How To Find Like Minded Customers You Want For Your Home Based Business
Why would you like to find “like minded” customers for your business? That’s easy - it’s because they are easier to please and easier to work with.
So how do you go find such customers?
That is actually easy too, but you have to learn to think “away from the box”. One of the biggest mistakes a new marketer makes is to go on the Internet, see a few ads they like and copy them. Then they look at some copy they like from a few other websites, and they copy them.
When they put all of this together, they may be able to generate leads, but these leads may not be the type of customers you are looking for.
For example, if you just want customers that are only interested in an opportunity where they can make some quick money with no regard for their customers, all you have to do is market a website that has a flash movie or copy that is all about making money fast and easy. You make some claims like “No Selling” or over 90% automated. In other words you tell half the truth or downright lie about what is really required to be successful. You may be able to make money like this, but who have you just surrounded yourself with; a bunch of people that are only in it for the money and if they don’t make any quick, it’s your fault.
Let’s say on the other hand you want clients for you home business team that are professionals, that can communicate well, and that know a business takes effort, and time to build. In other words, the kind of people that have staying power. Do you think you could take the same website you used before, the “grab the money” marketing piece, and simply advertise that where the right people hang out? The answer is no.
Your advertisement, and then sales letter/copy has to line up with who you are. So while you may get some ideas from reading other people’s ads and website copy, in the end, your ad and your copy has to be you. Which means what? Which means that if you want to be selective about your customers, spend the time to develop your own sales copy and ads, and to learn to market these websites in such a way that the right kind of people see what you are all about, what your vision is. The people you don’t want will stay away, as they won’t resonate with your message, and the right people will ask for more information, because they do resonate with your message.
As a general strategy for internet network marketers I suggest that if you are new, use the company supplied marketing pieces to build your initial client base, and to create your story. Then I suggest you build your own custom marketing pieces, to attract targeted customers, the kind you want to surround yourself with.
Once you get your story out there, the Law of Attraction will take over and start to bring you more people that are a great fit for your enterprise.
So how do you create the story? Work hard for whatever time it takes to master success realizing that it will take time and resources. You are building a business, and like any business, you will be investing in marketing, and relationship building.
The real magic though happens once you start to develop your team. This is your defining moment. Will you simply be one of those people that signs people up in your company, and throws them into the “System”, or will you actually spend a little extra effort helping them, solving your customers problems, helping them find their way.
Once you have created a story like that, you will become attractive to others. And you will have ever increasing results. Everyone talks about their opportunity, their products. The real leaders talk about how they themselves are going to “add value” to the experience of their clients, and then actually do it.
This is the story your potential clients want to hear, and when you tell it, in your custom marketing, you will attract the people that resonate with your story, and your style.
Have You Ever Thought to Yourself “Show me a better life?”
Working at home would definitely make your life better, but can a home based business be the right choice for you? Why not? Considering all the downsizing companies are doing right now, it’s probably one of the best decisions you can make. A desire to spend more time with family may be the motivation to start a work at home opportunity. Perhaps your job is a dead end, or your employer continually requires more work with less benefits. A home based businesses is the means of getting out of any of these predicaments. I for one have worked for others all my life, and have decided I want to run a home base business for all the reasons I listed. These and many, many other predicaments are excellent reasons to consider the potential of running your own home based business, and the benefits are outstanding.
Many people try to start a home-based business utilizing the skills they have learned at their previous jobs, such as bookkeeping, web design, sales, etc. These types of home based businesses can be lucrative, but they usually require a lot of work that most people don’t have the time while already working a full time job for someone else. They also tend to incur huge start up costs, which most people also don’t have. So what are your options?
There are many, many web sites dedicated to helping people find work from home opportunities which require little to no investment to start. In a lot of cases, you will be able to use the skills you learned at previous jobs with a company that is already established that can help you generate income from home. For example, if you have worked in sales for years, you would then want to look into an agreement with an established company that allows you to market their site or sell from home. This type of home based business is easy to start up and will most certainly generate income. But you are still working for someone else!
Online work at home opportunity web sites are undoubtedly a great tool. Look mainly for directories that can point you to several work from home opportunities and ideas. There are several home based income opportunities currently. They can be anything from reviewing goods to writing catalog pieces, to setting up online stores, to doing data entry, to filling out surveys. These opportunities are for everyone that wants to improve their income, or make a living. You decide on how much time and effort you want to invest, and that will determine the income you generate. Be sure to stay away from “get rich quick” schemes. Most all legitimate and profitable work at home opportunities do require work!
There are also sites where you can fill out a survey and they will find the right opportunities that are compatible with your wants and skills. Find the work at home directories, which have many opportunities listed and you will probably find an online work at home opportunity that is just perfect for you and your lifestyle (or the lifestyle you want to have!) Take the time and search out a few of these directory sites and start making notes of which opportunities are right for you.
The 5 Worst Home-Based Business Scams
In a forum devoted to education and careers, a blog devoted to this topic was inevitable - home-based business scams. Anyone who has an email account has gotten an email - if not a thousand - like this:
Earn an Extra $5K+ per month!
Make your financial dreams happen!
Free information and training package!
Usually, the email includes a testimonial or two from people “just like you.”
Before I started this business, I used to [insert bad career here]. But I started working [insert home-based business opportunity here] and made $2500 my first month! By my sixth month, I was making $11,000. This business is a dream come true!
Some of these emails can be fairly persuasive, especially if it’s been a tight month. I mean, who wouldn’t want to earn a little extra money? Then I think of the old adage, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” and I realize I’m probably dealing with a home-based business scam. At that point, the email becomes ridiculous.
