• "The great competition listings....and that's not the best part....all this with FREE membership!!!!" (Agnes - Kelvin Grove, QLD)
• "I love entering competitions and I love the easy to follow format of your website" (Jacquie - Deniliquin, NSW)
• "Yay! Thankyou so much! I really didn't think i'd ever win anything. Great website!" (Bernice - White Gum Valley, WA)
• "I was wrapped to receive a message telling me to check the winners list. I won a GPS system! Thanks so much!" (Danielle - Narre Warren North, VIC)
• "Book terribly interesting have read every page" (Nea - Bensville, NSW)
• "I can't believe you find the amount of competitions that you do. It is truly amazing" (Naomi - Rydalmere, NSW)
• "The best website - the best competitions - the best Book." (Pauline - Everton Hills, QLD)
• "Hooray, I'm absolutely thrilled at winning a portable DVD player. Thanks a million for my win " (Heather - Cashmere, QLD)
• "This is my favourite website and it's just so easy to use!" (Kalyani - Palms Beach, QLD)
• "All the work you guys put into this site is awesome and keeps me entertained daily, thankyou" (Jenean - Carrum Downs, VIC)
• "I bought the book as soon as it was released and I think its absolutely fantastic." (Kerrie - Albion Park, NSW)
• "The array of competitions on offer is astoundingly good and varied!" (Maneesha - Carlton, VIC)
• "The best website I know, and my homepage of course!" (Elizabeth - Mordialloc, VIC)
• "Easily the most convienient way of finding out about competitions!" (Grant - Newtown, NSW)
• "Thank you so much for selecting me as the prize winner, keep up the fantastic work you do on the web site, I love it" (Jan - Dudley Park, SA)
• "Love your website - I've already won a competition. Thanks for making my days fun." (Kellie - Berowra, NSW)
• "Thank you so much for this wonderful prize" (Dianna - Dubbo, NSW)
• "I couldn't believe it when I read your email . Thank you all so much" (Brenda - Moama, NSW)
• "I have read the book, enjoyed the read and info, and am applying, albeit slowly, the suggestions suggested :)" (Tony - Sth Guildford, WA)
• "Thanks again for the competition email alert. Makes things so easy!" (Vicki - North Brighton, SA)
• "Oh wow! That's fantastic. Thank you for the opportunity to enter" (Jude - Kalamunda, WA)
• "Fantastic news, I'm going to be smiling all day if not for weeks to come....." (Rick - Fairfield Heights, NSW)
• "Someone else has done all the hard work chasing up the competitions" (Mary - Toowoomba, QLD)
• "I love the new feature that enables you to tick whether you have completed competition or not. Great idea!" (Tegan - Sefton Park, WA)
• "All competitions in one place and the reminders of when competitions begin and close" (Lyndall - Panania, NSW)
• "I don't have to wade through expired listings or broken links, which is often the case with other sites" (Belinda - Burnie, TAS)
• "Whoo I love to receive winning messages! Thank You very much Craig and also Creatively Belle" ((Lisa - Moana, SA))
• "i love this site i have already won 12mths subscription to super foods" (Ursula - Fairfield Heights, NT)
• "Just read the book - very helpful and easy to read" (Tanya - St Leonards, NSW)
• "I have a fetish for competitions so this site is like a one-stop-shop for me" (Deb - Darwin, NT)
• "Thankyou so much it was such a suprise to hear that i had won...this is the first time i have won anything before" (Cecilia - Cheltenham, VIC)
• "I lOVE the competitions books - really great tips and hints!!!" (Tanya - St Leonards, NSW)
• "So happy to have won this prize" (Merryl - Bilambil Heights, NSW)
• "The only tiny thing I dislike is the fact I've still not won anything" (Kristy - Hinchinbrook, NSW)
