Mystery Shopper's Manual

Market Research Companies and Focus Groups

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A popular misconception is that mystery shoppers give our opinions about the businesses we shop. Nope. We share objective observations—opinions have no place in a mystery shopper report.

If you like to give your opinions (And who doesn’t?) focus groups are perfect for you. Not only do you get to tell them what you really think, you get paid for it! What could be better, right?

Focus groups and other opinion research studies are typically run by market research companies. If you live in or near a city of any size, there are probably several market research companies in the area. Many of them allow you to register with them and will contact you when they have a study for which you qualify. (More on that later in this article)

What’s the catch?Continue Reading

Online Mock Juror Jobs

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Lawyers do not like to go to court unprepared. One way they prepare for trial is by consulting with a mock jury composed of people from the same pool of prospective jurors as will be used for the real trial. By presenting the evidence and getting feedback from the mock jurors, they determine how the actual jury may respond to the facts and arguments of the case.

Although traditionally these mock juries have required participants to go to the market research company’s location, many studies are now being done online. You can get paid to be a mock juror while sitting in front of your computer.

Because they want the members of a mock jury to mirror as closely as possible the real jury, the qualifications for being an online juror are much the same as those for being a juror in court. You may require that a juror be at least 18, a legal U.S. citizen, have a valid driver’s license, be registered (or at least eligible) to vote, and have no felony convictions or current indictments. They also may require that mock jurors and their family members not be lawyers, paralegals or otherwise engaged in the legal profession or certain types of insurance.
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Can Men Be Mystery Shoppers?

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I get this question more often than you might think. Maybe because the stereotype is that women like to shop, a lot of people wonder if men are ever hired as mystery shoppers. The short answer is yes, there are male secret shoppers. Here is a bit more detail.

Although this is not the result of any kind of scientific study, my estimate is that nearly 90% of mystery shoppers are women. I have met many men who secret shop, but the vast majority of shoppers at the training seminars and workshops I present are female.

Most of the time the gender of the shopper doesn’t matter to the schedulers assigning shops. However, there are times when being male is an advantage, just as there are other times when being female is an advantage. For example, men’s clothing stores may require that their shoppers are male so that they can try on the clothes. Barber shops and salons catering to men will want male secret shoppers.
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Zapiddy – An App That Pays You While You Shop

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UPDATE: Zapiddy is no longer in business. At this time, Field Agent (mentioned below) is still available.

A while back I let you know about Field Agent, a smart phone app that connects you with paying assignments in market research. Now there is another: Zapiddy lets you make money with your smart phone while you shop. For every job you complete, you get paid and Zapiddy donates money to the Children’s Miracle Network.

For now the app is only available for the iPhone. Just download the free app from the app store, then set up an account. You can look for jobs through the app. You may be asked to answer a few questions, do a price check, or take a photo of a product in a store. Many jobs are location-based, and require that you have the GPS function enabled on your phone.

Jobs typically pay between $2 and $10. Although it may not be worthwhile to make a special trip to do a job, if you can squeeze in one or two between mystery shops or while you are running other errands, it could be a way to make a few bucks without a lot of extra work. On the “good karma” side, every time you do a job Zapiddy also makes a donation to your local Children’s Miracle Network hospital.

Field Agent – The iPhone App That Pays You

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Subscribers to my free Mystery Shopping Tips newsletter learned about Field Agent three weeks ago. Sign up for the Free Mystery Shopper Course in the box on the left and you will get a free seven-lesson course on mystery shopping, plus ongoing tips, industry news and newsletter exclusives. Get your free subscription today!

Do you have an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad? Want to use it to make extra money? The free Field Agent app can help you do just that.