But the truth is that thousands - if not tens of thousands - of people fall for these scams every day. Sadly, for many of these people, that decision will be disastrous. Home-based business scams tend to target people who can ill afford such a misstep - the sick and disabled, the elderly, stay-at-home mothers, low-income families, and people lacking a college education. (Note: it’s not that people without college educations are less intelligent per se; rather, because they don’t have college degrees, chances are they are more inclined to take risks.)
For anyone who’s ever received these emails - or who every will - let me identify five of the most common and pernicious home business scams, which I’ve gleaned from several websites issuing similar warnings. Think of it as a public service announcement.
1. Multi-level Marketing (MLM)
Basically, multi-level marketing entails selling some kind of product or service but also rewards the participant for recruiting other people to join. Typically, early recruits are paid by the entry fees gleaned from new recruits, who in turn must collect their rewards from others. Each level feeds (or builds) off the one after it, which is why MLMs are sometimes referred to as “pyramid schemes.” Granted, not all MLMs are true pyramid schemes - which is illegal in most states - but most MLMs still rely on deception in order to succeed. As such, beware of MLM “opportunities” that promise large incomes for selling dubious products and recruiting fellow distributors.
2. Reshipping Fraud
Reshipping involves receiving mail merchandise and then repackaging and reshipping it for a substantial profit. Sounds easy, right? The only problem is that the merchandise was paid for with stolen credit cards, which means you - the reshipper - are acting as a “fence” for stolen goods. Reshipping fraud is relatively new to the realm of home-business fraud; as such, reshipping “opportunities” still appear in legitimate newspapers and websites, which lend them an air of credibility. Don’t be fooled. Reshipping fraud is not only illegal but also dangerous.
3. Craft Assembly
The variations on this scam are legion, but essentially it involves a company outsourcing the assembly of its product to you. All you need is a start-up kit and raw materials, which you purchase from the company, of course, and which you can do at home. Once you’ve assembled the products - toys, magnets, jewelry - you send it back to the company only to find that your products “fail to meet specifications.” You’re left with a bunch of useless products and no one to sell them to. Beware.
4. Medical Billing
The basic sales pitch with medical billing is that the health care industry is inundated with unprocessed paper claims and there’s a need for someone - you - to process these claims electronically. The beauty of this scam is that it’s true - there is a need and you can make money processing claims. The training you receive from promoters, while overpriced, will be legitimate. The only problem is that once you’ve finished your training you have to generate your own business. That’s where the scam comes in - promoters tend to over-hype their ability to get you contacts within the medical community. The fact is that few medical-billing entrepreneurs are able to attract clients and earn a reasonable income. The truth is that the medical billing market revolves around several large firms and competition is stiff.
And finally…
5. Envelope Stuffing
The doyen of home-based business scams has been around since the 1920s. One website even referred to it as the “cockroach you just can’t eliminate.” Basically, this scam involves you sending off a fee to learn how to make money stuffing envelopes from home. Shortly thereafter, you get a letter telling you to place a similar envelope-stuffing ad in magazines and newspapers. That way, people will send money to you to learn how to make money stuffing envelopes. You, in turn, send them a similar letter about placing envelope-stuffing ads in other magazines and newspapers. In short, the way you earn money stuffing envelopes is by propagating the envelope-stuffing scam.
To conclude, let me just observe what these home-based business scams have in common: it’s true that they lie, exaggerate, and misrepresent their products and services. That being said, the only reason they work is because people let themselves be carried away by delusions of “getting rich quick” or “making easy money.” In other words, these scams, like all confidence games, feed off of greed and, in some cases, desperation. Don’t be a victim. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Remember that the only foolproof ways to increase your earning potential are hard work and education.
Can You Really Create Autopilot Profits and Make Money On The Internet?
One of the greatest challenges on the internet is finding a way to completely automate the process to make money online without going broke.
The good news is that it is possible to create a totally, turn-key program that allows the average person, with little or no marketing experience, to generate a five figure monthly income online.
Most people who try to break into online marketing have a difficult time doing it.
Having done it myself, I can understand how they feel. It’s easy to get sidetracked by stuff that isn’t important. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. It’s very easy to think you’re not smart enough to do it.
One of the primary keys to online business success is having the right income generators on the front end of your business. Even if you build a large list of qualified people, your success is entirely dependent on having the right product offer(s) and the ability to generate instant significant cash flow.
Having only one product for your business is like a car dealer trying to sell your only white cars. What if they like red cars or blue cars? Having multiple quality products you can offer will ensure that you can properly monetize your list of prospects.
Income streams take on many different flavors:
1) Affiliate Programs
Affiliate marketing allows you to start making money online without having to create any products or services of your own. Instead, you market other people’s products and services. Affiliate marketing is great because it is so fast and easy to get going. You can literally be in business for yourself, marketing products as an affiliate in a matter of minutes. Now, actually getting sales and making money as an affiliate marketer may not be quite as easy but it’s not exactly hard either.
2) Marketing Information Products
This is the favorite of many and definitely one of the best ways to make a lot of money online. Creating and selling your own information product such as an ebook can make you a lot of money in a relatively short amount of time. Once you have created and started marketing your product, it can be sold over and over again for years. The best part is that you make 100% of the money from sales and your customers can download the ebook as soon as they buy it, so you don’t have to worry about any inventory or shipping costs.
3) Marketing Your Own Products
This requires a little more work and planning but you can easily hire someone through Rent-A-Coder, eLance or Guru to take your idea for a product and create it in a short period of time for less than you think. Developing your own product gives you the ultimate in control and freedom.
4) Reoccurring Income Generators (membership sites)
This is often an overlooked income stream in making money online and is one of the most important; the ability to generate residual income on a monthly basis. By either being an affiliate of or creating your own membership website you can participate in this very critical income stream.
