proudAPmom

Are you a stay at home mom or dad who is just trying to make ends meet? Need to earn a little extra income in your free time? Well, then we are in the same boat and I am trying hard to figure out how to do just that. Maybe I can help by sharing what has worked for me and what hasn’t. It sure saves some time when you know where to look and who to trust. 

First, look at the skills you have. Can you type? Do you have transportation? Can you shop and evaluate stores? If you were to go to the store, could you remember the name and description of the cashier, sales associate, and/or manager? Can you be observant and see if the store is clean and items are well stocked.  If you can do these things you may be a good canidate for a mystery/secret shopping position. 

Mystery shopping if a fun and rewarding job that is real, if you find the right company. I’ve signed up for more than 10 different companies but have found only 3-4 that I really like and that I’ve actually done any shopping for. I will share some of those with you - Trendsource is my favorite. They pay pretty well (although not the highest in the business) and they pay quickly. Matter of fact, they offer direct deposit into your checking account which makes the pay even faster. They offer a good selection of jobs every month, and if you work really hard and turn in your assignments quickly and they are of good quality you can earn a good enough score that you will be able to self-assign jobs. This means that if you see a really great shop become available you can just take it, rather than wait for someone at headquarters to approve you for the job -whle your waiting someone else may get the job.  Check TRENDSOURCE out here. Click on the Become a Field Agent. You will be required to fill out an application and provide you SS# for tax purposes*.  When you are hired, they will request a photo id as well. You should have a scanner or digital camera for you use as well, since it makes it so much easier to submit receipts and other forms this way.

Another secret shopping company is NSG. I’ve recently been shopping for them and they have some of the highest paying jobs that I’ve done so far (around $30 for a shop that required a visit to two stores in one day). The reports have been more detailed and a little longer to write them, but as long as I get my paycheck I am happy. They also have a scoring system, but I think that they just offer the best jobs to those with the higher scores. So far, for three shops that I’ve done I’ve scored 10/10 on them all. They also like for you to upload receipts/quotes and other info to their website, but you can aslo fax the info to them.  I haven’t been paid by them yet, but when I do get my first check I am looking at $90 for about 3.5 - 4 hours total work. Not too shabby! Click here to go to NSG.

Now I will share with you about a few other sites that I’ve found. These sites are better if you don’t  have transportation and would rather work right from your home office. These sites are best if you have some writting skills and have some time to sit at the computer. 

1. Textbroker - this site is for those who have some writting skills and can write articles that people/companies request. You sign up, write a sample of your work (you have to pick a topic) and then they grade your work (1-5; 1 being poor while 5 would be professional) and then you can search the job board to find projects that you want to work on. They pay per word based on your score. I did two projects so far (with a writing score of 3-average) and have made just over $5. You cash out when you reach $10 or more and it is deposited to a Paypal account (so you must have one before signing up). The work is pretty tough and you have to have the article written just the way the customer wants it or it can be rejected. Each time you submit an article they must approve it before you are paid and then they will also score it. Your goal is always to raise your score as you get paid better when you have a higer score. I’ve only been with them for about a week now, but I think that they could become something if I can devote a bit more time to the research and writing of the articles - it takes some time.

2. Gather.com. This site is one I’ve been with since December 2006. It is basically an adult Facebook. You join, post pictures, articles (now called posts) and movies. You comment on others stuff and participate as much as possible. The more you view pages, the more you earn. The more you post, the more you earn. Connect with other people - look for people with simmilar interests, or just find people who seem interesting and ask them to be your friends (friend request link button) and as you build a network of friends, they will see your writting/photos, etc and you will see theirs. Join groups - there are many, many groups on Gather. Find groups that share your interests and post content to them. You will find many different people and groups on Gather. You earn points and when you reach a certain amount - you can cash them out for either gift cards or Paypal payments. Since my joining in 06 here is what I’ve earned:

The rewards come quickly and they even have more offers than what I cash out for - Gap, Target, Home Depot, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, CVS, Borders, Macy’s, Brookstone, Pretty Good Goods, Omaha Steaks, My Wines Direct, and Amazon.com are some of the gift cards you can get.

Gather is a great place to just write about your daily life, things that interest you, publish photos of your family and friends. You can even make any of your work private to a certain group of friends or just to your self. Check them out here.

Be sure to keep checking back here at my blog as I learn about more companies where you can really make money - I appreciate any feedback from your experiences with these companies.

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