Tips From the Money Goddess

If you are a budding amateur photographer, or even an experienced one, looking to get your work out in the public eye and get paid for it, there are websites and communities that can help you do just that! Join these sites for free and start making money with your work today!

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Technorati Tags: make money online, make money, amateur photography

Imagine going to one of your favorite fast-casual restaurants with your significant other, parent or friend, ordering whatever you want (from the savory, succulent appetizer, to the refreshing, lip-smackingly yummy cocktail, to the sweet, delectable dessert) and having the entire tab “taken care of” (comp’d as they say) by the management. Depending on the company that you contracted this assignment through, you might even get paid in addition to the free meal for two.

Imagine going to a high end optical retail store and receiving an eye exam as well as trendy frames and quality prescription lenses for just $20-30 after reimbursements. That’s more than a significant discount for a necessity that you would have had to pay hundreds for, otherwise.

Imagine going to a family amusement center and having every cost of the outing reimbursed, from the snacks to the games to the rides.

Hmm, you may be thinking to yourself that it sounds too good to be true, but it’s not. You can get all that and more by becoming a mystery shopper. Now you just need to know where to start, the real way. In exchange for your time and a few other skills, you’ll get compensation in the form of monetary payment, reimbursement for any expenses, or both.
The trickiest part about delving into the mystery shopping industry is getting past all the scams out there. You know, like those websites that ask for your money for a directory or listing of mystery shopping companies. Let’s get one thing straight right now: You do not have to pay in order to access mystery shopping companies!

There are tons of legitimate mystery shopping companies, and none of them are associated with these scams. Many mystery shopping companies will even state right on their websites something to the effect of: “We are not affiliated with anyone who has charged you money to view a listing of mystery shopping companies.”

You should not have to pay in order to become a shopper for a company*. There are some legitimate companies that will ask for a deposit for equipment (or a similar fee) that is required in order to complete an assignment. For these, and for that matter, all mystery shopping companies you plan on dealing with, make sure you thoroughly research the company and find feedback from other shoppers before proceeding.

There are plenty of message boards on the web where you can find feedback from other mystery shoppers. If a mystery shopping company does a shopper wrong, it will become public knowledge through one of these online communities.

The question on your mind right now is, So is mystery shopping a real job? Yes, it can be, if you want it to be. Many mystery shop just to supplement their income, but there are many who are full-time mystery shoppers. They treat it as a real job, which you should too, if you’re serious about giving mystery shopping a shot even on a part-time or a when-you-can basis.

Here are some great resources to get started: Volition.com Forums - These forums are a wealth of information on mystery shopping gigs and companies. Once you check it out you’ll see.

MSPA - The Mystery Shopping Providers Association is an international organization that provides resources for companies and shoppers.  They provide MSPA Silver and Gold Certification for shoppers. This is a service that you must pay for, but it is a legitimate expense. It’s relatively inexpensive, especially if you think of it as a job expense (one that you can right off your taxes at the end of the year!) To obtain silver certification, you must take a test on the MSPA website, and to obtain gold certification, you must be silver certified then you must attend a day long conference. These are held in various major cities throughout the year. In addition to gaining gold certification, these conferences are wonderful for networking.

While some shoppers feel that having certification is to their advantage when it comes to obtaining assignments, others feel that it’s unnecessary. I personally am MSPA Silver Certified. I have also listed mystery shopping resources and companies here.

Check back periodically and keep a look out for any additions!

Technorati Tags: mystery shopping, mystery shopper

How many of you out there have gotten unsolicited emails touting tons and tons of money for doing easy surveys? Well, that was probably from a disreputable company who obtained your email address without you knowing it, and who plan on using your email address as a repository for their spam emails.

Survey companies use a few different systems for rewarding their members. Some pay with cash, while others compensate participation with non-monetary prizes, such as gift cards or entries into cash drawings.

There are a few things you must know and keep in mind when starting to do surveys online.

