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EPISODE 8~ MAKE MORE: Go Undercover As A Mystery Shopper And Test Products, Services

TODAY in our “make more” segment WE’RE TALKING ABOUT BECOMING A MYSTERY SHOPPER. ACTUALLY, MYSTERY SHOPPING IS AN AMAZING WAY TO “MAKE” MONEY AND TO “SAVE” MONEY, SO I’M DOING SOMETHING A LITTLE UNUSUAL AND SPREADING THIS TOPIC OUT OVER BOTH SEGMENTS OF THIS SHOW. HERE TO TELL US HOW IT WORKS IS PAMELA OLMSTEAD, PRESIDENT OF THE INDEPENDENT MYSTERY SHOPPERS COALITION AND A MYSTERY SHOPPER HERSELF. PAM, WELCOME TO EASY MONEY!

FIRST OF ALL, EXPLAIN TO OUR LISTENERS, JUST IN CASE THEY DON’T KNOW, WHAT IS MYSTERY SHOPPING?
Mystery shopping is where companies hire you to test their product or service, usually without their front line employees knowing you are checking up on them.

HOW DID YOU FIRST GET STARTED IN MYSTERY SHOPPING?
I was working at a school district in California and another employee came in and talked about a mystery shopping job she had that night. I said, “what is that? What do you do” She explained she would be going out to dinner with her husband and would get reimbursed for the meal and paid for a report. I said, “that sounds like something I would love to do part time.” She gave me the name of one company because she didn’t want to give me all of her contacts.

I applied to that company that night and they weren’t accepting shoppers. So I researched and saw lots of ads. Lots had fees attached. But I researched and found a company and started. That was the year 2000. I didn’t take another day off for 7 years. I worked full time and mystery shopped nights and weekends —even Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. It became an absolute addiction for me.

In 2001 I realized I was making almost as much mystery shopping as I was for the school district and I would like to be home with my daughter, who was 8 years old at that time. I wanted to pick her up from school. So I stopped working at the school and went into mystery shopping full time.

YOU MENTIONED LISTINGS WHERE PEOPLE WANTED *YOU* TO PAY TO BECOME A MYSTERY SHOPPER. THAT’S A SCAM I WORRY ABOUT AS A CONSUMER REPORTER. HOW CAN PEOPLE FIND LEGITIMATE MYSTERY SHOPPING WORK?

Never pay anybody anything. Mystery shopping should pay you not the other way around. We have a membership where shoppers pay $25 to become a member and get help from me and other groups. But brand new shoppers that come in I say make money first. I believe in holding up the ladder so others can climb too. I don’t believe in competition. I have neighbors I have brought into mystery shopping. There is so much work out there ,there is no reason to worry about competition and some have rotations once in a lifetime or once every six months. So find the organizations that will help you for free. We are one of them.

GIVE ME SOME EXAMPLES OF TYPICAL MYSTERY SHOPPING ASSIGNMENTS.

WHAT ARE THEY AND HOW LONG DO THEY TAKE?
It is a huge variety. The key is finding out where companies are and who to work with.

There are almost 400 companies out there and you are independent contractor. There is work for everybody. A hotel report could take 6 hours. A cruise job could take 3 days. A grocery report could take 10 to 15 minutes. A drive thru report is an easy 5 to 8 minutes. There are companies that have super easy jobs or fun jobs. I did Disney Land for several years and inside that there were 8 or 9 reports that took an hour a piece. But going in they would send me tickets to California Adventure and Disney Land.

They reimbursed us for eating and parking. There was a secret club that I got to go to. It is a lot of work but for me it is rewarding and it is an addiction. Even when people go to other jobs, the always come back.

YOU’VE HAD SOME HILARIOUS AND DRAMATIC ADVENTURES ALONG THE WAY. PLEASE SHARE!
I’ve had people chase me out of gas stations with brooms because I’m taking photos. I had people threaten to call the police on me because if a gas station isn’t in compliance, the owners don’t want that info out. They will bribe you or threaten you.
Some mystery shopping jobs involve shooting undercover video and that can be nerve wracking!

