Drone to 1K Podcast by Drone Launch Academy

Preston owns Jensen Air in North Dakota, working primarily in a seasonal real estate David: “Why don’t you tell us a little bit about your business and what you do? Preston started his drone business on the side. He defined himself as different than other drone business owners because his customer base was already in place. His brother—a real estate broker for Remax—needed someone to do commercial drone footage. Preston did a little research, figured he could do it and “pulled the trigger” on studying to fly a drone. Preston’s first drone was a Mavic Air, and has since upgraded to a Mavic Zoom, which handles the wind in North Dakota much better. Preston has a YouTube channel and recently aired a video on the remote ID—a big topic for drone pilots these days. Preston understands needing to keep the sky safe but believes it's making the playing field uneven for a small drone operators. David: “When did you first get started in drones? Two years ago, he started strictly doing drone photography for real estate for his brother. Once he got his license, he thought he may as well turn it into a business. He created a Facebook page and website. He’s continued to put out content, and his business has been getting more attention: “You've got to put out a little free content so people can see what you're capable of. You have to differentiate yourself from the rest of the crowd. The more you spread your work around, the more people will find out about you and hire you.” Now, Preston has premiere customers, including a local university and a development company. However, when he first put together some footage, he had to figure out what video editing software to use, how to get videos to customers, etc. These things were big learning experiences. He began just taking video clips and photos and giving real estate agents raw footage to make their own videos, although he would still make sure the clips were very cinematic. He likes to see how creative people can get with his shots. David: “Up in your neck of the woods, what would you charge for a typical real estate shoot where you're doing photos and video clips without any editing?” Preston charges $200, which is about ½ hour of shooting but editing and color grading afterward is what takes all the time. He uses Canva, Photoshop and Lightroom as his main editing tools. If he’s doing just photos, he charges about $150, but if it's multiple photos or panoramas, he'll charge $200. For a single photo or refresh on a house, he’ll usually charge $50. If he has travel out to rural areas, he’ll also charge a travel fee. Lastly, before he sends his drone up to shoot, he scans the yard to make everything look nice, which realtors appreciate. David: “Do you stay pretty busy—especially in wintertime or freezing conditions, which are not ideal drone or real estate selling weather?” Preston says the busy season is spring to fall; most of the activities slow down in the wintertime because the cold weather is hard on the equipment, specifically the battery. Also, realtors have better luck selling with photos that have lush green grass and trees—not snow pictures. David: “Have you found real estate to be successful? Have you expanded into other areas or are you sticking with that niche for now?” Although Preston says he’s sticking with the niche of real estate because it’s given him so much business over the past couple of years, he’s still willing to expand. For example, he’s interested in mapping, because he’s always nervous about the accuracy of the drone mapping. He’s also been talking to a local radio station trying to get into radio tower inspections. However, right now, he says, he costs a lot of money for them. David: “During your busy season—and only on the real estate side—how busy do you get? How many jobs are you getting per month?” Sometimes he may be swamped and doing a drone job over his lunch hour, sometimes not. He’s always taking photos and putting content up on Instagram and Facebook. His town flooded a little bit this past fall and he took pictures and posted it to a “What's Happening?” page in Valley City. The last time he checked, the site had 19,000 views, so it was an easy way to get great exposure. Sometimes he gets random calls – like someone wanting to borrow a clip for a promotional video, which was free advertising. David: “You’re doing this on the side of your regular job. You said you work as an office manager during the day—how has that helped you on the business side of drones?” It has really helped him save money. He can't just buy the most expensive video editing software. He has to take that into consideration, especially if just doing it as a side gig. Drone insurance was also difficult to find around where he lives. He now pays monthly for Skywatch so when it's cold or nasty outside, he doesn't have to pay for insurance. He pays for extra coverage with DJI and has liability insurance through the company. He used Squarespace to build his website and p

