Words or Less Answers - Lesson One - Get your creativity Flowing!

Over the last couple of days I’ve listed a few competitions that require a “words or less” component. Otherwise referred to as a “tie breaker” answer.

I know that many readers may shy away from these competitions as they don’t feel confident that they can write a winning answer. I’ve written about hints and tips to entering creative competitions before, but nothing really about how to craft your answer.

This time around I will focus on how to get your creativity flowing for the particular answer you are trying to draft.

Some questions and competitions don’t require much thought. In fact sometimes, a great answer will pop straight into your head and you write it down and voila a winning entry is all yours. I absolutely recommend if something unique pops into your head when you first read the question, then use that answer. Most times though, I find i have to put a bit of thought into what I write.

For this purpose I am going to create a fake question just to give you some ideas and inspiration to follow when you are writing your own.

Question: Answer in 25 words or less why a new car would change your life

First step - Write out all the creative words or ideas that you first get pop into your head.

*** This can include things such as wheels, clutch, ride, drive, fast, road, kids, family, shiny, paint, desire, exhaust, tyres, windows, speed, luxury… you get the picture.

Second Step - Take a look at the words you’ve written down and see what pops out to you as your favourites. In this case I am going to say clutch, desire, exhaust, paint, luxury, wheels

(as I am writing this I have no idea what the final answer will be, this really is a process I would follow so we’ll see how it goes.)

Third Step - Start to craft your answer using your creative words. I generally create rhymes, but there are many people who do really well without rhyming and in fact there are promoters that can’t stand rhymes so the choice is up to you.

**** My answer - using the words clutch, desire, exhaust, paint, luxury, wheels

I’m “exhaust”ed being a mum, “Clutch”ing at my desires, I’d “wheely” love to have some fun, and a brand new set of “tyres”

As you can see, I ended up using the word “tyres” but I’m happy with the final result. It takes a bit of fiddling with words, but the end result is definately worth it.

I hope that helped

Win a Computer - Enter today closes 31/10

I only just found this competition, so I am hoping a few people find this post in time.

It’s a pretty awesome deal - Win one of 6 HP Touch Computers….

The weird thing about this competition is that it shows up differently depending on which browser you use.

Firefox you will get a sentence to finish… the mouse is… (answer is DEAD)

IE you will get a 25wol answer.

Good luck everyone, these look pretty awesome. One entry per person only

WIN A COMPUTER

Daniel Morcombe - Day for Daniel, Help find him…..

Every now and then, when there’s something important that means alot, expect that I might post about it here.

The abduction of Daniel Morcombe is one of those things…… 5 years on, this poor boy’s family are still left without answers to who abducted their son, brother, grandson, friend…….

It is such a high profile case in Australia I am sure there aren’t many people who haven’t heard of Daniel, but it doesn’t hurt to remind everyone.

If you have any information or clues for the police about what may have happened to Daniel Morcombe please come forward.

For further details go to http://www.dayfordaniel.com.au

Ultimate Chocolate Cake Bake Off at Not Quite Nigella

This has to be one of the tastiest Contests ever! Not Quite Nigella is hosting a Chocolate Cake bake off…. YUM!!!

You’ll need to get baking your best ever chocolate cake and take some great photos to show it off…….

Do that and you could be in the running to win 3 ballotine boxes of their best truffles worth $25 each!!

Head over here to Not Quite Nigella for the full terms and entry details.

Contest Closes November 30th… So get baking.. oh yeah, this one is open worldwide

Noble’s Pureau SIGG water bottles - Win 1 of 5 With Not Quite Nigella

The amazing food blog “Not Quite Nigella” is running another great competition for Aussie Bloggers.

They “are giving away 5 Noble’s Branded SIGG water bottles. These ingeniously designed reusable bottles are worth $35 each and they’re a fantastic way of reducing your dependance on water bottles and not only that, they incredibly durable and chic.”

To enter to win a water bottle of your own, head over to Not Quite Nigella and “ write in 35 words or less, how else have you, or do you intend to, reduce your carbon footprint? Add your entry via a comment to her competition post.

Closes November 1st!

Win a Caravan, Bikes and more - QUICK!!! CLOSING TODAY!

