Get paid to promote products!

If you’ve got people skills, you can put them to good use—and get paid more than $12 an hour—as a field merchandiser! That’s when companies hire you to help showcase their product in stores and lure in customers. Here’s how to get started:

● 1 Line up gigs!

As a field merchandiser, your tasks will generally take place in retail stores and include everything from setting up vendor displays to handing out samples. To find gigs, search Flexjobs.com, Indeed.com and Monster.com for “field merchandiser” positions. “That’s our main source of hiring,” says Andrea Brygidyr of A&A Merchandising. You can do an online search for other companies that hire field merchandisers, like Acosta, Mosaic, Resource Plus, Hallmark and At Your Service Marketing. Once accepted, they’ll contact you when local jobs become available.

● 2 Prepare like a pro!

On each gig, you’ll be working independently, and many projects have set time limits. So after accepting a gig, make sure you review the instructions carefully—imagine yourself carrying out each step— before you head out to the site. If you have questions or anticipate any hiccups, contact the company to iron them out ahead of time. That ensures you’ll get the job done well— and be offered more lucrative gigs!

● 3 Tap your inner handyman!

Know how to work with tools? A pro at assembling things? Those skills are a plus! “There’ll be plenty of days when you’ll be moving shelves or building displays,” says Claudia Sáenz Amlie of Acosta, who also advises familiarizing yourself with “plan-o-grams”— those are diagrams that show where products should be positioned on displays or shelves, and be sure you know which side is up so items end up in the right position. The more smoothly your job goes, the more jobs you’ll get!