You will not get rich doing this. Do not for a minute, even a second, think that taking surveys for companies will in any way provide you with a source of income sizeable enough to live off of. Simply put, don’t quit your day job, bub.

Do not pay for information that you can get for free. I stress this with all the passion I can muster. Why, you ask? Well reader, this is because there are companies out there who are scamming people out of their hard earned cash for simple lists of the URLs of various survey companies. In return your inbox will most likely become inundated with spam to excess.

You need to have a valid email address. Basically, you need an email address that you really do own and have access to (no fake email addresses!). This is so that you can receive confirmation emails, invitations, account information, etcetera.

You must be willing to share personal information with the survey companies. This includes but is not limited to the following: your name, home address, phone number, and in some cases, your Social Security Number / Tax ID (this is for tax reporting purposes to the IRS). Some companies will ask for this, some won’t, depending on their policies and their incentive programs. If you are required to input your SSN, make sure a) it is a company that you trust and b) it is located on a secure part of the website.

Sign up from sites you trust, i.e. invitations and referrals from friends/acquaintances. Always try to get some sort of feedback about a company before signing up.

Be thorough and take your time when answering surveys. You want to make sure you do this not only because you’d like to be worth the company’s money, you want to make sure that you are invited to participate in future surveys.

Okay, ready to sign up for some surveys and start making money while you’re online?

Greenfield Online
Nielsen//NetRatings Research Panel
Memolink
Lightspeed Panel - points to exchange for cash and prizes
SurveySavvy
Testspin
e-rewards - surveys for gift certificates to places like Blockbuster, eBags, frequent flier miles on major airlines
Online Global Recruiting - to sign up for Brand Institute and Drug Institute

Reasons Why You Should Join SurveySavvy:

1. They are registered with the Better Business Bureau
2. There is no minimum needed to request payment. (You can have $1 or $100, it doesn’t matter, you can request your check.)
3. They pay you with CASH not just points or entries into drawings.

This is one of my favorite companies because they don’t have a minumum to request payout. The amount of surveys you receive will depend on your occupation. I heard through the grapevine that they were especially interested in IT professionals. Now I am not an IT professional, but I do currently still receive survey invitations from them. They’ve offered me $1-$5 surveys, and I’ve heard they offer as much as $50 for a completed survey.

Join SurveySavvy

ASSOCIATED CONTENT

Thanks to a recent lead from a message board I frequent (and love, at that), I’ve recently come across a wonderful online community that pays contributers for work: Associated Content . This community is FREE to join, so you can try it out without worrying about anything. You can submit work based on what they need/want or just whatever you want to. After you submit content and it is approved, you will get an offer of payment, which you can then accept or refuse. The best thing I like about it is that even if you submit your work but do not like the offer, you can rescind your content! They have a wonderful system!
Here is a list of some of the categories you can submit your ORIGINAL work into:

• Reviews (product, movie, music, video game, etc)
• Video content
• Audio content
• Image content
• City/Neighborhood ‘place-specific’ content (ie local events, businesses, schools, etc)
• Guide (travel, product)
• Editorial
• Fiction, prose
• More!

Associated Content pays via PayPal (www.paypal.com), and payment ranges from $3.00 to $40.00.

From the Associated Content website:

If you’re over 18 and a legal US resident, you can submit content for payment consideration. An AC Content Manager reviews the submission and emails an offer within five business days. The amount of the offer is based on topic, quality, competition and - very importantly - the Content Producer’s track record of promoting their content and generating traffic for Associated Content. Payments range from $3-$40. The highest offers are placed on exclusive submissions that are specific, discoverable (match a possible search query) and consumer driven. If you are not satisfied, you can always decline an offer and remove your content from our system.

I have personally submitted some photography just earlier today, and am waiting for them to get approved.

So what are you waiting for?? Join As Soon As You Can!

Technorati Tags: get paid, freelance, online work

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