Get paid to shop - Mystery shopping is a great way to make money in your spare time by providing valuable customer service feedback to businesses. It’s flexible and fun, and just about anyone can do it. The most important quality you need is to be reliable. It also helps to be observant and have good writing skills. Mystery shopping is done around the world, so there are probably mystery shops being done in your neighborhood right now. For more information, get a copy of The Mystery Shopper’s Manual at http://www.idealady.com/. The book includes a list of 150 companies hiring shoppers across the US and Canada and around the world, along with lots of insider tips.

Get paid to talk - You’ve seen those people handing out samples in the grocery store or demonstrating a product at the home show. They get paid to do that, and you can, too. To be good at this, you need an outgoing personality. You have to be willing to speak up and get people to try what you’re offering, take a coupon, or watch your demonstration. You can find these jobs by watching the help wanted ads in your local newspaper. For more information, see http://www.narms.com/.

Get paid to party - Direct sales companies, such as Tupperware, Pampered Chef and others, offer a great way to make extra money or launch a lucrative new career. You get paid to go to parties, do product demonstrations and take orders. You set your own schedule, so you can fit work into your life, not try to squeeze life in around a job. For more information, see the Direct Selling Association at http://www.dsa.org/.

Don’t want to be a sales representative? You can get free products by hosting a party in your home. Look for a local representative in your phone book and ask how you can earn free products by hosting a party.

Get paid to be in the movies - You don’t have to live in Hollywood to be an extra in a movie or TV show. Your city or state probably has a film commission where you can get information about upcoming productions. Do an Internet search for “film commission” and your city or state to find them. My local film commission regularly lists opportunities to be an extra in movies or TV shows, be a crew member on an independent film, or even to get paid to be in the audience of a TV show.

Get paid to drive - If it seems as if you are always in your car, or your car is often parked in a high-traffic area, you can use your car to make money by getting it painted with an ad. Advertisers look at what kind of car you drive, its condition, where and how much you drive, how many people see the car when it’s parked and other factors when choosing cars for these promotions. If you and your car are what they’re looking for, they will pay you to show their ad on your car. (More info: http://www.autowraps.com/)

Get paid for your opinions - Participating in focus groups and other market research doesn’t provide regular income, and there are often limits on how often you may participate. However, I’ve got lots of opinions, and I’m always happy when I can get paid for them! I’ve been paid for opinions on music, clothes, and even the scent of a laundry product. You can increase your chances of getting selected by registering with market research companies. Check your phone directory or the local mall to find one in your area.

There are also many places online where you can get paid to write opinions or reviews, or to fill out surveys. Make sure you understand how you will be paid before spending a lot of time on this. Many sites pay in credits that can only be redeemed with them, but some pay in cash.

Get paid to do your own thing - When you can make money doing something you love to do, it doesn’t feel like work at all. My main career involves speaking and writing, both things I enjoy. I’ve also been paid for my opinions, made money as a mystery shopper and been a movie extra! Use your imagination to find ways to make money while doing what you enjoy. I call it “Solo-reneuring” and that’s how I’ve made my living for more than eight years. Do you love animals? Start a pet sitting or dog walking service. If you enjoy crafts, dance or playing an instrument, you may be able to teach a class or offer private instruction to people who want to learn what you know. For more information about Solo-preneuring, see http://www.idealady.com/solo.htm.

General information - When considering any of these opportunities, make sure you understand what you will be asked to do and how you will be compensated. Then you can decide if it is worth your time and effort.

Be careful about paying to be listed in data bases. Some companies charge you to apply with no guarantee of work. You may be paying for a legitimate opportunity, or you may just be saying goodbye to $20 or more. Find out what you will get before paying a fee.

You probably won’t get rich doing these things, but you can get paid to do things you enjoy. Even if you don’t make a million dollars, your life will be richer for the joy and satisfaction you get from your work–and you’ll have at least a few extra dollars in your pocket!

Copyright Cathy Stucker, IdeaLady.com. You’ll find free content with lots of great information on growing your business and more at http://www.freearticles.biz/.

Why Do Businesses Hire Mystery Shoppers?

In general, shops are done to find out about the level of service provided to customers. However, mystery shoppers may also be asked to verify that employees are neatly groomed and in uniform, the business is clean and merchandise is displayed neatly, staff persons are knowledgeable, etc. As a mystery shopper, you may be asked to verify if employees used a certain phrase (such as, “Thank you for shopping at Mega Mart.”) or if they used suggestive selling techniques (“Would you like fries with that?”). You may even be asked to shop a client’s competitor, so the client can compare their operations to others’. Mystery shoppers may monitor pricing, or verify that the business is in compliance with professional standards or government regulations.

One common misconception about mystery shoppers is that they are just looking for what is wrong. In fact, a mystery shopper is there to provide an objective view of the business, and they report on the good as well as the not-so-good.

Mystery shoppers seek the answers to questions. Were you greeted when you entered the store? Were the shelves properly stocked? Was the store clean? Did the rest rooms have soap and tissue? How long did it take to be served? Did the salesperson tell you about the available service contract? Did the cashier properly count out your change? Afterward, they fill out a form or write a report describing what they observed.

Mystery shopping is not opinion research. Shoppers are not paid to give their opinions, they are paid to report their observations.

When evaluating businesses, mystery shoppers are the eyes and ears of the business owner. Shoppers tell them how customers see the business. Most businesses have service standards and rules for safety and security. Mystery shoppers tell the business owner whether his employees are living up to the standards and following the rules.

Businesses use the information from shopper reports to reward good employees, identify training deficiencies, make stores safer for employees and customers, and much more. Companies may base performance evaluations and bonus pay outs at least in part on the results of mystery shops.

