This poor guy.

This is an image from a real case where the Private Investigator got burned – and burned bad.

Here’s what happened…

A neighbor was suspicious of this vehicle parked on their street. They go up and check it out and discover a black curtain between the driver’s seat and the back of the vehicle. So they call the police and prepare to wait the guy out.

Once the police show up, the guy gets out and explains he’s a P.I. and that he was hired to watch for a vehicle that comes down the street sometimes. He even names his “client” saying it’s a delivery service who needs to check up on a driver. Ouch!

Okay, let’s do the autopsy on this mess and identify any one of a few things this Private Detective could have changed that would have changed the way his day ended – and the way his case ended!

Here are three things to consider and learn from… Continue reading →

I just got the final version of the two disc set The Investigator’s Ultimate Guide to Surveillance and I’m pretty pleased with it!  Now I just have to send it off to the duplicator to get it burned, printed and shrink-wrapped!

One of my favorite chapters on the DVD set is the chapter on marketing, so today I wanted to give a little basic marketing advice.

In this video I’ll show you how to make your ad more appealing to potential clients and get them to call or email you so you can see if you’re the right investigator for them and if they have a case you want to take.

I’ve taken a real world ad a PI is using and given it a makeover to fix some minor problems and one major problem.

I promise that if the detective who’s running this ad on craigslist fixes just that ONE major problem I found, he will get plenty more hits from people looking to hire a Private Investigator in his area!

If you know how to follow someone in a car or on foot, then you have the skills a Private Detective needs to take the surveillance cases generated by this advertisement.

The DVD set teaches how to handle phone calls and “price shoppers” in a way that turns them into the paying clients you need, but – in the mean time – I hope this little advertisement makeover is helpful to you.

Here’s an important thing to remember… Surveillance is usually only used if there’s no other way to get information needed by the client. And that’s GREAT news for a Private Investigator because surveillance is a billable service that cannot be done by an online information broker.

So, if you currently own a Detective Agency, or you’re thinking about starting one, and you can do surveillance, then you have a unique selling point that many clients need!

You do not want to be competing for business against on-line information brokers. (Even though info brokers will never replace real Private Investigators – sometimes that’s hard to explain to potential clients.) You need something to set you apart from them and the single easiest difference to explain to clients is surveillance.

In the Investigator’s Ultimate Guide to Surveillance, I have a section dedicated to marketing – and it’s worth the price of the course all by itself!

In this Private Investigator training DVD set you’ll find the telephone script to get clients, even if you don’t have a ton of experience. (However, you DO need to know how to do surveillance – Don’t worry, I also teach you all the surveillance techniques you’ll need.) Now, personally, I didn’t have a lot of potential clients ask me about my experience. But if you do, this script has you covered. And it’s good just to have this script so you can answer your phone (or emails) with confidence when you’re starting out.

On the other hand… Continue reading →

I sat down with the director of The Investigator’s Ultimate Guide to Surveillance the other day and I am really pleased with how it’s coming together!

To see all of this insider information laid out so clearly and all in one place is amazing.  I have to admit, the final version is turning out even better than I expected.

I mean, I  knew the information would be solid.  After all, I’ve taken years of real-world experience and put it down on paper for the script.  But the video is turning out to be so clear and complete!  I had no idea it would be this good.

In fact, it’s like being spoon fed the most closely guarded secrets in the industry!

I’m sure when this comes out next month, plenty of Private Detectives and other surveillance professionals are going to be sending me email saying I’ve gone too far.

What do you think?  Is it possible that I need to “scale back” some of the surveillance tricks I’m teaching or should it be okay since only those who truly need this information are going to order it anyway?  Should I have a “Basic” version and a more expensive “Advanced” version or keep it all on one DVD set?

Leave a reply and let me know what you think.