- Register an email account just for mystery shopping. You are going to be receiving a lot of email as a mystery shopper, and it will be a big help to keep it separated from your main email account. You will also want to make sure that the email address you are using is not going to disappear if you switch internet service providers. So I recommend that you register for a free email account from Google, Yahoo, or Hotmail. Be sure to pick a professional sounding name.
- Sign up for Paypal. Paypal is a free service that lets you send and receive money over the internet. Most mystery shopping companies now prefer to pay their mystery shoppers through Paypal. So — if you want to get payed…then register for PayPal! Continue reading ‘The Real-World Quick Start Guide to Mystery Shopping’
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The Real-World Quick Start Guide to Mystery Shopping
How do I Find Companies in My Area?
It is actually quite easy to find companies that DO have shops in your area, whether you live in the middle of nowhere Nebraska, or in a giant city like New York.
In the past two years I’ve talked to hundreds of mystery shoppers, and I’ve experimented with dozens of ways of finding companies with assignments in a specific area….all with the goal of making it as quick and easy as possible.
There are several good options. If you want to have the most assignments offered to you with the least amount of effort, I recommend doing all of them.
First, sign up for ShadowShopper. Yes, I know some people hate that they are a ‘for-profit’ company, but they also have a very comprehensive scheduling service. That means they automatically connect you with companies that have assignments in your area.
Second, register with Kern Scheduling. They are another big scheduling company. They’ll be pretty likely to find assignments in your area.
Third, scour the job boards. The biggest job board is run by the Mystery Shopping Providers Association. They’re the trade organization that represents 200+ mystery shopping companies. You can easily search for assignments in your area. Don’t worry if the assignments you find are out of date — register with the companies anyways. It’s likely they’ll have assignments for you next month.
Fourth, read the forums. I own and operate MysteryShopForum.com, and it has turned into a great community of active mystery shoppers. It is also a great source for finding new mystery shopping companies. You can get feedback about the good ones, the bad ones, and the ones that have assignments in your area.
Video: Your Step-By-Step Intro to Mystery Shopping
Ten Tips For New Mystery Shoppers
Whether you’re new to mystery shopping, or a seasoned veteran it’s good to review some mystery shopping fundamentals. Keep these tips in mind, and let me know how they help you in your endeavors.
- Apply to Mystery Shopping Companies — Apply to as many companies as you can! As a general rule, the more companies you apply to, the more mystery shopping jobs you will be offered. Be sure to keep track of what companies you’ve applied to, though. Create a bookmarks folder for all the companies you have applied to. In your email, create a separate folder for their welcome messages. Keeping things organized goes a long way, because you will be communicating a lot through email.
- Don’t Pay to Mystery Shop — Many websites will try to lure you into paying to mystery shop, or paying for a list of mystery shopping companies. While some of these websites are legitimate, many of them are scams. The fact of the matter is you will never need to pay to mystery shop. The MysteryShopOnline.com Email Course provides you with everything you need to get started — for free. There are also many other excellent resources out there.
- Learn as much as you can — If you want to be successful at mystery shopping, then set yourself ahead of the pack by learning as much as you can about it. There are a lot of mystery shopping websites out there with useful information. Keep reading and keep learning
- Start Small — If you’re new to mystery shopping, try and start with a simple job. You can apply to Gapbuster.com to mystery shop McDonalds. They provide a good training module, and while the shop only pays $10, it is good experience for the budding mystery shopper.
- Every Shop Counts – Whether you’re doing a high paying shop, or a low paying one, do a good job. Why? Because mystery shopping companies keep track of how well you do, and often share that information with other companies. The better you do, the more likely you are to get another job in the future.
- Be Prepared — Before you go out on the assignment, make sure to review and memorize the tasks you need to accomplish. It helps to make a list of them on a small piece of paper and stuff it in your purse, or pocket. If you can, figure out a way to record key details as soon as you can. Punching them into your cell phone can work well, while not giving away that you’re a mystery shopper! Also, Make sure you have a stopwatch, or a watch with a second hand, if you are going to be recording service times.
- Be Prompt — One of the best things you can do to improve your chances of being hired again is promptly completing the mystery shopping job, and immediately submitting the report. Mystery shopping companies are often left hanging, so you’ll immediately put yourself ahead by simply being quick.
- Be Careful with Your Reports — The reports you submit to mystery shopping companies are the only thing they’re getting out of it — so make sure you do a good job. Try to write using clear, simple language. Be careful with your grammar. Answer all questions honestly, and make sure you record as many details as possible.
- Stay Organized — This is incredibly important if you want to do more than a little mystery shopping. As a mystery shopper you are an independent contractor. It’s like running your own business. Keeping good records will help every aspect of mystery shopping, making it all go a little smoother. Make sure you:
- Keep a spreadsheet of companies you have applied for, when you applied, and if they have accepted.
- Keep an up to date schedule of your shops, including when you can do them and when reports are due.
- Be meticulous about saving receipts.
- Keep a thorough log of miles spent driving to and from jobs. This can be used for tax deductions, and can save you a lot of money.
- Have Fun! — If you’re having fun, well, everything goes better! Don’t always take low paying jobs, or ones that just aren’t worth it. Remember, you’re getting paid to shop, so have a good time!
How to Get Started With Mystery Shopping NOW
So you’re ready to get your toes wet with mystery shopping? Then now is your chance to get started. In fact, its actually really easy to get started with mystery shopping.
The formula is very simply.
Apply to mystery shopping companies + check websites for jobs + apply for assignments = Get paid to shop.
But whats really cool is there are shortcuts for each of the pieces of the formula, so that you can spend less time getting started, and more time getting paid to shop.
The bottom line is this: You need to find companies in your area with assignments that you want.
The most effective way is to apply to every mystery shopping company that you can find, and then sort out which companies have assignments in your area, and which don’t. Most highly successful mystery shoppers have a working list of 10-20 companies that they work with on a regular basis, and then another 10-20 that they keep a loose eye on for assignments.
The trick is to find those companies. One way to do that is to apply to every company you can find. Spend a few hours a week on it, and in a few weeks you’ll have more assignments than you know what to do with.
But there are some shortcuts:
- Search job boards for old assignments in your area. Chances are, if the company had an assignment in your area last month, they’ll have one for you this month. Apply to those companies!
- Search the MSPA job board for assignments. This is a great way to find companies that have assignments in your area, because you can search by location.
- Read forums such as MysteryShopForum.com to learn about companies in your area from other shoppers, and to learn about which companies are highly rated, and which aren’t.
- Apply to scheduling companies such as Kern Scheduling or ShadowShopper. They’ll find companies in your area with assignments. Apply to the companies they refer you to.
The bottom line is that if you want to get started with mystery shopping, you need to apply to mystery shopping companies. Thats step one, and its really the only step that counts. If you do nothing else, I recommend applying to at least a couple of scheduling companies, and doing a search on the MSPA job board.
Once you build a good list of companies in your area, you should be able to establish a pretty solid mystery shopping business. But you’ve to apply!