Sometimes the competitions are for luxury holidays, cars, or vouchers to spend in High Street stores – recent competitions have been for £5000 or £10,000 worth of vouchers for Debenhams, Argos and Marks and Spencer. During Valentine week there were two competitions to win holidays in the Caribbean – what fabulous prizes! Just imagining I’m sat on a white sandy beach watching the turquoise sea lap around my feet makes me feel all warm and relaxed.
What I am trying to offer is the chance to be able to enter competitions that you would normally not hear about because you are sat at a desk, out working, doing household chores or on holiday. You have a life and are getting on with it -but are missing out on the chance to win some fantastic prizes. So I will be sitting by the television during the week (how sad eh?) and bringing you details of all the competitions that are featured together with phone numbers, text entry numbers, website addresses and the all important questions that are broadcast on the shows but not detailed on the show websites. So now you need never miss a single opportunity to enter – you can then log on, on a daily basis, from your home or desk pc/laptop and enter the competitions that interest you without the need to sit through the mind numbing drivel that is Day Time TV!!!
You can enter either by phone, text or online. Text and phone entries used to close on the day that the competition aired, but they now all tend to be weekly competitions but the prizes are much more worthwhile winning. Online entries are usually open for 4 working days after the competition is featured giving you a little more time to enter and as the questions are so simple and it is more of a lottery than a skill competition so under the rules of the Gambling Act a free to enter route has to be offered.
With the exception of Fifth Gear/The Gadget Show most of the rules state that you can only enter 5 times per competition. So if there is a daily competition to win a car you can effectively enter 5 times a day and get 25 entries but if that prize is increased to include lots of other goodies and made a weekly prize you can only enter five times in total. Please check terms and conditions regularly as they can change – This Morning used to allow 30 entries online a day but has now reduced it to only the 5!!
This makes it fairer for all who enter and although a qualifying question is asked I think we can safely assume that it’s pretty much a draw for the winner as the answer to the question is usually pretty obvious - the ‘My Advice’ part of this site is really a bit of fun – tongue in cheek so to speak.
I’m not sure what tactics you all use but I tend to enter the weekly competitions one a day so my entries are spread out but you could always do all five on one day. It is not completely clear whether you are allowed 5 texts, 5 phone entries and 5 online entries or just 5 in total so once again I just stick to 5 in total as I don’t want to waste my entries by getting disqualified.
Since the ITV voting scandal with shows like The Comedy Awards and the GM.TV competitions I have to say I am a little sceptical about free entry internet competitions (although in all fairness to GMTV they did refund me for wasted entries by phone that never stood a chance of winning as they had already chosen the winner earlier than I had entered). They are being monitored by the Watchdog now and have cleaned up their act, so bearing in mind it is free entry and the prizes are well worth winning it has to be worth a few moments a day to enter. Plus as mentioned earlier they now have to operate under the terms of the Gambling Act. Online television competitions are a fantastic way of being in with a chance of winning for doing very little. Just imagine how especially good a luxury holiday would feel if you were lying on that beach safe knowing darn well that you had not spent a penny of your own money.
The trick to winning competitions is to enter regularly. Obviously lady luck plays her part with competitions such as this because, let’s face it, the questions are hardly taxing but if you enter on a daily basis you are lowering the odds.
Someone has to win and it’s a big morale boost and keeps you focused knowing that you really can win. Already this year I’ve recently won two tickets to the Outdoor Show at the NEC , TWO luxury spa breaks and a digital DAB radio so I’m now waiting for the BIGGIE!! 
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So don’t forget – rain or shine you have the opportunity to enter television competitions even if you have to work, go on holiday or if you simply pop to the loo and miss the all important question. If you want to be in with a chance of winning though, remember it’s simple – “You Have To Be In It To Win It” so Good Luck and keep your fingers crossed.