Most online marketing gurus will tell you (over and over and over) that the one of the key ingredients for success in making money online is in building a large qualified list of prospects.
Succeeding in online marketing means being able to attract massive numbers of qualified prospects and get them to “opt-in” to your offer. This is where most people ultimately fail in their attempt to build a successful and profitable online business.
Google Adwords, ezine advertising, online classified ads, blogs, article writing, the list goes on and on. It’s all overwhelming for most folks trying to figure the best way to drive traffic to their website and build their list.
Doing that requires that you have the right tools and programs to not only show you how to do it but also to be able to automate the process so that you aren’t spending 12 hours a day sitting in front of your computer trying to make it all work.
In conclusion, you can make huge sums of money online, allowing you to quit your job to work from home for yourself. However, it requires you to learn the necessary information to work it effectively and put in an adequate amount of time and effort. Making money online is not easy, but it’s not exactly hard either. It can definitely be done!
Product Selection Advice for Ebay Sellers and Drop-shippers
The first step to picking your products involves identifying you niche. It has been proven again and again that Ebay sellers who focus on a niche market are much more successful both in sales from new traffic and sales from repeat customers.
What is a niche market? It is basically a specialty store. To put it simply you focus on one group of related products. For example Children’s Apparel, Cameras and Camera Accessories, Designer Handbags, Fragrances for Men and Women…etc….The point is to focus on a group of related products and if you explore the eBay stores you will notice most of the successful ones are all these types of specialty sites.
Here’s a breakdown of the benefits of a niche market approach:
Initial set up is much easier. Since you are focusing on a group of similar products you can quickly and easily add all the available products in your chosen category to your Ebay listings.
It has been proven that niche market Ebayers gain a significant increase in their up-sales (meaning a customer who views you listing for a digital camera sees that you are also selling the lens he wants and he buys that too). If you are selling unrelated items like cameras and belt buckles then you are not going to have much chance at the up-sell.
You will generate repeat customers who have shopped with you before and had a positive experience. When you sell Joe Blow a printer and he later needs ink or paper he is more likely to return to you to make his purchase because he already trusts you and he assumes you will have the related products he wants, and if you have followed the niche model you will! Since you are selling printers your niche would include these accessories and you would pick up the sale. Ebay allows members to add sellers and Ebay stores to their favorites list so they can easily come back to the vendors they have used and trust.
A niche market is much more manageable and logical. It doesn’t really make sense to be selling power tools and wide screen t.v.’s….you see the point? And keeping up with your inventory is a very simple matter when you are working from a niche model.
There are two invaluable FREE tools that can give you a great snapshot of the hottest products on eBay. Ebay Pop and Ebay Seller Resources. Access them through Ebay and make good use of the available tools to help you narrow your niche.
So now lets suppose you have chosen Cookware as your niche market. You build your eBay listings using only products that fall into the Cookware category. You appropriately price your items, fine tune your listings and drive traffic to your listings.
When you feel you have all your cookware products running smoothly you are ready to expand to a related category like blenders or microwaves. Each time you complete a category you move on to the next one and the list of items you are selling will grow and grow….and you will still have a niche market.
There is no limit to how far you can go with this. With enough time and effort you could find yourself running on a department store type model. The key is one category at a time. Make sure every product in that category is 100% optimized before moving on to a new category.
*Import Notes on Selection Criteria for Products*
It is very easy to get overwhelmed by the many products you now have access to. Here are some crucial factors to keep in mind when choosing your niche market and the best products within your niche:
Don’t chose a niche that is already highly saturated on Ebay. You can easily determine the saturation level by doing a couple of ebay searches for products in the niche you are considering. For example if i go to eBay and search for “Cell Phones” thousands of listings are going to pop up. Your listing would get lost in the shuffle. Search for “Underwater Camera” and you will find it is a much less crowded category. If you check the completed listings you will find most listings sold telling you this is a good opportunity for a niche market. It is always a good idea to check the completed listings for a more accurate idea of how well the item is selling overall on Ebay and for how much.
When choosing products avoid items that have a low quantity available. It may seem like an easy sell but when quantities are low you take a huge risk that the item will sell out before you sell it. In some cases products with a low quantity are actually already sold out and have not been updated yet. You can always contact customer service to get more information as to the availability. My general rule is not to sell products that have a quantity of less than 25 in stock.
Do Ebay searches for any item you are interested in. You can see how much competition there is and also by checking the completed auctions you can get a picture of how much people are paying for the item. Prices can vary greatly and you may ask yourself why. It is all about the presentation.
Don’t get to caught up in how much the retail price of the items are. The important thing is what they are actually selling for and how steady the demand is. I have a product that I sell for $5.95 plus $3 shipping. I profit only $2.30 per sale but that adds up fast when you sell 50 or 100 a week.
How to Start an Ebay Dropshipping Business for Zero Dollars Out of Pocket
Is it possible to start a successful Ebay drop-shipping business for zero out of pocket? Yes, it is! The problem is that there are hundreds of supposed drop-shippers online and many so called “instant auction success kits” and all but two are useless. There are only two Ebay approved drop-shippers and joining either one is the first step to creating an Ebay work at home business drop-shipping business.
For those who are unfamiliar with drop-shipping it works like this:
You locate products to sell from a database of over 250,000 products.
You can use tools through your drop-shipper that allow you to select products, set pricing and automatically send them to eBay.
Your item sells on eBay and you receive payment through Paypal.
You purchase the product from the drop-shipper using your Paypal funds. You pay the wholesale price and keep the profit.
The drop-shipper will process and ship it to your customer. They will handle any returns, exchanges or problems or instruct you how to resolve the issue through the manufacturer when warranties apply.
You will have tracking information on every order.
