Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Make Money with online competitions
Reading Time: 7 minutesOnline competitions are an easy way to earn money from home and win free prizes with very little effort.
Making money online from the comfort of your home might sound like a dream come true, but it’s easier than you think.
Online competitions are fast, fun and free to enter, and your chances of winning big prizes are much higher than you’d imagine.
Right now there are lots of people out there snapping- up all the prizes and free cash you could be winning. But as the saying goes – ‘you gotta be in it to win it.’
Read on to find our top tips on how to make money from online competitions. But first, if you sign up to the MoneyMagpie newsletter we have a genuine competition every week.
We also offer a weekly competition on MoneyMagpie and Jasmine Birtles’ Instagram accounts. Make sure you follow us as the prizes are always fab.
All the competitions are free to enter and very easy. We have fantastic prizes like supermarket vouchers, food hampers, jewellery, hotel stays, kitchen appliances and children’s games. Sign up for free here to be in with a chance of entering.
Oh, and make sure to keep an eye on our online competition section where we have a new competition most days!
In this article you will learn how to:
- How to win online competitions
- How to win competitions in newspapers and magazines
- How to win competitions with slogans
- Warning! Warning! Warning!
how to win Online competitions
Online competitions are easy to enter. Since these are geared towards generating traffic, all they really want is your email address which is easy to provide.
Instagram Competitions
Instagram is a whole world of competition fun. And the prizes can be huge. Even we are in on this with weekly offerings on MoneyMagpie and Jasmine Birtles’ Instagram accounts. Make sure you follow us as the prizes are always fab.
TIPS TO help you win fab prizes in online competitions
Tip 1: Remember you MUST set up a separate email account to enter online competitions, or you’ll find your inbox clogged up with nasty spam.
Tip 2: Concentrate on reputable brands or companies like supermarkets and packets, jars or tins of food you know and regularly use. Also, check out the magazine site Goodtoknow for their regular fun competitions (mostly aimed at women and families).
Tip 3: Never pay to enter an online competition. If you like browsing through competition sites, stick to ones which offer free entry like these ones:
Pick my postcode!
Pick My Postcode (formerly Free Postcode Lottery gives away free cash every day to one of the postcodes on their list.
There’s no catch; the only downside is that you have to check each day to see if your number has come up. This increases the site’s traffic which helps them get advertising on it.
So if you keep checking the site you could win at least £20 – or £100s if it keeps rolling over!
Take a look at our article about how to make money from your postcode here.
gfk
For any television and radio fans, GFK Media Panel is a really easy way to win great prizes online.
Once registered, you simply complete the survey every day and give the television and radio programmes you have watched and listened to a rating.
Your opinions are used by broadcasters to shape future content. So, as well as earning some great prizes, you are also playing an exciting role in developing new content.
By filling completing the surveys, you can earn points to exchange for rewards. The surveys are quick and easy to complete, with at least one available every day.
Click here to find out more about how to win prizes from GFK Media Panel here.
the prize finder
The Prize Finder is the UK’s biggest free competitions website and offers you the chance to win cash and great prizes every day.
When you sign up, you’re automatically entered into a free draw and could win up to £500. It really is that easy.
Every day, The Prize Finder lists more free to enter competitions than anybody else, with daily opportunities to win money, cars, holidays and more.
Click here to find out more about how to win prizes on The Prize Finder.
Competitions in newspapers and magazines
Newspapers and magazines run lots of competitions with some great prizes and free cash to be won every day.
These are very similar to online competitions. For the most part all you have to do is visit their website and answer a simple question, or fill out a postcard and mail it in to enter.
Again, you’ll need to register your details as the whole point of the competition for them is to generate traffic and boost subscriptions.
Tip! It’s a good idea to grab free postcards whenever you can to enter competitions where you have to send in your answer. These sort of entry-form competitions take a bit more effort – and therefore have far fewer entrants. So if you do come across them, get your answers in as you have a greater chance of winning.
Don’t be put off by the big ticket items – remember, fewer people enter these competitions believing the odds of winning are slimmer. Check out these current competition providers:
Newspapers
Magazines
How to win Slogan competitions
Think you’ve got a bit of creative genius in you? Slogan competitions are terrific for the keen comper who’s ready and willing to put in a little more effort.
Companies love to use slogan competitions as a way to market their products at low costs and encourage consumers to think positively about what they’re selling. With most slogan competitions, the sponsor company will begin by having you answer a few simple questions to determine whether or not you’re fit for the task. You may be asked to complete some part of a phrase in an ‘apt and original’ manner.
Once again, because so few people make an effort to enter, slogan competitions are a dream for the avid comper.
How YOU can create knock-your-socks-off slogans:
- CompersNews monthly newsletter publishes thousands of prize-winning slogans. Have a look at those that have won in the past to help you get an idea of the kinds of slogans that companies look for.
