Everyone starting out in this line of work wants to know how much they should charge for private investigation services like skip tracing, surveillance, process serving and background checks.

Look, a lot of people can teach you little tricks and hints for skip tracing or surveillance or process serving. However…

One of the advantages you have here is I owned and ran my own detective agency for nine years!

That’s how I paid the mortgage. That’s how I bought groceries. It was my full time job! That means if you want to actually make a living as a private investigator, then you need to know the business aspects as well and the private investigator tools.

After all, this is the private investigation business.

You may be a really good private investigator, but if you don’t understand the business side of it, and I mean really understand it, you’re doomed.

So you’re a really good investigator. Maybe you’ve even got your private investigator license and you’re ready to open up a detective agency. So the next question is, how much should you charge?

What Not To Do

Do not price your services compared to the other detective agencies.

Yes, it’s nice to know what they’re charging and maybe (just maybe!) you do want to be in that same price range, but do not base your prices on what the other guy is charging. That’s a race to the bottom.

Do not be the low-price-guy!

Because here’s what happens… everyone thinks if they price their services a little bit lower than the competition, then they will get the clients. But here’s the problem: Your competition can price their services a little below you and steal back their clients!

Plus, the clients you get as the low-price-guy, these bottom price clients, are the worst clients to have!

They’re more difficult to please and they will leave you to save a nickel somewhere else.

So don’t price your services “just a bit bellow” other detective agencies.

A Thought Experiment

Think about this for a moment…

Imagine the actual value a client gets from your service or product. Try to formulate that in your mind for a moment.

Sometimes this dollar amount isn’t always obvious to you, but sometimes it is.

Example 1: If you’re working a skip trace, so a construction company can repossess a $100,000 piece of construction equipment that they rented out and was never returned, arguably even stolen from them, they need to get that hundred thousand dollar piece of equipment back! If you’re the one that can find it, what’s that worth?

Example 2: If you’re working a case for someone who’s had a divorce and in their spousal support agreement, it says if the former wife remarries or cohabitates, that the husband (your client) can stop paying alimony or spousal support to that person. How much is that worth? What if that person is paying $1,000 a month? $2,000 a month? I worked one case where the guy was paying $4,000 a month to his ex-wife. If you can come in with your services and prove cohabitation, how much is that worth to him not to have to pay four grand a month, every month for the rest of his life?!?

As A Seller

Now let’s look at it from your perspective. In the example of construction gear you need to repossess (or find for the repo guy) you say to yourself, “Well, I could probably find this construction equipment. I know the name of the guy that took off with it and I’ve got these databases. I probably could run $30 in database searches, maybe spend two, three hours checking different spots in town or maybe just a couple hours if it might be out of the county”.

So you know, with maybe with less than 40 hours of actual work and less than $100 in actual cost, you could find this gear.

But, don’t say to yourself, “Well, you know, gosh, I probably can’t charge more than $20 an hour for my time” or “I’m just gonna’ use $20 in gas money. How am I going to justify charging more than that to this client?” No! Your client wants back $100,000 piece of gear. If you charge five grand to find it, your client is still getting a heck of a deal! He’s getting twenty times (20X!) the value of what he’s paying you!

He pays you $5,000 and gets $100,000! That’s a GREAT deal!

I’m not saying…

Of course, I’m not saying gouge your client when they’re in a weak position. And don’t take advantage of them because they’re in financial trouble.

But, let’s face it, the client has probably already tried on their own to find that piece of construction gear and they failed. They may have even hired some cheaper detective agency or tried a repo guy. Sometimes they’ll tell you this. They’ll say they hired a repossession company or hired another P.I. and ended up paying him 700 bucks (or whatever) and got nothing for it!

Look, you’re about to find a $100,000 piece of gear this guy needs – charge what you’re worth!

Here’s The (Simple) Math You Need To Know

Let me take you outside of our industry for a moment.

I’m going to give you a number, something that you can punch into the calculator and think about.

If you’re providing 10 times the value of what you’re charging the client, that might be about what you should be charging. (This is just a thought exercise. Bear with me a moment.)

So imagine this hundred thousand dollar piece of construction equipment. If you can recover it for $10,000, the client is still way ahead. Maybe their insurance company will cover your fee for your client. Rather than cutting a check for $100,000 they would be ecstatic to pay you (only!) $10,000.

