1. Know who your looking for!
This may seem obvious, however a lot of people just want to jump in. A lot of skip tracers have come to me over the years with cases they just can’t crack. Often this comes down to the fact they are not looking for the right person.
The first thing you should do is research the subject. Google their name, reverse search their mobile, email and address. Do an ABN lookup and see if there are any name changes listed. You may find there are variations to the subjects name. This gives you more intelligence to work with.
2. Google is your friend!
I often get asked “How do I start?”. The answer is simple. Google! Become a Google master, learn all the search techniques and you will be able to track down leads a lot faster. Typing a person’s name in Google is a common rookie mistake. If you type John Smith into Google, your not going to get the results you need.
Your not looking for any John Smith, you’re looking for a unique John Smith. So try searching “John Smith” Lawn. You know your subject works with Turf, so add Turf or Lawn to the query. Also, adding quotes refines your search. Quotes tells Google you are looking for that exact phrase. Without them, Google will search for any variation of the two seperate words, John and Smith.
Same goes with mobile numbers. Check out our video on Google searches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dZtrWmDsTs
3. It isn’t always about the subject!
I have always said, “Skip Tracing is about locating people, that doesn’t mean you have to search for them!”. In most cases, I end up locating the subject by searching for the weakest link.
This could be friends and family. When you are searching for someone who is try to hide, stop searching for them! Find the weakest link!