Field Agent offers small market research jobs, such as price checks, short surveys and other jobs and pays you (in cash, not points or contest entries) for completing them. Some jobs can be completed from home, while others involve going to a store (such as WalMart) to check a display or demo, answer a few questions or perhaps snap and upload a photo.Continue Reading

Online Surveys – Companies That Offer Paid Surveys

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This is a guest post from Karen at Frugal Rhode Island Mama, where she blogs about weekly deals/sales/freebies. Last week, Karen gave some advice for making money with online surveys. This is part two.

money-treeHere are a few companies I’ve worked with that are REAL and I’ve been PAID by them:

Opinion Outpost – Each qualified survey is worth points and 10 points equals $1.00. Once you have 50 points or $5.00 you can request a check. The checks take a few weeks. I’ve been paid several times from them and I’ve never had a problem. If you don’t qualify you’ll get to choose between a chance for an instant win of $50 or a sweepstakes entry. You won’t receive points for the surveys you don’t qualify for.

Survey Spot – Each survey is either worth cash or a sweepstakes entry. They send out several emails a day/week with survey opportunities. The email will always tell you what you will get for taking the survey. Myself along with others I know that have worked with Survey Spot find that when you join they will send you mostly sweepstakes entry surveys but after you take a bunch of them, you will begin to get paid surveys as well. Once your account reaches $5.00 you can request a check.

My Survey – Each survey is worth points and 100 points = $1.00. You will get 10 points for every screener you take and then if you qualify to go onto the survey they will tell you how many points you’ll receive for completing it. They also have monthly sweepstakes drawings for active members. Once you reach 1000 points ($10.00) you can cash out and receive a check or you can choose prizes. I always get the check and it usually takes a few weeks.

If you take a survey ONE day that pays $1.00, after a month you’d have an extra $30.00 in your pocket. That will fill up your gas tank and get you a soda! Not bad for about 20 minutes a day of time you’d probably be spending online anyway!

Karen lives in Rhode Island with her husband and two daughters. Besides being a frugal stay at home mom, she blogs at http://www.frugalrimama.com about weekly deals/sales/freebies and more. In her spare time she enjoys taking surveys and doing some mystery shopping. You can see a list of Karen’s survey earnings on her blog.

Online Surveys – Do They Really Pay?

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This is a guest post from Karen at Frugal Rhode Island Mama, where she blogs about weekly deals/sales/freebies.

woman_cashBig name companies want and need to know your opinions, and what better way to get them than to have consumers take surveys? When they have a new product they need someone to test it out or when they want to change a product, they need to find out what the best way is to change it. The consumers wants and needs are their main concern and what better way to get it, then directly from the consumers?

If you do a Google search for surveys you’ll come up with tons and tons of companies but the question is, are they really surveys? The answer to that question is NO they aren’t all real. You need to take a close look at each company before you sign up because some of them lead you on and make you think you’ll be taking surveys for BIG companies but you probably won’t be.

I’ve done a lot of research and I’ve found a bunch of companies that really do PAY for your opinion and some even send you free products to test and then report back. Every person’s success is different with taking surveys and it really depends on so many factors.

One important thing is your background. Not everyone is compatible to take every survey. It may depend on your job, your age, your gender, your ethic background and so many more reasons. It’s OK if you don’t qualify for every survey. Certain companies may work better for some people then others, again it depends on your background and what kind of companies they work with.

Before you get started signing up with any companies let me explain a few things.Continue Reading

Make Money Writing Online

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woman-computer-bedWould you like to make extra money every month, without even leaving home? As a mystery shopper you already possess the skills you need to get paid for writing how-to articles online. If you can tell people how to do things, and give simple step-by-step instructions, you can make money.

This may sound too good to be true, but it is not. It is not money for nothing. You have to write the articles, and you won’t make a lot of money at first. But the articles are easy to write (you may be able to complete one in 15 – 30 minutes) and over time the amount you earn will increase. And here is the best part: Your articles continue to make money for you every month, even in months when you do not write any new articles at all, because the articles you wrote in past months are still out there earning.

You do not have to have your own web site to profit from publishing articles online. There are several sites that will share advertising revenue with you when you publish your articles with them. Continue Reading