OK, SO LET ME ASK THE QUESTION EVERYBODY IS WONDERING ABOUT: HOW MUCH MONEY CAN YOU MAKE AS A MYSTERY SHOPPER?
—Individual jobs pay between ___ and ___, depending on how complicated and lengthy a job it is.

— In a good year, I do $65,000 in payments. And nearly double that in reimbursements.
*Elisabeth’s Note: Be sure to read the Episode 8 “Save More” blog for more on mystery shopping, because mystery shoppers can save 6 figures a year through reimbursements!

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EPISODE 7~ MAKE MORE: Like, 30 Percent More, BY Investing In Another State’s 529 Plan

WE’RE GONNA TALK ABOUT HOW YOU MAY BE ABLE TO MAKE MORE MONEY TO PAY FOR COLLEGE BY INVESTING IN AN OUT-OF- STATE 529 PLAN. OF THOSE WHO INVEST IN A 529, 80 PERCENT CHOOSE THE ONE IN THEIR OWN STATE, ACCORDING TO THE INVESTMENT COMPANY INSTITUTE, WHICH DID A STUDY. MANY PARENTS DON’T EVEN KNOW ANYTHING ELSE IS POSSIBLE.

THAT’S WHY I COVERED THIS TOPIC IN ONE OF MY WASHINGTON POST COLUMNS AND WHY I’M BRINGING IT UP HERE. YOU SEE, SOME STATE 529 PLANS FEATURE HIGHER RETURNS AND LOWER FEES THAT CAN HELP YOU SAVE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE FOR COLLEGE. SOME NUMBERS FROM NERDWALLET.COM DRIVE THIS POINT HOME: IF YOU INVESTED $5,000 IN OREGON’S PLAN IN 2010, FIVE YEARS LATER YOUR ACCOUNT WOULD HAVE GROWN TO $7,714. BUT IF YOU INVESTED THE SAME $5,000 IN MICHIGAN’S PLAN, FIVE YEARS LATER YOUR ACCOUNT WOULD HAVE GROWN TO $10,017. THAT’S $2,303 MORE AND JUST ON 5- THOUSAND BUCKS OVER 5 YEARS! TO BE CLEAR, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT 529 PREPAID TUITION PLANS, WHICH ALLOW YOU TO LOCK IN TODAY’S TUITION RATES, USUALLY AT A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY IN ONE OF THE 11 STATES THAT OFFER THEM. NO, I AM TALKING ABOUT 529 SAVINGS PLANS, WHICH ARE INDIVIDUAL INVESTMENT ACCOUNTS THAT GROW TAX-FREE AS LONG AS YOU USE THE MONEY TO PAY FOR COLLEGE COSTS.

IT’S TOO BAD THAT BOTH TYPES OF PLAN HAVE THE TERM “529” IN THEIR NAME. THIS CAUSES A LOT OF CONFUSION AND LEAVES MANY PARENTS THINKING THEY CAN ONLY START A 529 IN THEIR OWN STATE OR USE IT TO PAY FOR IN-STATE TUITION. AND THAT’S TOTALLY WRONG! OK, SO NOW YOU KNOW YOU CAN INVEST IN AN OUT-OF- STATE 529 SAVINGS PLAN. NEXT DILEMMA: WHICH STATE DO YOU CHOOSE? HERE’S THE KEY: WEIGH ANY TAX DEDUCTIONS OFFERED BY YOUR OWN STATE FOR INVESTING IN ITS PLAN, AGAINST THE HIGHER PROFITS AND LOWER FEES THAT MAY BE POSSIBLE IN ANOTHER STATE’S PLAN. HERE ARE THE CATEGORIES —AND THE STRATEGIES— YOU SHOULD BE KEEPING IN MIND.