You can expect to spend at least a good week getting your business set up. The good news is that you will probably already have made a profit by day 5, and once you have set up all your products the business will pretty much run itself without a whole lot more effort on your part, but I am getting ahead of things. Let’s start from square one, shall we?
To start your business you are going to need:
A Paypal account
An eBay account
A drop-shipper account
As we already said, there are many supposed drop-shippers out there that are nothing but a scam.
There are only two Ebay approved drop-shippers and only one drop-shipper is fully integrated with Ebay. Follow the links at the end of this article to explore them both and decide which is right for you. Both charge membership fees but the fee structures differ greatly.
If you choose to go with a free trial drop-shipping account then by the time you need to pay membership dues you will have easily earned more than enough money to cover your monthly dues.
Remember I told you it would cost $0 out of pocket? Here’s how:
Sign up for the free 7 day trial
Make a real effort to get things started
Call customer service or contact live chat on the fourth or fifth day of your trial. Let them know how hard you have been working and that you very much would like to extend your trial period so your auctions have time to run their coarse, you can get a better feel for the system, etc…. I was able to get my trial period extended to a full month by taking this approach. Take the time to ask them any and every question you have since you are on the phone anyway! The customer service reps are amazing and it is well worth taking advantage of their expertise.
Work your butt off during the trial period and you will easily earn the few bucks your membership will cost you and more. Then you can pay your membership with your earning and thus have a $0 start up. In fact in my first two weeks I earned enough to pay for a one year membership at a huge discount which leads me to step 5….
When you have convinced yourself how wonderful your new business is and you are ready to pay your membership dues DON’T!!! Don’t do a thing until you call the customer service department back and ask to speak with someone in the promotions department. They will be offer you HUGE discounts on your membership and they will usually throw in free tools as well.
Before you go any further you need to take some time getting familiar with Ebay, Paypal and your drop-shipper. Explore each site carefully. Read about Ebay’s fees (you will not have to pay any fees up front to use Ebay but you will need to understand the fee structure to price your items properly). Get extremely comfortable with the tools and products offered by your drop-shipper. If you run into any questions or problems along the way contact the customer support for the site you have issues with and they will be glad to assist you. It will be much easier for you to follow the rest of this guide if you have a basic understanding of your new accounts first.
Now that you have a feel for the tools you will be using there are five more areas we need to cover in detail to make sure you are off to a solid start.
Product Selection-You have instant access to over 250,000 products to pick from. Find out how to determine which products to sell.
Product Pricing-How to set prices that will earn you the best conversions.
Traffic-There are over 60 million Ebayers out there. Learn how to drive them to your listings.
Things to Avoid-Find out the most common mistakes newbies make.
Advanced Tools-Reviews of some of the best tools available to expand your business when you are ready.
Home Business Ideas
For some people, the idea of a home business seems a foreign language. They can not understand how a home business can bring in more income than that of a business that is formed in a solid building. Its much the same line of thinking of those who shy away from the concept of network marketing. Its not a traditional business so the idea frightens them. Of course, if you do your research and choose a business that is compatible with your skill level and experience, a home business can be more profitable than a brick and mortar business. Some of the reasons why they may happen are described below.
One of the major reasons a home business can be more profitable than a brick and mortar is overhead. For example, a home business does not require payroll expenses, a sophisticated security system, business phone system and inventory just to name a few. That does not mean that your business will not have overhead because any business you operate has expenses connected to its operation.
The difference is that a home business has a much lower rate of overhead since you are using your home. There is no need for additional electric, phone, gas, or water lines, thus only a portion of the usage of those commodities is expensed for the business. Also, unless you hire people who actually work for you as opposed to outsourcing the work, there is no need for insurance except for yourself.
You may need to change your homeowners policy to accommodate the business part of your home but you should not need an entire new policy. Even if you do, the cost will be much lower than that of an entire building. If you have a brick and mortar business, you can certainly not bring your children to work, even if they are school age.
For one thing, it will be difficult to put them on the bus from another location, so having a brick and mortar business facilitates the need for either day care or a babysitter if your children are young. With a home business, you may be able to avoid childcare expenses if your children are old enough to understand that you are working and cannot be disturbed.
This is especially true if they are all in school since you can probably do most of your work during those hours. You also do not have to worry about losing time from work because they are ill or daycare is closed. You just need to rearrange your work schedule. Some types of home businesses may allow you to work when your children are there but if you meet clients, home or away, you should arrange to have your children placed in daycare or with a babysitter.
The Private Resale Rights’ Advantage
As online businesses soar to record high year after year, online business has attracted a growing number of online entrepreneurs that are hoping to make big bucks out of virtual products. With the entry of private resale rights which has gained enormous popularity among Internet marketers, online business has become better than ever.
Eager to know what private resale rights is and how to take advantage from it? Here are things you should know:
1.Private resale rights is a type of online business that generate income by selling or reselling online products. The selling would require online marketer to recreate the product as if recycling the product without the need of changing the whole thing.
2.Unlike making your own products to sell on the Internet, private resale rights eliminate the need to create one product. The private resale rights works by modifying the product into a better and saleable merchandise.
3.Since private resale right products uses existing products online, the marketer would only need to change the existing texts of description of the product. This is called the text information of the product. Every product has text information to describe the particular products, its content and benefits. Recreating while supplementing additional information about the product would lead you to a better and more attractive niche. Although adding information about the product can surely spark up the sale, be careful of misleading the reading.
4.Another field to modify for the sure success of your own private resale right product is the graphical presentation. Image which is often come as JPG, GIP, and BMP could be recreated to attract more costumers. In this way, you can have the unique niche different from all the rest.
5.With proper web page to post your own private resale right product, you can generate good flow of traffic which would in turn convert to potential costumers. Be reminded though that most Internet users spent an average of 20 seconds on one site and probably have visited other sites before yours. Uniqueness is the key. You surely don’t want to attract negative comments especially when you are only in the first stage.
