Saturday, June 30, 2012

Minute Workers

My favorite types of opportunities are those where I can work whenever and wherever I want AND I can choose the type of work I want to do. I love being able to open up my laptop at 9:30 on a Friday night when there aren't any good TV shows on and choose to earn some money without having to wait for a survey invitation. Minute Workers is one of those opportunities that you can do whenever you feel like it. 

What is Minute Workers?
If you like and are familiar with Amazon Mechanical Turk, you will probably also like MinuteWorkers.com. Much like Mechanical Turk, MinuteWorkers.com is a platform that brings employers and workers together. Employers utilize the help of workers to complete simple tasks - some of which involve clicking links, filling out forms, downloading apps, completing offers, taking surveys, etc. 

Crowd Spring

Imagine you are a business owner trying to name your new company. You have sorted through several of your own ideas and nothing seems to really pop - your creative side just isn't coming through, especially when you really need it to. Now, imagine that you have 100 people sitting in front of you, all eager for you to hear their most creative ideas for naming your business.

This is the concept of "crowdsourcing". Rather than relying on just a few brains that may be engaged in groupthink (everyone's thinking along the same lines) to come up with the next revolutionary company name, the idea of crowdsourcing utilizes the mass creativity of many different people from diverse backgrounds. In short, companies outsource certain tasks to companies like CrowdSpring in order to solve problems creatively. This can be done both on and offline.

Friday, June 29, 2012

My Favorite Mystery Shopping Companies

As I mentioned in a previous post, I spend about 20 hours per week mystery shopping. I am registered with over 80 different companies and do regular work for about 30 of them. I have provided a list of reputable companies below that I have done work for, have been paid from, and have never paid anything to work for. Cheers! 

About Face
Industries: Education, Banking, Apartment, Retail, Communications, Automotive
Shop Types: Location Visits, Web Shops, Phone Shops
ACE Mystery Shopping
Industries: Banking, Retail, Communications, Automotive, Restaurant, Fast Food
Shop Types: Location Visits, Phone Shops
Amusement Advantage
Industries: Amusement Parks
Shop Types: Amusement Park visits
Bestmark
Industries: Automotive, Restaurant, Retail
Shop Types: Location Visits, Web Shops, Phone Shops
BMA
Industries: Restaurant, Retail
Shop Types: Location Visits
The Brandt Group
Industries: Fast Food, Grocery, Carwash
Shop Types: Location Visits
Customer Perspectives
Industries: Restaurant, Retail
Shop Types: Location Visits  
DSG Associates
Industries: Banking, Insurance
Shop Types: Location Visits, Phone Shops
EPMS
Industries: Apartments
Shop Types: Location Visits, Phone Shops
Harland Clarke
Industries: Banking
Shop Types: Location Visits, Phone Shops 
iMyst
Industries: Retail, Apartments
Shop Types: Location Visits, Home Visits
Informa Research Services
Industries: Banking
Shop Types: Location Visits
Intelichek
Industries: Automotive, Retail, Home Improvement, Education
Shop Types: Phone Shops
Jancyn
Industries: Apartments, Retail, Restaurants, Banking
Shop Types: Location Visits
JM Ridgway Company (Prophet System) or (Sassie System)
Industries: Retail, Apartments, Automotive, Grocery,
Shop Types: Location Visits
Management Consultant Group (MCG)
Industries: Restaurants, Hospitality
Shop Types: Location Visits, Phone Shops
Marketforce
Industries: Retail, Restaurants, Fast Food, Automotive
Shop Types: Location Visits, Phone Shops
Maritz Research
Industries: Banking, Restaurant
Shop Types: Location Visits
Measure Consumer Perspectives
Industries: Banking, Restaurant, Automotive, Apartments, Communications, Fast Food, Legal, Medical
Shop Types: Location Visits, Web Shops, Phone Shops
Mintel Group
Industries: Banking, Restaurant, Retail
Shop Types: Location Visits, Shops from Home
National Shopping Service
Industries: Fast Food, Retail
Shop Types: Location Visits
Quality Assessments Mystery Shoppers (QAMS)
Industries: Fast Food, Retail
Shop Types: Location Visits 
Ritter Associates
Industries: Fast Food, Retail, Convenience Store, Gas Station Audits, Parking, 
Shop Types: Location Visits, Phone Shops
Secret Shopper
Industries: Fast Food, Retail, Automotive
Shop Types: Location Visits
Second to None
Industries: Fast Food, Retail, Medical
Shop Types: Location Visits
Sensor's Quality Management, Inc. (SQM)
Industries: Retail
Shop Types: Location Visits 
Shoppers' Critique International
Industries: Retail, Automotive, Amusement
Shop Types: Location Visits, Phone Shops
Sinclair Customer Metrics
Industries: Retail
Shop Types: Location Visits 
Trendsource/MSI
Industries: Retail, Business Verifications, Restaurant, Fast Food
Shop Types: Location Visits 


