Whether you’re starting out as a new private investigator or you’re a salty old gumshoe, this week’s advice from veteran P.I. Larry Kaye pulls from real life experience and from Steve Martin’s autobiography “Born Standing Up” to help you gain skills and clients!
Be persistent. Staring out as a private detective can be hard. I remember it so well! But being persistent made a huge difference for me.
If you have more desire than you have skills (first of all get the proper training!), but keep in mind this Steve Martin Quote…
“Thankfully, perseverance is a great substitute for talent.”
Is there someone you should share this message with?
Let me know if you have a question you’d like me to answer in one of my weekly videos.
Happy New Year,
Larry Kaye, P.I.
P.S. – Don’t miss my special report titled… If You Want To Be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do These Three Things. You can get it on the home page of my blog.
The “Streetlight Effect” is the phenomenon where people only tend to look where it’s easy to look. For example, if there was a shooting and you’re the investigator looking for spent shell casings, you may tend to look only where the streetlight illuminates the area… and that’s a problem!
You need to look for those shell casings even where it’s hard to find them. Maybe you need to pull a manhole cover up to look down the sewer.
The investigator who only looks where it’s easy to look is going to miss things.
If you are a private detective and you’re only looking online for information, you are missing a ton. Maybe you don’t need that level off detail inn all of your cases. After all, if you’re skip tracing and you find your skip by simply running a few database searches or contacting an information broker, well, good for you! That works. But…
If you’re investigating a crime (for the prosecution or the defense) you really need to do more than computer searches. You need to do real investigative work.
Same goes for Worker’s Compensation cases, cheating hearts (AKA: domestic or infidelity cases) and for many of the harder skip traces that simply stump lesser private investigators.
Don’t be a victim of the streetlight effect!
Committed to your success,
Larry Kaye,
Private Investigator
P.S. – Don’t miss my special report titled… If You Want To Be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do These Three Things. You can get it on the home page of my blog.
If you’re thinking about shaking hands with a (potentially) bad guy, you need to be prepared for the worst. So what can you do that keeps the person at ease while still preserving your safety?
Here’s a my tip for you… try a “fist bump” or even an elbow bump!
I came up with this solution while working on the streets and it served me well. I mean if you’ve got a problem on the streets, you might as well learn a street smart solution!
If you have another idea on how to solve this problem, please post a comment.
Let me know if you have a question you’d like me to answer in one of my weekly videos.
Stay Safe and Streetwise,
-Larry-
Larry Kaye, P.I.
P.S. – Don’t miss my special report titled… If You Want To Be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do These Three Things. You can get it on the home page of my blog.
UPDATE: March 7, 2018
According to news reports a 53-year-old man stabbed one Monterey County, California deputy and hurt another after they were called to check on him.
The man’s 72-year-old mother called authorities around 12:30 p.m. reporting her son had been acting “very aggressive.”
She told them she also though he was off his mental health medication.
Police responded and believed they had developed a relationship with him over many previous encounters. When they arrived, he asked to shake a deputy’s hand.
The deputy reached out with his right hand and the man stabbed the deputy’s left hand with a “thick 5-inch nail.”
He then threw large metal objects at deputies and wielded a sharp item like a sword, according to MCSO. He reportedly also threw one large metal object that pierced a vehicle trailer shielding a deputy.
Deputies used a stun gun on the man but he continued to throw metal at the deputies. Deputies fired a second stun gun, after which they took the suspect to the ground.
He continued fighting for five minutes, injuring another deputy before he was placed him in handcuffs.
Both deputies have been treated and are back on duty.
The man was evaluated at the local medical center then taken to the Monterey County Jail.
The man faces several charges including battery on a peace officer and resisting arrest, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Everyone wants simple solutions, so if you can be the simple solution for your clients as a private investigator, they will love you and use you a lot!
It’s WAY easier to re-sell to an existing client (EG. law firm) than to find a new client. And it’s WAY cheaper too!
That means you want to be their “One Stop Shop” for all of their investigative and process serving needs.
Once you’ve made a client happy with rock-solid results, make sure they know you are the detective who can handle ALL of their investigative and process serving needs!
Committed to your success,
Larry Kaye, P.I.
P.S. – Don’t miss my special report titled… If You Want To Be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do These Three Things. You can get it on the home page of my blog.
