I loved your mystery shopper book and video and have been shopping for a little over a month now.  The checks are just now starting to come in and I’m so happy!  I’ve been wanting to tell my sister and my friends about mystery shopping, but I know that companies are really strict about their confidentially rules.  Can I actually tell people that I’m a shopper? Or do I have to keep this a secret forever?

-Mums-the-word Molly

Hi Molly,

You absolutely can tell people you’re a mystery shopper. Heck, if we couldn’t do that, I’d be in BIIIIIGGGGG trouble!  What companies don’t want is you blabbin’ all over town talking about the assignments you did and for what company.

You can tell people that you did a restaurant shop.  You can’t tell them that you did a restaurant shop for Billy Bob’s House of Pancakes through ABC Mystery Shopping company that paid $20.

You can tell people that you have 3 apartment shops scheduled for this week.  You can’t tell them that you’ll be meeting with Ginny at Lakeshore apartments, Barbara at Shorewood apartments, and Keith at Wooden Lake apartments.

You can tell people that you shopped a bank yesterday.  You can’t tell them that you were at the downtown branch of XYZ bank and they were oh-so-rude…blah blah blah.

Get the picture?

Now, sometimes you can bring your friends or kids with you on an assignment.  Restaurants especially like you going in pairs.  When that happens, it’s up to the scheduler’s discretion whether or not you can tell your guest if you’re on a shop.  Most times, it’s ok because they can then help you keep track of timings.

Except kids….don’t tell kids anything. They have big mouths.

I hope this helps!

Happy Shopping!

I’ve seen a ton of websites that claim I can make money doing Internet surveys. Have you done these? Can you make money or is it all just a scam?

-Survey Sam

Hi Sam,

You can make money with Internet Surveys, but, not a lot.  Most companies work on a ‘point’ system, where you need to redeem a certain number of points (by filling out surveys) which you then can convert into cash.  They’ll set your check limit at $50-$100, because they’re not going to send you checks for every little survey you do.  It will take TIME to get enough surveys under your belt to receive a check.  I think it took me about a year to get $50 from Global Test Market.  Yeah, that’s a long time, but when the check arrived, you can believe that I happily cashed it!

Scammers come into play when they stop sending you surveys once you get close to your payment threshold. Also, you want to be wary of those “Receive a Free Wal-Mart gift card” offers just for doing surveys. They require too much from you, and rarely ever deliver what they promise.

When doing online market research, you want to stick to tried and true market research companies…not advertisers that offer you something for a quick survey.

Two that I can personally recommend are www.GlobalTestMarket.com and www.ZoomPanel.com

Good luck!

• Not watching a credit card balance closely enough and getting a payment in before I went over the limit.  Cost? $39 over limit charge and an increase in my rate from 9.99% to 18.99%. (You better believe I paid that card off quickly!)
• Letting groceries spoil before eating them. This used to cost me a few hundred a year at least.  Now, I have a garden where I just pick what I want when I want to eat it.  Much more cost-effective.
• A parking ticket in a zone that said, “No parking before 7am”.  It was early, I wasn’t awake, and I didn’t fully comprehend what I was doing.  Cost?  $85 ticket, $200 towing charge.  Yea.
• And the one that annoyed me the most?  Taking a college course on learning how to create and manage databases (for my mini-franchise listings) when I could have just bought a program all along.  I even spoke with the instructor ahead of time and she never even gave me a clue that such programs existed.  Cost?  $800 for the class, a minimum 96 hours of my time…when I could have just purchased a program  from Interactive Tools for $200. (I think they’re more expensive now, though)

Recently, the city of Seattle has engaged in their own little “stupid tax” adventure.  At least, in my opinion.

Behold, the variable speed limit sign!

(sorry for the dark picture, but hey, it’s summer in Seattle…this is as nice as it gets!)

You can guess from the long string of cars and tail-lights that not only are we not even remotely going 60 (the usual speed limit), we’re a FAR cry from going 40. (I think I was around 25mph during this shot.)

So, let me get this straight. During times of high-congestion, when we can’t go the normal speed of 60, the WSDOT thinks that by putting signs stating a much slower rate of speed will accomplish….what exactly?

