Since I started my own home based business, I’ve gotten not only the regular junk mail, spam emails, and telemarketing calls I usually get, but additional ones because of my business.  They all want to sell me extra packages to apparently help my business succeed.  I got one from a TV satellite service.  I don’t need TV for my business.  I don’t actually know of many businesses that do in general terms.  It’s just not one of those things that might be high on the priority list.  I also get those about using an eBay package and so on.  I have never used eBay.  I sell my services, not products.  There is a huge difference.  But this is one of those things you have to deal with in life in general and with business.  They are going to call and try to sell you something, because that’s how they do business.  I tell them every time without fail that I’m not interested, because realistically I have few overhead needs, especially not those that involve them.  Also, I might note that little overhead is a definitely helpful thing.  But all of these things have to be remembered with business in general.  Don’t fall for it just because it’s presented as a business deal.

There are a lot of people advertising what is called a mystery shopper position.  Basically, you go into a store, buy something or don’t, evaluate their store, and they pay you back, you get to keep the stuff, and they sometimes pay you more.  But you of course have a limit on what you can buy.  Some are perfectly legitimate.  But there are many Americans flocking to them and often finding that they can’t exactly get the jobs they think they’re getting, because the agency they used was not legitimate.  They often just charge a fee to hook you up with stores, and then they don’t come through.  I’ve found that honestly most stores don’t use a third party agency.  They hire their own mystery shoppers.  So there’s a start.  I’ve also learned how to tell which ones are the mystery shoppers as have many people who have worked in retail stores before.  They are usually suspicious, don’t know what they’re doing, and frankly for that reason most don’t last.  You can’t depend on mystery shopping for your main income.  If you find a legitimate place, it will be supplemental at best.  You are not going to earn 200 to 600 per week, be realistic.  In addition, you have to be humble, observant, and above all willing to follow instructions.  You have to have the right computer equipment, so if you don’t already have it, it may not really be worth it, and frankly you are still working for someone else.  And finally, you have to be able to maintain your own records.  All of these things are necessary to being successful in this area if you are going to be at all.

There are definitely perks to working for someone else.  I mean yes, you can set your own hours and everything if you work for yourself.  But you get paid vacation when you work in something other than private practice, you don’t have to worry about overhead costs, etc.  If you look into the world of psychology, let’s be honest.  You don’t get paid vacation as a private practitioner, you have to worry about overhead, you have to figure out insurance policies, and while you initially make more in private practice, it evens out so you are making about the same amount as you would working for someone else, and the simple fact is that generally speaking, you are actually working harder than you would working for somebody else.  These are all things to consider before going into your business.  Plus there are companies who give better perks than others.  For example, Disney sends all their animators to early screenings of every movie they put out to get them started on their next assignment.  Apparently, from what I’ve been told by said animators, the movie Up is actually really well designed and a good movie in general, and they are real skeptics.  I’m not sure they get free screenings on other movies in general.  But still, that’s not bad.  Perks are perks.