Leo Adams is CEO/Co-Founder of SkyeLink, a professional drone service company with a drone marketplace and pilot network. David: “Tell us what kind of services SkyeLink provides for drone services and on the pilot network side?” The main services SkyeLink offers are aerial inspections, aerial mapping and aerial photography. They work in construction, solar, real estate, production and typography. Their pilot network allows them to scale and offer flexibility to clients nationwide. Their drone marketplace allows clients to connect with pilots, post jobs, and receive bids from within the pilot network. The network also streamlines the process of getting pilots deployed by offering compliance documentation, Part 107 certification, insurance certificates and drone registration. David: “Did it start off with the pilot network idea from the beginning? Were you offering services and then expanded more and more?” Leo bought his first Mavic drone in 2016, taking images and doing aerial photography, as a side hustle while still in a full-time corporate job. When he went to flying full time, the company began to do more aerial photography, as well as video production, real estate work and inspections. Leo believes that starting in roof inspections is the easiest route, especially with a Mavic or Phantom 4. From there, he began doing more infrastructure, energy solar inspections and mapping work. Working with pilots across the country opened the door to working with bigger clients. The goal was always to have a nationwide business. When he found his partner/CTO, who heads technical operations and software development, they spent all of 2018 bringing in clients and taking the business to the next level. “It’s been a slow but steady process. Every year I learn something new, I evolve a little bit and grow into a new area. It's been exciting journey since 2016.” David: “With the kind of pilot network you're building, are you still finding clients, then finding the pilots for those jobs? Are you at a point where you're getting referrals and have repeat clients or are you making an active effort to go out and pitch people?” SkyeLink is continuing to develop new business, create new opportunities for their pilots and close contracts. Existing clients come back to them for work. They’re always communicating with new prospects and trying to close new contracts that can bring more work to their pilots. Obviously, they want to win as much business as possible and keep their pilots as busy as they can. David: “While you were transitioning out of corporate work to a full-time drone business—which I feel like is like the dream for a lot of people—what was it like when you were first starting out and managing full time work AND side work?” In college Leo had run a couple of businesses so he knew that he eventually wanted to be a full-time entrepreneur. When he moved to Charlotte, Leo says, “I wanted to create something that would allow me freedom to do my own thing. I had that intention right from the start and worked at it. I took action on that goal by doing things that put me in a position to make the leap away from my full-time job. I might've done it a little too soon, but it gave me the energy and drive to make it work!” Leo spent a lot of time capturing B roll for videographers that didn't know about using drones yet. He tried to meet and collaborate with as many people as possible, always looking for how to bring them value. He made videos for small businesses, using his drone as a tool on many projects. He found that realtors, agents and brokers had low cost expectations and there were a lot of people looking to get into drones who were willing to offer low introductory discounts. As a result, it became apparent to him that the market was saturated. He knew he couldn't hang around there forever if I was going to make it work in the long term, so he began pursuing work in other sectors. David: “What did you do next? What kind of work did you look for in what kind of timeframe?” Leo did real estate videography and video production for the better part of a year still working at his full-time old job. It was when he started progressing out of it and joined some pilot networks that he started to have the idea to create a unique type of pilot network that would work with their pilots on what's fair for them while keeping it competitive for the client and having their margin. “I wanted to have a conscious capitalist mindset. There was a different way to do it that seemed better to me and I had to find a way to position myself differently.” When Leo was first getting started, he emailed potential leads, which, he says, was not the most sustainable. He found out that when he was able to have a face-to-face conversation with a potential client, they were much more willing to work with him—as opposed to drone pilots who were bombarding them via email or cold calling. Leo says, “Know who your ideal client is, then find out where they l

Mike Jensen, from Sacramento Drone, has been in business for almost 30 years doing wedding and event videos and corporate videography. Mike always offered unique services to clients, such as 8mm film, 360 VR panoramas and aerial shots of wedding venues. In the mid-90s, he did his first aerial by renting an airplane and continued to get aerial footage by renting helicopters. At $400/hr, it was very expensive, but he gathered a reusable library of about 30 to 40 of the most popular wedding venues in town and says, “Before the drone revolution, my competitors weren't offering that.” In 2006, I created and produced the world record wedding video event in Sacramento, setting a new world record of 100 cameras to professionally film a wedding. David: “So when did you get into flying a traditional kind of quad copter setup?" When drones started to become reliable in the early 2000s, Mike didn't feel comfortable flying them himself, so he found a drone pilot online that was flying a lot over water. Finally in 2014, Mike got his license and purchased his first drone—a DJI Phantom 2. I started flying it for events and later upgraded it to the Autel X-star then to the Mavic Pro. Today although he flies an Autel EVO, his favorite drone to fly is the Mavic 2 Pro Zoom. David: “Do you use drones right now mostly as a supplement to your film business or have you gotten into any drone services?” Mike had an advantage of having a videography company first. At some point, his videography clients also need drone services, which made it an easy sell. One of Mike’s biggest clients is a local major construction company. They've hired him to go out every week and do visual updates--flying for 1-2 hrs, shooting 3-4 one-minute videos, 20-40 stills and a top down shot. Mike stitches all those together in Photoshop and delivers a megapixel image of the entire property from 400 feet looking down. He saves them a lot of money by providing that documentation, their project manager meets with corporate every week and needs to show them progress. David: “For a construction job where you'll shoot once a week and these projects take months, what do you typically charge for a job like that?” Mike is hired to fly once a week for 30 weeks and charges them $300 a flight. That includes 1-1 1/2 hrs of flying, culling images, making sure his videos look good, uploading and then sending them the link. This is an ongoing client, often bringing him onto another project as they’re finishing one up. David: “Were you actively reaching out to those types of clients or did they find you? How did that work come about?” I shot for many years for a large West Coast healthcare provider. They were building a medical office building where Mike lives in Sacramento and the construction company brought him on for their own projects. One job led to another. Most of my business at this point in my career is word of mouth. David: “Looking back to when you were first starting, can you think of tactics that might work in today's environment? For example, if you were starting in the drone business, didn't have history with Jensen Films, and wanted a drone only business, what do you think you would do first to get it going?” Mike says he’s expanded his video company and doing a lot of different things—drones are just one of them. For example, when he started doing photo booths, he got on Facebook and let everybody know by creating and posting short videos. Similarly, for 360VR work, they just started shooting some footage unpaid, posted it and let his friends know. A photographer friend knew about a huge condo project that was going up and needed 360 video. “What really helped me was letting the world know what I was doing and doing it well. I needed to WOW the first client I got and then over-deliver on the promises I’d made. It’s also important to continue to up my game. I’m always looking for ways to increase my skills. If you start standing still, that's a prescription to fail.” David: “So tell me a little bit about the VR stuff. When did you guys start doing that...what's that like?” One night when he was editing late, Mike stumbled on the website of a 360 videographer who’d created gorgeous 360 images of the Royal Danish wedding. Mike realized he needed to do that with his brides, so he bought the equipment and started marketing it. Since then, he’s made custom rigs for his drones and included Live 360 and Ground 360 in virtual wedding movies for his brides. Clients can link to it on Vimeo or Facebook from their desktop, laptop or phones, or use goggles. David: “How much do you charge for VR video?” Mike began charging $750 for VR wedding video, but with every new VR video, he’s raised the price to $1,000, $1,250 or $1500. It’s an add-on to a basic package for the day. An exciting thing he’s been using is the new Insta 360-1R, which is two cameras that mount on the top and bottom of the Mavic 2Pro and can shoot stills or video without that dead spot on top (see link

Alex is drone photographer and videographer. He is also the author of two of our Drone Launch Academy courses—Aerial Video A to Z and Aerial Photo Pro. David: “Let’s start with you giving us your background.” Alex already had a videography service. When he’d show up to film a corporate event, he said, it nagged at him that he needed to get a drone and a license to fly it. “I could see how much it helped to diversify between camera work and photography,” he said, “it’s easier to sell and rates go up way, way more if I'm adding photography and drones to the package.” Alex’s first drone was a Phantom 3 standard which hooked him. Although at first like a toy, he came to realize it wasn’t as easy as it looked. Once Alex upgraded to the Mavic pro, he felt it really started to work for him. David: “You mentioned you’d worked in film in Hollywood—tell us about that.” Alex worked on short films and for ESPN, Discovery Health and HGTV, as a camera operator. When he moved back to Phoenix and began doing corporate work, he says that because standards were lower and the budgets higher, he felt more in control