6.Another good thing about private resale right product is that you could claim any product as your own. Following the above guidelines would lead you to have great market sale without worrying about the copyright. You can even give your product a brand new name different from the existing or original product.
7.There is no better way to earn money than doing it right at your very home. With a computer, Internet connection, and skill in the marketing field, anyone could make the best out of this business. While at home while earing money; it could not get better than this.
Private resale right principle is no longer new. You have surely had heard of some writers who hire ghostwriters to make articles for them. These writers would then claim the articles written by ghostwriters and use these as a merchandise for the money to grow. Private resale rights use the same simple principle. Create a new product out of the existing product on the net and then resell it at a different price and different brand name. With proper use of your skill in marketing, you can have the greatest advantage of private resale right business.
Secret Shopper: What’s In Store for You
Whoever the bloke that first thought of this must be a genius. Imagine having to shop all you want, and then getting paid so you can shop all over again. If this job was offered years ago, our elders might be crooning, Fairy tale can come true… or Heaven on earth…(with more heart to it) who knows, they might even want to kiss this blokes hand - “Godfather” style. You have that smug twitch on your brows? Ok, you may think this could be stretching it a bit far?
But then again consider yourself getting into a store, shop a little, pause a while, observe, have a little chit chat with the clerk, being the friendly amiable you all the time, pick a little more here - which can be reimbursed later anyway. Go to the next store and shop and shop and shop…and then get paid.
Or go to a movie house or a spa or you can go to an assigned restaurant have a little refreshment - which your employer will be paying for anyway, pull out a newspaper, even the week old ones will do it will not matter, play the detective like listening, observing, taking mental notes on service, orderliness, promptness, integrity, customers handling, or a myriad other things that your employer tasked you to do…and then get paid.
You go by many names. You are a secret shopper, a mystery shopper a spotter. Nonetheless that is the job you do to earn your living. Shop.
A secret shopper is a task assigned to people by companies and firms that want to update themselves with what is actually being carried out in their establishment from a customer’s point of view.
They get trained first on issues that the company wants to validate or resolve to enable them to be and remain competitive in their market. Training agendas are really simple but will ultimately enable employers to evaluate their current position in performance and competencies.
Training and assignment issues often include, divided further into sub-classes:
Efficiencies
Customer service
Cleanliness and order
Merchandising
Courtesy and Integrity.
Other issues on the priority list by the principal.
The job of the secret shopper basically are:
To observe
To evaluate
To file reports
To become a secret shopper, an individual would register on one or if preferred, several secret shopping companies or agencies. Once hired, the secret shopper would be tasked to inspect predetermined business establishments. Secret shoppers work like costumer undercover to do two tasks, to evaluate and observe the employees and to observe and evaluate the operation of the store. The secret shopper will then fill up evaluation sheet and file a report to be submitted to the principal.
What is in it for the mystery shopper?
Although the most common task assigned to a secret shopper is to shop, they also dine at different restaurants, visit and use fitness centers and spa, drink in different places, use gym, stay at a hotel and get into movie houses - free of charge.
The money is good too. For instance, a simple task that could take for about several minutes would pay you $8-$15. A more sophisticated task would pay you $25. The more complicated the task becomes, the higher the pay would be. If you already have a direct contact with the company, you can even earn $100 and up.
Task would require simple skills. So long as can write a good objective report (many principals prefer the not too critical ones), you can qualify to become a secret shopper.
So long as you abide by the confidentiality clause, that’s it.
Isn’t that a hell more fun than having to burn hours in an office cubicle coping with pressures and deadlines, finding yourself lost in all those papers and “to do” lists five days a week, so you can have money enough to go shopping?
Tips on How to Become a Mystery Shopper
For those who want to enter the career as a mystery shopper, you might be asking yourself, what should you do to become one. To fully know what is the nature of the work there are two things to realize:
1.The job
As it might have already entered your mind, mystery shopper is an individual who works for the company to observe, evaluate, and make a report on the status of the store from the costumer’s point of view. The mystery shopper or sometimes referred to as secret shopper will enter work not as an employee but as a regular costumer enjoying shopping while getting paid.
2.Kinds of Service it Offer
Mystery shopper is not limited to shops. They also go to restaurants, cruise liners, movie theaters, department store, casino, service centers, fitness centers or heath clubs, salons, banks, homebuilders, amusement centers and parks, and everything in the business area that are customer oriented. With these, you get paid while getting a new haircut, gambling, dinning in style, traveling and shopping, at work.
Now that you know these, here are tips on how to become a mystery shopper.
First things first: apply to as many mystery shopping agencies as possible.
Good thing here is that mystery shopping companies does not charge registration fees.
Another thing you need to know if you want to become a mystery shopper is to know the difference between real and a fictitious mystery shopping company. Real mystery shopping company does not charge fees their shopper while fictitious mystery shopping company do the opposite. All the manual, instruction materials, and trainings are provided for free.
Once you get your first assignment, grab it immediately. A good mystery shopper commits to accept assignments in short notice. This would generate good reputation to each company you serve. As the old saying goes “first impression lasts.” If you play hard to get, you might not get the second shot.
Although it might sound fun- shopping, dining, and enjoying while getting paid- there is a level of professionalism in this field. If you agree on specific date, make sure you can complete it. If you feel you cannot make it to the given date, ask of a reschedule or an extension. In this way you would not have to punish yourself doing your job or sacrificing another work.
Make sure also that you accomplish your reports and evaluations and submit it on time. There is no better way to please your client than getting your job done on time. Many mystery shoppers failed to get more assignment because of delayed if not incomplete reports.