If it’s rush hour and we’re only going 25mph, it really doesn’t matter if the posted sign is 60 or 40. We’re still going to be going 25!  Some engineers have stated that by posting slower speed limits that will ease the break/gas/break/gas phenomenon that causes rear-ending.

Really? Because I passed not one, but two fender-benders during this jaunt through downtown.  Didn’t do much for them, did it?

And the cost for all this high-tech snazzy signage?  $25 million dollars.

How do you suppose they’ll make that money back?  I’m guessing cameras aren’t too far behind to nab speeders as they’re going over 30/40/50 miles an hour.

Ugh.

While I am impressed with Mr. Sylver’s rags to riches story, I was not impressed with his seminar offerings or their blatant appeal to materialism and greed.  I remember one audience member asking Marshall how he felt about spending money on unnecessary expenses like multiple homes, cars, jewelry, etc, when the economy was in the tank.  Marshall’s reply was that it was our duty to be rich so that we could buy things and stimulate the economy.  Nothing about donating, charity, teaching others (without $5000 fees)…we were to BUY SHIT.

Yeah, I threw up a little in my mouth too.

Every now and again, I get mail from Mr. Sylver promoting some  seminar, retreat, or program that he declares will catapult me to success.  This is the latest installment:

A few months ago, I spoke at a seminar for a VERY exclusive member organization.

I was so impressed by the organization’s members and staff; I decided to join right there on the spot. The entire organization is filled with people learning how to have, be, or do anything. Members learn skills directly from millionaires and billionaires who act as their personal mentors.

This is by far the most effective wealth and success training I’ve ever seen. Members also get to attend seminars, workshops, and trainings by selling authors and speakers at no charge. Some events cover wealth-building, while the Law of Attraction, marketing, and many others. I’m already scheduled to conduct several of my own seminars for them called The Missing Piece to Making Millions.

There’s also a moneymaking component that pays out LARGE commissions to its affiliates. (Some affiliates have already collected seven-figure commissions.)

What’s also impressive is that this organization; not just anyone can join. You have to be invited by a current member like myself or you cannot get in.

So as my way of saying thanks for being of of my customers and students, I’m personally inviting you to join this exclusive organization’s leadership to cover your initiation fee with no strings attached. This is costly to me, so I’m only able to do this for a limited number of students.

You may have noticed that I enclosed a CD with this letter. I encourage you to take a few minutes and listen to it right away. It features an exclusive interview with one of the organization’s founders.  I’m also going to give you a special FREE GIFT (worth $5000), if you join by June 15th, 2011.  All of this is explained on the CD…(and it goes on to give contact information)

You’ll notice of course that nothing in this letter states the name of the organization, or the names of the impressive members…this is all a marketing trick to get you to listen to the CD.  Remember, Marshall is a hypnotist and has learned various cues to manipulate our senses through his voice and specific words he uses.  He is far more effective in person and through audio, than any letter he would send out.

So, I listened to the CD.

It’s set up as an interview format between Marshall Sylver (the ‘host’) and Kevin Trudeau.  The company that they’re pitching?  Global Information Network.

GIN’s claims are that they will put regular, ordinary people in contact with millionaires and billionaires who will mentor them.  The fees are $1000 to sign up and $150 per month.  But what are they selling?  In theory, knowledge from a secret membership-based organization.  And of course, they’re set up like an affiliate program so that you can recruit other people and earn commission. As an affiliate, you’ll earn $200 per sign-up.

So is Global Information Network a scam? It’s hard to say when there is such a lack of transparency regarding the services/products you’d receive or sell. I haven’t seen anything positive out there on the interwebs, and instead found some compelling information about the founder, Kevin Trudeau “an American author, radio personality, infomercial salesman, and convicted felon.“

Is there really anything else you need to know?

So begins the introduction to my Work at Home classes. It wasn’t until I fully embraced being “Queen of the Random Job” and accepted this bizarre life of mine that it really became a badge of honor.  I was raised in a very traditional middle class home with a mother who was a teacher for over 30 years, and a father who was a newspaper editor for over 40.  Getting a normal, steady, secure job was just expected. Even though I never knew what that job would be.