Yesterday I posted about these really great competitions finishing on October 31st and I’ve found even more, so you still have today to get entering and be in with a chance…. once I finish writing this up, I’ll list some more competitions ending over the next few days so you can work in advance a little

GOOD LUCK

Win a Plasma TV with B Mag - CLOSES 5PM - Answer 2 Questions: 1 What are the locations of the 3 Brisbane Videopro Stores ? and 2 What is the Videopro “Product of the month” for October ? - here’s the answers for you Q1: Fortitude Valley ,MacGregor and Videopro Carindale Q2: PANASONIC DMC-FS3K Lumix® 8.1-Megapixel Compact Digital Camera

Win Bonds Pink Ribbon Packs from MindFood - Answer in 25 words or less why you think breast cancer awareness initiatives are important

Win a WeeRide with Notebook Magazine - Simply enter in 25 words or less “Where would you go with the Weeride?”

Win Chocolate!! - One of 50 boxes of celebrations with New Idea - Answer in 25wol why you want to try the new round balls.

Win an Autographed Replica Basketball Jersey with Handle Magazine - “ Send us your name and address and tell us in 50 words or less why you believe you are the biggest Boomers’ fan” email handle [at] handlemag.com.au with Boomers Competition in the Subject Line.

This one is a dream prize….CLOSES 4PM so get entering Thanks to the today show, win a Jayco Caravan valued at $50000 - To enter simply call 1902 555 800 or sms 199 55 800 - don’t forget to leave your full name and address. (My advice with these competitions is not to get carried away and spend a fortune entering. They get stacks of entries and you have to remember it only takes one to win!!)

Cosmopolitan Magazine - Win a Hangover Pack, Nintendo DS and more - (25wol answers required)

Win 1 of 5 Bianchi Bikes with Men’s Health - enter your details and answer in 25 words or less why you’d like to win a Bianchi bike.

So there you go, some REALLY great prizes that could be yours just by entering……. Good Luck everyone

Win Prizes with these Great Competitions for October

Sorry I’ve been missing in action a little (more about why in a little while) but today I’ve got a huge job listing some really great competitions closing today and tomorrow.

The end of month is a really busy time when you are “comping”. There are always a really high number of competitions that close on the last day of the month. Because I’ve been away I must apologise for not getting these up earlier, but you’ll still have until midnight tomorrow to enter these.

Good Luck - I’ll split them up over a couple of posts so you can work through them.

Win a Hotslings Baby Pouch by visiting Nursing Angel - Simply join their website, create a username and write a product review on site to enter the draw. Closes 31/10

Win $50000 with Australian Idol - This competition closes at 5pm on 31/10. Guess the order of the 10 most popular songs to win.

Win an Entertainment System with National Geographic Channel - Answer in 25 words or less, which architectural or engineering wonder you would like to visit and why.

Win $5000 with Ambi Pur - answer this (rather interesting :)) question in 25wol (note there is only ONE entry per household): “How does Ambi Pur 3volution combat olfactory fatigue & why is this important to you?”

Win your share of $26000 in Flight Vouchers with Flight Centre - Sign up to their news letter and refer your friends for your chance to enter the Flight Centre birthday competition

Win an STM Laptop Bag - These bags are gorgeous, win one by answering this question: When choosing a laptop shoulder bag, do you prefer a horizontal one or vertical one and why.

Win a year’s supply of Kleenex - Answer in 25 wol What does Kleenex mean to you? - The 5 best answers win.

Win a Suzuki Motorbike and meet Chad Reed - Enter your details and answer “who is australia’s greatest supercross rider” for your chance to win this amazing prize!

Win a 15 day La Dolce Vita tour of Italy - Answer in 25wol what your favourite Italian meal is and why!

Good Luck everyone… I’ll try and get back with more competitions a bit later this evening…. all of these close tomorrow

Competition Spotlight - Aussie Comps Closing this 26/10 to 27/10

Welcome to my new blog area, the “Competition Spotlight”.

It really excites me that so many readers are getting involved in such a great hobby. To help everyone out I decided I will feature competitions that are currently running in Australia. For now, I will list the best competitions closing within the next couple of days to a week.