For the ex-husband who’s paying $4,000 a month (every month!) in spousal support, what if you charge $4,000 just one-time to go out and spend three days doing the surveillance necessary to get him out of that? Would it be worth it to him? And that’s a fraction of that 10X I’m talking about.

You may bristle at charging $4,000 for three days of surveillance and I have to admit, that seems a bit egregious to me. Or you may say, “I can’t charge $10,000 to track down a piece of gear. I do this type of thing all the time. Maybe it’s a $4,000 or $5,000 case or a $3,000 case.”

The Whole Point Of It

My point is, charge what you’re comfortable charging, but don’t undercharge your client.

And if you’re in a position where you charge just 10% of the value that client gets, you should not feel bad about that! Maybe you want to charge a little less than that, maybe you want to charge a little bit more. But really think – the client is getting 10 times what they paid you! That’s nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, that’s bragging rights in my book!

If you know your clients are getting $1,000 worth of value for every $100 they pay you – that’s pretty remarkable!

&nbsb;

My Mistake

I didn’t always follow this rule myself. And even right now, I’m not.

My courses, my instructional videos that I have for surveillance and process serving, they’re undervalued based on this 10X rule. Far undervalued!

My process serving course is an easy example to look at because The Investigators Ultimate Guide to Process Serving normally retails for $400 at Amazon (Note: I have no control over the price they sell it for.) I frequently have it on sale for $250.

And I can easily do the math because I know process servers make $50 per service pack. Let’s face it, nowadays, the prices are going up, but if you’re only making $50 per service pack, that means you only have to serve five packs, in order to break even after buying the course!

Look, you may not serve five packets, the first 30 days you’re trying to do this, you’ve got to get the clients. But once you get clients, you’re going to serve packets all the time and if you have a month where you’re only serving five, I consider that a slow month.

So in other words, I saying, “If you give me one small, slow month’s worth of what you make, I will give you the information you need to make that money every month over and over again for as long as you like!”

That’s quite the deal!

If somebody came to me with a credible offer and said, “Larry, you give me 250 bucks today, and I will make it so that you can earn an extra 250 a month every month for as long as you want.” I would take that deal myself!

What Are You Comfortable Charging?

So, yes, I have undervalued the products that I’m selling, but I I’m comfortable at that price point.

At $400 (and certainly at $250!) it’s quite worth it to learn a skill that’s going to pay you over and over again!

My Slow, Awkward Start

When I tried to get into process serving, when I wanted to add that to my bottom line to help make ends meet, I could not find anybody who would teach me! I even went to my personal attorney and offered to pay her to tell me what she knows about process serving. But she wouldn’t do it!

I later learned, most attorneys don’t know a ton about process serving and they certainly don’t know the finer points of skip tracing that I teach in my course. Also they don’t know the business side, how to get clients, how to invoice clients, what to say and what not to say! But all of that aside, I couldn’t find anybody who would teach me!

No One Would Teach Me!

I couldn’t pay enough money to get taught process serving!

So I’m very comfortable helping people out and offering this course at $400 (or sometimes only $250).

But when you’re pricing your services, remember don’t base it solely on your side of the equation because…

1. You’re under estimating what it’s actually costing you to go out and do the work and

2. You need to consider the value you give the clients.

If you’ve struggled with pricing your services and finally found a point where you can say, “Yes Larry, I went through that and I figured out here’s where I like to price my services.” then drop it in a comments, we can all learn from each other!

If you like these helpful tips, then don’t miss out on my free special report If You Want To Be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do These Three Things. You can get it right here…

Committed to your success,
Larry Kaye, P.I.

Do you know the three different types of testimony you might be called upon to give as a private investigator?

You know me as Mr. Been-There-Done-That and that is really key this week because I am not a lawyer, I’m not giving legal advice. I’m just sharing with you as a Private Investigator who’s been called upon to testify in these three different ways and to give you a brief explanation about what they are.

The three type of testimony I’m teaching about here are interrogatories, depositions and actual testimony in a courtroom.

1. Interrogatories

Interrogatories are written answers to written questions.

This is part of a very common part of the discovery process in civil cases.

So when you get this list of questions, and frequently it’ll be several pages, maybe even a packet of questions, don’t treat it lightly, treat it with the magnitude as if you were testifying in court. Part of that is making sure your attorney knows about it!

These interrogatories will come to you usually from a law firm, usually the opposing council. So the fact that they aren’t coming directly from the court, don’t let that fool you. They’re still very important, they carry a lot of weight.

2. Depositions

The second type of testimony, you might have to give as a private investigator is in a deposition.

Depositions frequently take place in a law office. If it’s a big law firm they are going to try to impress you with big tables and fancy conference rooms. If they’re in a high rise, they like the fact that you’ve got to go through the lobby and come up the elevator to the 30th floor. Really, they’re just trying to intimidate you. If they can get you nervous or feel like they are the big, powerful and all-knowing attorneys then they’re hoping you make a mistake they can exploit.

If you’re case is solid then really they’re just going to try to make you look foolish. It’s part of “the game”. Don’t worry about it. In Depositions, you’ll be right across the table from opposing council, but an attorney for your side will be there as well.

Depositions are frequently recorded and often video recorded as well. There will be a stenographer they also.

Council for your side can object to questions. Treat this as if you’re testifying in court. Dress professionally, speak professional. Don’t worry, you’re going to prepare for this.

Finally, keep in mind, this is under oath. There are penalties of perjury if you lie during a deposition.

3. Testimony in Court

The third form of testimony is what you classically think of as testifying in court. Its the type of thing you see on TV because it makes for good drama. Its good visuals.

This may be during a trial or maybe during a pretrial hearing.

Courtroom testimony is not always in front of a jury. Most pretrial hearings just have a judge trying to decide a specific point before the actual trial. But again, you are in a courtroom, you come up to the stand, you take the oath, you are under oath for this. You cannot lie. You cannot perjure yourself.

Tips

Do not freak out about any of these forms of testifying if you’re called to do them.

I will give you a huge hint that you can today right now put into place that will help you immensely. When you have to go testify, especially in a deposition or in a courtroom, it’s very helpful if you can go in with nothing to hide.

If you’ve done your investigation in a way that you have nothing to hide, you’re going to do well. You’re not going to be nervous about it. However… If you go in with this nagging question in the back of your head, “I hope they don’t ask me about this. I hope they don’t ask me about this. I hope they don’t ask me about this.”, well, then you’ve got a problem.

That probably means you did something that’s a little dicey in or in a “gray area”. Maybe it’s ethically a problem. I certainly hope it’s not legally a problem! So the point is start today conducting all your investigations legally and (of course!) ethically. Remember what you do will come to the light of day eventually.

The End of Your Career

One final point… I touched on it already, but I will tell you why it is vitally important that you cannot perjure yourself. You cannot lie under oath.

Obviously, it’s wrong. Obviously, it’s illegal. Yes, it’s a crime. But, here’s a key thing…

If you lie under oath, if you get caught in a lie, even if they decide not to pursue perjury charges, no matter what, if you lie under oath, your career is over.

No one will hire you after that. It’s no good to have an investigator who will collect evidence that cannot be presented in court!

And word gets around. Our world is a small world! If attorneys find out that you lied, “pushed the bounds of the envelope” on a previous case and you got called out for it, opposing council will bring that up every single time you have to testify!

Do you understand? There’s no reason to hire you because you’re not credible on the witness stand. No matter how great the evidence is you collect, they will always be able to question it’s veracity and put a black mark on your word. Lying under oath is not worth it. Your career is over. That includes interrogatories, depositions and courtroom testimony.

If you like this information, then don’t miss out on my free special report If You Want To be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do These Three Things. If not, you can get it right here…Do you know the three different types of testimony you might be called upon to give as a private investigator?

If you like this information, then don’t miss out on my free special report If You Want To be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do These Three Things. If not, you can get it right here…

Committed to your success,
Larry Kaye, P.I.

This week I want to share with you six time management tricks to help you with time management as a private investigator.

This is something I share with you as a fellow learner. I am not the greatest guy in the world at time management, but I have found these little tricks that help me immensely.

1. Morning Routine

Number one is a morning routine. It’s so popular online these days for people to share their morning routines, to talk about them and to get ideas.

