Selling Your Services As A Mystery Shopper (Ask The Coach)

Question:

Do I have to sell my services as a mystery shopper or is it all arranged?

Answer From Coach Melanie:

The mystery shopping companies themselves and independent schedulers who sometimes act as middlemen, will have already secured research assignments from the companies seeking the information. You will, of course, need to learn to market yourself on a regular basis, just like any other freelancer to secure work ongoing.

And to learn the best ways to network and market yourself to get ongoing work, please be sure to check out my book for people new to mystery shopping called "The Perfect Work-At-Home Job: Mystery Shopping"

Have a great day and happy shopping!

Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping--Melanie Jordan http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing

Is Pulling Credit Part Of A Mystery Shopping Job? (Ask The Coach)

Question:

Will using my credit record be a requirement of the job as in "apartment searching"? I am worried about each check being a red flag on my credit.

Answer From Coach Melanie:

You are smart to want to protect your credit. In general, the answer to your question is no, it will not, the assignment be it a new car shop, or an apartment or house, won't typically go that far. So not to worry!

In very rare cases, a shop may ask you to go through having your credit pulled a in the case of a credit card or bank loan shop. They will state very clearly in the instructions that they want you to allow the person to pull your credit, so it is up to you whether you want to do such a shop or not.

Personally, I would never do a shop that involvd this, but if you haven't had your credit checked in awhile and are curious, as long as you just do one it won't harm your credit score.

Have a great day and happy shopping!

Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping--Melanie Jordan http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing

What's The Truth About Mystery Shopper Pay? (Ask The Coach)

Question:

The Mystery Shopping Associations says most shoppers make less than $100 per month. Is this a true assessment?

Answer From Coach Melanie:

That figure might be true if you average in all mystery shoppers including the vast majority of those who treat it as a hobby to maybe get a free hamburger at the mall every now and then.

Those who take it seriously and treat it as a profession/business; learn how to generate work for themselves on a regular basis through marketing themselves; and learn how to maximize that additional income by doing the higher-paying category shops, and grouping together shops whenever possible; will make substantially more than that monthly figure unless they are in a very small town.

I know because I have done it, and so have tons of my book readers and coaching clients.

Have a great day and happy shopping!

Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping--Melanie Jordan http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing

Mystery Shopping And Kids (Ask The Coach)

Question:

Can I do mystery shopping if I have a baby or small children?

Answer From Coach Melanie:

Attention stay-at-home Moms and Dads--this is actually a job where you can often bring along well-behaved kids (and if your kids are not well-behaved, keep that to yourself).

While you can't bring the kids on every assignment, enough companies will allow it and for some shops like day care centers, gyms with babysitting or toy stores, it could be required. Every assignment always has specifics on what dates and times it can be completed, so you know before you accept or apply for the job if it is something you can do.

Have a great day and happy shopping!

Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping--Melanie Jordan http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing