Every mystery shopper who first starts out in the job initially has their own unique goals that they want to meet with this job. For some people, they simply want to earn some extra spending cash on the side, and this includes everyone from retirees to college students to stay at home parents, too. Other people, however, have big dreams of turning this fun and exciting job into a full-time gig. Some people do indeed make an easy transition into mystery shopping, and they may soon be working a full-time schedule and earning full-time dollars in a matter of weeks. Others, however, really do struggle to get their new job off the ground and can’t see how to turn it into more than a part-time opportunity. If you are ready to turn your mystery shopping gig into a professional, full-time job, here are some tips to follow:
Defining Full-Time. For most people, working a full-time job often means that they not only work most of the day for 4, 5, or even 6 days a week, but also that they earn a paycheck that they can live on, too. As you may very well know from your experience mystery shopping so far, this is not a job that you will get rich off of, but if you fill your schedule, you can make a decent living. Consider that the typical assignment may pay you between $10-$20 per hour of your time. Of course, how efficient you are and how much assignments pay your neck of the woods may cause this to vary a little for you. However, you can do the math and determine how much you can realistically earn if you work a 40 hour work week. You will want to make sure that this full-time pay is enough for you to live on, or you should be prepared to work more than 40 hours per week.
Filling Your Schedule. Now one key aspect of working as a full-time mystery shopper is being able to fill your work schedule accordingly. If you are having trouble locating enough assignments to fill your days, you should consider signing on to work with a few more providers. You don’t want to sign up to work with so many providers that you don’t have time to view all of their job boards regularly, as this can actually hurt you in the long run. However, finding the right mix of providers who offer decent pay and are great to work with, and who also offer plenty of work in your area, can help you to fill your schedule and stay busy with full-time work.
Improve Your Efficiency. On the other hand, if you are working plenty of hours and just aren’t earning enough money, you may need to take steps to improve your efficiency. You will want to make every effort to get in and out of your site locations quickly. If you find that you are actually doing some shopping of your own at your site visits, this will eat away at your time and prevent you from picking up other paying gigs. You should also try to cut down on travel time as much as possible. Attempt to book all of your assignments for the day (or at least for the morning hours or afternoon hours) in one section of town. If that is not possible, then consider trying to book all of your assignments in a straight or roundabout path so that you don’t have to waste time backtracking across town throughout the day.
Following these tips can help you to first determine if full-time mystery shopping is right for you, and they can also help to make the transition into being a full-time mystery shopper, too!