Let me tell you, good, bad or ugly, you should have a morning routine. In fact I would suggest you already do have a morning routine, even if you don’t think you do. But, be sure to look at your routine and make it serve you well!

At first, your morning routine can be as little as one or two things you do.

You don’t have to craft six things or a one-hour process, or even a twenty-minute process in the morning that you gets you bogged down. Think of it more as a checklist that you perform automatically.

For me, my morning routine has evolved very naturally.

Let me suggest, at the very least, you get up and make your bed. I’m a big believer in that.

Admiral McRaven wrote a book called Make Your Bed. Find it. Read it. It’s a very good book. Make your bed in the morning. That’s a starting place for you.

After you do that for a while, you may find you naturally have other tendencies you build into to your routine.

Some of these things may come before you even get out of bed!

You may, when you wake up in the morning and before you even open your eyes, have a routine of prayer. Maybe a gratitude prayer or a prayer for strength throughout the day.

Getting up in the morning, waking up, getting out of bed, tuning yourself in with God and being present and available for what He has for you for you is not a small thing! That’s a great thing to put into your morning routine.

As you go along, you’re going to add more and more things. Maybe some stretching. Whatever it might be, but get a morning routine! This is going to start you out right instead of just meandering into the day.

2. Determine Your Most Important Task of the Day

Number two time management hack for you is to determine what the most important thing is for you to do that day.

What I mean by that is something that’s going to make a difference. Something that’s going to “move the needle” in your life.

What’s that one thing? It’s the thing that if it was the only thing you got done, that’s the thing that’s going to help you move forward.

Specifically, let’s talk business, because that’s what we’re talking about here. The private investigation and business. Identify the one thing that needs to be done today. Not just needs to be done, but the one thing that’s going to move your forward.

Here’s what all small business people do….

They get hung up working “in” their business and they don’t work “on” their business.

You might wake up and know you’ve got to knock out three background checks for the day. And you know you’ve got four process serving packs to deliver. Things like that. That’s working “in” your business.

I want you to think in terms of priorities as to working “on” your business.

Know the one thing that will make a difference if that’s the only thing you get done. I’m going to suggest that’s probably lead generation. Reaching out to potential clients (and probably a bunch of them!) in one way or another. Social media, direct mail, however you’re going to do it.

Identify the most important thing (the thing that’s really going to move you forward for the day). When you hit the bed at the end of the night, you say, “Okay. I got that thing done. That was a big deal.”

3. Virtual Assistant

Number three, which you probably don’t need yet, but maybe you do, is a virtual assistant.

This is something I’ve found very handy for me. And maybe not so much one virtual assistant, but outsourcing things I shouldn’t be “wasting” my time on to people who can do them for me.

If you find yourself doing repetitive things over and over again, then this is something you might want to look for. There are a variety of ways to find this kind of extra help. It takes a little bit of effort. It takes a little bit of time. There will be some missteps. But, once you get it up and running, it’s a real time saver!

There really is a point when you’re doing things that you shouldn’t be wasting your time doing. You’re a skilled investigator. What are you charging? Eighty-five dollars an hour for surveillance? Fifty or sixty-five dollars per process server pack? That’s where you should be spending your time

Think of using a virtual assistant for some smaller things you might have going on. If you’re posting on social media regularly and you need thumbnails, just having an artist that you can reach out to and say, “Here’s the headline. Make a thumbnail that looks good for me.” You don’t have to be searching for images, cropping, re-sizing and all that! You’re a private investigator. Unless you absolutely love doing graphic artist work, you shouldn’t be wasting your time on that! (Hint: Even if you do love doing it, are you using it as an escape from the real work? Should you be doing something else instead?)

No matter how quickly you’re making that thumbnail image, there’s a good chance paying someone else to do it (I’m talking in the five or ten dollar range) is probably money well spent for you.

Think about a virtual assistant for those repetitive tasks that you find chewing up your time.

4. Kill Your Social Media

My number four time management hack for private investigators is to get rid of your social media. Well, okay… don’t get rid of it. Cut back on it. Cut way down on it.

Is social media where you’re spending your time? I get that it can be fun and entertaining. There’s always something cute. You can justify this is how you keep up on things in the industry, your neighborhood or the world, but… If you’re going to be using social media, beware of surfing. Beware of getting sucked down a rabbit hole.