of the work. He had creative freedom and client appreciation. From learning so much so fast in LA, which was a sink or swim environment, Phoenix’s high-stress environment felt like a cake walk—which helped him stand out. David: “That’s probably about the time you and I met right? I stumbled across one of your YouTube videos when I was developing the Part 107 course. I took it, bought all the equipment that you had, filmed everything and asked if I could pay you to edit it.” “You were my only fan up to that point. I’d filmed a couple of times with someone else’s Inspire, but I didn't own a drone yet.” After purchasing Alex’s course for $20, David and Alex started making plans to create a cinematography course. Quite suddenly, Alex found out he had a brain tumor and had to have surgery. Six months later, Alex and David re-convened to begin creating the course. Alex began focusing for 30 minutes and would have to sleep 12 hours; a week later, he could do an hour, a week later he could do 1 ½ hrs, etc. They put out that one course, got great feedback and ultimately scrapped and re-did it. David: “Let’s talk a little about your actual drone business. During this time, you’re still editing and flying drones for people. You have experience doing a lot of drone photography for clients. How did you get your first corporate video clients? Alex says it was such a powerful upsell right away to say he could film corporate events from the sky. He knew better angles and how to change settings to make it way more cinematic and because of that, he stood out. A two-day conference cost $2,500 to provide an edited a 4-minute compilation and photos. Alex went to popular conference places in Scottsdale and Phoenix and would film a ton of footage in all those places. So, prospects were confident he knew about drone filming, so he got hired for that even if he didn’t get hired for a full event. He charged $200/hour, which Alex says was easy to do to scare off the value-focused people who want to pay $50/hour, then ask for more time and revisions. Alex says, “When dealing with bigger clients and companies, what they’re mainly concerned about is quality—they want to make sure they get it right and don't look silly in their video. Also, when you quote a higher rate, they think you must be really serious and legitimate.” David: “Did they ask to see a demo reel? How else did you justify charging that much?" Once Alex got his Maverick Pro, he got a huge reel together by going around town filming. He also knew about SEO because he ranked number one in his city by making multiple smaller videos that were specific to what people were searching for. And, Alex says, “When they then go to hire a guy to film there, I'm the one with my name in the title, so they're immediately going to click on it. That simple step, and I’m already halfway there.” David: “So your marketing strategy, was to go out, have fun, shoot as much stuff as you can, make it really good and put it on YouTube/Instagram? Or did you knock door to door asking people to pay you to film video? What are your recommendations to a new businessperson about how to start marketing?” Alex says when he started filming different parts of the city and putting it on Vimeo and YouTube, some got used, some didn't. He’d filmed Scottsdale in a lot of different conditions—the waterfront, a thunderhead, during a sunset, sunrise or rainbow, which made him stand out. When he started compiling them, the reel just got better and better. Alex says, “That footage doesn't have many views, yet I’ve been contacted by people who were going to hire a drone operator, but since I already had the footage, they wanted to buy it. It's EASY for them to pay you $150-300 because you have exactly what they want. Sometimes, also, they need help with other things.” Another thing he became aware of was that people who are mov

Dustin’s company is Full Scope Inspections, a home inspection company in Citrus, FL specializing in roofs made of metal, tile, slate (or anything that shouldn’t be walked on or is too steep or elevated.) David: “When did you first start getting into drones and when did you fly your first drone?” Dustin was using drone before starting his drone business. He noticed people weren’t using drones for inspections and his residential construction background told him there could be a big market—it just all made sense. Dustin says that when paying for a home inspection, the roof is a key component—but you don’t have to walk on it. With a drone, Dustin found he could see deficiencies another inspector wouldn’t because they're not getting a full view. Dustin’s clients call him because they know it’s important that their roof be inspected closely. Dustin says the drone is a differentiator, but he doesn’t charge more for it. By using it when necessary, he can take pictures around things that may typically be blocking a view. He also uses the drone also to sell his services through his report. David: “For the homes that you do use a drone for, what’s the approximate revenue the drone has brought you—in busy and slow months?” For a typical home inspection, Dustin may charge $300-$400, but it depends on the square footage. He does 4-8 inspections/week. Dustin also does some imaging for realtors, charging $75 to shoot 10-12 photos. He also does a lot of promotion through that group. For example, he