I don't remember how many new companies I've signed up with. I have shops almost daily, and sometimes it's hard to keep them organized. Anyone have a system or program that really helps?

geauxcj Wrote:
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> I don't remember how many new companies I've
> signed up with. I have shops almost daily, and
> sometimes it's hard to keep them organized. Anyone
> have a system or program that really helps?


I use Google's calendar for scheduling - request an unconfirmed shop, slap it on the calendar with that designation. Build some more in, do the same. Get a confirmation, update the calendar.

For tracking shops completed and payments (and 50 other things) I use Excel.

All this said, ultimately these programs won't make you organized - they'll simply help you to organize. You have to have the organization gene to begin with. :-)

No doubt there are others who are better at this than me, but I'm using the same system I developed for myself 4 years ago.

My checking and credit card accounts are all in Quicken which allows me to run reports quite easily.

For MSing I created a spreadsheet. On the main page is an alphabetical list of companies I've worked for at some time or another and their payment terms. This differs from many folks since I don't bother including the information on a company that I've only registered with until I actually work for them. On that page are columns designating the month and year and a running total of my income is at the bottom. I use additional tabs for monthly calendars. Each week my jobs and the fee for each are listed. At the bottom is the total income and mileage for that day. There is also a running total of both at the end of each week and at the bottom of the page is the monthly total. The calendar is color coded for pending shops, completed shops and, most importantly, paid shops.

I don't really keep track of logins for all of the companies. I do save all of the registration e-mails in a specific e-mail folder in case there is a need. I've never found it to be a big deal to get the information from a company since I've made it a point to use only one e-mail address for mystery shopping.

raisitup responded while I was typing my long-winded reply! But it is true, you are either born with the gene or not There are a lot of tools to help the organizationally-impaired and you have to settle it to what works best for you.

I made up a simple way that works for me, folders within my work email.
Applied or self-assigned, pending and complete shops. Everything I need is within those folders pertaining to shops. I was given an organizer for work, same as an address book, but tons of room for writing notes, dates, MSC, pay, and check off when paid. Beside that, keep a log in car and write down every job I am going on when I leave, keep mileage, pay, names of clients and MSC's.

Thanks

I've been writing mine down, but sometimes I forget to note them.

Ah yes, the tools are there, but one does have to remember to use them

I love Evernote. Individual files for EVERYTHING and accessible from everywhere. LOVE IT! It helps me go to a shop, go over notes and make notations for details I want to recall later. Can take pics and upload into a file, can email from it, can clip notes directly from an assigned job for reference later, lots more.

pen and paper work... saves ink... just list the shops, what i need to do and where i need to go... write it up in the car and enter when i get home... easy peasy...

i dont do more than a shop a day though.. two on the weekend i top out...