I read the Game Plan for New Shoppers – THANK YOU!! (And, darn , NOW I know not to sign up as a novice.)
I'm trying not to overwhelm myself because it does take me time to write evaluations.
Here are my own “rules”:
1. Stay within 10 miles of home (farther away = more LA traffic = not predictable)
2. Stick with the MSCs that I’ve already worked for - they gave me 10s so theoretically I sort of “know” what they expect.
3. Don't do anything that could mess with my credit
4. Don't have more than 2 evaluations due on the same day (taking into account the waits for follow-up questions)
BUT rules 1 and 2 are cancelling each other out. It seems like every shop in my area is from a different MSC. And sometimes a scheduler at one company will register me with a different company for an assignment.
I think rule #1 is more important – what do y’all think?
And should I try to limit the number of MSCs I sign up with until I’m out of the kiddie pool or should I just stick with rule #4?
And one more question – Are schedulers crazy busy? Air traffic controller crazy – high on Red Bull and sugar coordinating landings of huge FEDEX planes, commercial airlines, prop planes and a few helicopters, some of which have no landing gear, while simultaneously trading flights with colleagues? Or DMV customer service crazy –drinking lots of coffee or other diuretic beverage, full workload, but not stressed, taking their time and if you don’t have the right documents you gotta come back tomorrow or make an appointment for 3 weeks from today?
I’m just trying to get a feel to help in my dealings with them.
Thanks! HB

How far you go or how many shops you do in a day is up to the individual shopper. I couldn't make money limiting myself.

What confused me was this, "And sometimes a scheduler at one company will register me with a different company for an assignment." Schedulers cannot register you with MSCs or force you to take assignments.

In the early stages (and even still now), I don't want to do more than 1 new-to-me shop per day. I can add on 6 other old familiar shops that I know can be performed and reported quickly, but new-to-me is always new information to remember to gather and a new report to fumble my way through.

You will quickly get out of rotation if you are only working with a few companies and a small geographic area. This doesn't mean register with every company you can find until you have found that shopping really works for you.

I don't know your area, but I do know mine. If I route out my shops using Google maps or any other mapping or GPS application I have ever seen, it takes me and everybody else by the "quickest" route, which would be "quickest" only if there were no traffic. Since everybody is doing the same thing, the "quickest" are not only the slowest but the most annoying. I can get there by side streets in half the time with the only annoyance being a couple of speed bumps and some stop signs.

Side streets can readily get me to some business clusters. After a while you will know the 4 banks at the corner of Tulip and Maple streets. You will know that there is a Fast Casual there as well as a paint store, two pharmacies, a pet store and a West Marine. You will find over time who shops those locations and likely can arrange 3 or more shops to do just in that area this week and maybe 4 to do there next month. So it is 12 miles to the corner of Tulip and Maple, rules are made to be bent.

Like anything else, some schedulers are more responsive than others, some doctors are more competent than others, some dogs shed more hair than others. Stick with the ones that make you comfortable and make sure you are being professional in thanking them for their help (then see who rises to the occasion).

Schedulers are crazy busy if they intend to make any money at this. And their bonuses depend on shop completion rates. You may find that you slowly drop even the most prolific MSCs (with the most total shops) in favor of the more shopper friendly ones.

As for traffic, I live and shop in one of the top 3 most congested traffic areas in the US. My rule is that I avoid driving in rush hour whenever possible AND I check the on line traffic hotlines before leaving the house. That way, I can plan and execute more lucrative shops that are more than, say 10 miles from home. I suggest a rule that specifies your maximum desired travel TIME, not distance. Then say, "Well for 4 easy shops with total fees of $80 or more I would go a bit farther IFF I can do them back-to-back.

In my view your current rules do not have enough maneuvering room for you to make efficient decisions/plans about shops or groups of shops. Let's say you were offered 4 $25 parking garage shops, all within a mile of one another (or less) where you could park as long as you like, as long as it is at least 20 minutes. Pack-up that laptop/notebook computer, map out where the closest Starbucks (or other place with reliably good Internet) is to each, and get started. At garage 1 walk (max 3-4 blocks) set up you laptop, input the entry part of the report for garage 1. Retrieve vehicle, park at garage 2, walk, set up, input exit part of garage 1 and entry part of garage 2, wash rinse, repeat. Arrive home with 3.5 of your 4 reports complete except, perhaps for uploading 2-3 pictures for each.

That would be lesson #1 for efficient route shopping.

Lesson # 2 would be to stretch the time at any or all of those garages (remember, you will be reimbursed for any parking fee) and line up a lunch shop or a bank shop, or both, to do while you are parked. Also enter parts of reports as you go. The first time that you do this you may want to do just 2 parking shops, or even one. (And, yes, there are well paid parking shops where you can stay longer than an hour, I do about 20 of them a month.) When you do a one day route using Lesson 2, email schedulers and tell them that you will be on a long day route and will need an extension of the deadline for their shop. (Soon you will find yourself ignoring MSCs and schedulers with whom you have an established track record, but who cannot or will not help you in this manner.)

The point is to develop a growth plan that makes the most efficient use of your time spent in the car, not just minimizing the time spent in the car.

As for editor emails, you can get on line anywhere and respond. You do not want to be sitting at home just because they might request updates! You can always return an email stating that you will respond when you return to your home office which will depend on traffic conditions. Unless the editor is in EOM or EOQ panic mode, any good done wil respect that, as long as you follow through.

Also, don't get hung up on getting scores of 10. If you are consistently getting those with beginner shops/MSCs what that probably means is that you are ready to more up from Kindergarten to primary school. You need a plan to grow and make more money, not one that guarantees staying where you are, IMHO!

Keep up the good work. You are obviously off to a great start.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2016 09:17PM by walesmaven.

Thank you so much for the help.
One more question: there are $100/$200 shops for opening savings and checking accounts. Do shoppers end up with 500 savings and/or checking accounts in a 10 mile radius? Is it expected that you will go back and close the account?
Thank you again.

@walesmaven wrote:

Also, don't get hung up on getting scores of 10.

^^this^^ It can be ego-deflating to get an '8' on something you know is your best work. However, sometimes it's just the way the editor scores or you got docked two points because the editor asked you a question you'd already answered. I will admit that I charge more for companies who editors bruise me ;-).

I could care less if I get a 10.
My alter ego, on the other hand, is a different story: ME NEED 10, NO 10 = NO SMART, 10 BE MORE THAN NUMBER, ME NEED VALIDATION FROM STRANGERS, WHY NO 10?, MUST GET 10.

My rule of thumb is to open no more than one or two bank accounts or credit cards within any 3 month period. These do impact your credit, though generally not for too long. Before I accept a bank shop that requires opening an account I look at the fees they charge and how soon I can close the account without penalties. Most bank shops do not require you open an account but just inquire about them. Those I can do all day long. But realize that even when you close an account from a particular bank your information will be retained in their system for many years, which makes it tough to open an account there again as a 'new customer'.