EPISODE 45 ~ MAKE MORE: Mystery Shopper: Check Out This Legitimate List Of Companies Hiring Mystery Shoppers

Brandee in Texas listened to episode 8 about making money as a mystery shopper and she wanted more resources for actually getting into the business.

I am eager to please, so here goes, Brandee.  I got back in touch with Pamela Olmstead, President of the Mystery Shoppers Coalition and she very generously gave me a long list of legitimate companies that hire mystery shoppers.  This is important, because this is a field where scammers have tried to charge people for lists of jobs.

Pamela’s list includes 41 different companies that are not only for real, they are also in good standing with her organization which represents mystery shoppers.  So the jobs are real and these companies pay up!

Here’s a sampling of a few names of legit mystery shopping companies, in alphabetical order: About Face, Blink Research, Confero, Inc, DSG Associates, Eagle Eye Retail Intelligence Team —love that name—  Falcon Video Solutions, Guest Check and the list goes on all the way through the S’s, with a company called “The Source.”   

It’s such a long list and I also want to give you each company’s web address.  So it doesn’t make sense to name all 41 companies here.  What I’m going to do is print the whole darn list at EasyMoneyShow.com/45

Legitimate Mystery Shopping Companies in Good Standing With the Mystery Shoppers Coalition:

AboutFace

aboutfacecorp.com/

Ace Mystery Shopping

www.aceplussurveys.com/

A Closer Look

www.a-closer-look.com/

Ann Michaels and Associates

www.ishopforyou.com/

BestMark

apply.bestmark.com?cl=IMSC_17to18

BLD Scheduling

www.bldschedulers.com/

Blink Research

blinkresearch.com/

Business Observations

businessobservations.com/

Clear Evaluations

www.sassieshop.com

/sassie/SassieShopperSignup

/Signup.php?EmsID

=Tmedc4tiv50=

Confero, Inc.

www.conferoinc.com/

DSG Associates

www.dsgai.com/

Eagle Eye Retail Intelligence/Talon

www.mysteryshopping.com/

Faith Perceptions

faithperceptions.com/

Falcon Video Solutions (Wholly owned Subsidiary of IMS International Enterprises LLC)

www.falconvideosolutions.com/shoppers/

Financial Shop Solutions

financialshopsolutions.com/

Franklin National Retail Solutions

www.fnrs.ca/

GFK Mystery Shopping

www.sassieshop.com/2gfk/shoppers/LoginShopper.norm.php

Guest Check

www.guestcheckinc.com/

Impact Marketing

www.impact-mrkt.com/

InfoResearch

Please email inforesearch@comcast.net to request to be a shopper or client.

iSN Global Solutions

isngs.com/services/mystery-shopping-support-services/mystery-shopper-registration/

LeBlanc and Associates

www.mleblanc.com/become-a-mystery-shopper/

MarketStat

www.marketstat.com/

Mystery Shopper Bahamas

myste45.wixsite.com/mysteryshopper

National Shopping Service Network, LLC.

www.mysteryshopper.net/

Person to Person Quality

persontopersonquality.com/

Preferred Investigations

www.preferredinvestigation.com/

Primo Solutions, LLC

www.primosolutionsllc.com/

Quantum Shopping Solutions

quantumshoppingsolutions.com/

Reflections Mystery Shopping

www.reflectionsms.com/

Sales Quality Research Group

www.salesqualitygroup.com/

SeeLevelHX

seelevelshoppers.com/

Sentry Marketing Group

www.sentrymarketing.com/

Sensors Quality Management, Inc.

www.sqm.ca/index.php/en/become-a-shopper.html

Service Connections, Inc.

www.serviceconnectionsinc.com/shopperExpectations.html

Servimer/ aka AMA Enterprises

servimer.com/Home/tabid/104/Default.aspxhttps://servimer.shopmetrics.com/login.asp

Service with Style

servicewithstyle.com/become-a-shopper/

ShopMetrics GigSpot

gigspot.com/

Shoppers’ View

shoppersview.com/

Strategic Reflections

stratreflections.shopmetrics.com/shopperSignup.asp

The Shadow Agency

www.theshadowagency.com/

The Source

www.thesourceagents.com/Account/Login

For those who need a refresher, companies hire mystery shoppers to go in and test their products, services and guest experience.  You can make good money as a mystery shopper AND save a ton of money, because you are often given  money to shop for things you need anyway, like groceries or dry-cleaning or oil changes.

One more bonus: The Mystery Shoppers Coalition is holding its annual conference in a couple of weeks, May 3rd through 6th in Atlanta.  If you want to get into mystery shopping, you will learn everything you need to know at this 3 day event.  AND, the best part is, it only costs $79.   I know my journalism and speaking conferences  cost WAY more than that. 

So, especially, if you live in striking distance of Atlanta, you should give it a go!  Wow, that sounded like an Ad.  No, Easy Money is ad-free!  I just genuinely believe this is a great opportunity to learn a fun new way to MAKE MORE.

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EPISODE 43 ~ SAVE MORE: Online Shopping: Find Better Online Deals For Anything You Could Image With This Great Site

Save more money with The Easy Money Show

What if there was a more targeted, refined way to sell stuff you no longer need?  And to BUY stuff you want, at a good price, from people you trust?  There is!   It’s called Facebook Marketplace and it is both my make more AND save more topic for this show. For the Facebook Marketplace user perspective, let’s turn to Katie Mundo.  Katie is an interior designer in Bergen County, New Jersey whose business is called Highwood Home.

Here’s a sample of questions I asked Katie:

  • I understand you have had great success purchasing unique home goods for your interior design business.  Is it just that they’re unique?  Or is it also sometimes that they’re delightfully cheap?
  • Can you give us a couple of specific examples of unique finds that were also good deals?
  • Any tips for people listening, as to how to find great things at great prices on Facebook Marketplace?  There must be tricks for sorting through the thousands of things offered and honing in on what you want.

You can find Facebook Marketplace here.

To find out more, tune check out EasyMoneyShow.com/43!

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EPISODE 21 ~ MAKE MORE: Selling On Instagram Can Make Your Home-Based Business Soar

Let’s get ready to learn more about creating and selling your own handicrafts —NOT on Etsy— but on Instagram. I never would have thought of this, but it makes sense. Go where the eyeballs are! That’s exactly what my guest Candace Hatch did. Candace, welcome to Easy Money!

Candace, tell us the name of your company and what you sell on Instagram.
My company is called LiliLane. I was planning on only selling girls headbands. When I first started, I told my husband, I will get tired in a week, but it snowballed. After a bit, I wanted to challenge myself. So I started doing skirts for little girls and then it has just grown. Now I do all sorts of clothing including pants, swimsuits, etc.

And to prove that anyone can do this: Candace, what kind of sewing skills did you have when you got started?
I had no idea how to sew when I started! My husband had to thread the sewing machine for me for the longest time because I didn’t know how to do it. I sew in a room in my house.

OK… so, I have to ask: what possessed you to start a handcrafted sewing company when you didn’t know how to sew?!
When I started, it was more about needing to feel valued financially in our family. I felt like my husband, Cliff, was the only one to work. I felt in a rut. I have always been very self-sufficient, and I thought even if I only made $20 a month… I needed to say I was contributing money to the family. Plus being in the military and moving a lot, it can be hard to stay in one job.

I think when people think of selling handmade items online, they think of Etsy. Why Instagram?
You shouldn’t necessarily go where everyone is going. Some people have great success on Etsy but I didn’t like the fees they charge and I wanted my own website. Went on Instagram instead which has been amazing. They are awesome for small businesses. You can do sponsored ads through them and there is a huge following for small shops. It’s mostly trendy moms between 18 and 35 and they love it. I now have about 25,000 Instagram followers.

No that you’ve been at it for more than 2 years, do you find the work easy or hard?
I would say it is hard work, but if you work it the right way it is easy — and so enjoyable. It is still fun. I love doing what I do. It lets me be creative. There are days I want to throw my sewing machine at the wall but 9 out of 10 days it is still fun.

What kind of hours do you have to put in?
I work about 8 hours a day, so pretty much a full time job. But you can make it fit your lifestyle. I take the kids to the zoo or the aquarium and then stay up late at night. I sew whenever the kids are asleep. I have 2 young children. A lot of times I stay up ’til 2 am. It takes about 3 weeks from the time orders are placed to the time they ship.

Have you made any mistakes that our listeners can learn from?
Don’t over stock. I have spent too much on fabric a million times – especially holiday fabric. Fabric I use is from amazing company in Durham and they make amazing prints with all water based inks. But the fabric is $30/yard which is expensive. Definitely have to be careful. I would be embarrassed to show you my wall of fabric now.

Now tell us about some of your biggest triumphs. I understand some well-known people have purchased your kids’ clothes?
The first time it happened to me it was a reality star. They are great promoters for your brand. A very famous football player’s wife purchases my items for full price and daughter wears them. That is a real thrill. Later, I was asked to include my clothes in gift bags at the Oscars and I was featured in Glamour UK!

Wow! And now you’ve hired other seamstresses and your clothing is in some brick and mortar stores as well. How did that come about?
Need answer about how this came about and which stores!

LiliLane sounds like a smash success. So Candace, I have to ask an impolite question I ask all my guests: what kind of money are you making at it?
I think my first year I made about $12,000 which I was very excited with, considering it was just fun money. This year I made $30,000 and it is going up every month. I now make about XX a month. I did not call myself money-savvy 2 years ago but I am now!

What has this additional income meant for your family?
It is huge. We are looking at buying a new house and I will be able to pay half the mortgage. It’s done so much for us. We aren’t millionaires but the financial help it has given us is beyond anything I imagined. The other day my daughter had to tell school why mom was special and she said because I make clothes that other girls wear. That tells me she notices what I am doing for the family and that makes me proud.

Time for some advice for people who might want to do what you do. First, you say don’t take everything to heart. What do you mean?
I would say anyone going into small shop community especially in clothing or tshirts – small shops are amazing but also very catty and cliquey so make sure you don’t take everything to heart. And if you have a bad experience with a customer just grow from it. You can’t let people tear you down. Let it go off your back.

On the other hand, you say that other people can be very helpful. Tell me about the Facebook groups that have helped you.
There are tons of groups on FB of mom bosses which is what we call ourselves and they have been very helpful. I would look up You Tube videos and ‘makers and mom bosses’ on Facebook. I asked a lot of questions and learned a lot.

And, finally, you say, make sure to put money away.
It’s easy to get into situations when you are first starting out and getting a bunch of orders and making money and go out and blow it all on craziness. It’s definitely a struggle to make sure you are putting away money for taxes and paying yourself. You can’t look at it all as extra money. You need to put money away for supplies. You learn as you go.

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