• "It's a fun way to keep up to date with all the current comps and other info available on the web" (Lyn - Kedron, QLD)
• "Well finally a site where competitions are sent to me, I dont have to look for them ..brilliant work!!!" (Caroline - Terranora, NSW)
• "I am a competition-a-holic so I love having lots of competitions on one site...it's fantastic!" (Kate, Gray, NT)
• "Great reading definitely gave me some food for thought when entering competitions especially from an insiders point of view" (Sharon - Kambah, ACT)
• "Keep up the great work! I love your site! Its very addictive =)" (Kimberley - St Clair, NSW)
• "A great place to visit and the Competitions - The Book is become like a bible to me." (Kim - South Melbourne, VIC)
• "It’s so time consuming to find competitions on a search engine. That’s why I love this site, the searching is done for you" (Teresa - Wodonga, VIC)
• "Great site, best one I have found for competitions and always up to date. Congratulations!" (Marie - Browns Plains, QLD)
• "The opportunity to find competitions listed in a clear, concise and most importantly, free forum." (Chris - Ocean Grove, VIC)
• "Loved The Book Thanks So Much" (Gail - Loganholme, QLD)
• "Thank you for all the great advice and the book is priceless" (Tanja - Mill Park, VIC)
• "I was thrilled to once again receive your email to say that I had won a prize. This shows that anyone can win if they put their mind to it. Thanks for the great site . Love it." (Brenda - Moama, NSW)
• "this is the best site!!! i am on it every night. i won the last zanzibags comp and me and my three teenages fought over the bag" (Sonia - Swan Hill, VIC)
• "You have made entering competition very easy" (Danielle - Beacon, WA)
• I won my first prize the other week and I was absolutley stoked!" (Nicol - South Penrith, NSW)
• " I might be pushing my luck though, as I've already won a $10,000 prize through your website, but I'm willing to test my luck! " (Shelley - Picton, NSW)
• "wooohoooo, I am soooooooo stoked, thanks once again for selecting me as the winner of this very coveted prize" (Caroline - Albany, WA)
• "I love the range of offers and the pure volume of them, well done." (Kylie - Breakwater, VIC)
• "Thankyou for the awesome prize!!" (Rach - Wynyard, TAS)
• "I love how clearly everything is set out, I love that it's free and that there is a wide range of comps and prizes" (Kym - Bundaberg, QLD)
• "I just won a tote bag!!! I think this site is great!!!!" (Jo - Rawarth, NSW)
• ""I read Competitions The Book today, and was thrilled to find it was written with integrity and honesty" (Judi, Koroit, VIC)
• "Hi! Great news! Thank you so much. Looking forward to my prize" (Jenni - Cronulla, NSW)
• "Thanks soo very much. have made my month with this news... it couldn't have come at a better time either. " (Lisa - Chatswood, NSW)
• "Great Book, I'm reading it again in case I missed any hints the first time." (Margaret - Donnybrook, WA)
• "Thank you so much, we have received the pizza oven ....... we love it, we love it, we love it!!!!!" (Peta - Denistone West, NSW)
• "....you've made my weekend! The words 'Jenni' and 'winner' are not ones I often hear in the same sentence" (Jenni - Tahmoor, NSW)
• "One place to find comps without having to look all over the place" (Marie - Kulpi, QLD)
• "I love that we have actually won a prize on your site" (Danielle, Langwarrin, VIC)
• "Didn't realize how many competitions are available and how easy they are to enter" (Lisa - Northam, WA)
• "The range is terrific and synopsis of each competition accurate and informative" (Odette - Yallourn North, VIC)