raffled 10 to 12 drone shots—a $75 value as a gift basket entry at a tailgate party he had for realtors. Nice pictures potentially make or break a deal, Dustin says, and good camera shots sell property. According to Dustin, “I'm building a business that's going to be here long-term and the first couple of years are definitely crucial. I'm getting really good feedback, some really good reviews. It’s pretty exciting.” David: “Talk us through when you first started your inspection business, and no one knew who you were. How did you start building the business?” Dustin had a vision that was different than most... he says he could see everything before he ever put it into place. “In this business, the only way it would fail was if I let it. There are enough opportunities and so many different outlets that if you put yourself in the right places, then the only person that's gonna allow you to fail is yourself.” He looked up a local home inspector whose online setup was blah and then he built everything around the image of what he lacked. Through reviews requests from customers, and a small amount of Google Ads, he is driven to the top of a Google search. He also uses a software called HomeGage to send tips once he finishes a report. Three days later, HomeGage sends an auto-generated email asking them to leave a review. Two months later, another email is auto-generated asking for referrals. David: “Did your first customer come through networking or did someone stumble across your stuff? How did you get that first client?” Dustin’s hit the ground running. His first client came from Google. From there, he started meeting with different realtors and the Realtors Association. He also joined a networking group which has helped him tremendously. “It all boils down to you building relationships with realtors. Get your name out there. If you can be on a realtor's top three list, it will pay off.” Dustin was building all of this while working and studying for the test. He knew how many jobs he should expect to do, how many he needed to do survive each week/month. He said, “If I commit to it and set my mind to it, this is what's going to happen. A lot of people have one little setback or somebody tells them No, and they say, ‘Maybe I shouldn't do this’. Second-guessing yourself is common. That's what you do. If I didn't pass the exam, I was going to take it again. I wrote it down and I could see it all the way through.” David: “What's your favorite part of having your own business/working for yourself? What's your favorite part and what's the part you like the least?” Dustin’s favorite part is having time for his kids and their sports—he likes the flexibility and freedom. Dustin says he has a hard time letting go, he can’t let someone do things so that he can focus on the business. Because customers tell him the reason they booked an inspection was because they felt comfortable with his knowledge, he has a hard time turning that over to somebody else...it's a strain. However, Dustin says, “I’m not going to grow if I'm doing the same things I did last year.” David: “For someone who's starting out from scratch and wants to build a drone business, what's one of the most important lessons you've learned? What’s your advice? Dustin says having a vision and a plan of how to pursue that vision. “We live in the land of the free, the United States, and you can do whatever you want to do right here. You just have to put your mind to it, go out to the right

Sinuhe is Founder of DroneQuote a company that specializes in helping roofing and solar companies better understand what’s happening on a roof through drone survey imagery. Sinuhe started working installing solar panels on new roofs for residential and commercial purposes. He had to get on roofs to take measurements and conduct surveys and was afraid of heights. In thinking there had to be a better way, he bought a small drone with a camera and started seeing potential and benefits such as being able to: Take far more accurate measurements and SELL better Get a better understanding of what was happening on the roof AND save time Pay more attention to details because fear of falling didn’t prevent him from noticing details Stay SAFER! “My first $100 drone was very rudimentary; it taught me how to fly a drone and allowed me to open my mind to the concept of utilizing a drone. There was an opportunity and I learned from it.” When Sinuhe learned he could transmit an image to a receiver, he needed something more sophisticated, so, in February 2014, he sold his motorcycle to buy a real TBS (Team Black Sheep) drone for $3,400. That first drone lasted until the day he crashed into a pine tree, falling 30 feet to the ground and smashing it into smithereens. Lesson learned for anyone just starting to get into drones...don't overestimate your confidence because you will pay through the nose!” David: So, at that point, you're working for a solar installer and using the drone to make your life easier in your current job, right? Yes. The drone, Sinuhe says, enabled him to generate more sales, which made him more sales commission by using it—it paid for itself—but his company wasn’t paying for him to have it. “I realized that I had something on my hands that nobody was using for that purpose. I was also speaking with well-to-do clientele. When I entered a house whose