A legitimate mystery shopping company also reimburses the amount of money spent for shopping as well as paying for the service you provide. Most companies pre-arrange the salary of the mystery shopper as well as the amount of purchase to be done.
One point to remember: although the money earned as a mystery shopper is enough to make a decent living, most mystery shoppers do this as the secondary source of income.
Finally, enjoy your work. There is no better way to create a good day on the store while working than having fun. Never treat it as a job but be mindful that by the end of the day, you can create a report/evaluation on the experience.
Enter Into a New Life as Secret Shopper
The world of a secret shopper is an ideal world for most who truly enjoys shopping. Secret shoppers not only get to do things that they love most, they also get paid. Secret shoppers are people that are hired to do just that, “shop”. They also have another function that most shoppers can only dream of. They are the complaints section, the suggestion boxes and the potpourri department rolled into one, that really gets the action done fast, well in a manner of speaking.
Business competition and the consequent desire of people running customer oriented businesses to get their enterprises into very competitive shapes, and the need of the companies to get an independent viewpoint other than the regular employees report, spurred the creation of the secret/mystery shopper.
Secret shoppers are normally assigned three basic tasks:
1.To observe- the mystery shopper enters an assigned store/establishment and follows a list that are usually predetermined, for example;
Merchandising
Price listings
Courtesy and integrity of employees
Order and cleanliness
Telephone and phone-ins handling
Service
Performance of duties and competencies.
Other points for observance that employers categorize as priorities to improve the over-all standing of their individual firms.
2.To evaluate - The mystery shopper then fills out a form on which evaluations from observations are noted.
3.To file a report - Reports coming from the secret shoppers are then collated for management evaluation aimed to further improve the firm or stores competitiveness in the market.
Other than the report being an evaluation of the business from a customers point of view, it also serves as the managements tool at validating and cross-referencing report coming from its direct employees.
For this service the secret shopper is usually paid anywhere from $7 to $15. The pay may not be very attractive for starters but as in any job, secret shoppers gets better paid as they become good at it. The normal pay today is about $1000 for 75 businesses that are checked in a month.
The competition is also stiff for secret shoppers. Presently, there are more than 200,000 mystery shoppers employed by about 750 companies. Because of this, people interested in being paid for shopping will take good advice at having their application sheets well filled up to the detail. Watch out for grammatical and spelling errors and do not leaving blank spots in the application form as this can diminish the chances of landing assignments. Employers also value short and detailed information without the reporter being critical. When assignments are given, short, concise, detailed and on-time submission of the reports can greatly increase chances at having more assignments. The secret shopper may even get to pick their assignments of choice.
Even as many prospective applicants can find this job interesting, about 70% fail to land more assignments often due to lack of informative details, incomplete reports and failure to file the reports on time.
One condition though is that a mystery shopper signs a confidentiality clause. That is the shopper cannot reveal
the job or disclose particulars of the assignments other than those specified by the employer.
However you look at it, being a secret shopper is not a bad idea for people who will go on shopping anyway, as shoppers go on shopping whether paid or not.
Create Products that Sell
This is where it all starts
Whether the advice is to be taken or not, businessmen agree that no business has survived successfully without passion. Passion is an emotional issue. Businesses likewise and the creation of products that will sustain the business has to start with what one knows best.
Business styles and approaches are as varied as the number of businessmen. Each according to techniques dictated by the circumstances and responses allowing each to make decisions and deviations. There are however proven methods common to all businesses and its corresponding creation of products.
Brick by brick.
Like all things created the actual work starts with very careful planning.
Get down and write. Do a blueprint of the product you have in mind. Getting down to it brings you face to face with your ideas. What was formerly abstract comes to you alive. Now you can do additions to it, deductions from it, enhancements, study it from all possible angles do revisions and alterations or sometimes do a total rewrite until what previously was an idea has now taken form.
Take your time and enjoy your plan. Rushing will only create an undesired result.
Be Specific - Make precision your keyword. Do not forget to include the following in your list of questions. What is its purpose? What do you plan to achieve.
Product creation addresses a particular need that may not be in the market. If a similar product already does, your version still has to offer something new that will spark interest and address a particular viable alternative to the existing one. The more popular the product is already available, the better it will do for your products introduction into the market and its eventual acceptance.
Product creation should target a particular segment of the market. While shotgun approaches can work, it is often best to identify a product with a smaller segment i.e. what age bracket do you want to attract, Male or female, what are the class/status of your targeted customers, what styles, what components. This will help you stay focused.
Go for the jugular.
If you are a shopper you can see that creating a new product can easily get lost in the jungle of goods already available. If you visit on line shopping, you may think that all products available for consumption can already be there. But the dream nags at you. You know it can be done. So what are the elements that could increase your products chance at penetrating the market?
Try niche marketing. Niche marketing is about placing your product in a special category that addresses a particular desire. Some strategies that are tested that somehow finds places in consumers hearts for example, are; low carbohydrates, low calorie, high protein, sugar free, non fat, energy releasing, long life, long lasting, value for money and the list goes on. Niche marketing makes your product extra specific for people with specific needs.
What’s in a name.
The hard part is over. It is now time to give your product a name.
One point to consider though, words elicits ideas. If one for example mentions a dark cloud coming, an idea immediately comes to mind of colder fronts or a rain coming or even a storm. The person does not even have to go outside and see for himself. The idea is there. On the other hand, take away the word and immediately, the idea loses its distinction. It loses identity it becomes nothing.
This is why names are so very important. So are labels. So are packaging.
Easy to memorize short names does wonders for the product especially when packaging are appropriately attractive. Sometimes, no matter what other people say a good and catchy dot com. attracts traffic to your product as it can enhance its perceived value.
Say that again.
