The Slanket is one of the must have Christmas Gifts in 2008 and thanks to our friends at Prezzybox you can win one in our second blog competition. The Slanket is essentially a blanket with sleeves (sleeves + blanket = slanket) and this means that whilst you stay warm during global warming and ever increasing fuel bills you can still use your hands to do the important things like use the remote control and drink a cuppa.

The Slanket comes in several lovely colours including Ruby Wine, Limoges (Dark Blue), Chocolate Brown, Lavender Pink and Hunter Green. They retail at £34.95 but you can win one here on Loquax.

To enter we want you to head on over to Prezzybox and check out their Stocking Filler Suggestions. Have a good look round as there’s gift ideas for him, her and the kids!

Then return to the blog and tell us via the comments form which one you’d most like to see in your stocking this Christmas Day.

The closing date is November 16th.

Out thanks to Prezzybox for not only sponsoring the competition, but also because they’re offering all Loquax users a discount too. If you use the discount code XMAS08 at checkout you’ll save £5 off your order, provided it’s over £20.

The winner of the competition is Vegasyears!

Popularity: 18% [?]

I never win anything is many a comper’s lament, and quite often that’s simply because luck isn’t with them that day/week/month/year/ever (delete as applicable to you). There’s not much you can do to change luck if you’re comping in the right way, but blimey guv’nor there are so many of you who make schoolboy and schoolgirl errors that’s it’s no wonder you never win a competition!

If you’re going to give yourself half a chance of winning something then make sure that you’re not screwing up your chances before the winners are being pulled from the hat!

1. Enter Competitions!

Ok this is like teaching Granny to suck eggs, but there are so many competitions that don’t get many entries. We’ve been promoting our own competition on the blog, but whilst doing research we found this competition for £200 of Star Wars toys with less than 50 entries and this one for a High School Musical mobile phone with just 35 entries. They’re both on Loquax, so either you’re not interested in the prizes or are being lazy with your entries. There are good chances to win decent prizes and you’re missing out!

2. Answer The Question Correctly

Another basic competition rule, but yes some of you still don’t read the question! If we ask you for a “spoof newspaper title” that means the answer doesn’t come from the “calendar” section. Don’t always rely on answers given by others either, a lot of sites are rotating questions as they become aware of answers being shared. So check the question and double check your answer before hitting “enter”!

3. Use A Valid Email Address AND Check It

We know many compers have a special comping email account to accommodate marketing messages, but make sure you check it - you might have winning emails in their too! Check your junk filters too - you never know where Hotmail and Gmail send things. At the moment 30% of the prizes we’ve given away over the last year or so have to be redrawn because people do not respond to their emails!

Watching people win prizes when you’re not having much luck can be frustrating, but make sure you’re doing the above properly. Do them and with a bit of Lady Luck you could be telling us all about your latest win!

Popularity: 6% [?]

Thanks to our friends at Gone Digging we have a personalised calendar (worth £19.99) to giveaway to one lucky Loquax user. You’ll be able to choose from one of 12 designs and have it personalised with your own name or someone else’s (an ideal Christmas present perhaps?).

Gone Digging offer a wide range of personalised gifts for all occasions, including Christmas and Birthdays, and their top products include original newspapers from when you were born, personalised football history books, spoof newspapers and personalised calendars.

Buying personalised gifts is easy as Gone Digging guides you through the steps required. For example on the “FA Cup Final Win” spoof newspaper you can specify name, age, football team and even upload a photo. You also get to review everything before you place your order!

So how can you win a personalised calendar with Loquax?

We want you to go to Gone Digging and visit the “Spoof Newspapers” section. Choose a theme you like and then come back to the blog and leave a message naming the theme and who you’d send it to (you can even explain why)!

It could be your partner, best friend, family member, celebrity even Jason or Kirsty (they’re the people who run Loquax by the way)!

The closing date will be the 10th November 2008 and usual Loquax rules apply.

Note - your answer may go into blog moderation so please don’t submit your answer more than once! Also it’s not a tiebreaker competition either!

The competition was won by Julie-j

Popularity: 25% [?]

Yesterday we were asked an interesting question about competitions and the credit crunch and it got us thinking! We were asked whether more people were taking up comping in the hope to try and win the expensive holidays and luxury items that perhaps once were a lot more accessible?

Over the last year we’d confidently say that there has been an increase in the number of people entering competitions. Increased comper numbers can in part be attributed to the “Martin Lewis Effect” and kudos to him for promoting competitions to his huge audience as a way to do some money saving.

Credit Crunch or no credit crunch, entering competitions has been a good way to accumulate goodies to either keep or sell. However, selling prizes is often regarded as a “no no” in some comping circles, most certainly it’s something some promoters dislike about compers and not an angle Loquax advocates.

With the credit crunch, however, it’s quite likely that even more people will now view their prizes as a way to earn extra income. Prizes such as iPods and DVD Players, which in our experience have been overlooked by many compers, may perhaps attract more entries than before! Holidays, cash and cars will definitely attract a lot more interest too.

But, all this is speculation and the best people to ask are you! So, has the credit crunch made you comp more or perhaps even comp differently? Have you cut back on postcard and text entries? Or has it made no difference whatsoever?

Finally, what are your tips for comping through the credit crunch?

Popularity: 6% [?]