>Alright, as promised, I have a list of mystery shopping companies for those who are interested! All you have to do to get your list is subscribe, and then put your email address into my google document (below). I’ll send the list to your email address. Thanks for being a reader!
>Welcome to Make Money Mystery Shopping part 4. This week I will discuss some of the things that you need to get started, and some of the things that are optional to help you make higher profits. Make sure you read weeks one, two, and three before you read this post.
To get started mystery shopping, you will need some tools. You should start with a cell phone with a clock and timer of some sort. I think most people have this. If you don’t have a cell phone with a clock, you should have a watch. You need this to note times that specific things happen. Often mystery shopping companies want to know what time a shopper enters their establishment and what time they leave. They may also want to know how long it takes for employees to interact with you.
You will need a computer with a printer and internet access. You will probably want to start off by printing the shop requirements of companies. After you have done mystery shopping for a little while it becomes easier to remember requirements without having them printed. Internet access is also a necessity. You will have to enter reports online so you can’t really get around having either of these.
Another basic necessity of a mystery shopper is transportation. You will need to be able to get to and from your shops. There are some mystery shops that can be done at home over the phone, but you are limiting yourself if you only complete these types of shops.
Another fairly basic need is a printer with a scanner. You may need to be able to scan receipts, business cards, and other printed materials. You can avoid doing these types of shops if you like, but again, you are limiting your profit potential. If you choose to go without a printer, make sure that each shop you select does not require you to print or fax anything in!
One final thing you need to mystery shop is good organizational skills. This costs you nothing but it very important. You might not be naturally organized, but you’ll need to work on it to make the most money possible as a mystery shopper.
An optional addition for making greater profits is a digital camera. Some companies require you to take pictures as part of their mystery shops. It’s hard to remain anonymous while taking pictures right? From my experience, companies that require pictures either have you start off anonymous and ask you to reveal yourself at the end and that is when you take pictures OR you announce that you are the mystery shopper right away. They are really no big deal.
Another optional tool is a GPS. If you have a GPS you can travel to nearby towns and cities for mystery shops. You will not have to worry about getting lost or trying to find your destination with Map Quested directions. It’s worth it to get a GPS system as you can make the money that it costs to buy one with a few shops. Plus, you can use it any time you want to go out of town- not just for mystery shopping. Now, if you would like to jump right in and get started with mystery shopping if you’d like.
If you want more information about mystery shopping, I have a book with everything I have learned about mystery shopping. I give you advice on how to make the most money as a mystery shopper, including tips that I myself use. For my mystery shopping teacher blog readers this book is $10. That’s $7 less than regular price. If you are interested, click here for my book. I will keep the price at $10 until March 1. After that, it goes back up to regular price at $17 so if you are interested in learning more about how you can make money from home as a mystery shopper, and making a small investment click here.
If you aren’t quite ready for that committment, stay tuned to week five of my Make Money Mystery Shopping series. Thanks for being a reader.
>Welcome to part three of Make Money Mystery Shopping. Click here to read week one and here to read week two if you haven’t read them already. This week I am continuing to tell why mystery shopping is an awesome part-time (or full-time) job. I want all you potential mystery shoppers to know why it is a job that is in demand.
Have you ever wondered what people think of you when they meet you? Well, mystery shopping is kind of like that. Companies need mystery shoppers to tell them (the company) what they (the customer) think about the services they’ve received.
Of course, companies have all kinds of quality control measures in place to make their business the best that it can be. But, they want to know that the employees are following through with them. What good is it to have procedures in place if the employees are not carrying them out?
Mystery shoppers provide a valuable service to a company. With feedback from good mystery shoppers, companies can work on improving their services. This can lead to better quality of service for customers, and more profits for a business.
You have probably been to a restaurant, fast food or otherwise, that asked customers to fill out a card or survey to tell about their experience. This is one way that a company can get feedback. But, how many times have you filled those out and mailed them in? Or how many times have you took the time to make a phone call to a company to complete a survey over the phone, or even gone online to complete a survey about your experience? Probably not too many, right? I know in my own experience, if a restaurant is really good or really bad, then I might leave a survey. But customers who do these surveys may forget certain things that companies consider important to improving service. If a customer only puts “Great food!” that is not as helpful as if they would describe specific areas of service as a mystery shopper would.
So you see, mystery shoppers really do provide a great service to companies. Mystery shoppers enter a business with the goal of being able to describe the experience that they, an average customer, had. They go in with specific criteria to pay attention to. How was the service? How was the ambience? Was the staff friendly? Did they make you feel important? These are some of the types of questions that mystery shoppers can answer for a company.
If you are a mystery shopper, you can help companies tremendously by being thorough and accurate. Mystery shopping recruiters will actually call you first for some of the best mystery shops if you are dependable. You can set yourself apart from other shoppers if you give great descriptions.
Stop by next week for the final part of the Make Money Mystery Shopping series. Next week I will have a list of mystery shopping companies available for subscribers who are interested! See you next week!
>Welcome to part two of Make Money Mystery Shopping. Last week I explained why mystery shopping is a great way to make money from home. I didn’t explain what mystery shopping actually is. This article will explain what mystery shopping is, and also some of the types of mystery shops available. If you missed last week’s post, check it out here.
