I've organized my "sponsored review" sites and have all three of my websites approved by all the sites.  (This one; Cynical Musings; and "Walk into the Bible" Study). 

What this means for you? 
Within the next few weeks, I'll be bidding for jobs and seeing if/when/how much I get paid. 
As always, I will share that information with you.

If I find a good site that pays for quality reviews, I will share it.
If I find a site that is doesn't pay, has horrible prices, etc, I will also share that. 
For those of you that are already familiar with sponsored reviews, and have a site that you like, please recommend! 

-and-

I have signed up for some new mystery shopping companies.  Not because I'm not getting enough jobs from the other ones (I am and I don't even have time to take them all as I am busy with my writing), but because I want to make sure that they pay well and on time.  So, there WILL be more mystery shopping companies posted in the future! 

While I've only done three shops for Customer Impact, the pay was decent for the jobs needing done and I was paid promptly.  As with all of the other mystery shopping sites on this website, I have been paid!  If you're interested in becoming a shopper for Customer Impact, please visit the following link: Become a shopper!

Corporate Research International is another company that I have done jobs for and that has paid.  Like I've said before, I will NEVER recommend a site that hasn't paid me personally. While this sometimes means that I occasionally don't get paid for investigating stuff, it means YOU WILL! 

Benefits of CRI: I just got $50 for one job a couple of days ago.  It has some of the higher paying jobs that I do, but only because I only take last minute jobs from them.  They do send e-mails on a regular basis with last minute jobs they need done, with the pay rate for the job.  This is where I pick my jobs from for this company.  Because...

Negatives of CRI: The pay rate for a "regular" (aka- not last minute job) is horrible beyond belief.  Another negative is that for each company you're going to mystery shop for (say company a is a gas station; company b is a pizza place; company c is a retail store, etc), you have to do the training and pass the test before they'll even tell you what the job pays!  I know, I know.  Honestly, it doesn't take that long, though. 

BY INVITE.  Please e-mail me at:  jenniferlandsberger@yahoo.com  -or-  use the contact page.  Include your e-mail and I will send an invitation to you!   In the meantime, I have to send e-mail invites!  I will NOT nor ever will share your e-mail address with anyone else, and I do not and will not charge for any information on this site.  I will also not e-mail you myself except for the actual invite.    

There is a mystery shopping page (see tab at top of page) for those of you who are interested in mystery shopping.  As I've stated before, a good portion of my income comes from mystery shopping.  It is fun, easy, and a good source of a small income.  

Another site from which I get some jobs and from which I HAVE BEEN PAID is KSS International.  To become a mystery a shopper with KSS, please visit the following link: KSS International.

I've received a bunch of payments in the last few days for February shops!  So, I have a bunch to share.  But I'm going to go through them one by one. 

Today, I'm going to give the link to "Provantage."  I have received payment from them, and the shops I did for them were very easy.  There is not a lot on the boards right now, but I do keep checking back because jobs pop up every now and then.  Again, I can't reveal details of what company I shopped for or my p

I would recommend checking them out! 

Provantage New Shopper Sign-Up

Got my first paycheck from another mystery shopping site.  This would be my top recommended site for anyone.  There are a bunch of great places to shop for and the pay is good. 

Market Force.  Here is the link to the description and application page.  Market Force

When you first sign up at a mystery shopping company, they'll probably want you to do one of two things: either write a profile on why you would be a good mystery shopper and/or write about a recent shopping experience you had. 

Some simple rules to follow:

• Use complete sentences.  This sounds simple, but you would be amazed at the people who have profiles that read something like "30's, smart, detail oriented."  This is not likely to inspire confidence that you can write a complete "story" of a shopping trip that a company would want to pay for.
  
• Don't lie!  Claiming to have a master's degree isn't going to get you more jobs.  It's going to be regarded as suspicious (unless you can back it up).  If you lie on your profile, a company has every right to remove you from their list of sub-contractors. 
  
• Play up the positive.  Have three kids?  Brag up your knowledge of a variety of kid-friendly products.  Used to be a waitress- point out how familiar you are with the food service industry. 
  
• Spell check and grammar check.  And not just with the "auto" feature.  A sentence like "Customer service rep Mike didn't smiled or make eye contact" makes you look like an idiot.  (Sorry, no offense).  And spell check won't pick up that error.
  
• Use facts, not opinions.  "Sarah seemed rude" is all right, but "Sarah didn't greet me, make eye contact, or smile.  Her tone was also a bit rude throughout the visit" is great.  You're there to report the facts, not share your opinions. 
  

It's a good idea to write up a sample profile and shopping trip before you even start applying.  Read it through, tweak it to sound a bit better, and use those as your base when filling out applications or profiles. 

Yay!  I got another payment from mystery shopping.  As I stated before, as I get paid by these sites, I will add them to the "mystery shopping" tab above.  PLEASE READ ALL OF THE MYSTERY SHOPPING STUFF BEFORE YOU START! 

The first site I am going to recommend is "Beyond Hello".  To get an invitation, please e-mail me.  jenniferlandsberger@yahoo.com.  Please include your e-mail address.  I will send the invitation e-mail, which will have the link and all of the information for the site. 

As part of the privacy agreement, I can't give job details or amounts...but, I promise that this site is WELL WORTH YOUR TIME!

(I am in the process of trying to get a "referral link" from them to put on the page.  In the meantime, I have to send out physical e-mail requests). 

I've been doing some mystery shopping lately, and I have to tell you guys, it is fun!  I wasn't going to cover it on this site, but I got to looking, and there are jobs everywhere!  I even looked up the small rural town in Iowa where my parents live...there were a few jobs there.  Plus more within 30 miles (and in rural Iowa, 30 miles is like running to the grocery store is to the rest of us). 

You've probably seen a bunch of sites that charge $30 or $40 for a list of places in which you can apply to mystery shop.  Well, in keeping with my original promise, I'm not going to charge you a cent.  As I get paid from different companies, I will post the link in which to sign up with them.  I am, like with the survey sites, going to wait until I get paid.  I'm not going to be sending anyone to scam sites.

So, here is a quick outline of future postings that I'm going to do relating to mystery shopping.  If you have a question that isn't covered below, PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT (or contact me) and I will answer the question. 

1) Mystery Shopping 101- What is it?  Who pays who?  How do I make money?  And related "basic" questions.
2) A "how-to" post on writing a good profile
3) An example of how a basic mystery shopping trip goes- what you need to observe, questions that normally get asked, etc.