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Mystery Shopping

How many of us become giddy at the idea of getting paid to shop? Now, how many of us return to reality and conclude that mystery shopping is a scam? I've been there, thought that. But, it turns out that there are MANY mystery shopping companies out there that do not charge a dime to register with them or shop for their company. I know, because I am an active mystery shopper and have never paid a single company to shop for them. AND, I have been paid for all of the assignments I've completed. 

What's in it for me?

We have all come across an "opportunity" or two promising us thousands of dollars a month for doing practically nothing. And, most of us have figured out that these are scams and are simply not true. This webpage promises nothing of the sort. In fact, you will likely not make a lot of money BUT by investing some time to participate in some or all of these opportunities, you will make money. All of the opportunities presented on this webpage are completely free to pursue, involve no monetary investment at any point, and have been personally reviewed for their authenticity. As a busy stay-at-home mom, I have searched for opportunities that would allow me to contribute to my family financially WITHOUT having to put forth any investment. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how many legitimate opportunities exist out there. Those who choose to participate in the opportunities presented here should see them as multiple streams of income. This simply means that no single opportunity will yield lots of money; however, simultaneously pursuing several opportunities can yield some decent extra money. I will never ask you for a penny, as I freely offer this information, but I would so greatly appreciate your using my affiliate links as this is one of my multiple streams of income :)

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Multiple Streams of Income

Having multiple streams of income simply means that you utilize several different ways of making money. Each one in itself probably won't earn you much money, but when you pursue many opportunities and look at the sum of what you make with all of them, you can make some decent extra money!

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Beezag

It was only a few years ago that the general public had little choice but to endure TV and online video advertisements while watching their favorite shows and online videos. Today, we have the choice of fast-forwarding or muting these advertisements and commercials and a vast majority of folks do. Well, advertisers are losing a lot of money because of this fast-growing dilemma. So, many of these advertisers have teamed up with companies like Beezag.com and have come up with a crazy scheme to PAY you to watch their advertising. You read that right - they will pay you to watch their commercials. 

What is Beezag.com?
Beezag.com is a website where users are rewarded for watching advertisements online. 

Paid Viewpoint

What is Paid View Point?
PaidViewPoint.com is a survey site like no other. What sets it apart from other survey sites is that you are paid for every survey completed and you will not be screened out once you are invited to a survey. It can be quite frustrating to get through 15 survey questions to discover that your demographic doesn't meet the client's criteria and you are booted out of the survey with nothing gained.

Another benefit of participating in PaidViewPoint.com is that their surveys aren't boring! Anyone who has taken surveys before knows that some of them out there are so dull, but PaidViewPoint.com has found a way to take the "boring" out of the experience. Another great thing about PaidViewPoint.com is that you never have to register your real name or physical address, so you can feel completely free to share your real opinions and demographics without concern that your personal information will be shared with others.