Welcome! I'm not new here -- been a lurker for quite some time trying to soak it all in from the experienced folks. If you're a brand spakin' new mystery shopping baby, here are my key pieces of newbie advice to share with you: <--these were the things that I've learned here. Take them if you like them, don't if you don't. :-)
1. Utilize the blue link at the bottom of the page that says "Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies" It's a goldmine list of MSC's all in one place and you don't have to go searching on your own. Plus, you can research the companies right in this forum.
2. Sign up with as many companies as you can. They may not have work in your area right now, but they might down the road. You won't know unless you're signed up with them.
3. Open a seperate email account for your mystery shopping emails. If you have them all sent to your regular inbox, you'll get flooded. I made this mistake and have yet to correct it.
4. DON'T piss off the people in this forum! They are experienced and are willing to help but if they're going to take time out of their busy shop/reporting days to offer advice, take it the best you can. Soak it all up. Learn it all in. But, please Sweet Baby Jesus, don't bite the hands that feed you! ;-) I've seen so many new shoppers come to this forum, get offered advice, and then want to throw attitude at the people trying to help them. For me, with a whopping 8 posts, it's frustrating. I can only imagine how it is for those who have been around for 10,000 posts!
5. Posting about frustrations with a company or a particular scheduler is fine on this board and you'll see members posting their experiences. Keep in mind, though, that many schedulers and MSC's also have access to this board and read it frequently. If you're going to call out a particular company or scheduler make sure you're using facts and not things that are completely made up. I've read posts where the shopper is pretty convincing and makes me think "Oh wow, I don't want to take jobs from that scheduler/company. They treated the shopper so poorly!" and then the company or scheduler will come back and post proof showing that the shopper was lying. Interestingly enough, I typically never see that shopper on the board again. It's good to keep in mind that a shopper's reputation can be tainted with MANY MSC's/Schedulers from just one post on this board.
Sorry if that's a bit longwinded but those are the things that I would have wanted to know as I was just getting started with Mystery Shopping. Good Luck!