Mystery shopping is a great job for shoppers in both metro areas as well as in more rural locations. If you are close to gas stations, shopping centers or malls, grocery stores, restaurants, or any other venue that serves the public, you can likely find some assignments in your area. However, depending on how remote your location is, the amount of income you can make from mystery shopping may be limited. There are a number of things rural mystery shoppers can do to increase the amount of assignments they are able to work on.
Extend Your Territory. While your small city or town may be rural, chances are you live fairly close to other cities. Whether your neighboring cities are rural as well, or are mid to larger-sized, when you expand your mystery shopping territory, you will be able to find more assignments to complete.
Rural mystery shoppers may be used to having most of the needs satisfied within just a few miles of their house, such as gas, groceries, dining out, and so forth. However, those living in larger areas often drive twenty or thirty miles, or more, to reach certain venues and even to go to work at their “day job.” If you feel penalized for having to make a commute to complete an assignment, understand that you aren’t in a different boat necessarily than an big city mystery shopping. Rather, the scenery of your commute and the hassles of fighting traffic are different.
Branch Out. To make a decent paycheck as a mystery shopper, many rural shoppers find they need to sign up to work with more providers. You can save yourself some time and energy by choosing those providers that have a lot of jobs in your area over those that may have just one or two. If you need help learning about what mystery shoppers services your area, try posting a question on the mystery shopping online forums
Make A Day Of It. As you search through the job boards, if you notice that a city that is just beyond the area you are willing to travel to has a lot of assignments, consider devoting a whole day to completing multiple assignments in the area. You will save on travel time and gas, which will help to make trip worth your while.
You can even turn the trip into an overnight getaway by picking up a hotel and restaurant shop in the area, as well as a few other assignments. A working weekend is a great way to enjoy a break from the doldrums from home while making money at the same time.
While rural mystery shoppers may have to sign up with more providers to find assignments close by, mystery shoppers in urban areas often find there is more competition for the assignments. Regardless of where you live, there is not a “better” place to live to be a mystery shopper. You simply have to have the drive to find the assignments!