Secret Shopping and Work From Home Opps
Hello Everyone,
I have new hosting and a major change to my blog. My new blog will now be at http://secretshoppingsuccess.blogspot.com/
There are several reasons for changing hosts...primarily for simplicity. I have other blogs hosted at blogspot. Blogspot is much more user friendly, and this way, I am able to post and edit all in one place.
The major change I will be making is I will now only be blogging secret shopping and not other work from home opps. The main reason for making this major change is I have more requests for secret shopping information, so I feel my time will be better spent by blogging only the secret shopping industry rather than spending so much time on researching work from home opps.
I am still transferring my secret shopping blogs from here to there. I will be leaving this blog up for some time.
I hope all join me on my new blog.
Thanks,
Dori
I have only done a few assignments for JM Ridgeway, but the assignments I completed were simple and I had no problems with the company at all.
I looked this morning, and in their system, they had available shops in Arizona, California, and North Carolina. Though no assignments were currently listed, they show Canada as an additional country they work in.
To apply with JM Ridgeway, click on the link below, and under “Mystery Shopping Info” there is a link for shopper application. Because they are using Sassie, access to the job board should be instant.
To view an assignment after accessing Sassie, click on “More info” on the left side of the screen, and the job detail will come up. Then, if interested, the shop can be applied for on the right side of the new screen.
JM Ridgeway has the “scam alert” I blogged a few days ago posted on their site with all the details of the scam. They also have the alert posted on individual assignments. Please take a moment to read about it.
Yesterday, I was doing research for my new blog, Christian Fun in California and I came across this site that offers really cool Christian T-shirts for really great prices. I got a kick out of one...for all "soap" fans out there, this T-shirt reads, "When the world was young and restless, and we were worried about the days of our lives, God said, "you are all My children, let Me be your guiding light and I will take you to another world." lol...I thought that was great!!!
Anyway, the reason I'm mentioning Cheap Christian Stuff on this blog is because they have an affiliate program. I believe it is a two-tiered affiliate program. If you're blogging a topic you think this affiliate would fit in with, click on the banner below. Then, click on affiliates at the top and follow the page through. Be sure to check out their T-shirts.
If I added up how many hours I’ve spent driving, the time would amount to years. All that time behind the wheel, I’ve had plenty of time to think of new business ideas. I always thought I should write a book titled, “101 Businesses to Start.”
One of the “corniest” ideas I ever had was starting a carpool business where people rent themselves out to commuters, so commuters can use the carpool lane…lol. Then, on an episode of “King of Queens” Carrie’s dad did just that…started a business renting out his friends…lol.
Okay, that was my corniest idea. Another idea I had which is a good idea for the entrepreneurial spirited was to start a rebate buy-up company. Rebates are awesome, but as I’m sure most know, they can also be cumbersome (filling out the forms and mailing them in), and…I always hate waiting eight weeks, sometimes longer, to get my money back. I personally believe most manufacturers count on the fact that a majority of buyers will blow-off mailing in the rebate, then the manufacturers make boo-koo bucks from this buying incentive.
So, the idea is that I take my rebate to a buy-up company, and they give me my rebate there on the spot for like a 60/40 split. I get 60% of the rebate immediately, and they send in the information and wait the eight weeks for the manufacturer’s rebate. If you think about the return on investment for the rebate buying company, it would be HUGE!!! I thought I’d mention this idea since I’m going to be talking about Mr. Rebates today.
Onto Mr. Rebates
As the ol’ saying goes, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” And, in today’s economy, every penny counts. Disposable income can be both about making money, and figuring out ways to not spend so much money. At Mr. Rebates, they offer rebates on everything from clothing to travel for online shoppers. Some of the rebates are low like 3%, but other rebates are as high as 14% back.
They have over 31 categories to choose from and over 1,000 stores. Registration is free, and for 125 of the stores listed, they are currently offering extra discounts and a daily chance to win $100.00. They also post online coupons and other discount information.
One thing I really liked about Mr. Rebates when I was researching is I read their “about us” page, and I felt they were being honest. What it boils down to is Mr. Rebates is a site of “affiliates” and their sharing their commissions. Now, if you have a site or blog, of course it would be best to buy through yourself (see my “get paid to use affiliates link in sidebar), but if not, you might want to look into Mr. Rebates for some extra savings.
Just a reminder...most links redirect, so add me to your favorites first.
