This is blog post #101 for me. To celebrate my first 100 blogs, I have put together some of the best advice I’ve received from several of my favorite private investigators and other people I really admire:
Don’t get bogged down with all of the resources out there. Instead, choose the ones that work best for you and stick with them.
Write what you know.
Don’t neglect marketing.
When you’re starting out, don’t be the most expensive private investigator in your area. But don’t be the cheapest either. Price yourself somewhere in the middle.
For writing, specific, personal stories are more memorable than platitudes or generalities. Specific details add power to your writing.
Choose a niche or niches that you are naturally good at and something that you really enjoy doing.
Don’t promote self importance. Instead, be a private investigator with a reputation for helping others and sharing information.
Give your new practice time. Don’t throw in the towel too early. Your hard work will pay off if you keep at it.
Private investigator work is feast or famine. Use the famines to your advantage as times to better your practice, expand your knowledge, develop something new, or work on marketing.
Don’t ever risk your reputation.
Your job is to find the facts. Period.
When PIs add details about mistakes or painful lessons, the story is much more useful and interesting. Nobody likes to admit to failures, but that’s where the best stories and lessons are.
Be timely in your communication.
Educate through your marketing instead of trying to sell yourself.
If a client’s request is not within your wheelhouse, recommend them to a trusted colleague who can help them. Don’t try to be all things to all people.
Change with the times. Be flexible. If something isn’t working, stop doing it.