living room was the size of my entire house, I shifted from trying to sell solar to learning what that person did to be successful.” Almost everyone said they became successful by starting a business. The seed was planted and Sinuhe started saving money to start a business. It took him two years to get his ducks in a row and leave his company to set out on his own. David: “Smart. When did you shift from working for the solar company to starting your own business? What was your plan? How did you get your first paying client?” Sinuhe started his business in 2017. For him, it’s not until you open your doors for business that you find out what’s going to work. You Droners.io was his original model. He said, “I'm going to build a website that's going to help people find drone pilots, yet I kept getting calls from people in the solar industry asking me to inspect a roof. So I shifted my focus to inspecting roofs wholeheartedly—and that was really where we started making money. “So you figure out what's working, what's not, where your opportunity is, and then shift your focus that way. With this model, I was getting paid right away for the service.” David: “How did you build that up to where people knew who you were? Did you have a lot of contacts from your days selling solar? I know you’re brave with cold-calling—for people out there who may not be as comfortable cold calling, can you walk us through a mock cold call? How do you get past the first minute of awkwardness where the other person is trying to figure out what you want?” Sinuhe makes it a point to be active on social media where he found solar companies and large roof installers. He cold called... and cold called... and cold called—which turned into opportunities. Sinuhe says,” “A lot of people see cold-calling as intimidating, but It's in your head. It’s the person's job to answer the phone and it’s only awkward if you make it so. You avoid that by doing research on who you're going to call before you call them. If you get the right information, you have a WARM call.” SInuhe mentions his most important cold-call points: Ask if they have a moment for you to offer to help them with something. Mention something you saw on LinkedIn. Reference a person and use their language, so they know you understand their company and pain points. You’ll earn their interest based on your ability to understand some of their pain points. With the person who answered the phone, make it sound as though you've already talked to the person you’re trying to reach in the past. When you get to the person you want, mention a topic they posted and offer the opportunity to help with something specific; in this way, you’re not talking about something they haven't thought about or planned for. Use open ended questions, such as “What is something that troubles you? What challenges do you face on steep roofs?. LET THEM TALK! In due time, offer a solution, such as, “I can survey your roof in a much quicker manner and more than likely at a lower cost to your company.” Even if you don’t understand the industry. If you’ve done your research,

Introduction to Andrew: Although Andrew started flying drones 5 years ago, about a year ago, he decided to build a business to make some extra money. Andrew says, “Aerial photography isn’t so big in winter so I didn’t start to get business the summer. But this winter, I’ve lined up clients through spring of next year.” By the way, Andrew is a senior in high school. Andrew bought his first drone for $50 when he was 13. He then got a Parrot Bebop2 which he loved but wasn’t pleased with the pictures. He later bought, and still uses, a Maverick2 Pro.” David agreed “Cheaper drones can get you interested and lead to more. My first drone was a Syma X5C so when someone wants my advice on their first drone, I say, ‘Get a Syma X5Cs on Amazon for $40. They're super light and when you need to land, you just cut the power and it flows to the ground’.” David: “What was it that sparked you to say, ‘I need to make some money doing this’? Did you target realtors when you started? Tell us about your original business plan starting out.” When Andrew could get his Part 107 license at 16, he got a nicer drone for taking pictures and videos. He thought, “Why not get a license, work and bring in some extra money to travel and save for college?” Andrew agreed to take pictures for a golf course in return for them putting it on their social media and tagging him. The job was unpaid, but got him clients and followers—basically, they advertised for him. Last summer, the most impactful thing he did was message a drone company in Chicago to ask for advice about getting clients. They told him to find a local real estate photographer and offer aerial photography to them. So that’s what he did. David: “Are you just doing photography or are you doing video too? Do you charge separately for videos? Do you also edit?” Andrew says he takes as many pictures or videos as he can in 30-45’ to give clients a lot to choose from. If he has to fly from one spot to another, that’s a video. He does some editing but outsources most of it to a company in Vietnam for a very affordable price. For pictures with some videos and no editing he charges $100, slightly more for editing and/or any location farther than 30’ from home. David: “Regarding your approach to the golf course, did you