“WHAT can you see, learn and do?”
It’s easy to ask certain questions during tight economic times. Questions like “Why is my business so slow?” “When are things ever going to get better?”
But the question to ask is not “Why?” or “When?“ but “What?”
And there are many mind-expanding questions that can help your business that begin with the word “What?”
“What can I do to make it easier for someone to do business with me?” Maybe the answer is to establish a merchant account with a bank so you can accept credit cards for payments. Or include on your website a form under the heading, “Start your investigation now!”
“What can I do to help people battle the rising rate of burglaries and theft?” Crime is increasing in today’s economy. Well, what do you know about security? Even if that has not been a traditional area of your service, you probably know more than the average homeowner or business owner. Offer a free seminar on keeping your home safe at a local public library, or make yourself available to speak to the local Rotary, Kiwanis, Exchange Club, chamber, etc. It will cost you nothing, except some of your time, to put together such a presentation, and get in front of a lot of people, including businesspeople who may want to hire you.
“What can I learn from this national news story about H1N1?” Certainly that’s a health story that has nothing to do with a private investigator, right? However, H1N1 is a story that is likely to be on the news almost every day for months, and reporters are always looking for a fresh angle. What can you do to apply your investigative skills to this field? Anyone impacted by, or concerned about the disease who may be trying to locate someone who sat next to them on a plane? Can you help them?
“What information, or skills, or experience do you have as a PI?” What do you know that can be packaged and presented to others in an educational way, such as through a speech or a press release, or as a service you can provide, such as a background check, video camera installation, etc.?
Ask yourself, “What are my goals as a PI?” Have you ever written them down and created a marketing plan to precisely pursue them, or do you just keep hoping things will change?
What have you done to thank people who have done business with you, people who, statistically are most prone to use your services again? What can you send them today – – an email, a promotional item, a copy of your sales letter about your newest service — to simply and honestly place yourself in front of them again, to make them think of you?
What can you do to change your outlook? Exercise more? Read a book on business, or marketing?
What have you added to your website recently? Certainly it’s not exactly the same as when you built it two years ago, is it?
Change your mindset from “When will things get better?” to “What is going on around us, on the national news, in my community, among my friends upon which I can capitalize? What new service can I provide? What are others doing to market their business, no matter what kind of business it is, that I can adopt and adapt for my purposes?“
Everybody in every business is looking for that one magical marketing bullet, the one thing that they can do to bring in a hundred new clients. The truth is there is not one thing to bring you a hundred clients, but there are a hundred things you can do to gain one client. You, and the people around you, have access to great ideas. So don’t ask “Why?” Ask “What?”
Bob Mackowiak has been helping private investigators market their services since 1988. He has spoken about marketing at private investigation conferences from Florida to Alaska, is the author of the classic manual, “How to Market Your Private Investigation Agency,” and helped hundreds of PIs with his COPI Brochure Development System. You can learn more about Bob and his services at www.LetBobHelp.Homestead.com.