A guide to winning prizes online

Look out for free prizes and promotions

Keeping an eye out for opportunities to win prizes is the first and most obvious step towards success. The web is a hub of promotions, many of them free, and it often pays to take a strategic approach to joining groups and signing up to newsletters for things you are interested in. This will give you the best opportunity to win prizes you actually have some use for or will enjoy.

Free competitions advertised offline, such as in magazines, shops and at major events, are also a great opportunity to hear about online prize-winning opportunities.

Win prizes through social networks

The growing pervasiveness of social media makes it even easier for web users to come across free competitions online. One of the best ways to maximise opportunities is to become friends with major corporations on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter, as competition announcements are often posted online first.

This means that customers can be first to hear about competitions, especially if they have Twitter and Facebook feeds set up on their smartphones.

Newsletters

Email newsletters provide another good opportunity to win prizes online. In the same way as someone might use a social networking site, signing up to a newsletter provides customers with exclusive access to new deals and opportunities to enter competitions.

Don't miss out, respond quickly

Many competitions online are based on response time, so it is advisable to keep a look out for competitions regularly, whether at work or through a social media mobile alert system.

Whenever you are near a computer or are using your smart phone on the train, it's worth taking a quick look for any online competitions, because you may find you are the first to hear about a new deal.

Group buying sites

GroupOn and LivingSocial are two of the internet's most famous group buying sites, offering limited offer deals to customers in the form of vouchers or competitions on a first come, first serve basis.

Although not always free, deals on GroupOn and similar sites offer major discounts and deals on some quite fantastic things, so it's always worth making sure you are among the first to be considered for them.

Prioritise the best competitions

Consumers throwing themselves into online competition hunting with gusto need to be able to organise themselves well, to make sure they dont miss out on any major deals.

Depending on how good you are at finding great free competitions, you could find yourself with too many to enter. A good strategy in this situation is to prioritise entry to competitions offering prizes you have a genuine use for.

Beyond that, choosing competitions that are easier to enter than others could also maximise winning opportunities.

Search for online competition run by brands on Facebook and Twitter, or check out UK Net Guides lifestyle guides for more free competitions.

02/08/2011

 

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