- Winning slogans typically have rhyme, rhythm or a pun. Go out and grab yourself a rhyming dictionary and a dictionary of English idioms at Amazon, which takes all the hassle out of creating history’s next greatest slogan!
- Remember that the point of the slogan is to advertise the product in a positive light. Your slogan should always make the product look good.
- Word limits are key! Slogans that surpass the given word limit will not be considered. Always stick to the competition rules.
- If possible, enter more than once. But be careful – don’t send in several horrible slogans. Instead, come up with two really good ideas that are different in their approach – for example one that’s clever and witty and one that’s more direct and serious. Be careful to check the terms and conditions of each competition as some specify that you can only make one entry.
- Remember – the more obscure or difficult the competition, the fewer the entrants and the better chance you have of winning.
- Join websites like Loquax and CompersNews for free details on upcoming competitions.
So, remember: set up a separate email address for any unwanted junk mail, and enter as many online competitions as you can. The more you enter, the more likely you are to win!
Warning, warning, warning!
scam competitions
Make sure the competition you are entering is genuine before you enter any of your personal details.
In fact, even if it is genuine, be careful how much information you give them. Most genuine competitions won’t ask for your bank details, National Insurance number or date of birth.
If you don’t know where the competition is coming from and you don’t recognise the company running it (like the MoneyMagpie competitions, magazine competitions or newspaper competitions) then err on the side of caution: don’t give them your personal information.
Nationwide found that seven in ten of us will give out all sorts of personal details in competitions where we don’t know the company offering the prize. This can be dangerous as they can use your details to commit ID theft against you.
Nationwide have produced a video on how easy it is to get people to give their personal details away. Take a look here:
cut down on the spam
If you enter an online competition you’ll be asked to include your email address. This generally means that your inbox will soon be flooded with spam – lots and lots of it. To avoid this problem all you have to do is set up a separate email account.
Try Outlook (formerly Hotmail), Yahoo or Gmail for a free email account. This can be your ‘competition account’, where everything competition related gets sent. That way your personal email account gets left alone, and you still get the chance to win big prizes. Don’t let the spam win!
Do also note that for some of these competitions you have to give your phone number. Not all these companies give you the choice of opting out of receiving marketing texts etc, so make sure you check the terms and conditions if you hate receiving them.
For genuine offers and real prizes, take a look at our competition section on the website here to find the latest great competition offers.
Hi, A month before Christmas my wife is gift wrapping…and complaining!! You never help me etc.. OK,next year will be different,I’m doing it over the year. I’ve already got the wrapping paper,one third off,and a very nice cheese board and knife at half price…and it’s wrapped. The cards have been bought at half price. We’ll be looking in the spring and summer sales with the present list.The gifts will be wrapped straight away. What a relief it’s going to be next year when we open the Christmas box..take out the cards already addressed.and the gifts all wrapped. OK,it’s not a… Read more »
I do online surveys, it works. Use different websites and get gifts, vouchers or cash.
Won £10 voucher yesterday from SurveyFriends
I won a Mini.
I recently won a sat nav on Get me a Ticket, completely free to enter, occassional emails from them, no spam as a result …. thrilled, have recommended to all my family and friends
Hi, Are these competitons spam? Will one end up spending money instead of winning some!!!
moneysavingexpert has a free competition forum that is very good. It lists lots of free to enter competitions & is a very friendly site that welcomes newbies! I have won lots of prizes via the site, eg Wii, Apple ipod, Delonghi coffee machine. People now always keep asking what I have won when they see me. You have to be in it to win it!!
Poor article. Fails to mention that the ‘freebie’ giveaway of 250.00 vouchers means signing up to a subscription service that costs 4.50 a week. Martin Evans would be ashamed of you.
Hi,
We have searched through the terms & conditions but cannot find any mention of the £4.50 subscription fee. Where abouts on the website did you see it? We have contacted the team running these offers and will keep you updated.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Hi, It does indeed advise that their will be a £4.50 montly subscription to your phone, when you entered your phone number in (i entered a mobile) i didn’t go on any further, am scared that i will now get charged this money to my account 🙁
Hi Ruth,
The competition has now been removed. Please do let us know if you get charged.
Lauren
poor research Jasmine. I’ve signed up to Free ASDA promo before & they spam me daily 🙁
I’ve signed up to lot’s of these types of prizes. I change my first name each time so I can who is spamming me (sometime they eamil from random domains). So I know some firms who provide these prizes don’t spam but this offersclick/asda certainly do & it’s the one you pushing the hardest.
A very useful article, thanks. I’ll be using my lunch hour to enter comps !!
any chance of vouchers for healthy eating places?