Archive for the 'More Opportunities' Category

Mystery Shopping Forums

If you want to learn a lot of about mystery shopping, make friends, and have a little bit of fun…then participating in a ‘mystery shopping forum’ just might be for you.

A forum is a meeting place.  It is an online discussion group.  It is a place to ask questions and share your knowledge.  But forums are also about making friends and building a community.  In an ‘anonymous’ profession like mystery shopping, they can be a great way to connect with other people who are just like you.

One thing to keep in mind though:  Forums can be addicting.  You might notice yourself spending more and more time reading the forum, and less and less time actually out there mystery shopping.

There are a lot of mystery shopping forums out there — some of them big, some small.  Each is different in its own way.  There are even ‘private’ forums out there, that you have to be invited to.  The best way to get invited to one of those is to become a valuable participant in a public forum.

Here is a list of some forums:

  • MysteryShopForum – This is my favorite mystery shopping forum!  OK…so that’s because I started it…but it has a core group of members who are fun, intelligent, and very helpful.  It’s a great group and I highly recommend that you join them.
  • Volition Forums — This is the ‘big’ mystery shopping forum.  It has been around a long time, and has a lot of members.  It is also very strict.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because it does help keep such a big community under control.
  • MSFreedom – This forum requires registering before you can read anything.  It has a solid community and good discussions.
  • MSPA Forums – This is the forum put on by the Mystery Shopping Providers Association.  It is not very active, but the ‘beginners’ section has some good information for, well, beginners.

There are other forums out there, but most aren’t very active.

Published
by
Jacob
on April 24, 2008
in More Opportunities
. 0 Comments

How to Earn MORE Money with Merchandising & Demonstrations

Want to find a reliable way to supplement your mystery shopping income? You might have noticed that some mystery shopping companies also offer merchandising and demonstration assignments.

These assignments often pay by the hour, and you often negotiate regular work that lasts a month or longer.

So what is merchandising, and what are demonstrations?

First off, merchandising usually involves working with how a product is displayed in the store. As a merchandiser your job will be to make sure the product is displayed appropriately and attractively in the store. You might also order new stock, set up new displays, or change the merchandise altogether depending on the time of year.

As a demonstrator, you literally demonstrate a product to customers or passers-by. This means you might be handing out samples at a grocery store, or giving away coupons, or just plain showing how a product works.

Merchandising and demonstrations follow different rules than mystery shopping. They’re not ’secret’ — you usually work closely with the store employees, instead of keeping your task a secret.

But finding assignments is a similar process to mystery shopping. You can find assignments through mystery shopping companies, but there are also many companies dedicated just to merchandising and demonstrations. You can find them through the National Association for Retail Marketing Services. Their website has company listings, and a job-board, so it is a good place to find work.

Many mystery shoppers end up spending more time, and making more money, doing merchandising and demonstrations. It can be a great supplement to your mystery shopping income, and sometimes it can become your main source of money.

Published
by
Jacob
on February 19, 2008
in More Opportunities
. 0 Comments