This week I give three real-world examples of solving problems in creative ways including two that apply directly to private investigators.

Example 1

A property owner had problems with his neighbor coming onto his property and hunting.

Even with “No Trespassing” and “No Hunting Signs”, the neighbor still hunted on the property!

So how would you solve this problem?

You could build a fence, but that’s expensive and time consuming. Plus, would it really keep the guy off your property or would he still find a way in?

Or you could wait out on the property every morning until you caught the guy trespassing, but that’s also time consuming and who want’s to wait around in the cold every morning? Plus would it really stop the guy from coming back another day?

Of course there are other expensive and troublesome ways to try and solve the problem. But here’s what the property owner did…

He bought three wind up alarm clocks. Hunting season started at 6:24am. So the property owner set the clocks to go off at 6:30, 6:45 and 7:00 am and placed them around the property. Cheap, easy, not confrontational and you know what? It worked. The neighbor never came back.

Example 2

An investigative reporter wanted to do a story on Amazon and the plans they had for new facilities and new online strategies. Naturally, Amazon didn’t want to tip its hand on these things.

So, how would you find out these Amazon.com secrets?

You could try to cultivate a relationship with an Amazon employee and learn from them. But that’s a long term project. Plus you have to worry about the credibility of the worker. Are they disgruntled? Can they be trusted? If they provide you “proof” (EG documents) are they stolen form Amazon?

How did the report approach this information gathering problem?

The reporter looked at “help wanted” and job postings placed by Amazon!

Then the reporter could see what kinds of online skills Amazon was looking for and where they wanted to brig on new employees (suggesting where new facilities were planed). Overall, it allows a pretty good look at the online strategy and physical growth of Amazon in a way based on documents and information that were readily (and easily!) available.

Example 3

This one is directly form the private investigator world…

Imagine you need to access a traffic accident report. What happens when you can’t get it? Maybe it’s in a small town and they are being obstructionist. Maybe the report is short or incomplete. Maybe it’s just that one of the pages didn’t get scanned into the computer system. It happens! Then what?

You need to look at where else you can get more information about the accident.

How about looking at the medic run. The ambulance run to the accident.

Looking at the medic run information you can learn a lot. You can learn which ambulance or medic arrived at the scene, how long they were there, if they transported anyone, the hospital they took them to and much more!

Additionally, you can go out and interview the medics if you want. They may be able to share information that’s not recorded anywhere else!

If you have a “work-around” or clever solution to a problem you’ve encountered, share it in the comments below!

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.