Mystery shopping is when an individual does an evaluation for a company (usually incognito) and is paid to do so. I know that is kind of a broad, general way to say it but it’s true. You can get paid to do mystery shopping for so many different services that I am hesitant to try to give a more specific definition than that.
Here are some examples of mystery shops that I’ve done. Keep in mind, this is an abbreviated list:
+ I’ve stayed at a hotel for the night and completed a report on the quality of the hotel. I received reimbursement as well as a shopping fee.
+ I’ve gone grocery shopping and was reimbursed for doing so, and received a shopping fee.
+ I have helped my husband to mystery shop apartments! We have pretended that we were interested in moving in to an apartment and we pay attention to the sales pitch that the employees give. These pay awesome shop fees.
+ I have mystery shopped cell phone companies. Received a shop fee.
+ I have mystery shopped pizza delivery companies. Didn’t have to actually buy a pizza, just evaluate the associate over the phone, so I received a shop fee.
+ I have mystery shopped fast food restaurants. Received reimbursement plus a fee.
+ I have mystery shopped casual dining restaurants. Received reimbursement plus a fee.
+ There are more that I’m leaving out because I’ve done many, many different types.
Here are some mystery shops that I know exist because I have worked with the company before, but just haven’t done these types of shops:
+ Veterinarian check-up shops. Take your pets to the vet and evaluate the vet’s services.
+ New car evaluation shops. You test drive a new car and evaluate the salesmanship of the employee at the car lot.
+ Insurance evaluation shops. Don’t really know a lot about this one.
+ Fine dining shops. You get paid to evaluate the food at expensive restaurants- I mean $40+ per plate restaurants. That’s expensive to me!
+ Theme park mystery shops. Take your family, buy food, and have fun while you mystery shop.
+ Major/Minor League baseball mystery shops. You purchase tickets (which you are reimbursed for), go to a game, and buy merchandise and food (which you are also reimbursed for). And on top of that, you get a shop fee.
+ Cruise mystery shops. YES cruise shops. I haven’t actually seen them available with companies that I’ve worked with, but they are out there.
+ Mortgage loan inquiry shops. You pretend that you want to take out a mortgage loan and use fake information so your credit report is never actually pulled. These pay well!
+ Too many more to mention. I haven’t even scratched the surface. There are so many types of shops out there that you will be blown away by what’s available.
Mystery shoppers are paid for providing information to a company regarding their experience. The value of this for a company is that they can see what the average customer experiences.
Since I have had many requests for mystery shopping lists, I will compile one to give away to subscribers. If you are interested in getting your hands on the list, please subscribe. Oh, and when you subscribe you get the chance to win $20 Pay Pal cash to get you started on your mystery shopping adventure. When I post the last article in this series I’ll leave a form for you to enter your email address and I’ll send a list so that you can get started. Thanks for reading! If you missed the first week in the series, click here. Next week on Tuesday, I will put up week three’s Make Money Mystery Shopping post.
>Okay, so I might not be the best at updating things on my site, but I did make a goal this year of telling people more about mystery shopping. If you have never heard of mystery shopping, please tune in to the series that I’m going to do for my readers. I want you to be able to make money working from home as a mystery shopper. Each week you can just spend five minutes or so reading the newest article, and you will be ready to get started as a mystery shopper before you know it. I know that many of my readers are stay at home moms and mystery shopping is perfect for stay at home moms. Even if you do work another job, mystery shopping can supplement your income.
Why should you give mystery shopping a shot? You can make good money as a mystery shopper. GOOD. MONEY. I don’t do mystery shops unless they are going to be worth my time- at minimum $20/hour but I usually get more than that.
That is worth it for me to take time away from my family to do a mystery shop. Since I already work outside of the home and we are getting by on that, I don’t really need the extra money. Of course, we could use extra money. Who couldn’t? What I mean is we are getting by without it and I would rather spend my non-working time at home with my family unless it is a shop that I really want to do.
You can set up your own personal threshold for what mystery shopping is worth to you. You can make a goal to make several hundred a month, or even thousands a month. I know that it is possible. You will need to learn the ins and outs of mystery shopping before you can do it, but I know that some people make a full-time job out of mystery shopping and make $40,000 or more a year. I am positive that I could make a decent living with it if I were ever to lose my job as a teacher. In the case of a teacher cut-back where I would lose my job, I could restructure my time to do mystery shopping as a work from home business until I could find a teaching job.
Mystery shopping is even a good way to supplement your income if you do work outside of the home. I do mystery shopping from time to time because it is awesome. You get paid to do things that you would normally do anyway. Like eat out, go grocery shopping, stay in hotels, go clothes shopping, and the list goes on and on. More about some of the awesome mystery shops that I’ve done and/or thought about doing will be in an upcoming post.
I hope I’ve piqued your curiosity about mystery shopping. It is a great way to make money from home and if you’ll stick with me, I will tell you how you can get started. There are so many people that want to scam others and take advantage of them with worthless information about mystery shopping so you have to be careful! Each week I will provide information about mystery shopping to help you along on your way. The next post will be on Tuesday, February 1st. Stay tuned for my Make Money Mystery Shopping series to learn how you can be a successful shopper.
