Getting Started In
Mystery Shopping (The Right Way)
By Melanie Jordan, author of "The Perfect Work-At-Home Job:
Mystery Shopping" and "How-To Finally Make Money As A
Mystery Shopper"
One of the most common questions I get from people who are looking to get
started in mystery shopping is "how do I get started?" If you intend
to make mystery shopping a real career rather than just getting "paid to
shop" it's important to get started off on the right foot. Mystery
shopping can either be the road to overworked and underpaid, or if you do it
correctly, it can be quite lucrative for a legitimate, work-at-home, flexible
job.
Unfortunately, the most common error newbie mystery shoppers make is that they
go berserk applying to mystery shopping company web sites left and right.
Signing up with companies is the last thing you want to do when you are just
starting out--unless you want to be a new mystery shopper with sore fingers
saying "I applied to 100 companies but I didn't hear anything".
Going directly to companies, especially if you don't have any, or have very
little mystery shopping experience, is a waste of time in my opinion. Most
companies are inundated with requests from newbies wanting to become mystery
shoppers; what they want are experienced shoppers they can count on. Think
of a "real world" job search. If you just apply to companies all
over the place without any experience, or knowing if they even have any job
openings, it's going to be a fruitless effort.
Another big reason why applying to company web sites is a waste of time is that
the largest and best companies outsource their assignments to schedulers--the
middlemen of the industry. So companies don't bother going through their
own databases.
The real way to get started in mystery shopping is to get connected to
schedulers in a way that makes you stand out from the crowd and gets assignments
coming to you. Okay, you ask, how do I get connected to schedulers?
I go over the many ways to do this in great detail, along with lots of other
great tips and techniques in my book "The Perfect Work-At-Home Job: Mystery
Shopping". But here's one way: Go to http://mysteryshopcoach.cjb.net.
At the bottom of that page is a link to "Mystery Shoppers Resource", a
great site for mystery shopping leads almost exclusively posted by schedulers.
The webmaster, Julie Moreau, will even e-mail you each time she updates the page
(mailto:jmoreau1@aol.com, please mention I
referred you). When you see a job posting in your area, simply follow the
instructions and apply. There's a lot more to being a professional,
top-earning mystery shopper than just this, but
it's a way for you to dabble and get a feel for what is possible.
Summary: Despite what others may say, the biggest mistake you can make as
a newbie shopper is wasting your time applying directly to mystery shopping
companies. You wouldn't look for a job in the "real world" this
way, and the "mystery shopping world" is no different. Learn to
work with schedulers and you'll have started your mystery shopping career the
right way.
Subscribe to the free e-zine "Perfect Work-At-Home Job Update". mailto:Mysteryshopcoach@aol.com
(c) Copyright 2001 By Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing
About Melanie Jordan
Besides her mystery shopping and editing work for several top
companies, Melanie writes about, and provides personal and group
coaching services by phone and e-mail on a variety of topics that
she is passionate about related to work-at-home lifestyles,
health and fitness and e-publishing. She also publishes a free
e-zine for mystery shoppers called The Perfect Work-At-Home Job
Update (subscribe mailto:Mysteryshopcoach@aol.com).