CompetitionsGuide.com.au Blogs

Why hide ..... you'll be found

I've noticed in the past few weeks something new. Members contacting us to let us know that a competition posted as free-to-enter has actually been wrongly noted and should be shop-to-enter. Simple mistake? Yes, but it's the fact that this has been missed more than once annoys me. - read more

I don't care about spam ... but

It's true, I don't really care either way about spam, it's one of those things I've become used to. Although, being in my game I have to confess that occasionally Competitions Guide gets accused of being a spam merchant, however the fact of life is entering comps will increase your email folder and it's something we never shy away from. - read more

FaceBlock?

I have a FaceBook page, and a number of Competitions Guide members are also linked to me. Do I love FaceBook? Not really, I don't dislike it either, it's just one of those things that are a reality of life and it does give me a good way to communicate. One thing however that I need to advise our members is that it's time to get with the program. - read more

Things real estate has taught me

I've been interested in promotions ever since I can remember. Even back to my teen years I remember the local club coming up with a crrraaaazzzzy idea to promote "beer futures". You could buy 25 beers in advance, and kind of hedge against prices increasing in the future. But since 25 beers was about a day's consumption for many of the members, it never seemed to take off. - read more

Once only thank you

I was a little intrigued today by an email from a member pointing out a clause in the terms and conditions of the British Columbia competition. The clause in question was simply 8. If there is a dispute as to the identity of an entrant, the Promoter reserves the
right, in its sole discretion, to determine the identity of the entrant. - read more

Hiding the value

Happy Australia Day to all members, and hate to blog with a whinge, but ....... I have a bit of a bug bear (is that how you spell it?) with some promoters, who have perfectly good competitions, but we can't list them. Our guide has some fairly basic requirements that we want our members to be able to see. - read more

January, the dead zone

It's been a while between blogs on this page, mainly as the last few have been shifted to our 'feedback' page. If CompetitionsGuide.com.au is your only source of competitions, you may not notice that January is a virtual wasteland for comps. We add 5 a day here, so for this site you wouldn't be likely to notice the impact. - read more

Happy Xmas and New Year

To all members, 2009 has been a big year, helped along by our name change and a lot of friendly media. We have made lots of changes and will continue to try to please as many members as we can. As we head into 2010 I wanted to take a few minutes out to wish all of you a very happy Xmas, and a great New Year to you and all of your families.
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Worst job in Australia

On the Discovery Channel they have a show called "Dirty Jobs" (I don't watch it as it seems boring), and there must be so many to choose from. But for me, I reckon the guy who plays Santa outside the Christmas Cave and similar venues has about the worst that you can get. Think about it, Australia was never truly set up for European style Christmases. The more qualified Santa's get to sit in relative luxury on the floor of Myer or DJ's, but not our Christmas Cavers. - read more

Are competitions a more mature FaceBook?

As a Promotions Consultant I get to work with more than the odd company, and I find it fascinating watching the screens of Gen Y's flickering on and off social networking sites. FaceBook is the drug of choice in most instances. I'm intrigued at the amount of time openly spent on this site, and it seems to be okay. - read more

Questions making sense?

What would be your perfect way to spend a night with friends? How would you make the world a better place? What are your best tips for improving economics policies? 25 words or less please ...... okay, these questions may make some sense, but there's a common thread here, they're all toughies. I sometimes wonder how or why extremely difficult or creative WOL questions keep surfacing. - read more

The (almost) perfect Xmas gift

I'm not a huge boxing fan, though I'll say it was amazing to hear Danny Green went 2 minutes last night without once mentioning his book .... Danny ... just a joke ... right? Anyway, I don't consider myself a huge plugger when it comes to my book. Yes, I do throw in the odd mention, but if you've heard me interviewed .... - read more

What's your story?

For some time, one of the most common requests I've had has been to allow our members to be able to contribute to the site. It's a fair enough request, but I've stayed away from a general forum for a number of reasons. Managing a full-on forum is a lot of work, and to be honest I would like to spend more time reviewing competitions to add than moderating comments. - read more

Useless Information Requested

I had to phone my parent's mobile this morning. Without boring you with the details, there's a family Xmas function on in Singleton tomorrow and I can't remember whether the secret santa present limit is $10 or $15. And I also know that signed copies of my book, or $15 vouchers I have left over don't count ... anyway, that's irrelevant.
- read more

One last Polly Waffle?

I was semi-saddened to see the axing of Polly Waffles as reported today. The reason given was "Everybody says they love the Polly Waffle but the truth is no one buys it today. The time for it has been and gone." I purchased my last Polly Waffle chocolate in 1980 at a camping park in Bermagui on the NSW South Coast. To this end I still consider myself a dedicated fan, as the Polly Waffle has stayed as my 5th choice since then. - read more

Smiths Chips number crunch

I'm not the only one in the world that finds potato chip flavours amusing. I think this came about sometime in the early 80's when one of the chip companies changed basic chicken flavour to "roast" chicken flavour. Sometimes I think that the art of chip manufacturing is pushing the limits of what we believe we would like to be eating if we weren't really having to settle for a chip. - read more

