By Doc Rogers

The following article provides strategies that should help you retain your present clients, as well as attract more business even in these recessionary times.

In today’s economic climate, present and prospective clients are expecting more for their money when hiring protection. This means we must add more value and better service while doing our core bodyguard duties of keeping the client safe and secure at all times.

We need to be looking for ways to make the client’s life easier; providing them with anything they may want (legally) while doing our job with professional efficiency. As professionals we must pay attention to details, no matter how small.

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By Eliljah Shaw

Source: Circuit –The Magazine for Bodyguards

Let’s face it, in our industry the celebrity bodyguard doesn’t always get a lot of respect. Corporate Protective Agents lump them just above club bouncers on the evolutionary ladder, while our peers that handle personal security details in war zones, such as Iraq or Afghanistan look at us as glorified babysitters. Of course both of these stereotypes are just that, a collection of generalizations that may apply to some, but definitely not to all.

However, the Ten Thousand dollar question is, if you’re in the celebrity protection industry, does it describe you? If your sole qualifications for servicing your clients are, you weigh 300 pounds and you used to play football in college, chances are they might be right. As I look at it, the difference between being a bodyguard or a buddyguard comes down to training.

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By Doc Rogers

Professional bodyguards today should kick up their training a notch so they can continue to remain competitive and to represent excellent value for their money.

Yes, it takes money, to make money in the bodyguard business but the training you receive is your foundation. Look at the big picture, you should spend now and reap the benefits later. Think of your training as a continual process, set up a continuing bodyguard education program for yourself.

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By Doc Rogers

I am positive that if you follow the 10 commandments of executive protection they will have a profound impact on your career and positively contribute to a safe environment for your clients

10) Thou Shall Do the Job without Fail:

You should never fail in carrying out your executive protection activities, while keeping the trust and confidence the client has placed in you and your bodyguard abilities. Consistently produce positive results through thick and thin.

9) Thou Shall Never Allow Anger to Override Professional Judgment:

In the bodyguard business we should avoid open hostilities even when sleep deprived and under physical and mental stress from the job. Be tolerant with people you come into professional contact with. This does not include people who pose a threat to your client, of course, but should include hotel managers, event management personnel and restaurant managers, etc. Maintain your focus on the task at hand and try not to become angered. Keep a sense of diplomacy when dealing with problems. Using calm diplomacy is the best way for dispute resolution rather than anger or confrontation.  This will assist you in your ability to grow more cohesive with your operational environment and make things run smoother on the job and may also avoid bad media attention for your client.

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By Harlan (Hucky) Austin

Hiding behind a shroud of decency, claiming that their intentions are noble, Michael Jackson’s bodyguards are the latest to tell-all on their celebrity principals.  In an interview with Good Morning America three of Michael Jackson’s bodyguards spoke openly about his children, family routines, his parenting, and they even spoke about his sexuality in a veiled attempt to bring honor to the pop star’s tarnished reputation.

Showing little regard for the Jackson family’s reasonable expectation of privacy, these three bodyguards eagerly offered an inside glimpse into the private life of one of the world’s most public figures and the children he trusted them to protect.

The public veneer of any celebrity is an image they struggle to maintain while the camera rolls, but when they step into the closed quarters of their vehicles or their private residences it is, or at least should be, their opportunity to be themselves, whoever that “self” might be.

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