States that offer a tax deduction or credit for investing in their 529 plan: States: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. THE Strategy WITH THOSE 27 STATES PLUS DC IS TO Assess how valuable THEIR tax deduction really is. THERE ARE BIG DIFFERENCES. the website SavingForCollege.com SAYS a couple making $100,000 a year and PUTTING $100 a month INto their child’s in-state 529 plan would get a TAX deduction of $360 A YEAR in Indiana, but just $37 in North Dakota. If your state’s tax

deduction is worthwhile, one strategy is to invest the maximum deductible amount in its plan and also invest in another state 529 plan to take advantage of low fees and high returns. This is also a way of diversifying your portfolio. States that do not offer a tax deduction for investing in their 529 plan; States: California, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, New Jersey and North Carolina.

NINE STATES DO NOT OFFER A TAX DEDUCTION. THE STRATEGY THEN, SINCE THERE’S NO PAYOUT FOR STAYING IN-STATE, IS TO CHOOSE A 529 SAVINGS PLAN WITH A GOOD BALANCE OF LOW FEES AND HIGH RETURNS. FEES VARY DRAMATICALLY, FROM JUST .05 PERCENT OF YOUR ACCOUNT BALANCE FOR ONE MASSACHUSETTS 529 PLAN TO 1.09

PERCENT FOR ONE ALASKA PLAN. States with no income tax, so no 529 income tax deduction: States: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. ANOTHER NINE STATES DO NOT HAVE AN INCOME TAX SO CAN’T OFFER A DEDUCTION AGAINST IT. IN THAT CASE, ONCE AGAIN, THERE IS NO MONETARY INCENTIVE FOR STAYING IN-STATE, SO YOU CAN CHOOSE A 529 SAVINGS PLAN WITH A GOOD BALANCE OF LOW FEES AND HIGH RETURNS.

States that give you a tax deduction for investing in any state’s 529: States: Arizona, Kansas, Missouri, Montana and Pennsylvania.

AND FINALLY, THESE FIVE STATES WILL GIVE YOU A TAX DEDUCTION FOR INVESTING IN ANY STATE’S 529 PLAN. GOD LOVE ‘EM. IN THIS CASE, LUCKY YOU, YOU’RE GOING TO GET A TAX DEDUCTION REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU INVEST, SO PICK A STATE 529 SAVINGS PLAN WITH A GOOD BALANCE OF LOW FEES AND HIGH PROFITS. HAVING STATED ALL OF THOSE STRATEGIES, I KNOW IT’S HARD TO FIGURE OUT ON YOUR OWN WHETHER YOUR TAX DEDUCTION IS WORTHWHILE AND WHICH STATE 529 PLANS OFFER THE BEST BALANCE OF LOW FEES AND HIGH PROFITS. FORTUNATELY THERE ARE MANY RESOURCES ONLINE.

RATING SERVICE MORNINGSTAR RANKS 529 PLANS EITHER GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE, NEUTRAL OR NEGATIVE, BUT WITHOUT LISTING THEIR FEES OR PERFORMANCE, SO CONSIDER THIS RATING AN OVERVIEW. NERDWALLET HAS A CALCULATOR THAT ASKS YOU YOUR STATE OF RESIDENCE AND THEN SUGGESTS WHETHER YOUR OWN STATE PLAN IS WORTH LOOKING AT, PLUS OTHER PLANS TO CONSIDER. I LIKE NERD WALLET’S TOOL BECAUSE IT TELLS YOU HOW ITS RECOMMENDED 529S PERFORMED OVER A FIVE YEAR PERIOD AND HOW MUCH THEY CHARGE IN FEES.

