A Comp Queen

Sarah Phillips is no ordinary, run-of-the-mill comper. She has taken her comping hobby to a new level over the last year or so after starting her very popular blog – Diary of a Comp Queen.

Now, on top of winning some pretty amazing prizes on a regular basis from week to week, she is also running giveaways through the blog for her many followers as well.

Sarah began comping seriously in May 2012. “I read a story in Take 5 magazine,” she tells me, “about a lady who had won over $600K worth of prizes over the course of a few years! I read all her hints and tips and wanted to put them to the test.” Not long after she started comping she began receiving packages containing prizes of all kinds nearly every week, so she kept going. Sarah enters everything and tells me it doesn’t matter whether she wants the prize or not because she usually uses them for Christmas and birthday presents or donates them to charity, like through the Salvation Army Christmas Tree appeal. Sarah also loves winning toys. “My daughter’s birthday is in December near Christmas,” she explains, “so as it is a long time for her to wait to receive presents I like to give her a mid-year treat.”

Although Sarah has won hundreds of prizes including a complete cleaning pack from Better Homes and Gardens that included a dishwasher, her ultimate goal is to win a car. “I read a story about a woman who had won 3 cars in the space of 5 years and after reading this, I am definitely not going to give up the dream,” she tells me. Winning keeps her motivated but also does hearing about other people’s wins.

Sarah’s Diary of a Comp Queen blog and Facebook page is rapidly growing in popularity and after one year (or so) she has over 1400 followers. While Sarah posts of her wins, hints and tips for entering competitions, she also runs great giveaways which I occasionally enter. Just before last Christmas I won a great pack of 2015 Calendars which were perfect for Christmas gifts at the time. When I asked her for a few tips for newbie compers here is what she had to offer: “Don’t just enter comps with big ticket prize; enter comp with smaller prizes too that way you will be spreading your luck around.” Her second tip was: “Always read the Ts & Cs and take note of all the important information such as the cut off date and the number of times you can enter because if you can enter more than once, you will increase your chances of winning.” Sarah loves using sites like competitions.com.au as a starting point to finding suitable competitions, then any sites she finds that have regular comps she saves to a favourites list and checks back on them regularly for any new ones.

She now finds plenty of competitions on Facebook to enter too (don’t we all!). I have been following Diary of a Comp Queen almost since she began writing it and as well as finding it inspiring, I love to direct others to enter her giveaways as well. I have watched it grow over time and am constantly amazed by Sarah’s energy and dedication to this fun and often lucrative hobby that many of us also enjoy.