Ben and Jerrys free plug

PR is a funny thing, and as you'd probably know it's all about getting people to write about you or your product. To get people to write about you, it's normally a good idea to have something that's actually interesting to say. Having an online guide means that I get pitched at all the time to include competitions in our list, but rather than sometimes ask outright, I get emails with subjects such as "hey, check this out" - read more

Sausage recipes for winning

I'm often asked why businesses would want to promote using competitions, and for me it's fairly simple. Aside from gaining some much needed loyalty (and heaps cheaper to run than loyalty programs) they offer people that little bit extra.
Let me explain my thoughts, we're painting our house meaning I need to run backwards and forwards to the hardware store. - read more

The Australian Apprentice not firing

Speaking of competitions (which I sometimes get around to :) Up until a little while ago I thought that Foxtel IQ was potentially one of the greatest inventions of the past century (second only to the Swap n' Go gas bottle refill services). Then, last night as sometimes happens, my IQ clipped the last 5 minutes of The Apprentice Australia .... now it's Wednesday, and I haven't even bothered to find out who got fired. I'm finding the new series of The Apprentice Australia a bit flat. Thursday nights are a must for me - read more

Enid Blyton, we miss you ...

Two things recently have shown how times change. The first is some books that have been dragged out to fill a book shelf in our study, by Enid Blyton. Enid left us in 1968, but for those too young to remember or too old to care, she was a prolific story writer for young people. Prior to discovering Archie and Jughead, I was transfixed by her work.
- read more

How competitive are we really?

Are those of us involved in competitions naturally competitive? After all, to take part in competitions is by definition to compete, but I wonder if this is really part of our personality. I have a pointless mind game that I like to play with myself, but to give you some background first. I take a train to get to my office, and to do so requires me to get off at Town Hall Station in Sydney. - read more

Be naked (kind of)

I've sorted out something that has been bugging me for the past two years. Since leaving the base of the blue mountains for the inner city I've opted for wireless broadband for the in between period of renting. Results have been so-so, but over time I think I've become accustomed to dumbing down my internet speed. Two months ago we moved into our new home, which was built in 1887. - read more

Thoughts on the Cup

I've answered questions on competitions vs. gambling for a number of years. To me, the two are distinctly different, as I don't know of too many people that have lost their shirts on consumer competitions. The good thing about the Melbourne Cup is that it gives once-a-year types like me the chance to pretend I know something about horses, all gained in a half hour gander of the racing pages. - read more

Losing and winning's fine line

A few years ago I was helping to teach my daughter to drive. As you'd find in traffic anywhere, there's a particular intersection that would drive me crazy. It's a right hand turn that has the capacity of banking up, yet the lights tend to turn orange within seconds of green, and only about 8-10 cars get let through depending on the speed of take-off of the drivers in front.
- read more

Jellybeans over and over

I often have digs at promoters and agencies that repeat the same competition over and over again. I think people like variety, but this isn't always the case. In the early 90's I remember when Dulux started their 4 litre jellybean tin promotion. I thought this was quite novel at the time. At the end I hated jellybeans more than I hated painting.
- read more

Sunny Boys, Pows and Razz's

Earlier this year, I was interviewed by Amanda Blair from 5AA. Radio interviews are normally stock standard (mispronounce my name, ask me what my biggest win has been ... even though I don't really enter comps), but this was cool because I got to take talkback calls. Amanda brought up the question of Sunny Boys. The ice block, not the band. Remember them? - read more

Tell others and win

Simple statement. The more people that join CompetitionsGuide.com.au, the more competitions there will be. So, I'm going to ask you to do something and that's to send an email to at least one friend telling them about this site. How will this help? The reason is this. As you would probably know CompetitionsGuide.com.au is owned and run by someone (me) who has - read more

Selling out (kind of)

Well, it's no secret to anyone visiting our listings pages that we now have a glowing selection of ads on the top and to the side. Have we sold out to commercialism? Nah, all competitions (within reason) have a commercial reason for being there. But in all seriousness, the right hand side of our pages has always been a mish mash of assorted banners and messages, - read more

Today Tonight

It's hard to go past not mentioning the great story by Today Tonight on Competitions Guide. Those of you who haven't seen it, you can watch it here .....