Mr. Rebates
The application process for secret shopping is a time consuming process. There are over 300 secret shopping companies, and each company has their own application. Some of the applications will be simple asking only for basic information…name, address, phone, SS#, etc. Most of the companies listed here on my blog have the easier applications. Other company applications will be more time consuming asking questions on their applications such as “Write a short paragraph about a good shopping experience.” The reason the companies ask for writing samples is because many shopping reports require written summaries, and the companies want to see how good potential shoppers write…spelling, punctuation, content, etc.
The first couple of applications requesting written answers is no big deal. But, after spending hours filling out these types of applications, written summaries can become laborious. The majority of applications do have at least one question on them…several will have anywhere from 2-5 questions on them.
The following are tips and hints to help ease the application process.
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--- Pace yourself -- Just as if you were pounding the streets applying at brick and mortar offices, the time it would take to apply with 300 companies would be in days, not hours. There’s no difference with online applications….it will take a few weeks or a few months to submit all the applications. Each day, set aside a side a certain amount of time to fill out applications.
It probably won't take very long to actually start working in the indusrty. In fact, it's highly possible new shoppers can start working the day after an application is submitted. But, even if you've picked up that first assignment, continue submitting applications with the other companies.
--- When you come across a question requiring a written response, know the companies are looking for facts about your visit and not opinions. For example: If the questioned asked about a “bad” shopping experience I had, I would write something like the following:
“My friend and I arrived at the shop at 10: 00 AM. There was one other customer in the store, and there were two employees. The employees were engaged in a conversation with each other . I stood at the dressing room waiting to try on an outfit for five minutes. I made eye contact with both employees, but they continued only interacting with each other. After waiting an additional three minutes, I approached the employees and asked if one of them could let me into the dressing room. One of the employee’s escorted me back to the dressing room. She did not engage in any conversation with me. This left me with the impression my asking to use the dressing room was an inconvenience to her…”
This paragraph is all stated facts and no opinions…arrived at 10:00 AM, one other customer, two employees, employees were talking to each other, made eye contact, waited another three minutes, was escorted to dressing room, how it made me feel…because these things are all facts, they are indisputable.
---Know the companies are looking for grammar, punctuation, etc. Be sure to use a word processor and to cross your “Ts” and dot your “Is”
---The biggest tip of all for saving time…. save the work to your computer. Then, each time you come across that same question in other applications…cut and paste your answer from your saved work in the subsequent application. I did not figure this out until I had written about a hundred paragraphs.
Again, it’s important to pace the application process. It’s easy to get excited and anxious to start shopping, but in the long run, pacing yourself will allow time to learn more about the industry, the individual companies, and time to organize thoughts and procedures.
I do a lot of research and a lot of reading, and one thing I've learned is the secret to making money with taking surveys with the legit survey companies (not the "complete-a-hundred-offers disguised-as-surveys, surveys) is it takes being registered with mulitple survey companies. Each survey requires a certain amount of people to meet certain criteria for a survey to be both accurate and effective, so no one can qualify to take all surveys.
That said, Valued Opinions appears to be highly regarded online as one of the best survey companies. Additionally, at the moment, they have posted a sweepstakes for new joiners to be entered to win a new Apple iPod touch. Now, under their rules for the sweepstakes, the entry deadline was last week, but they also display the winner of the last contest, so I'm thinking the promo is still in effect and maybe they have not yet changed the deadline. Either way, consider the sweepstakes an added bonus.
Valued Opinions will be like most survey companies in that they will not send surveys everyday all day to complete which is why it takes multiple survey companies to make a "real' income taking surveys. When applying with Valued Opinions, be sure to fill out the complete profile for the best chance to receive as many surveys as possible.
Valued Opinions pays on average $2.00 to $5.00 per survey and up to $50.00 for specialist surveys. Once an account reaches $20.00 the account can be cashed in for a gift cert.
I have other survey companies listed under GPT Surveys for anyone interested in making money this way.
To get to Valued Opinions, click on the link below and fill out application.
IPSOS survey site is boasting a car give away and $5,000.00 cash giveaway. Click below to check them out!!!
Because I’m a topical blogger, I rarely talk about my personal life. But today, before I talk about share a sale, I wanted to take a moment and share a personal blessing my husband and I enjoyed over the weekend. A couple weeks ago, my husband won two tickets to see a Chris Tomlin concert from his "Hello Love" tour on K-WAVE radio (our local Christian station). The tickets were for this past Saturday in LA at the Universal Citywalk at Universal Studios. In itself, the tickets were a blessing. But, we decided to make it a date night. With a seven year old, we rarely go out just the two of us.