say, ‘I'm going to get my name out there’, and then Googled ‘golf courses in my area’ and contacted them? How did you specifically start to make that happen?” While flying one day, Andrew took pictures of a golf course across the road from his school which he posted to IG and tagged. When they responded that they loved his pictures through Instagram, he requested a contact. He sent them an EM saying, “I'm starting this company, I'm insured and licensed. Can I come to your golf course and take pictures for your social media?” They agreed, so Andrew took and edited pictures and sent them over (They still post his pictures). Since then, Andrew’s process has become simple...he finds contact information online and reaches out. At this point, though, he has a whole portfolio so he’s not offering his services for free. David: “Tell us more about the paying clients that you got from free work. Were they members of the golf course or people from the neighborhood who saw it on social media and reached out?” Andrew got two clients from the first golf course who were from the neighborhood. At first, they followed the golf course on IG. Then, they followed Andrew, reaching out to him later through there. They wanted pictures of the golf course for their home; he charged them $125 for 4x2 & 5x7 pictures. With printing costing $30, he made $95 from each job. David: “So after getting paying clients from the golf course, how did you expand into real estate? Did you try and fail and then reach out to that company in Chicago or is that the first thing you did? Walk us through when you started shifting to real estate.” Andrew replied, “The first real estate job I had was in July before I reached out to that company in Chicago. I brought business cards to my school’s career day, and went up to a broker from a large commercial real estate firm who spoke and said, ‘I just started doing aerial photography for real estate. Here's my card.’ He said thank you—nothing more. In July he reached out to ask me to do a 500-acre farm. I was so excited because I thought they would give me more work if I did good.” The work took four hours and he charged $585: $400 for the time, $185 for editing and a 5-minute video (at that point, he had no idea what to charge so he made it up). Now, Andrew gets one $200-$500 real estate job per month. During busy months, Andrew averages 5-10 jobs a week, which is $2000 to $4,000 a month. During slow months, he often has 2 jobs a week, making $1,200 a month. David: “How much detail do you add to videos...Music? Narration? Overlay text?” He uses Litchi to map out his flight 10 minutes beforehand and then creates automated flight video going around the property for 40 minutes

Martin hosts The FlyLife Podcast for FPV-based podcast for UAV drone people. It’s also a long format—bi-weekly episodes are between 1-2 hrs and he now has over 50 episodes. He’s also done very niche-specific commercial drone work. He got into drones in 2015 because, after a break up, he was habitless and wandering Best Buy and found a small $60 drone, which flew into a house and broke. He then went online and found an FPV (First Person) drone and started flying on his own. He fell in love because it was creative and technical. So he decided to search CraigsList for drone jobs...and found one quite near his house. He didn’t get the job but was able to intern and learn when he wasn’t working at his restaurant. In late 2017 the place where he interned asked him to come back and build a drone. He found a lot of other contract jobs to do UAV work while still working at the restaurant. Then the restaurant sold and he had a bit of money and time to travel the country and meet people. The last thing to happen—in April 2019—was a lucrative opportunity to do FPV drone work that he was offered because he was very comfortable flying close to the ground. He also simultaneously got an offer to film an Olympic skier with an FPV drone. Martin also works with a magnetometer—a device that can detect metal with a GPS. It picks up anything emitting electromagnetic radiation and it will give you a color-coded map of anomalies in the ground. He is hired by companies looking to understand what’s on their land that they may possibly sell rights for. For those types of jobs, Martin was making $250/day plus expenses, or $2,000/week. Martin says real estate can be a tough market and it’s not his passion. What he DOES love is the FPV cinematic work, which is really fun and pays better than magnetometer work. Martin is on all social media: YouTube is flylifeco; Instagram and Facebook are flylife_co. Martin says he’s gotten most of his clients from social media. His camera is nothing special but wants to upgrade soon. He films everything on GoPro Hero 6 or 7. He also uses Reel Steady as a post-filming production software. He says the footage isn’t shaky but it shouldn’t look like an action cam. He uses 7 for hyper-smooth because it runs a different firmware. So if you want to run steady with it, you have to use a gel-mount. The 6 has a lesser firmware on its gyro which takes less time to process. His typical FPV shoot is action sports filming because he can be going 60 mph and then stop. He chases active work and also tight interior spots. The least amount he’s charged for a day of filming was $600 per day. The most he’s charged was $2,500 for two