My sister and our Grandpa, licking peanut butter frosting off of the mixer beaters

And then, in 1996, my 91-year-old grandfather passed away. I was 20, working and going to college in Detroit, and preparing to move across the country to Seattle. My sister was 23 and living in Memphis. His death had a significant impact on us both, and I remember how heartbroken my sister was, dissolving into tears because she couldn’t get time off of work to go to the funeral. The job she had wasn’t on a career path, it was a bookseller position at a regional chain, and I told her I thought she should quit. She said she simply couldn’t. Jobs were hard to come by, and she was barely making ends meet as it was. I know it was a difficult decision for her, and while I supported her, it was hard for me to understand.

That moment had a profound effect on me. I vowed to never be in a position where a company held so much power over my life. If I was working, I wanted it to be flexible. I wanted to be able to take time off when I needed to, travel when I wanted to, and have the knowledge that no matter what, I was living a life that I created on my terms, rather than by someone else’s schedule.

Of course, it is never as easy as it sounds. There have been times where I have wondered where my next paycheck was coming from, when I have been scammed out of significant money because I didn’t see (or want to see) the signs, and when I just wanted to give up because the learning curve was so steep.

But I love my life. I love teaching others how to change their mindset when it comes to money and earning income.  I love the flexibility that I have, the security knowing that I can always find work no matter where I am, and the knowledge that as long as I continue to learn and grow, my skills and talents will always be in demand.

My life and my freedom will always be more important than a steady paycheck.

I got this email the other day, and I was wondering…is it a real job or a scam?  I know you like Mystery Shopping, and I just wanted to get your professional opinion~

Thanks!

-Mystery Mike

One of  America’s largest, discount departmental outlet is re-branding.

The Retail Industry is a competitive world, with each retailer vying for the attention of consumers in an increasingly clustered market. We do not want to rely on proprietary data collection processes and technology alone, we need appraisers to collect specific data about their experience and opinions when they visit this any of our outlets, in a time efficient and cost effective manner.

Closed Book Consumer Evaluation is a tool used by market research companies to measure quality of retail service or gather specific information about products and services. Your ability to pose as normal customers perform specific tasks such as; purchasing a product, asking questions, registering complaints or behaving in a certain way – and then provide precise feedbacks about your exploit .

The purpose of Mystery Shopping is to help businesses increase sales and improve employee customer service awareness. We provide businesses with more information than other mystery shopping company through the use of questionnaires and detailed narratives. Once we have a task, you will be directed to the company or outlet and you will be given funds to either purchase things or require services, after which you would write a comment on the staff activities and give a detailed report of your experience. Some of the common details and information are:

the date and time of the visit
the name of the store
number of employees in the store on entering
how long it takes before the mystery shopper is greeted
the name of the employee(s)
whether or not the greeting is friendly
the questions asked by the shopper to find a suitable product
the questions asked by the employee(s)
the types of products shown
whether the employee invited the shopper to come back to the store
cleanliness of store and store associates
speed of service
compliance with company standards relating to service, store appearance, and grooming/presentation

After this, we turn the information over to the company executives and they would carry out their own duties in improving there services.

Recruitment: Initially, we will add you to our database of Mystery Shoppers. Then, when we need someone in your area who matches your profile, we’ll give you a call and describe the project to see if you are interested.

Sometimes we will arrange for a mini-interview on phone.  Include the Details below, so we can add you to our database. (Payment will also be sent to your address)

First Name:
Last Name:
Street Address(No Po Box Accpeptable) :
City :
State :
Zip Code :
Cell Phone Number/Home Phone Number :
Age:
Current Occupation:
Alternate Email Address :
AVAILABILITY: Days/Hours Available

Your information will be reviewed and processed and Your application will be approved through extensive background check. Immediately this is done we will give a phone call or send an email to let you know your placement with our company.

YOUR FIRST EVALUATION ($200)
You will be giving cash to shop at any Wal-Mart location. All you have to do is walk into any of its location buy, buy and buy till you exhaust the $100, but you have to be in the store for at least one hour, watching and taking note of everything. Remember, everything you buy is totally yours.The management of Wal-Mart intends to change the store’s environment, color, payment procedures, gift items and shopping/carrier bags etc, it’s also looking into putting a stop to poor services, shoplifting, over-billing cash customers, wasting customer’s precious time and credit card scams, but with the interest of its customers in mind.For this reasons they have decided to give there customers a great opportunity to decide.The balance of $100 is your commission for this task. You will be allocated $300 for this section , in which you will spend $100 on shopping and the remaining $100 is for yourself.

