I agree with so many of your posts.
MS is not for the faint of heart. But gosh I love it. I work a full time corporate job and MS in my free time. When I started years ago I questioned whether it was right for me because of the low pay for the jobs I was doing at that time. I stuck it out because quite frankly I like to write and the little money here and there was fun to receive, even 60 days later.
Now I travel, stay in nice hotels, eat at some fabulous restaurants and have some amazing experiences. While it's true that some of those experiences may have occurred without mystery shopping, it's safe to say they wouldn't have been as interesting and I'm sure the charges would not have been reversed.
I don't tell people that I mystery shop, but I have had conversations with people about mystery shopping. Generally I find they think it's not really a job, it's just something people do for fun. Or, alternatively they have checked into it and don't want to do "all that writing." To each his own. The two people in my life who know what I do are my husband and my best friend and that's simply because they are the only two people I use as a +1 when a shop requires two.
I applaud new mystery shoppers who see beyond trying to make a quick buck and hang in there long enough to see their hard work and dedication rewarded. Whether it's with that shop they applied for 100 times and thought they would never get; or hearing a scheduler say "Yes, I'll pay you that."
This is a great job, but it IS a job. I love how I've improved my attention to detail over the years; how my writing has improved; and how I've built some solid relationships with schedulers. It's all priceless and I love it.
I believe there is plenty of room in this business for others, but I also believe the people reading about how to make money quickly are not necessarily ready for THIS.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2015 04:37AM by Travisli.