The information obtained in mystery shopping reports allows the business to monitor the performance of one location when compared to another, or how the performance of the same location has improved over time.

Mystery shopping is also valuable for the sentinel effect. When employees know that they will be mystery shopped—but they don’t know when or by whom—they will give every customer excellent service. This is especially true when the results of mystery shops are used in employee performance evaluations.

The Need for Mystery Shoppers
Today’s business environment is extremely competitive. Companies that fail to provide excellent service will not survive. Studies show that a satisfied customer will tell three other people about his experience. A dissatisfied customer will tell ten to twelve people. All too often, though, the customer won’t tell the business owner or manager.

Not only do companies face loss of business from poor service, the actions of their employees may cause them to be sued by customers or fined by the government. With so much at stake, mystery shoppers provide a valuable service by identifying potential problems the business owner can correct before they result in a major liability.

Who Are the Mystery Shoppers?
Because mystery shoppers look like typical customers (and are, in most ways, typical customers) almost anyone can become a mystery shopper. Shoppers may be any (adult) age, male or female. They may be employed, self-employed, unemployed, students, retired or full time homemakers.

What makes mystery shoppers different from other customers is that they want to help improve customer service and make some extra money while doing so, and they are specially prepared to evaluate businesses and report their findings.

Many shoppers get into this business because it is fun. They love to get the perks, such as “free” food and merchandise, and even make a little money while they’re getting this free stuff! Although mystery shopping can be fun, it is a business and you will have important responsibilities as a mystery shopper.

If you are interested in working flexible, part time hours, and getting paid to shop, eat and more while providing an important service to businesses, mystery shopping may be for you.

Copyright Cathy Stucker, IdeaLady.com. As a trainer and author of The Mystery Shopper’s Manual, Cathy Stucker has helped thousands of people become successful professional shoppers. Sign up for her free e-mail course on mystery shopping at http://www.idealady.com/shopping.htm.

If so you might easily find work as a ‘Mystery Shopper’ and be paid to comment on service in shops, banks and building societies, hotels, cinemas, veterinary surgeries, restaurants, even on long distance flights and holidays.

Poor service is the number one reason customers turn their back on a business and start shopping elsewhere. Worse still, one dissatisfied customer tells on average sixteen more people about their experience, meaning even greater loss of customers and profits for business owners.

Even taking too long to answer the telephone or replenish the shelves, inadequate parking facilities, crowded toilets and poor staff-customer relations can alienate customers quickly.

No company can afford to be complacent or fail to check its own operating standards for long.

Companies need to know how they are perceived by customers and if rival firms are setting higher standards and attracting custom from them. Hence the need for regular checks to be made on all aspects of the business from product range and quality of choice, to staff attitudes, customer care, after sales service, and so on.

But there’s no easy way for firms to investigate themselves.

Staff who know they are being watched work harder, giving a false impression or, worse still, they consider their employers are spying on them, intent on catching them out and threatening dismissal.

So, mystery shoppers go undetected into a business, seeing things as they really are, through the eyes of people who really matter - customers! What they see and the service they receive will not be affected by who they are and what influence they have over staff!

As one leading mystery shopping agency puts it:

“Mystery shoppers serve as the eyes and ears of clients in retail and service outlets.”

As competition grows, especially in a recession, and pressure increases on companies to maintain or better still improve their own market share, more and more openings will appear for mystery shoppers in all areas of commerce, including banks and building societies, shops and supermarkets, hotels and garages, and more.

So a cinema wanting to improve attendance figures might hire regular cinema-goers to view the same film at all local outlets to investigate prices, noise levels, staff efficiency, car parking, toilets and amenities, and so on.

People of all ages can apply to become mystery shoppers, even children with their parents’ consent. Special opportunities exist for representatives of particular groups, such as the elderly, disabled, housebound, or of specific ethnic or religious persuasion. You can even be a mystery shopper working entirely by telephone or on the Internet, without ever leaving home and still claim a handsome fee and valuable freebie incentives.

Not All ‘Shopping’ Involves Buying Something

For example, you might be asked to telephone a company service hotline, posing as a customer with a problem to see how well your case is handled and how long it takes.

The manager of a high street supermarket might commission you to stand outside another firm’s store to count the number of customers entering the premises and determine which are the busiest times, what complimentary transport is offered, how many packages are carried out, whether staff help customers to their vehicles, and so on.

Most tasks are simple and quick and involve little more than shopping, making a mental note of the event, and later submitting a written or telephone report to the employing company.

Marguerite Hegley who was instrumental in writing Get Paid to Shop has several years experience as a mystery shopper.

She says:

“I first mystery shopped a supermarket. It was a lot of fun being asked to spend a specific sum of money on goods which I kept, and I also received expenses and a tidy fee for my work.

The pubs were fun too and I was asked to order a meal and a drink in some and just a drink in others. The eight pubs I had to visit over a ten day period were in a twelve mile radius of my home.

I particularly liked working with a chemist chain, checking their photo service and make-up counters. The girl on the make-up counter gave me some good advice about my skin type and a useful range of freebies testers which I am still using three months later. And I got paid of course!”

No Better Time to Become a Mystery Shopper ….. No Better Time to Start Your Own Mystery Shopping Business

The business is pretty new in most countries but catching on fast, and as talk of recession grows opportunities will grow for people to work as mystery shoppers for established hiring companies or even start their own business in this fascinating field.

Avril Harper is the author of Get Paid to Shop and The Ultimate Guide to Starting Your Own Mystery Shopping Business www.castleedenbooks.com

About The Author

Avril Harper is a UK writer specialising in business opportunities. This article may be freely distributed or used on and off the Internet as long as no changes are made. More articles and free-to-distribute books and reports are available at: www.articlefactory.com; avril@publishingcircles.com