NOTE: You are to attach the Wal-Mart receipt of every thing you buy to the report

YOUR SECOND EVALUATION ( Between $600 – $2550)
The 2nd evaluation is MoneyGram International (Wal-Mart Location)
A lot of Wal-Mart customers have reported lapses in MoneyGram services in some Wal-Mart Stores around the U.S. Our need to act is based on reports and complaints which some customers forwarded anonymously and phone calls that were  made to our head office.

1) To make a transfer of funds from a Wal-Mart location to our Agent in another state with the remaining funds after you complete your first task. Funds would be picked up by our mystery shopper at the exact location which a customer reported her funds stolen from.

2) You will have to record the time at which you got to the MoneyGram Section of Wal-Mart and how many minutes it took you to get the service.

3) Upon finishing your first task, you will look for a Wal-Mart location around you to carry out your task and also the Name and address of whom the Mystery shopper transfer would be made to will sent to you. You would have to keep a comprehensive report on every activity you carry out.

4) You will also provide me with the name of the cashier that attended to you along with the name of the Wal-Mart store and address. Your report should be drafted and sent to me via email immediately the transfer is made .

Money orders/Check of  between $800 – $2,850 will be mailed out via FedEx or UPS.

Please acknowledge the receipt of  this email by replying  YES WAL MART! and please make sure you type in the following information below as a reply to this email and also attach your resume for me.

 

1. No legitimate Mystery Shopping company sends out blanket emails to random people in hopes of finding shoppers.  They don’t advertise on Craigslist or Monster.com or any job board.  You will ONLY get an email from a mystery shopping company if you are already signed up for that particular mystery shopping company.
2. They don’t give their company name or contact information directly.  In fact, the email address that they contacted you with (not visible on this post) is from Gmail.  If it was a real mystery shopping company, they would have stated who they were.  There’s no reason to hide when you’re legitimate.
3. Mystery Shops do NOT pay $200.  They don’t.  They average between $10-$50.
4. Wal-Mart is very popular in these types of scams, because generally people who are lower income shop there. By targeting a Wal-Mart shopper, the scammer thinks that they’re getting someone who is already down on their luck, desperate for money, and susceptible to being scammed.  Think about it…if they were trying to get you to shop “Nordstroms” using this scenario, it definitely would feel more fishy.
5. Mystery Shopping companies do not require that you wire money to another agent in another state.  This scammer wants to use you as a money-mule.  Once the money is sent, you’ll learn that your checks were bogus and you’ll be out a lot of money.

Granted, I’ve never been hip. I’m not really into consumerism, don’t own a lot of fancy stuff, clothes or vehicles. (My trusty steed, “Murphy” has been with me since 1999)  And I LOVE the change in thinking that I see happening around me.  People are realizing that they can do without more than they realized.  Some, out of necessity, some out of concern for their living or employment situation.

Rev. Billy takes these economic lessons and channels them into sermons across the US and world. Many times setting up their stage right in a store’s parking lot. Entertaining and informative, he gets the point across:

The newly-defined role would be to meet with new clients, go over their health goals, follow up with them throughout their series, and try to convert them to a year membership.  At the time, the year membership was just $99/month and included unlimited classes.  The clientele of the studio consisted mostly of upper-middle, and upper income women.  The location of the studio was in one of the more wealthy neighborhoods of Seattle.  Big homes, big lawns…you get the picture.

The young lady (we’ll call her Fae) who was hired for this position had a great personality, was warm, friendly and engaging.   Fae was on the path to becoming an instructor herself, and was in the studio”s teacher training program.  She knew the studio’s offerings inside and out, was great on the phone, and everyone liked her.

Her strengths shone through during the initial consultation and throughout the series when she checked in with clients, but she fell short when it came to asking for a commitment for the yearly membership. While she could sign people up when they knew what they wanted, she shied away from upselling or suggestive selling other studio offerings.

