So many people today are looking for a way to earn some extra money. For some, they want a regular full-time or part-time job, and for others they simply want to find a way to pick a few extra bucks from time to time when personal expenses start mounting up. Whatever your motivations are, mystery shopping is an excellent job that most people are qualified for, and what’s best is that you can start earning money within just a day or two! So how do you get started?
Finding Providers. First and foremost, you will want to find a provider to work with, or more likely to find a few different providers. Providers act as a liaison between mystery shoppers and clients like restaurants, retailers, and others. Because mystery shoppers are independent contractors, you can sign up to work with one, ten, or more if you want to. Further, you can control who you work with, which assignments you select, and how much or how little you work. You can quickly and easily find a few providers by visiting the website of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association online. Keep in mind that some websites sell a list of providers, but you can get this list for free by visiting the MSPA website.
Signing Up. After you have found a few providers to work for, your next task is to sign up with each of them. You will find that this is a lot like completing a job application, and you will need to provide some personal details like a social security number, a birth date, and other such information. This is needed for tax purposes, just like it would be needed for tax purposes if you work for any other company. Some providers have a very simple online application that just takes a few minutes to complete, and others have a more detailed application that may include the need to answer questions on ethics, provide a writing sample, and more.
Finding Jobs. For most people, the process of finding providers and signing up to work for them can be completed in just an hour or two. Some providers may approve your application immediately and others may take a day or two to approve you. Once you are approved to work as a mystery shopper with each provider, you can then hop online and view the online job boards. Each provider lists their open assignments online, and through the job boards you can read more about the assignments that are available, and you can request to work on assignments that interest you. These job boards are constantly changing as other mystery shoppers select assignments and as new jobs are being posted on them. So you will want to check them often.
As you can see, you quickly and easily sign up to work as a mystery shopper, and in many cases you can go from just being interested in working as a mystery shopper to completing your first paying gig in a day or two. The process really is that easy and simple, so take time today to find a few providers to work with as a first step.