Home with the Kids Newsletter August 7, 2007

Free Offers

Do you like freebies? Perhaps this week's free offer will interest you:

Get Paid to Shop. Get Paid to Eat. Mystery shop at family restaurants, fast food, or upscale establishments. Click Here!

If you offer a freebie, let me know! I will consider it for inclusion here and in the freebie section of the website.

The Editor's Desk - From Beneath the Clutter
Feature Article - Is Secret Shopping a Scam?
What's happening on the discussion boards?
Free Offers
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The Editor's Desk - From Beneath the Clutter

Hope the warm weather has been kind to you lately. We've had some relatively cool days lately for our area, meaning only up into the mid 80s. The kids still always want to go swimming, though. They're both getting pretty good, considering they haven't been in swimming lessons this summer.

Gage is at the scary point, though. He thinks he can swim, when really he can just propel himself through the water a very short distance. I have to stay pretty focused on him when we're at my inlaws' pool. He'll push off from anywhere and try to swim. But he does at least know how to kick up to get a breath. Can't stay up though, and so we watch really hard.

Our pool rules are pretty strict, I hope. If the kids don't listen to the rules, they have to get out of the pool for the rest of the visit. Too much of a problem and they lose pool privileges for the next visit too. It keeps Ariel pretty well in line. She's quite enchanted by the diving board and the slide at the deep end of the pool.

Can't make it every time, but we're aiming for swimming with the kids twice a week now. May as well try our best to build those skills fast.

Feature Article

Is Secret Shopping a Scam?

Of all the classic work at home jobs, secret shopping, also called mystery shopping, has to be one of the most questioned. There's good reason for this - there are scams associated with it, even though secret shopping itself is often legitimate.

It's so much that secret shopping is a scam. It's that companies can sell false information about secret shopping.

Some companies offer lists that they claim is of companies looking to hire mystery shoppers. But too often the information provided is of companies aren't actually hiring individuals to do secret shopping for them. Some have their own staff who handle this while others go through services that provide shoppers for them.

That's information that can often be found for free online. There are many free lists of secret shopping companies. Paying for this information isn't necessarily wrong, as it can save you a lot of research time, but you have to pick your resources carefully. Buying the wrong list is quite simply a waste of money.

But there's one other scam associated with secret shopping. This one can be even more devious.

You get an offer to do a secret shop. You're given a check and told to go cash it at a particular location, forwarding the cash minus your fee to the company. The fee is delightfully high.

There's just one problem. The check is stolen or forged.

Care to guess who is going to be held responsible for paying the money back? Yes, you.

Fortunately, there are tons of legitimate companies out there that you can work for. Most secret shoppers who work from home contract with multiple companies and keep their eyes open for opportunities that they would be willing to do. You may shop a department store, an apartment building, a restaurant then a smaller store.

You can expect it to take time to build up to a decent level of income doing mystery shopping. You have to build up a reputation with the companies as a competent and observant shopper.

There's one final consideration when you want to be a secret shopper. There are services out there that can help you to spot the jobs sooner. These are subscription services.

They are not for all shoppers. Some people are good at landing the shops and don't need to pay for help. Others aren't so serious about secret shopping and really don't need to find regular work. But other shoppers find these quite beneficial. I wouldn't recommend signing up for one of these right away. Get yourself going as a secret shopper, then decide if you need the extra help.

Stephanie Foster is the owner of Home with the Kids, a resource that knows that there's more to staying home with your family than just business. For more stay at home tips, visit the site at http://www.homewiththekids.com/ and subscribe to the free newsletter.

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