FINALLY, COLLEGESAVINGS.ORG OFFERS THE MOST DETAILED COMPARISON TOOL. YOU CHOOSE PLANS YOU WANT TO COMPARE AND IT MAKES A CHART FOR YOU, WITH DETAILS LIKE WHAT THEIR FEES ARE, WHETHER THE STATE MATCHES 529 CONTRIBUTIONS (A FEW STATES DO THIS FOR LOW INCOME CITIZENS.) AND ALSO MINIMUM STARTING CONTRIBUTIONS AND MAXIMUM LIFETIME CONTRIBUTIONS. IF YOUR CASHFLOW IS TIGHT, YOU MAY WANT TO CHOOSE A STGATE LIKE UTAH THAT ALLOWS YOU TO START BY INVESTING AS LITTLE AS A PENNY. BY CONTRAST, ONE NEW YORK PLAN REQUIRES $1,000 TO GET STARTED. YOU SHOULD ALSO THINK ABOUT MAXIMUM CONTRIBUTIONS PARTICULARLY IF YOU THINK YOUR CHILD WILL GO TO GRAD SCHOOL.

SOME MORE EXAMPLES: TWO OF VIRGINIA’S PLANS ALLOW YOU TO CONTRIBUTE AS MUCH AS $500,000. BUT ONE OF MICHIGAN’S 529 PLANS ONLY ALLOWS YOU TO SOCK AWAY $88,000.

I KNOW THIS SOUNDS COMPLICATED BUT THERE’S BIG MONEY AT STAKE SO IT’S WORTH DIGESTING THIS INFO. IF YOU’RE STILL WORRIED YOU WON’T GET IT RIGHT, THOUGH, RELAX, MANY 529 PLANS ALLOW ROLLOVERS, GIVING YOU THE CHANCE TO TRANSFER YOUR MONEY FROM ONE 529 TO ANOTHER. PLUS, INVESTING IN ANY 529 IS BETTER THAN INVESTING IN NONE AT ALL.

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EPISODE 06~ MAKE MORE: How To earn More Than A Million Dollars Editing Resumes

TELL US WHAT YOU WERE DOING PROFESSIONALLY BACK IN 2009.

I was a recruiter. I did resumes to get my candidates jobs. I had a little side business to help with writing resumes but nothing full time. Recruiting was the full time job I did. AND THEN YOUR HUSBAND, A TECHIE, FOUND FIVERR, THE WEBSITE WHERE FREELANCERS POST GIGS THEY’LL DO FOR AS LITTLE AS 5 DOLLARS. I KNOW ABOUT FIVERR BECAUSE I’VE INTERVIEWED ONE OTHER FIVERR ENTREPRENEUR. SO YOU DECIDED TO POST A GIG. DID YOU THINK ANYTHING MUCH WOULD COME OF IT?

My husband found FIverr back in 2010 when I was recruiting. It was just something in passing. I put a gig up there and orders started coming. I was making nothing in the beginning. Maybe $5 to $15 a resume. It was low. But I had no credibility or feedback. I was just starting out.

AT FIRST YOU KEPT WORKING AS A RECRUITER AND YOUR FIVERR EARNINGS WERE SET ASIDE FOR A VERY SPECIAL PROJECT, RIGHT?

We have been trying forever to have children. We started putting money aside for an adoption. We put every penny aside for that. We were trying to save $60,000 for travel and other expenses. I Worked on people’s resumes for about a year to a year and a half on FIverr and we got the money.

YOU ADOPTED YOUR DAUGHTER IN 2013. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

Six months later my husband said “you should do this full time.” I stopped recruiting.

Starting in 2015 is when it really took off and we started focusing full time, really asking for referrals. Most of our money was made in the last 2 ½ or 3 years.

NORMALLY I WAIT UNTIL LATER IN THE INTERVIEW TO ASK THIS QUESTION, BUT I CAN’T STAND IT! HOW MUCH MONEY HAVE YOU MADE TO DATE EDITING RESUMES, LINKED IN PAGES AND COVER LETTERS VIA FIVERR?

We actually just crossed $1.2 million dollars on Fiverr. It’s important for people to know that you can make a million dollars. Fiverr can back that up. They earn the commission. It’s the platform they created for us. They bring in the clients and have developed an infrastructure to allow sellers like us to perform. Their customer service is amazing. You can’t start out expecting to quit your day job tomorrow but hang in there and it will happen. SO HOW HAS YOUR LIFE CHANGED?

