TechSavvy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Then there are the companies that say referring
> friends to them won't result in your losing shops.
> They cite rotations and so forth. Thing is, I
> already see shops snatched up before I get a
> chance to get them, and I live in a smallish town.
> If I'm having trouble now, why would I throw more
> people into the mix? I refer the occasional
> out-of-state person, but that's about it

really, i think that it may depend on the company. one company is always sending me referral requests and they don't even offer me work in my state, outside of one job that i did for them two months ago.

i tell everybody i know... but i dont get into specifics.. its only a secondary job... if they are interested i refer them to some of the websites i use..

everybody runs when they realise they have to give out their ss number to a website... honestly i dont blame them at all...

And of course the more active shoppers in a given area, the less likely it is that a company will ever need to pay a bonus, no matter how poorly paid the work is initially. I remember a classic threatening email that came out of one company about a year ago to the effect that, "If you are just waiting around until these shops get bonused, we will just advertise for more shoppers in your area!"

yeah i think i may have got one a little while ago... such a shame... i think i used it as toilet paper... companies having to pay more... oh no... not my problem..

How rude! I can wait or do without places like that.

Yeah, I tell many of my friends. A couple have even started shopping themselves. My friends think my job is cool and they're quite jealous of all the neat places I go "work".

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And of course the more active shoppers in a given
> area, the less likely it is that a company will
> ever need to pay a bonus, no matter how poorly
> paid the work is initially. I remember a classic
> threatening email that came out of one company
> about a year ago to the effect that, "If you are
> just waiting around until these shops get bonused,
> we will just advertise for more shoppers in your
> area!"

like any job, it's all about supply and demand.

there is a varying supply of shoppers for each shop (or lack thereof). and there is a varying supply of shops for each shopper (or lack thereof).

it has little or nothing to do with what a job is 'worth'. supply of shoppers for shops and shops for shoppers in a specific location is key.

I tell people I am self employed as a quality contol auditor. It sound just official enough and just boring enough that they lose interest quickly.

JayTee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I tell people I am self employed as a quality
> contol auditor. It sound just official enough and
> just boring enough that they lose interest
> quickly.

i'm bored already, lolol.

JayTee, great title. Love that!

On my business cards, I use "Business Audits and Evaluations".

Flash, my mom used to say that a job is "worth" what ever someone is willing to pay for it. Unfortunately, too many companies think what we do isn't "worth" much.

I only told my sister. I would not share this information with anyone else as I feel they need to do the footwork like I did. Baptism by fire, if you will.

I have told one friend and even encouraged her to sign up for MS training for a particular restaurant she loves - now she can eat there twice a month for free as a result. She's very money conscious, so it really appeals to her In return for that, she picked up a couple local shop tips and places to sign up around us that I'd been unaware of. There's only one area where we end up competing for the shops each month, but it's a small price to pay for the extras I've picked up that she doesn't like doing (banks) and the restaurant gigs she's picked up that I'm too old for (!?) or whatever.

Mostly, though, I don't tell people that I mystery shop.

I have told close family and close friends what I do however, most "acquaintances" who ask I tell them I work for some market research companies. I do not mind referring anyone but normally I start them with some of the companies that I normally do not shop anymore or if I do, infrequently. Some of them I know would not have the patience or detail anyway and have not even attempted to do shops.

I tell friends that I mystery shop. Many have asked me how to get into it (they all tend to think it is a scam). I have noticed that the majority of them never actually do more then a few fast food restaurants. To me there is no threat by telling friends or family about this industry because it takes a special kind of person to do it on serious level. Majority of people just do not understand how to really make mystery shopping work for them.

As far as someone I know working at a place I have to mystery shop, I will let the company know a head of time that I have an associate who works there. The two times I came across this both companies just asked me to show the location when the person I knew was not on duty.

We had overnight company and my husband's friend was saying, "you actually get paid for this?"

Carol, my friends say the same thing, you get paid to eat out, I don't want to bore them with the details, so, my friends know I enjoy what I do...the rest for me to know. When acquantances dig deeper, I say there is tons of paperwork and I'm on the computer 4 hours a day, that takes care of it.

ShopperSteven, my business cards say restaurant, hotel and retail evaluations as well...no one questions it...when married our business was in part Commercial Real Estate Appraisals...just an extention of that (in a way).

I have told some people that I mystery shop. Most of them don't want to do it at all, with the exception of my daughter-in-law.

I'm actually developing some classes to teach at my local community education department. Just need to finish my class syllabus up. I think people overall are curious about mystery shopping and want to know the details.

My new job title is "Evaluation Specialist". During the winter months, I work for a scholarship processing company and that is my title there. I'm using it now with Mystery Shopping as well, since it fits what I do, evaluate service.

GregP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TechSavvy Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > And what about all the social media? Why on
> earth
> > would I "like" a bunch of MSC's on Facebook?
> Talk
> > about shooting yourself in the foot.
> >
> > An aside: I know some shoppers have set up
> bogus
> > Facebook accounts under pseudonyms, but that
> > solution may not last. Word is, Facebook is
> > cracking down on duplicate accounts that don't
> > represent real people. Anyway, I don't want to
> > have to monitor multiple accounts.
>
>
> I agree 100%. I cant understand why these MSC's
> would encourage shopper to "like" their pages. Im
> sure they have caught many shoppers telling to
> much about a assignment. People tend to tell all
> their business on Facebook.


From a company perspective- We encourage our shoppers to follow our social media pages so they can get a heads up on what areas we have available shops in and/or what areas we need shoppers in. It is a great tool for route shoppers. I am not familiar with how written shop companies work, but video companies like ours tend to work with our shoppers on a more personal level, we only work with select skilled shoppers who we build relationships with and they enjoy interacting with us in various ways including social media. For those that enjoy social media, a good idea is to keep it separate- one account for personal use if you choose, and another account for business networking. Many of our shoppers do this. Obviously it is not something that is required, so if you don't like keeping up with social media pages then don't do it.

I can totally see your point, too, ImpactMrkt.

At least with aggregation applications like Seesmic Desktop, Hootsuite, and the like, it's easy to keep up with multiple social media accounts if one wants to.