So, Saturday, we headed to LA…it’s about 70 miles from where we live. We arrived at the Citywalk two hours early, and had a great dinner at Tony Romas….best tri tip I have ever had. It was slow cooked, perfectly seasoned, and melted in my mouth.
After dinner, we went to the concert. We had awesome orchestra seating. As if free tickets, a great dinner, and awesome seating weren’t already enough, it turned out, this night, Chris Tomlin was filming his first DVD. One of the cameras was positioned just to our left. So, they blocked the row in front of us, and seats to our immediate left for the camera. We ended up with a direct line of sight to the stage, and plenty of elbow room.
Then, there was the concert itself….unbelievable!!! I read more people have sung Chris Tomlin’s songs then any other singer in the world throughout all of history. After seeing him live, I get it!!!! The unified worship and devotional energy in the "sold out" amphitheatre was nothing short of a God send. Nothing I had ever experienced before. We are members of and very involved with Calvary Chapel here in town. In church, we sing several of Chris’s worship songs. But, live, the songs took on a whole new meaning for me. Chris Tomlin’s unwavering love for God, love for people, devotion and appreciation makes him both a great witness and a great entertainer. If you ever get the opportunity to see him live, do it.
I’m posting a You Tube video below of one of my many favorite songs of Chris’s. If you have a moment, listen to it.
"Thank you, Lord, for such a great time."
Okay…on to shareasale.
If you have a site or blog and are looking to “moneytize” it, one way is by using affiliate marketing. There are several affiliate companies out there which I will be blogging, but today I want to talk about share sale.com. Shareasale has a total of 2627 merchant programs which breaks down as follows: 2482 pay-per-sale…these generally pay a commission, 236 pay-per-lead…these generally pay a flat amount for a lead, and 4 pay-per-click (PPC)…these generally pay a few pennies each time their link or banner are clicked on. With such a large inventory of merchants, there should be something to help moneytize any blog or site.
To get started with using shareasale’s merchants. Click on the banner below and fill out application. Once your blog or site is approved by shareasale, you will be given access to their merchant list. Take some time to go through their list to find merchants that compliment your site/blog. When you find a merchant you like, then join that program. Some merchants have automatic approval. Others manually approve sites and blogs. Once approved by a merchant, you can click on “get a link or banner” for html codes for your site/blog.
Shareasale has several features for their affiliates including a variety of reports and more than one site/blog can be registered with them on the same account. Shereasale’s minimum payout is only $50.00. They send checks around the 20th of each month for previous months earnings.
One major benefit to using a company like shareasale for affiliate marketing, is you don’t have to search for and apply with individual companies.
If you haven’t already started affiliate marketing, give it a try.
Chris Tomlin, "How Great is Our God."
If you live in California or are planning to visit Califonia and are looking for fun Christian things to do, I started a new blog about a month ago. It's a work-in-progress, but you're welcome to check it out.
Yesterday, I posted Shopper's Critiques International, and I thought it important to mention a scam alert was posted on their site involving check cashing and money transfers. The scam alert was sent out by MSPA, and I have posted it once before, but I consider it a responsibility to post scams whenever I see any. Unfortunately, the secret shopping industry is a target for scams because of the independent relationship between shoppers and shopping companies.
Shopper's Critique is a legit company, and they want to remind everyone, they NEVER conduct mystery shops involving check cashing or money order transfers.
However, and this is very important!!!! There are secret shopping companies that do shop BRICK AND MORTAR check cashing facilities that are not a scam. This type of shop requires a check to be cashed at the check cashing facility, then the secret shopping company reimburses the shopper for fees...this is legit. Think about it for a moment...the shopper is cashing their own check and getting their own money right then and there and need only to wait for their shopper pay and reimbursement for any check cashing fees...this make sense. I have done these types of shops myself (super, super easy shops). But, if a secret shopping company asks a shopper to send THEM money, cash a check, or transfer money to THEM, it is probably a scam. NO LEGIT SECRET SHOPPING COMPANY WILL EVER ASK A SHOPPER TO SEND THEM MONEY FOR ANY REASON!!! Follow this rule of thumb, and you'll be okay.
I listed the link below to the scam alert page on Shopper's Critique site. Contact information is there for your local FBI office, Federal Trade Commission, and Internet Crime Complaint Center. If EVER in doubt of a situation, take advantage of the contact information. It is important everyone "team-up" to rid the industry of scamming. I get quite a bit of traffic on this blog, and I hope all will take a moment to spread the word about scam alerts when they are posted. The legit secret shopping industry is a great job that pays well and offers flexibility bar none to any other occupation. We should do our best to protect the industry.