This is all I do. This is full time. I work in my pajamas at midnight, Take a day off and take my daughter to the zoo. Our daughter Karen is 3. She is our world. My husband has always been a consultant. He quit his main job and helps me take of messages and does his programming.

It has changed our life. We now work from home. Our daughter is in day care and will go to a wonderful private school. We travel 4 to 5 times a year. That is best part. Take our computers and work from a cruise or DisneyLand. We are able to experience a lot because of this. I am forever grateful to Fiverr.

And now we have raised enough money thru Fiverr for a second adoption that we hope will be possible.

I CAN VERIFY THOSE VACATIONS BECAUSE IT WAS HARD TO REACH YOU TO ARRANGE THIS INTERVEW. BUT I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND. HOW HAVE YOU MADE SO MUCH MONEY ON A SITE THAT MADE IT’S NAME BASED ON $5 SERVICES?

Now that I am established, I charge way more per gig. I got resume certifications and have credentials to back up my pricing. I will do deals for teachers and others. But resumes for most executives, those can go for $300 to $500. It depends on the client and their specific needs.

And I don’t just edit resumes any more. The services I provide are resumes, Linked in profiles, cover letters and career coaching. Also, at this point, I think 50 to 60% of our business is referrals, so that part is easier than getting new business.

HERE’S A QUESTION THAT WILL BE HELPFUL TO PEOPLE WHO WANT TO EDIT RESUMES AND PEOPLE CURRENTLY WORKING ON THEIR RESUMES. PEOPLE PAY YOU GOOD MONEY FOR YOUR HELP. WHAT ARE THE TOP 3 THINGS YOU CHANGE ON PEOPLE’S RESUMES?

1. A resume needs to tell a story. Not just a list of tasks, but accomplishment-driven.
2. I create an introduction, a first paragraph that sells you, sort of the “elevator pitch” but on paper.

3. I add data and details. You should detail projects you’ve done and revenue you've created.

(To see a resume Charmaine has worked on “before” and “after,” check out the Episode 6

YouTube video, where I analyze the differences. Or click to see the “before” resume here and

“after” resume here.)

ALRIGHT, TIME TO SHARE THE WEALTH BY GIVING LISTENERS TIPS FOR HOW THEY CAN SUCCEED AT THIS LIKE YOU DID. FIRST, YOU SAY, UNDER-PROMISE AND OVER-DELIVER. THAT COULD APPLY TO ANY SERVICE JOB. EXPLAIN.

For example, you can promise to complete a project for a client in 3 days but then do it in two.

I THINK PEOPLE CAN ALSO LEARN FROM YOUR EXAMPLE AND GET CERTIFICATIONS THAT PROVE THEIR VALUE. WAS THIS A GAME CHANGER?

Get the training you need to be confident, charge what you’re worth and do a good job for people.

YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU STARTED PROACTIVELY ASKING FOR REFERRALS.

HOW DO YOU DO THAT EFFECTIVELY WITHOUT SEEMING PUSHY?

When I deliver an order I will say “If you are happy with the order, please refer me onto your friends. If not, of course let me know, so I can improve the work I did for you. AND FINALLY, YOU SUGGEST GIVING PEOPLE SOMETHING FOR FREE. WHAT DO YOU GIVE AWAY YOURSELF?

I send free tips – unique job searching strategies, questions to ask during an interview and the lowdown about “Behavioral Interview questions.”

CHARMAINE POCEK, RESUME REWRITER AND CAREER COACH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING MY GUEST ON EASY MONEY! And please see Charmaine’s Guest post where she shared those same tip sheets she gives away to clients.

Guest Name: Charmaine Pocek
Guest Title: Award-Winning Resume Writer and Career Expert
Credentials: PhDc, MS, CPRW, CIEP, PRC
Guest Contact: fiverr.com/boomsa;
linkedin.com/in/charmainepocek

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