If you are new to the investigative business, you are certainly in for a treat.

But if you are just getting started, here are some nuggets of wisdom that I have picked up over the years that may help you along.

Surround yourself with great people

One of the golden rules of business is to surround yourself with smart, talented people. There are plenty of investigators out there. More than 35,000 in the United States, to be more exact.

Some good, and some not so good.

I’ve been lucky enough to have been surrounded by great investigators over the years. Not just your run of the mill small town investigator who only conducts surveillance. Investigators from a variety of backgrounds, with varying skill sets and a range of knowledge in a multitude of areas, each of which has played a part, one way or another, in shaping me as an investigator.

Take on s**t that nobody wants

In one of my first tasks as an investigator I was asked to drive two hours each day to eastern Long Island and, page by page, review and copy 10+ boxes of a lawsuit. It took nearly two weeks to finish. Needless to say, it certainly was not the most stimulating work I had ever done.

But I quickly learned that when you do the work that nobody else wants to do, you suddenly become the guy who will do whatever it takes. You’re not just the schlep who makes copies; you are the guy who will take on whatever is thrown at him.

The alternative is being that guy who nobody wants to approach, because he is bound to be “busy” or is not interested.

Learn by doing

I couldn’t care less how many years you’ve worked in law enforcement, what degree in criminal justice you have or how many criminology books you have read. In this business you have to learn by doing.

Not that years in law enforcement don’t count, or your master’s in criminal justice didn’t teach you anything, but it’s just not the same. Practical experience in the business of private investigations is what matters most.

There are no shortcuts to experience. Malcolm Gladwell argues that 10,000 hours of practice is the key to success in any field. No amount of wisdom will take the place of experience and plain old hard work.

Get out of your comfort zone

We all have it … that area you reach just before you start feeling uncomfortable. That place where you are content and just happy to be. The problem with it is that it eventually creates boredom and staleness and is completely unfulfilling.

The investigative industry is constantly changing. Access to information, laws, types of cases, technology and skills needed.

If you get too comfortable, stop learning and get bored … you might become obsolete as quickly as you got into the business.

Be available

If you want a 9-to-5 job, you are in the wrong business. Friday night requests that need to be finished Monday and all-nighters are par for the course.

We all want to have a personal life, but do yourself a favor. Don’t be that guy who can’t stay late during the week, always has plans on the weekend and can’t arrive before 9 a.m. to wrap up a big case.

Trust me! You don’t want to be that guy.

This article was originally published on PInow.com.

When I was growing up, I never really enjoyed writing. I didn’t like reading much either. (That probably explains some things.)

I wasn’t a particularly bad writer; I just never enjoyed it.

That would not be terribly surprising for most kids, but my grandfather happened to be an author and happened to co-write one of the best screenplays of all time, The Graduate.

Today, I am a writing machine. I have a personal blog, I write more than 50 articles a year for my business, and have written dozens more for Pursuit Magazine and for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, among others.

What I’ve come to realize is that writing is one of the most important skills an investigator can have.

Here is why.

Articulating Your Ideas

Writing—and reading—constantly brings me new ideas. (I have a list of about 100 ideas that I want to write about.)

When I first started, I was not terribly good at articulating those ideas. The ability to take a complex thought or idea and put it on paper is not something that we are all born with.

As an investigator, it’s what we do, though. We take vast amounts of information and try to articulate that information in a concise, easy-to-digest format. Although I have had plenty of practice at it over the past 10+ years, my writing proficiency is still a work in progress.

But writing continuously helps me get to where I need to be.

Blogging for Business

What if I told you that you can have more than 50,000 people a year knocking on your door to inquire about your investigative services? Sound enticing?

I’ve bought into the whole idea of inbound marketing. Instead of spending all my time trying to find clients, I let them find me. I blog about something they care about, they find me on Google and voila; I have people knocking on my door (not literally, thank goodness) who are qualified and ready to hire me. (It’s not always that easy, but you get the idea.)

More than 20 percent of my business comes from the Internet. I expect that to rise dramatically over the next few years.

What’s even better? Almost none of it is from my local area. It has opened my doors to the entire world instead of to a limited radius.

Practicing Makes Perfect

I have never been a particularly good writer. I could put a few phrases together, but nobody ever called upon me to come up with a perfect sentence. And grammar is about my least favorite thing.

When I first started writing I had about as much confidence as I do in the Mets’ chances of winning the World Series this year. (Not much, for those of you who aren’t sports fans.) I would have three colleagues read it before I would post it. Even then I’d be worried about what people thought.

Over the years, I have gotten better. Little by little, I’ve found a “voice” and gained confidence. I can articulate my ideas better and pump out a pretty well-written article in as little as 30 minutes. (It took me 43 minutes from idea to finished product to write this one)

And another thing … whatever is written is never going to be perfect, so you shouldn’t even try for that.

Becoming an Expert

Many calls I get from the blogs I post for my business start with something like “You seem to be an expert in …”

I know a thing or two about investigations, but I am humble enough to know that I still have many moons to go before I am an expert in anything. The truth of the matter is, I don’t know any more than any of you do.

The difference is that everything you know is in your head. The only people who know you are an expert are the people who communicate with you regularly. If even they do.

When you write about something, the whole world can see it. Suddenly your reputation for expertise is spread by leaps and bounds.

Making the Most of Your Time

Like all investigators, I go through peaks and valleys. Periods of more work than you know what to do with followed by slow periods when you wonder when you are going to get your next case. It happens to every investigator.

Writing is perfect for the slow periods. It keeps your mind fresh and ideas percolating and keeps you from worrying about your next case. I write furiously when I my workload is low. Blog articles, e-books, guides, etc. You name it, I write it.

So when I am going through a busy period, I can still post blog articles that I have stashed away.

And you don’t have to write only when you are slow. If I have an idea or learn something new, I write about it. Right then and there. I don’t know about you, but ideas stay in my head for about four and a half minutes.

Where Do You Start?

Start by writing about something that you know like the back of your hand. Use stream of consciousness. Don’t worry about making it perfect.

Then, see where it takes you. Who knows? You may end up getting more business, becoming an expert or taking advantage of those slow periods.

Or you may end up actually enjoying it like I do.

So stop wasting your time reading this article, and get writing!