If a shop is brand-new-to-me, I generally sweat bullets over the first one. I will have those guidelines down pat before venturing out.
For example, on a recent gas station, the guidelines said "Take a clear photo of the front counter. Get as much of the working space as possible." That's a direct quote. My report was returned for a "Photo of the front of the counter." I fought tooth and nail, sending them a copy of the guidelines, etc. I insisted if they wanted a photo of the front OF the counter, they should have clearly stated that. It's ONE stinking word!!! The gas station was 100 miles away. I was NOT returning for one photo! Same gas station, next rotation, my report was returned because I took the "overall" photo from my car -- "This client will not accept photos taken from inside a vehicle". Again, absolutely no mention of this in the guidelines!
(But I clearly was sure to get a photo of the "front of the counter" this time, LOL! ) And, of course, on the previous report, I had taken the overall photo from inside my car, and not a word was said about it.
If you're new, every shop is new. Very stressful! And you want to try lots of different types of shops, to find which ones you are comfortable with/enjoy/etc. So there's a lot of time spent learning.
However, once you find that there are a few shops you're really comfortable with, and start doing them regularly, just a couple minutes to check for any changes is all it takes.
Once you get VERY comfortable with 3 or 4 different types of shops, you'll find you can build nice, lucrative mini-routes. Do a gas station or two (straight mystery shops are easy and fast, usually 2 photos or so; revealed audits still take me about an hour, but pay much better), a shipping shop, have lunch at a fast food, and head home, having earned $110-$145 in 3 to 5 hours.
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