1. If you want calls you have to blog every call. I don't care what the blog says, you attach tags to the blog post. The tags are how people find you the most. The first thing people search the internet for is "metal detector rental in the town they live in". Your tags should be metal detector rental "your town". Just look at the other peoples tags on the site, you want them associated with the towns you want to cover.
2. The people have a short term PTSD. They will lie to you when looking you straight in the face and you think its the truth. They are so desperate to get the ring back they will tell you anything. You have to figure out what questions to ask to find the ring. I will ask them a question, then 1/2 hour later ask the same question, but word it a little different and see if the answer changes.
Last summer, I had a guy say he felt his ring slide off his finger in shoulder deep water. He is 6'4" and I am 5'8". I was in neck deep water for 5 hours and could not find the ring. I gave him my excal and had him search the deeper area I could not reach and he found nothing. I took him up to shore and said if you want your ring back you need to start talking. Something physical happened in the last couple days to make the ring come off. He finally said, "I fell out of a kayak a couple days ago up the river". He said there is no way he went 2 days without his ring. We went up the river and when I got out of the kayak, i visually spotted his ring.
3. They tell you on the phone "I know the exact the spot I lost my ring". You get to the location and the area they show you is 50 feet wide by 1/4 mile long. Or they draw you a map and they are 100 yards off from the real spot. I've have searches take 9 hours to find the ring. I have a lot of searches off shore on sandbars. I just ask for pictures showing the shoreline in the background to get a line of sight to find the location they were at.
4. Its not all rainbows and unicorns. I go on any call and don't try to just pick the easy ones. I've been out in 100 degree weather in the summer and -9 degrees in the winter.
5. Do the reward basis. You will be further ahead in the long run. People who can afford it usually give a better reward. I also go to $800,000 houses and spend a couple hours searching to get the ring and they give me $20.00. At the end of the year you will be further ahead with the reward basis. On the other hand you help the people who cannot afford it. I did a call in the winter when it was -9 degrees. Took 1/2 hour to get the ring. She was trying to give me $17 dollars for the reward. I found out she had cancer and all her money was going to medical bills. I have a conscience and there is no way I could sleep at night, if I would have taken money from her. I do calls for free for first responders, military, veterans, police, firemen, broke college kids and broke young people with kids.
6. When searching, clear every target in the search area. I had a ring land beside pop can once. That call took 3 hours longer than it should have, because I did not clear the pop can signal. Also people will tell you the ring is silver and its actually white gold.
7. Be 100 percent professional every minute in front of the public and build a good reputation in your area. I have worked with insurance companies. With them I charge $300.00 a day if I don't find the ring or 30 percent of the value if I do find it. I have people call me and say " Is this CW3? I'm offering $500.00 for you to find my wife's ring. I've heard your the guy to call". I've also been called to a fatal car accident to look for a bracelet that a 19 year girl old was wearing. The mom wanted her daughter buried with the bracelet she bought her daughter. You never know what calls you will get involved in. I did that one for free.
8. Have a to go box ready and always have your detector charged and ready to go. You never know when a call will come in. I've also had 3 calls in the same day.
9. Know your detector 100 percent. You don't have control on the location the ring is lost. Some are very trashy and some are very clean. I usually turn the sensitivity down to 10 on the ctx. Usually the ring is not going to be deep in the ground. Know all your settings, so if needed you can adjust your settings to the location. If you have multiple coils for your detector take them all every time. I had a call last winter with a ring lost in the snow. Her fiancee likes to throw his change out his truck window in the area the ring was lost. After an hour of searching and being half froze to death, I decided the only way to find the ring was switching to the 6" coil to separate all the signals out. I found the ring 45 minutes later. You need to be able to adapt to the location you are in.
10. I personally don't have a problem taking a reward from people. It bothers me when people tell me I should be doing it for free. I had my stock coil on the ctx go bad last year costing me $350.00 because I do so many calls. I drive 2 hours to the location. These calls take a lot of time from my family during the summer. I do what ever it takes to get the ring back. The people don't have any issues with the reward basis.
If you join and are having issues finding a ring, you can call me and I will try to give any advise I can.