Because it’s the end of the month at the moment,there will be HEAPS of competitions closing soon….. I’ll list some closing on the 26/27th to get you started. I’m going camping for the next couple of days, but on my return I’ll be posting daily, any awesome competitions that are closing…. I’ll work 2 days in advance to give you time to enter

It might take a little time to get on a roll, but you can definately look forward to finding some really great competitions here and I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed that you guys win… Please let me know if you do

GOOD LUCK xx

Closing 26/10/08 -

Purchase Required - Woolworths Rexona Men’s deodorant - Win Homewares and Iphone Daily.

SHOP TILL YOU DROP - Win an Urban Originals Handbag - and Billabong Giveaway Words or Less Answer required

FAMOUS MAGAZINE - WIn a summer shoe pack worth $1000 - Words or Less Answer required

Closing 27/10

NINE MSN - Create your Quesedilla and win $10,000

EGG CORPORATION - Buy Eggs and Win Round the World Tickets and Minor Prizes of giftcards.

AUTOCHICK - Win Tickets to see Stereo Sonic in your capital city.

I hope these get you started

More coming soon…….. GOOD LUCK

Which is the Best Entry Method for Competitions and Sweepstakes?

I’ve had a couple of emails asking me something that is a fairly frequently asked question in the world of winning:

“When a competiton or sweepstake has multiple options for entry, which is the best way to enter?”

So as an example, there’s a competition running that allows you to enter either via mobile phone text message (sms), or landline phone, internet or by mail, which do you choose?

The solution to this is not always an easy one, but there’s a few steps I take to decide what to do.

Consideration 1: - When is the closing date for the competition? If the cut off date is within a couple of days, then obviously this rules out the mail in entry method straight away. I then consider several other things.

Consideration 2: - How many Prizes are Available? Is there a single major prize, hundreds of smaller prizes, or a mixed variety? If there’s only one large prize then generally I don’t focus too much on that particular competition. The more prizes there are to win (even if they are smaller in value) the greater your chance of winning. So if there are many prizes to be won I may take the time to enter using each entry method to spread my entries around, or I may just enter all via the internet.

If the entry process involves a tie breaker such as a words or less answer, I then consider whether further creative avenues can be utilised and may use mail in if I am going to do a creative project and answer.

Consideration 3: - The Cost of Entry: After considerations 1 and 2, its then important to analyse the cost involved in entering. If you need to make a purchase to qualify for entry and it’s not a product you regularly use, it’s a good idea to limit yourself to just one or two entries. Then just pick the 2 entry method and go with those.

Or, if you don’t like the option of having to pay for premium text messages, phone calls or stamps to enter via mail, phone or sms, then using the internet is perfect as it’s pretty much free.

How Entries are Drawn? - It’s been asked many times in the past how it is that when there are so many different entry methods, how is a single entry fairly drawn? There are a couple of ways this takes place:

Some promoters will enter every entry into a computerised database, transferring the mail in details manually. Others will draw a certain number of entries from each entry method, and use those entries as a “short list” of sorts, and then draw the winning entry from there.

It’s hard to predict or determine whether any one entry method is superior, whats important is to remember that you really do just have to be in it to win it!

A disappointing Hobby.

Sometimes this hobby can sneak up on you and all of a sudden leave you feeling a little deflated!

You see, quite often there are great competitions that you would REALLY love to win. But a little more rarely, there comes along a competition that could REALLY change your life!

The most recent one of those was run by Continental and IGA supermarkets for the chance to win one of 4 prizes of $50,000. For most people a cash prize that large is life changing, and it’s really hard not to get excited about the possibility of winning.

One of the first rules of entering competitions and contests is that you try your hardest not to get too emotionally invested in any particular competition or prize. If you do this, it can leave you feeling very down, deflated and unmotivated. None of these feelings help you to win prizes by the way.

But this time around it’s hard not to. For this competition I entered 3 times, one of which was a creative entry. I remodelled a cup a soup box complete with poem and photo. The other 2 entries were words or less online entries that I put my heart into and actually took time to work at. (I will dig them out and post them here when I find them).

But, it wasn’t meant to be. We didn’t win. Sometimes you can’t help but feel a little deflated, but I’m getting back on my horse and starting tomorrow will have a new determination to win!

Lookout Prizetastic, I have a few ideas for some regular blog segments and even some regular competition segments to get everyone in the winning feeling……

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