Archive for June, 2008
Secret Shopping – How To Make Money as a Mystery Shopper?
The first thing you need to know about secret shopping is that you don’t need to pay to become a mystery shopper. There are things you can do to work at home full time or part time. You might also want to diversify your income sources and take on a few different work opportunities. Mystery Shopping is a great one because you can do it in addition to other work at home jobs.
Secret Shopnet is now known as the Exerience Exchange or Service Intelligence and this is a company that hires people to do secret shopping work at home jobs. Ok, technically you don’t do all the work at home unless you’re reviewing a client that is a phone based review.
There are many companies surfacing that hire people to perform services where they pose as a client and report on a company’s customer service. You get paid a nominal fee plus expenses for performing the service. While the pay is not often very high, it can be a great way to get some free stuff and make some extra pocket money.
Some examples might be:
-Buy gas and review gas station cleanliness, customer service skills, etc. You get free gas for doing the service.
-Buy food at a fast food restaurant and get paid to review the service, food, cleanliness. You get free food plus a fee for the service.
-Buy an item somewhere and then return it and review the service of the customer service desk. You get a fee for this.
-Pretend to buy a cell phone and make a report about the sales rep who attempted to sell you the phone. You get a fee for this.
These services require you to fill in a detailed report and provide receipts to get your fees. It can be fun and worthwhile and again, there are companies that will hire you directly so there’s really no need to pay for a secret shopping list. At least not that I’m aware of.
Happy Secret Shopping
The WAH / WAHM Resume
Don’t discount the power of the resume. Even as a work at home professional, you need to retain professionalism. This means practicing good netiquette in your e-mails and it means that instead of a quick e-mail to apply for a job, you should be prepared with a good resume or CV.
If you are applying to a job that wants your resume uploaded, upload your Word version of your resume (or a pdf version) and don’t forget to add a customised covering letter. If you are to paste your credentials directly into a website, format carefully. Take your time and ensure it looks just as professional as it would if you had done a separate attachment.
You could also post your resume online. Of course, you’d want to leave certain details out of an online resume to protect your identity but you could post your resume on your blog, on your website or on a free page site such as in Googlepages.com.
Don’t forget that work at home jobs are just as professional as a brick and mortar job so applying remotely is important. Perhaps etiquette or netiquette in an online or telephone interview it’s even more important than applying in person because the words you use have to speak volumes about you since you might not have a chance to meet the prospective employer to make an impression in person.
The Truth About Stuffing Envelopes
I think stuffing envelopes is the original work at home scam. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. Can you make money at home by stuffing envelopes? Well, only if you scam others.
Selling information is not illegal but stuffing envelopes is essentially selling information about stuffing envelopes. Let me explain by telling you about how my mother lost $12 and a lot of hope off this scam when I was a teenager.
The ad in the paper said “Stuff Envelopes from Home. Make $387 a week.” My Mom sent a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) to the address. The sender sent her a flyer telling her she could buy a package for $10 or $12 and to send the money order with another SASE to a PO box. The flyer talked about testimonials of others who had bought the program. Mom excitedly sent me to the bank to buy the money order.
Several weeks later she got a several page pamphlet telling her to do the exact same thing. Stuff the envelopes with the ads and the money will flow in. People pay the fees and provide the postage and no one will ask for their money back because you set up a PO box. Sure people can make money off stuffing envelopes but they’re misleading other people into thinking they don’t have to sell anything. Be very wary of any ad that asks for your money.
Is it ok to pay for information? Absolutely, it is. You can buy helpful e-books or subscriptions to services that will give you valuable information but the important thing is to research every program before investing a dime! Looking for money-back guarantees is also helpful in avoiding being scammed. There is plenty of work at home information available for free as well!
