer if you can register to be a tester on the beta page, but it does exactly what you need it to. And last but not least, the unwanted e-mail. I’m normally fairly hot on avoiding subscribing to newsletters and marketing mails, but sometimes it’s like plugging a leaky dam with bubble gum - especially in December. I’d heard good things about unroll.me and tried it for the first time last week. I can’t believe how straightforward it is - kudos to the developers!
• Wishlist: Check!
• Bookmarks: I’ve tidied my bookmarks into folders for daily draws, and searches for local comps and wishlist items. I know some folks have a folder for instant wins too, but I tend to avoid these as I can’t justify the time.
• Compiling stock photos: I’ve set up a folder on Dropbox with sub-folders for seasonal pics, such as Christmas and autumn, but there’s always room for improvement.  It also wouldn’t hurt to spend an hour or two trawling through every last picture I’ve got stored on this machine.
• Learning a new app: The first target for this year is master Tweetdeck - I've made a start, but if anyone has any tips, I'm all ears!

So, that’s the winter of my discontent made glorious summer through nerdy admin work. Still, I have a sinking suspicion that I’ve forgotten something. As such, I’d be really grateful if you could comment below with any suggestions so I can revisit this post next January and use it as a checklist for future winters!

How do you cope with the January lull? What does your spreadsheet look like? Have you any suggestions for things to bookmark or the kinds of stock photos to have on hand?

New Year New Wishlist

My last wishlist was a bit scrappy. It wasn’t scribbled on the back of a fag packet, but it might as well have been. As such, I’ve made a bit more effort this year, and created a periodic table of desires. The colour coding isn’t strictly necessary, but it does help group the ideas together.

First then, are the bare necessities - things that are so fundamental to life as we know it that I generally resent paying for them, such as tampons, razors and, er, whisky. Actually, I don't resent paying for granola - I just added it for aesthetic reasons.

Second are those things that I’m too tight to buy anew because we don’t technically need them. For example, we do have a flask, but it’s a little on the wee side; my wife does have sunnies, but they’re about ten years old; and our eldest lad does have a scooter, but it's pretty meh and I’m loath to invest in a decent one given how little interest he takes in it or for that matter anything else with wheels.

Next are two discrete items: a cleaner and a new sofa bed. Given the devastation my children wreak, hiring a cleaner would be a horrific waste of money; nonetheless, I would be genuinely interested to see if a professional could make the bombsite in which I live into a more homely bombsite. I’d also love a sofa that matched the décor and didn't give guests neck ache. However, until the children stop drooling (and worse) on the existing furniture, it just wouldn’t be money well spent.

Now comes the tech section. File under “standard” - everyone wants new phones, flashier tellies and anything Apple. Likewise, cash and cash equivalents. I added vouchers for sneakers in here as I’m currently lusting after some fresh Air Max that I have not the slightest need to own.

And so on to experiences. First, for me: booze and football. Much as I enjoy watching Norwich City play, I can’t remotely afford the tickets. I’ve previously won tickets from the shirt sponsor, however, and do keep an eye out in case any of the club’s other sponsors are, as they say, leveraging their partnership. As for the sauce, wine tasting, and gin or cocktail making all sound fun, although I’d have to shift this sodding cold that’s been throttling my taste buds for the last month.

Next, experiences for my kids: Legoland and KidZania. Everyone loves Legoland - that’s a given. As for KidZania, my eldest enjoys pretend play to an extent that I cannot begin to compute. Last week, he insisted on being taken outside (in the rain) so he could patrol the street pretending to be an old man with a walking stick. I can’t stand it. My wife can’t either. At KidZania, however, the pretending is guided, detailed, and generally awesome (although I imagine the person getting the kids to be estate agents has a quieter day than the pilots, movie directors and fire fighters; then again, it takes all sorts - see above). In sum, my boy would love it.

Finally, there’s R&R. First, a spa break. I've come to love these, not least because they represent the only way I can have a conversation with my wife without the constant interruption of children and chores. Last year, I even managed to finish the book I started two years prior.

Winning a holiday would be even better. Our eldest worked so hard to spoil our last holiday that we’ve been reluctant to splash out on another one. For the last two years we’ve had the house renovated instead of going on holiday, so he’s trashed that instead.

The other big-ticket item I’d like arguably falls under the same banner, as I’d like flights to the States in order to visit family out there. Sure, a US holiday would be even better, but flights to, say, Chicago, would be very welcome indeed.

So, that’s my wishlist sorted for the coming year. Remind me to check back in December to see how I’ve done!

What do you have on your wishlist for 2017? Please share in the comments below!