Shoppers Critique International (SCI) has been in business for several years, and is another company that has a list of shops available on their site.
To register with SCI, click on the link below. And, either click on “Shopper’s Register Here” in the top right corner, or click on “Shoppers” in the top left corner. Then, click on the “register” button. Follow the application through.
Once registered, accepted, and have a password, you can now login and look at shops available by clicking on “Shoppers” on the upper left side, then clicking on “registered shoppers” and entering ID and password.
On the next screen, click on “Shops Available” on the top left, and a list of shops will be displayed.
SCI has two shop lists available. The top list is a list of shops that qualify for self-assigning. If there are no shops here, there are no shops available for self assigning at the moment.
The second list are shops that can be requested, and again, if none are listed, there are none available at the moment.
I looked this morning, and there were 13 self assigning shops in my area and about 50 request shops in my area.
Once on the Available Shops page, click on the location/name, and shop details will be revealed….dates, shop pay, etc.
I’ve mentioned in other blogs that some shops will not have a shop pay, but rather a high reimbursement amount. For example: A fine dining shop may not have a shop pay, but will have $100.00 reimbursement amount instead. These types of shops are great for getting free entertainment. Some of these types of shops were listed this morning on SCI…given what the shops are...well worth looking into for anyone wanting a nice night out.
SCI has serviced the following industries:
Retail Business
Restaurants
Entertainment and Theme Parks
Property Management
Home Builder and Condo Sales
Automotive Services
Banking and Financial
Click below to get to SCI
Remember: Links will redirect, so be sure to add me to your favorites first.
Are you a topical blogger with good information to offer? Check this out...
I've blogged Constant Content in the past as a GPT write site, which they are, but I wanted to add bloggers can also sell their blog entries at Constant Content and bloggers can name their own price.
I checked out some of the blog entries for sale on Constant Content and they are priced around $10.00 -$20.00 (some higher, some lower) under the "usage" license. Selling under a "usage" license allows the writer (blogger) to retain rights to their writings. This means the same blog can be sold over and over and over.
Constant Content is different from most writing sites because the writers choose their own price(s) rather than getting paid pennies on page views for their articles.
Constant Content offers three licensings writers can use for selling their works: Usuage, Unique, and Full Rights which are all defined on their FAQ page.
Constant Conent has high standards for the written work. They send each writing first through editing and then through CopyScape to dedect plagirism. All work must be original. They do NOT make any changes in editing themselves, but rather decline the material with a notation as to why the work was not accepted. The writer can then edit their own work and resubmit.
Their writing standards are high which is a good thing because it attracts good buyers.
So, if you're a topical blogger with info to share, you might want to check out Constant Content as a way to make some money from all your hard work.
Our local IHOP (International House of Pancakes) is giving away free short stacks of pancakes this coming Tuesday. The sign reads it is available at participating IHOPS, so check with your local restaurant.
For those participating, they are giving away one free short stack of pancakes. Limit one per guest. They ask for all patrons that day to consider making a donation on their way out of the restaurant to the Children's Miracle Network.
Free pancakes will be available while supplies last between 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM.
Feedback Plus is a secret shopping company located in TX, and have been around since the 70’s. I have done work for them, and I liked them very much. Feedback Plus uses a system called, Prophet for their shoppers. Prophet is similar to Sassie in that it is a software program, has simple applications, and will usually have shops listed.
To become a shopper for Feedback Plus, click on the link below, then click on “Become a Shopper” from the menu board to access the application.
After being approved to shop with Feedback Plus, Prophet can be entered by clicking on “Shoppers" from the home page. This will redirect to Prophet.
Enter email address and password (if password is forgotten with Prophet, the system will resend a new password, but each time, it takes 10 minutes before the new password will work).
Once in the system, click on “Show me visits I can accept.” Prophet uses a zip code default for searching, so shops available will be within a certain distance of the zip code on file.
If there is an assignment of interest, click on “View Visit Details…“ located in the colored box (usually blue, green, gray) above the location. On the next page, all the shop details will be displayed including dates, pay, shop info, etc., and from here shops can be accepted, declined, or sometimes shoppers can sign up to be a backup for a shop that was already accepted.
Another feature on their site is shops are searchable outside the home area. To do this, click on “Search for visits outside my area." On the next page pick a country, then state. If there are shops available, it will display city names. Click on the box next to the city of interest and follow the same directions as for shops in your area.
As I mentioned, I have worked for Feedback Plus in the past, and consider them a top notched company.
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