If you’re using it for research, use it for research and get off it!

Let me suggest this. If you’re not going to be able to just stop social media, then schedule it. Scheduled the half an hour or twenty minutes you’re going to use it. Maybe you check it for ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes at night. That type of thing. Cut way back on social media.

5. Kill Your Television

The number five time management hack for private investigators, kill your television.

For crying out loud, whether it’s TV, online videos, or streaming videos, you’re doing too much of that!

Again, I understand the need to unwind. I understand fun. But schedule it. Monitor it.

Maybe record how much you’re watching every day. You’re going to discover that you’re wasting a lot of time on nonsense.

Again, I’m walking the walk with you. No judgment! I don’t even want to know how much time I waste looking for something to watch on streaming media. It’s crazy! You and me both, let’s watch only what we intentionally want to watch and schedule it to avoid binging.

6. Plan Your Day The Night Before

If was making the list in order of priority, this might be number one… Plan you next day ahead of time.

Before you shut down your office and before you go to bed, ask yourself what’s the priority for tomorrow? This goes back to the other tip I had for you, right? Know what your number one thing is. Know the most important thing. This really will help you a lot!

Don’t wake up and try to figure it out. Figure it out the night before.

You can even set up your office to nudge you in the direction of that task!

If you know that writing an email to reach out to clients needs to be done, set that up the night before. Open up the word processor and have it on your computer. When you walk into the office in the morning, there it is! It’s ready for you to knock it out before you get distracted checking the news or whatever else you’re going to do.

Finding the priority the night before is a huge benefit. That alone will help you quite a bit.

Your Ideas

I’m wondering if one or two time management tips popped into your mind while reading this. If they did, drop them in the comments. I would love to know!

Every private investigator, process server and security lesson I teach you is something that I know from a position of authority. I’ve done these things for a long time. Time management, well, I’m walking the walk right along with you. We’re in this one together. So drop your ideas in the comments for me and everyone to learn from!

Committed to your success,
Larry Kaye, P.I.

Do you think the technological advances we have in the 21 century are good or bad for private investigators?

This week I want to talk to you about four private investigator problems that didn’t exist twenty years ago.

Then vs. Now

If you didn’t work as an investigator before the age of the internet and specifically before the age of Google then you may not fully appreciate the difference between now and then.

One example is, 20 years ago, it was very common to go out on a surveillance without a picture of the person you were going to follow. You had an address, a description, a vehicle make and model, a license plate number and things like that, but no image of the person. (And, by the way, we always said “picture” and never “image” because it was always an actual photograph!)

When the person came out and got in the car, you weren’t judging from a picture that the client gave to you but just the physical description of person and the vehicle and where they started out at. This is not to say that the wrong people were followed and reported on. If the wrong person was followed by accident, you clearly wouldn’t use that against the actual subject of your investigation.

So even something as small as having a photo of the subject you’re about to follow was rare and difficult twenty years ago versus today.

1. Google / Search Engines

Number one on my list by a long shot is Google.

Search engines in general, but Google in particular.

Google knows way too much about you and me and anyone in particular. It’s scary, weird and creepy.

And for private investigators, this has created a bit of a problem because so many potential client can do it themselves now (or at least try).

So the problem with having Google available is so many questions a person has, like, ‘does this person have children’, ‘where are their family’, and ‘what’s their address’, those types of things can be solved with a few keystrokes and a click of the mouse. People just don’t need to hire a private investigator for that kind of information anymore.

2. Social Media

A second private investigator problem that didn’t exist twenty years ago is social media.

The connections and lines that you can draw. The fact that people are putting online literally what they ate for breakfast, who they hung out with, where they’re going to a club and when they’re on vacation. This type of information (if it could be gotten at all!) required an investigator to go out and find this information. It was a time-consuming. It was a labor-intensive. It took a special skills sets.

The problem for private investigators is not that one can find this information on social media now, but that so many people are doing it for themselves. There’s less perceived need to hire a private investigator.

3. Cell Phone Tracking

The third private investigator problem that didn’t exist twenty years ago is tracking devices (legal or illegal) on cell phones.

