Discover Where To Plug And Become Gold Certified...
The heartbeat of the entire paid shopping industry is the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (or the MSPA) . They offer companies a standard on which to base their services. Plus they offer the only certification program for shoppers.
The certification program consists of two levels, Gold and Silver. Most companies are making it a requirement to be certified if you want to work with them. In the past, it was difficult to get your certification, due to the fact that you wait until a workshop was available in your area. But now, you can purchase their at-home certification DVD. The MSPA recorded one of their live workshops and put in on a DVD. This is not free, but I'm sure you will quickly get your money back by qualifying for better paying jobs.
Inside the MSPA site they also have a forum. This allows you to interact with other shoppers and get your questions answered. Or you can sift through their online job listings. This can be beneficial in many ways. First, it gives you access to more assignments, next you can use it to motivate yourself. For example, if you're having difficulty locating jobs you can read though the various listings to reassure yourself that there are indeed many, many jobs available. You just have to keep applying for them.
One other thing you might be interested to know about the MSPA is their program for shopping companies. By educating yourself about this service you can reduce your risk of running into a scam. If you're in doubt about whether a company is legit or not,you can look on their site for the MSPA logo. (If you don't know what this looks like, go to www.mysteryshop.org) If you want to learn more about how this program works, you can visit the MSPA site and click on the area designated for prospective companies. In case you are confused when you go to the site, there are two different section. One for people who want to become a secret shopper, and one for companies that offer mystery shopper services.