Constant repetition. Top of mind recall. That is what the battle is all about. This is why marketing firms go to lengths at spending on advertisements. For many products however, newsletter and brochures work.
Get out from here.
You have it all on the launch pad; you can almost see it getting off. The channel of distribution has already been decided, the distribution model pinned down. You are making your creation available, visible and competitive. Then you hold your breath. Once the product is introduced, markets by large reacts. When it does, your sustainability will largely depend on how your product makes good at delivering what it has promised.
All you worry now are competitive advantages that you can sustain.
The World of Mystery Shopping
There are thousands of individual firms, shopping malls, stores, restaurants, movie theaters, hotels, and other sales and customer oriented outfit out there. All of them competing for customer’s attention and patronage. All vying for top of mind recall in becoming the shoppers’ choice.
One of the strategies that became possible in order for these companies to stay in competition shape is to find out what is happening inside their establishments from a customer’s point of view.
This gave birth to the mystery shopper.
Mystery shoppers, sometimes referred to as a secret shopper or a spotter are people hired by companies to shop in their stores. After undergoing trainings that will focus mainly on things that are to be observed, mystery shoppers are assigned to serve three main purposes.
1.To evaluate and observe how the staff assigned in shops carry out assigned functions.
At the start of assignments, secret shoppers are briefed on matters that they are expected to “spot”. Mainly, the issues are derived from the concerns of the business owners that want to:
- Improve customer relationship.
- Improve servicing.
- Update owners and managers on the manner that functions and tasks are carried out according to plans.
- Courtesy and discipline of employees.
- Honesty and integrity.
- Observance to other issues of concern.
2.And to evaluate and observe the store’s operation.
Another task of the mystery shopper is to observe and evaluate the operation of the store that includes:
The cleanliness and orderliness of the account.
Ease of shopping and traffic management.
Visibility, availability and pricing issues.
Merchandising updates.
Mainly however, secret shoppers give this observation from a shopper’s vantage point.
3.Filing of reports.
Reports to be filed are often in the form of checklists that the secret shopper fills out.
The mystery shopper does all of these without inviting recognition. In fact, secret shoppers, before given assignments signs agreements where reports and everything written on it are not to be disclosed.
To become a mystery shopper, one need to apply and register with a mystery shopper company, which are commonly available online. Registration is free which comes with manuals and training needed.
Earning is also good for mystery shoppers.
Since different companies require different level of service, the companies pay different rates. For example, a simple assignment on a salon that would take a couple of hours (even minutes) could pay more or less $10 while a more complicated job like shopping would rate $25. For starters, some companies offer $5 per work but will increase, as the mystery shopper gets better at the work. For more the more experienced, a day of shopping would fetch about $100.
Conditions and requirements are also easy. But because reports are the main turf of mystery shoppers, the main issues for a mystery shopper not to make the grade is when reports are not submitted on time or are incomplete
Mystery shoppers, also enjoys perks that are usually not available to regular employees. Mystery shoppers are reimbursed on items that were shopped (usually upon presentation together with the reports), they dine, watch the latest movie, fix their cars, and have their hair done. All for free. Mystery shopping services also covers cruise liners, department store, fitness centers or health clubs, casino, service centers, salons, banks, homebuilders, amusement centers and parks, and more. The mystery shopper enjoys them all while getting paid.
Mystery shopping and its importance for stores
Mystery shopping, also known as secret shopping, is the method by which a store or a company evaluates its employees’ performance. In this a person in disguise pretends to be a shopper, visits the store, interacts with the employees and assesses their ability to build a rapport with the customer in order to sell their products. That person is actually hired by the store owner or the company proprietor to, assess the performance of employees and in the end submit the report to the proprietor. The person hired is called mystery shopper.
Apart from evaluation of performances, mystery shoppers analyze other commercial aspects of retail stores. These aspects could be price, availability, and quality of the product; customer service via websites, telephones and in person; and house keeping. The freelance professionals called secret shoppers then hand over their assessment to the company head who actually hired them.
There are no essential requirements to be a secret shopper, as shoppers don’t have specific appearance or qualification. Those who have a flair and passion to enhance the customer service and the quality of the product can plunge into secret shopping. It would be interesting to learn that the secret shoppers are paid for their job. It is a profession just like any other profession.
Although the job entails shopping which is fun, mystery shopping is a serious business and should be carefully dealt with. There must be certain innate traits within a person that would be helpful in being a secret shopper. These traits are the ability to act or pretend, being trustworthy, reliable and professional. Apart from all these, secret shoppers should have a better mode of transportation, good writing skills and a clear perspective of actual reporting and their personal opinion so that the truth is not tampered.
The stores make use of mystery shopping to uplift their sales by improving customer satisfaction. Secret shoppers are hired wholely and solely to increase sales by improving the performance of the employees. Mystery shopping is useful not just for evaluating the staff’s performance but also for checking the customer service offered by the rival business. It can be compared with one’s own customer service to find the problem areas. The problems can then be rectified to increase the number of customers and hence the sales.
Before hiring a mystery shopper make sure to inquire about the services that the shopper has in hand, do the research well before hiring. Conducting an audit of the employees is a tough job as it is mandatory that they do not get prior information regarding this exercise otherwise they will not present their true picture at the time of scrutiny.
A store manager keeps a vigil on his employees while they deal with the customers in person and over the phone. This often makes the employees nervous and they become inadvertent under pressure. Instead a mystery shopper brings out the true picture of the employees as they perform naturally. This helps to locate the fault and the drawbacks of each and every employee perfectly which subsequently helps in improving customer satisfaction. Sometimes the customers inquire about the products over the phone before coming to the store. In this situation, the employee’s ability to converse with them over the phone, in order to convert the caller into a potential customer, matters the most. To locate the faults of the employee, some fake calls are required, and only a professional mystery shopper can do it. A store can avail the same kind of services provided by the companies for the product distribution and marketing. Mystery shoppers are hired by the companies to find out what the customers think about the new product that hits the market.
