I had to laugh at the article. One of my favorite newsletters had an interview with a professional mystery shopper. She talked of how the jobs were low-paying and hard to find. She did it, she said, for fun. There is no money in mystery shopping she declared.

I laughed because in my first month dabbling in mystery shopping, I billed one firm $175 for my shopping experiences. The second month I billed much less, $65, but lined up a future job that would last a full week and paid $12 per hour plus mileage and expenses. And I thought mystery shopping would be a sideline.

It’s easy to get hooked - the shopping part is simple and often fun. When a firm hires me as an independent contractor I take my job seriously. I see my role as a consumer advocate. How can a store or restaurant insure its success unless customer service and shop cleanliness is assured?

My role is to observe employees and their appearance, cleanliness and organization of the store, products or catalogs on display. I may be required to purchase an item that will be returned a few hours or a day later. Pay varies: I might get the price of a meal during a restaurant shop, $7 an hour, or $35 per job. I have already found that when locations are hard to find shoppers for a $10 to $20 bonus is not unusual. Some jobs include expenses for mileage. Shops are over the phone making hotel reservations or online ordering merchandise.

A typical retail job involves one to two visits to the store. Keen observation skills are essential. Who is greeting you? How many customers are in the store? How long (minutes and seconds) before you are noticed looking at computers or dresses? Are the aisles clear, is the special display up and full of product, are the customers treated with respect?

Always carry a notebook, but don’t bring it out. If you are supposed to be anonymous, you’ll blow your cover if you whip out a notebook while squinting at a sales associates name tag. You’ll need the notebook nearby in your pocket or purse for writing notes as soon as you are back in your car or out of sight of the store staff.

When you are to ask questions of a sales person or waiter, make sure the questions are logical. If you are a woman over 5’10” and of considerable girth, do not ask the sales clerk to show you some petite dresses. If you are 35 years old and doing a senior citizen apartment complex shop, then have a story prepared that you are doing preliminary checking for your retired parents who will be moving to your town next summer. If you are looking for office furniture, forgo the children and jeans/sneaker combo; polish your professional appearance.

I’m saying that every job will not be for every shopper. I cannot pretend to be pregnant for a maternity store shop at my age, nor can I take an assignment to try on clothes in a young and trendy casual shop. But I could bring my daughter to the latter and perhaps a younger friend to the former. In those cases, I can still note the names of sales staff and orderliness of the store and remain plausibly undercover.

Can you change your looks? You don’t have to be in disguise to look different
- lipstick, heels, dress coat and hair curled and moussed high make me look younger and professional. My heavy down coat and snow sneakers, thick-framed glasses and no make-up place me in the beyond middle-age and outdoorsy group. Besides, it’s fun to be someone else once in a while.

Where are the jobs? Do you have to wait until you find a want ad for Mystery
Shopper in your Sunday paper? Use your online know-how. Plug in mystery shopper, evaluators, auditors, mystery shops or any combination into your favorite search engine. Dozens of mystery shopping firms have found a way to expand business by allowing potential shoppers to sign up online. Many require that you keep checking back at their website for available jobs; they will not seek you out specifically.

Another way to find job openings is by joining mystery shopping mailing lists. Visit www.YahooGroups.com and www.topica.com for possibilites.

So what happens once you’re an experience shopper? You know how to study the client’s requirements and fulfill them. You are now an expert at remaining anonymous and blending in. You return purchases with aplomb and memorize seven employees names and descriptions with ease. Need another challenge? Do what the people you are working for do: start your own local evaluation firm.

But what about the professional mystery shopper who said there was no money to be made? You can make a small income, but it takes flexibility in scheduling and energy to track down local jobs, great record keeping for taxes and an eye for detail. It’s a wonderful part time venture to pick up extra cash - imagine taking your children to a fast food restaurant and having the food paid for and your fee paid as well. As your children move on to school, you can add on hours to suit your life or continue to use it as supplemental income.

Whatever you do - have fun!

Pamela has written an eBook which is sold right here at Bizymoms.com - Get it TODAY!