Since Fae would get a sign-up bonus for each membership she sold, she came to me for advice on what she was doing wrong.  After all, she wanted that money!

After a lengthy discussion, we realized that Fae’s issue was she simply couldn’t comprehend how someone could afford $99/month (over $1200/year after taxes) to have a studio membership.  Fae was young, hadn’t been to college, and lived with roommates while existing on a slightly better than minimum-wage salary from the studio.  She also tended bar in the evenings.  In her heart of hearts Fae felt that she couldn’t afford such an extravagance, and she had never been around people who could, so the whole concept was foreign to her.  In Fae’s mind, $99/month for studio classes seemed like a waste of money, and she was being intrusive when asking for that kind of monetary commitment.

This is a classic case of how we, and our experiences, get in the way of our sales presentations.  Your clients are not you. They have different needs, different financial situations, different triggers, and different wants.  As a small business owner and/or salesperson, it is your job to figure out what your clients wants, what they need, what they can afford, and tell them exactly how your business will fill those needs.

With time and practice, Fae was able to overcome this obstacle and excelled in her new position!

I found a company called Shadow Shopper and they said that they could get me started in mystery shopping, but they charge a fee.  I remember that you said that you should never pay to shop, so I just wanted to know if they’re legit or not.

Help me out?

-Shoppin’ Sandra

Hi Sandra,

Shadow Shopper is not a mystery shopping company.  No legitimate mystery shopping company would ever charge you the joy and priviledge of working for them.  Shadow Shopper is an assignment service for mystery shopping companies.  How it works is that MS companies will post their jobs on SS for free, and then SS passes those shops onto the mystery shoppers who have signed up for their services.

Shadow Shopper is not a scam.  They provide a service to mystery shoppers and for mystery shopping companies.  They do not actually have clients, send out assignments or pay you.  Think of them as a Craigslist job board specifically for mystery shopping…that charges you.

Now, people argue back and forth whether or not Shadow Shopper is worth the fees they charge.  I do personally know Mystery Shopping company owners who use the service, in addition to the free industry message boards.  So, you may get a few assignments that may have slipped through the cracks.  But, in my opinion, you can get plenty of assignments through the free message boards…plus once you’re signed on with a company, they’ll start sending you emails as well.

Some mystery shopping job boards charge, but also just scrape the listings from our free industry job boards, so you’re getting second hand information. By the time you receive the notice of an assignment, chances are it’s already been filled.  Shadow Shopper is not one of those scraping sites.  (Although I’m sure they do still pull assignments from other places)

The fee for SS is pretty nominal, so if you wanted to try it out and see if it’s worth it to you, you certainly can go for it! Remember, because it’s a business expense, it is tax deductible.

Good luck and happy shopping!

I’m really interested in this mystery shopping thing, but I was wondering if I had to buy stuff when I shopped.  Isn’t that I just would get money back for the money I spent? And what if I spend more than what the assignment paid me?  It doesn’t seem like a good way to actually make money.

-Bugeting Barbara

Hi Barbara,

Each assignment really depends on the mystery shopping company’s guidelines as well as the requirements for the client.  For restaurant shops, yes, you do actually have to purchase a meal.  Sometimes the MS company will reimburse you for the meal as well as give you a stipend for writing up the shop….other times they’ll just reimburse you for a portion of the bill.  For retail shops you may have to make a purchase which you may return as part of the assignment.  Or, they may allow you to keep it and will reimburse you for the purchase (which you can then return later if you like),  or you may not have a purchase to make at all…you’d just need to interact with an associate and get suggestions.

It all really depends.  For me personally, I stay away from restaurant shops and retail shops that are reimbursement only.   I’m like you: I like to make money!  So, I’ll stick with apartment shops and bank shops.  Those, you don’t need to put any money out, and they usually pay better (around $20-$50 each).

Every now and again, if I just want a treat or a night out, I’ll do a movie theatre or restaurant shop because it’s nice to get something for free!  But, keep in mind that it takes about 30-60 days to get paid, so make sure you have enough cash-flow to cover any reimbursement you’ll get for that timeframe.

Happy Shopping!