Mystery shoppers are known by many names like virtual customers, evaluators in disguise and spotters but they solve only one purpose of enhancing the customer service of a store and increasing its sales.
Mystery Shopping - Mysterious Way To Improve Customer Care
Performance analysis and mystery shopping is crucial for any modern business. It is an important part of improving quality of service and enhancing sales so that the business progresses and rules the market. The company that proves its competence gains maximum number of clients.
The stores and companies try out various ways of improving their customer services. They go out of their ways to find out where the drawback lies. Some managers do it stealthily but the smarter ones hire someone else to do the job. Mystery shopping service is one of the mysterious ways of building the relationship with the customers.
Whenever you decide to hire a mystery shopper service, just make sure that you hire the reputed one. A good company would sit with you to discuss the evaluation sheet so that the results are exactly the way you are looking for. The mission of the mystery shopper after this would be to enter your store or shop and locate the areas of deep concern that had created hindrance in the growth of your store.
Telephone Mystery Shopping
Telephone mystery shopping is another aspect of mystery shopping that ensures that the customers’ calls are attended well and their queries are answered properly to rectify their confusions. The procedure is the same; a mystery caller would call up in the store and gather the valuable information regarding employees’ performance.
Telephone mystery shopping is the most reliable source of gauging the customer services over the phone. If the managers themselves call in the store there are chances that they may get caught or their findings could be biased. Whereas a thorough professional mystery shopper would definitely know the ways to carry out the survey so that the best results are obtained in the end. They take large sample of calls, gage specific aspects, and study data in ten different ways.
Whatever be the type of mystery services provided by the company telephonic or otherwise, it is counted as best if it is flexible, have years of experience, depth and a good background. To compare the services of good companies browse the Internet. You can also get help from web vendors that provide excellent tools so that you can enhance your level of phone services.
Good phone service is the key to customer satisfaction. Picking up the phone and inquiring about the type of products and services offered is the general practice among the customers. To answer these calls appropriately you need skilled and trained customer care professionals in your shops and stores. There are some companies that provide pre-evaluation screening of the employees. It helps to highlight the good and the bad qualities of the employee before recruiting them. It is very helpful for the stores.
There are various companies that have been imparting performance analysis programs in the form of video mystery shopping, training services and telephone mystery shopping. Many UK and overseas businesses including the big and famous showrooms to small retailers, all have benefitted from the these mystery shopping programs, especially the telephonic mystery shopping one. Through these programs they have managed to,
- Get an insight picture of what opinion do their customers hold for their products and services.
- Expand their businesses on the basis of higher customer satisfaction.
- Learn about the problem areas of their employees and ways to improve them.
- Retain more sales associates, as there is increased feeling of satisfaction in them.
Customer satisfaction should be the first priority of any business. One can opt for mystery shopping not only when one has started out but undoubtedly it is needed more to maintain the standards of one’s store.
The Role Of Internet In Mystery Shopping
Mystery shopping companies use Internet as a medium for communicating and doing research. It enables them to access the results in a very short span of time. It provides instant and good data to assess and manage customer services.
Customer services provided by any company decide its level of success and popularity in the market. Customer service should always be given importance and preference by businesses. The assessment of the level of customer service and performance of the employees, through mystery shopping, by making use of Internet is called real time mystery shopping. Companies try to stay ahead of their competitors by improving in problem areas that are revealed in the audits and scrutiny. They make necessary variations to uplift their sales. Internet enables them to do all these as fast as possible.
There are several companies that provide real-time mystery shopping to their clients. They provide integrated Internet based programs for market research. Besides, Internet provides quick and good-quality programs at reasonable rates in making schedules and recruitments for mystery shopping. Internet plays a vital role in collecting data, managing mystery shoppers from around the world and reporting. The use of advanced software by service agencies to set up global panels for discussion and other purposes are practically possible only because of Internet.
It’s only because of the Internet that the global panel of nearly one million mystery shoppers based in almost 200 countries of the world, are able to conduct research in almost 35 different languages of the world. Some companies have employed integrated global network to meet the needs of mystery shoppers. It is cheaper, quicker and much more effective than the other sources. There are other web-based software programs that contain specific modules that fulfill the needs of mystery shoppers working in different parts of the world. There are automated programs and tools for scheduling, managing and imparting other perks to the mystery shoppers. Instant delivery of customized reports without losing a bit of data is possible only via Internet. Some companies provide web based tools for mystery shopping with the option of selecting only a portion of the entire tool-set, that is useful. These tools enable a mystery shopper to easily and smoothly run the entire operation of mystery shopping. Specific tools are present for specific needs that arise in mystery shopping. Programming, translation, data processing and global tracking are some of the features of web based mystery shopping.
Real time mystery shopping is as important for any modern business as any other aspect of business. To meet the higher expectations of consumers, for proper operation and management of customer services it is mandatory that they should go in for evaluations and audits. This would not only make them realize the importance of mystery shopping, but also lead them to realize that the use of conventional methods of mystery shopping are not enough, to meet the day to day requirements of mystery shoppers who are based far away from the mystery shopping companies.
This is where Internet comes into action and solves all the problems. Mystery shoppers can apply on line for mystery shopping jobs. They even get to keep in touch with their companies through Internet. To submit reports, do research about the clients that they would be working for, their status in the market and above all to know about their rivals; they make quick use of Internet. Moreover, when mystery shopping services are provided to countries from around the world it is mandatory to establish a link between all of them. All this is possible only when companies opt for real time mystery shopping.