Sometimes, it’s not malicious software that’s put on them. Maybe it’s not even tracking software that’s installed by a husband or a wife who’s suspicious of their spouse. Simply the applications loaded on a smart phone to locate where it is can frequently help someone who’s curious about the location of another person. You can find where they are and virtually follow them around.

Again, twenty years ago, you needed an experienced investigator, that knew what he or she was doing to get in a vehicle and follow that person. Now it can be done on phones. Many times, I believe, it’s being done illegally, but that doesn’t really help you as an investigator, right? If they don’t need to hire you now, then they don’t need to hire you and that’s a problem for our industry.

Of course using a cell phone for “virtual surveillance” won’t tell the client who the subject met with, how they were dressed or how they interacted with others. So physical surveillance is still needed, but if it’s perceived to be needed less, then that cuts into your business.

4. The Deep Web

The fourth private investigator problem that did not exist twenty years ago is the deep web.

This is an interesting one, because people think they know how to use it, but they don’t.

Nevertheless, people are doing more for themselves online than they were twenty years ago.

For example, I will go back to one of my favorite sources, the lower court or municipal court index, where people are listed for traffic violations, misdemeanor criminal offenses, small claims court, those types of things. That’s all at the county courthouse.

It used to be, twenty years ago, you would drive yourself down there and paw through the records yourself. Literally. Microfiche or maybe in these large index books.

You had to go down there. You had to know what office to go to and what to ask for. People just didn’t even know it was available, let alone that they could access it. Now, you can stumble upon the index online and find somebody’s name. It’s very simple now.

Again, what this leads to is a do-it-yourself mentality for the general public instead of hiring a professional. That’s the real problem for us if you’re trying to make a living in this business.

But, here’s the good news…

Now let me share with you the good news. You can still make money in this environment.

All of those things, Google, social media, tracking devices and the deep web, people are not proficient with them! Not even close!

They mess it up all the time.

The client that you’re probably missing is the person who thinks they did it right. And this is so dangerous.

But, if you can educate your clients – if you can get the word out to potential clients – then you have a potential of getting hired because they know they’ve probably failed. They probably did it wrong.

Real-World Example

Here’s the classic example. Let’s look at the deep web.

There are two court levels in every county. There’s an upper court and a lower court. Sometimes they’re called by different names (municipal and superior or Municipal and common pleas or whatever), but one has misdemeanors and one has felonies.

It’s so common that people will run a name, maybe they’re background checking a child care provider or maybe a potential boyfriend or fiancé. They’ll punch the name into one of those online indexes, thinking that they’ve found everything only to miss huge pieces of the puzzle!

Imagine if you punch somebody into a Municipal court website where there are misdemeanors and you find things like traffic violations or an eviction, but you don’t punch them into the Superior court where there’s felonies like rape, aggravated assault or cases of serious domestic violence!

The person (potential client!) misses these felonies.

Educate your potential clients by doing things like writing articles, posting to your blog and being on social media explaining and educating people. Do this especially when you see a mistake that like that made in the media to draw people’s attention to it. Explain to them why they need a professional to do this really well.

No Excuses!

As with everything in life, don’t look at these points and make excuses.

Don’t say, “That’s why I’m not making money” or “That’s why I can’t be successful here”. That’s not a place you want your mind to be! That’s not where you want to have your mind set!

Look, people are making money in this industry. You can too. You’ve just got to be smart about it. It’s not going to fall into your lap. You’ve got to go out there and earn it.

Part of that is getting the clients. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: it’s the hardest part of this business. I’m convinced it’s the hardest part of any business! So get really good at it!

Learn marketing. For part of that, I’m a strong believer, just like I’m doing here with you, in educating your potential clients. Be a resource for them so they recognize (many times) they can’t do this one their own and need professional help. And educate them so they recognize you as the expert that they want to come to!

What did I miss?

I would love to know if you have any other problems that exist today that didn’t exist twenty years ago in private investigations. My list here is not even close to being exhaustive! Please, drop your thoughts in the comments. I would love to see the ones you consider important!

If you like this helpful information, then don’t miss out on my free special report If You Want To be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do These Three Things. If not, you can get it right here…

Committed to your success,
Larry Kaye, P.I.

P.S. – After an article like that, you may find this promises comforting… “God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called by His decree.” -Romans 8:28