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Games people play

Something struck me yesterday (no, not a bulldozer :) in terms of games being used as part of a competition. When I refer to games, I'm talking more about those in which you have to look for clues, take part in trivia or anything that requires skills not typical of a words-or-less competition. - read more

Hear this (and pass it on)

I have a different take on odds reduction. Like many, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about causes that don't directly affect me, my family, or friends, but that's just human nature. If you have never heard of tinnitus (which in layman's terms is ringing in the ear, constantly) and you like to listen to music at loud volumes please take a look at this short video clip. - read more

All help appreciated

Mistakes don't always happen, but sometimes they're unavoidable simply due to the information given to us. Yesterday one of our listed comps contained an email address, not web address, and as a result a strange error message appeared. Luckily for us, we found about this quickly thanks to our members. - read more

Amy Gillett Foundation

I don't often give special mentions to specific competitions on the blog pages, however I think you'll agree that this one more than deserves a plug.

As an on again-off again cyclist, I'm more than aware of the dangers associated with riding on city roads, especially in the inner city. - read more

Our new name ... the verdict is?

I was very nervous last Friday, after 5 years of operating what has been a successful brand was about to change. The change from ShoppersBonus.com.au to CompetitionsGuide.com.au will never be as widely discussed as say iSnack 2.0 (no kidding!) but I don't own shares in Kraft, so ............ - read more

Very McInteresting

A friend of mine is interviewing for an entry level marketing role, and some of the applications have been interesting. Case in point, a young male Gen Y'er started out his covering letter "Dear ______, I would like to apply for the advertised position. BTW, just tried on of those new McDonald's burgers, awesome!!!!" - read more

iShocker 2.0

One of the biggest comps in the country came to a conclusion as you may know, with the decision on the name of the new product extension for Vegemite.

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Please help Mike and Trish

I was touched to receive a note in my letterbox that Mike and Trish are urgently looking for a home. Not ANY home, mind you ... my home specifically.

- read more

Complicated for nothing

My local train station, Stanmore, has just put an eftpos terminal in their ticket window. Before this, patrons had to remember to bring cash, which was annoying to remember the day before a weekly ticket runs out. Now, you don't need to , because you can buy your ticket by card.

- read more

The fine print on fine print ......

" i would love to enter these current competitions,but the print is so minute on the enteries ,it can't be seen." (Rhondda)

Fine print has always fascinated me, and in my book (okay, another plug) I did happen to mention that often print is of small font simply to keep 3 full pages of information contained into the one quarter page entry form.


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Not sure I get it .....

WOL competitions (words-or-less to the uninitiated) have always been a hot topic of debate on ShoppersBonus.com.au, and I'd imagine many of the other competitions forums. People either love them or hate them (most in that latter), but as I've always said, if entrants learn how to nail these the wins will follow.

- read more

They can put a man on the moon, but .....

I'm never short of topics to blog about it, but the subject of prize choice is never far away.

Prizes aren't really rocket science (no pun intended on this topic), and I've tackled this one on more than a few occasions, usually with over-zealous promoters who want to go out of their way to be wild n' crazy.

- read more

Is creative really worth it?

Had an interesting question last week from Martin, one of our members who asked for some advice when promoters suggest that the "most creative entries will win".

- read more

So, how do you rate?

Members would have noticed that this week we've introduced three competitions that all require entrants to rate various things. One of the comps is for Shoppers Bonus (as you would know by now). We haven't run a ratings comp before, but the great thing is that we're able to now look at some of the responses and track how the entries are going, and maybe pass on some advice?

- read more

Lessons from Masterchef

I didn't like the Aussie version of Masterchef at first, too much of a change from the original format. However over the weeks I've become a huge fan, and manage to sustain 5 out of the 6 nights each week to the point that I record it if I'm not home.

- read more

The lowdown on survey comps

It's hardly a secret that a large amount of competitions featuring on Shoppers Bonus are based around surveys, and frequently I get emails from members concerned about what they mean or are trying to do. The most obvious concern is personal details, so there's a strong point to be made.

- read more