The public perceives us, private investigators, as one thing, but we view ourselves differently. Hollywood paints one picture, but the real-world private eye stars in a different role. Let’s call it old school versus new school. Take a look at how we’ve changed:
OLD SCHOOL VS. NEW SCHOOL
OLD: Place a ketchup packet or a cheap watch under the tire of your Subject’s vehicle to know if or when they’ve left.
NEW: Place an unmanned surveillance vehicle or any one of a host of live-streaming, covert cameras on public property near your subject’s location.
OLD: An ankle-holstered pistol, a heavy right hand, and a bad attitude.
NEW: A heavy dose of the get-the-heck-out-of-there if shit gets real.
OLD: Grease the palm of your local bartender or valet for the scoop on your subject.
NEW: Flip open your laptop and utilize hundreds of open-source intelligence (OSINT) avenues to know your subject’s habits and patterns.
OLD: The black box: your client sends in the case request, you do the work, but you spit out a vague report leaving your client wondering how the results were obtained.
NEW: Full transparency. No mysterious or hidden methods, illegal, unethical, or questionable practices.
OLD: Because of the rural location, use a two-investigator surveillance team with one PI stationed at each end of the road in which your subject lives.
NEW: Use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) AKA, the drone, overhead with real-time video capabilities.
OLD: Cold calls to attorneys to drum up work.
NEW: Online content that displays your expertise and thought leadership while building trust with your current and future clients.
OLD: Your name emblazoned on the frosted glass of an office door in a seedy part of town.
NEW: Remote working = Low overhead expenses forever!
OLD: Fedora and trench-coat-wearing, cigarette-smoking, Bourbon-swizzling, hard-boiled private dick.
NEW: Just Bourbon. Always Bourbon.
OLD: The lone wolf detective.
NEW: The highly-connected business person; the valuable member of the community.
Good morning, I would like to know if there are more effective ways to get business for my locate service than cold calling attorneys? Advertising is a way but I hate to spend the type of money to do it right!
I always played the long game. This is how I got numerous people to work with me: 1. I asked people in my network for opportunities to interview them about a blog article I was publishing. 2. I Interviewed those people. 3. I crafted a great article based on those interviews (mine was the Ultimate Guide to Workers’ Compensation Red Flags) and published it. 4. I posted it on all relevant social media platforms and told the interviewees that I was referencing them in the article. 5. I asked a relevant industry publication to put it in their magazine. 6. They did = profit. What’s happened is you’ve gained trust within your network, expanded your current network, and displayed expertise and “thought leadership” within your industry. Now that you’ve asked for advice, you can reach back out for “warm” calls for business opportunities with the people you interviewed. And the article is always on your resume. Do that a few times and you’re in business
Adam thank you for your suggestions! Have not had coffee yet please disregard my latest question. Mouth engaged before brain kicked in.
I really enjoyed this. Creative piece.
Thanks Rachele!
Thanks! Will you provide some marketing suggestions?
Make a more new posts please 🙂
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Sanny