full days of filming. He says he’s charging for something that’s close and can be dangerous but he can get in tight for action. Martin did have contacts from building relationships with his internship in the FPV world. If he were starting up and needed clients, Martin says he wouldn’t do anything different but maybe would put more effort into certain areas. His basic advice is: “You can’t have a chimp on your shoulder and think about what you’re going to get out of something. Do some things for free—everyone has a friend who needs pictures. Great content producers have taken a lot of flights. Say Yes—you’ll learn a lesson or something new.” Getting some photography and going home to realize you made a mistake is something everyone does...but you don’t have to do it twice. Martin is always ready to tell people what he does and much of the work that he’s gotten has been from random meetings or when he just puts himself out there. “The little things really matter—pay attention and be passionate.” Martin favors Instagram to showcase his work, he believes it’s the place with the least opinion. You get a one-minute post to grab someone’s attention, which is not stressful. Adding hashtags makes it really consistent and easy for people to notice you. His biggest challenge was breaking into it. Growing things on the Internet to get to the first paid job can seem long but it adds confidence. He is selling himself so he has had to be capable. Everything is a learning process. Drones now are what cars were in 1918 and the industry is still being built. Regulations will change and things are evolving; but the sky’s the limit. Connect with Martin Instagram: www.instagram.com YouTube: www.YouTube.com Facebook www.facebook.com Have a Drone Business? Want to be Interviewed for Season 2? Complete this questionnaire: Drone to 1K Business Owner Application Training from Drone Launch Academy Part 107 Exam Prep Course ($50 off) Aerial Video A to Z Course (20% off) Other Places to Listen iTunes Stitcher Google Play Spotify TuneIn

Dominic is a Tacoma, WA-based real estate photographer. He was in the Air Force for years which is where he first picked up a camera. He loved it so once he got out, he got his own camera and thought he’d do journalistic photography. After recent elections, he decied he couldn’t do politics so he got a job with a car company doing their photography. He ended up bored. Then, although he’d thought doing real estate would be boring, this is now his full-time job. Dominic is happy to report that every day during the busy season, he has plenty of work to do. He knew that with photography making money was going to be on the videography or real estate side. Drones were up and coming when he started in 2013, so he focused more on photography. In 2015 he found a random ad on FB asking for a real estate photographer. He went through training and the company that hired him—Cascade Pro Media—got him a drone. They have been a great alliance because they are consistently very booked and even often have to turn away work. He also has his own clients that he’s gotten from word-of-mouth, from being at the top of the SEO list for Tacoma, WA and via Instagram. He says it’s the best way to reach potential clients because agents browse Instagram when they’re sitting at an open house. Dom’s business is currently 50% what Cascade gives him and 50% what he has grown. He also now does several things—photography, videography, 3D tours and drone work. The drone has become more popular, having been added to 35 of the last 50 shoots. Dominic does work in Tacoma but also goes west towards Gig Harbor, east towards Mt Rainier and out to Puget Sound, where properties have a five-acre minimum. The drone goes up to 300 feet and gives you so much more so with real estate photography, Dominic is making more money than he did with all his photography jobs in the past five years. When Dominic got his license, the first drone he flew was the Phantom4 before he backed it into a tree (it can still fly but needs repair). He also used the Drone Launch Academy Part 107 prep course; he says he tells everyone about the quick and convenient set up, which is a great reminder of the military testing and also easy to get through. His second drone was a MavicPro, which fit perfectly in his bag so he could carry just the bag. Less than a week after, the MavicPro2 came out so he bought that. The MavicPro2 is now his go-to drone; the image and color quality make his images great. Dominic feels that knowing photography before he got a drone has helped his business grow. Dominic also says he grew up playing X-Box so the controls were easy (unless there was a tree behind him). Right now, his method for finding clients is through SEO, word of mouth but also: “Business Instagram is the best—I can specifically and strategically use hashtags. People often just need extra people when who they often use is booked up.” He is not actively going to real estate offices or networking. He says anyone can go to offices, but the agents can’t see your stuff and they just shove your card under a table. David asked if Dominic ever tried to offer to shoot something for free. Dominic says he didn’t need to do that. Just from the gig with Cascade ProMedia, the first two months, he made over $7000/month. He pays them a percent of what he makes. But for what he gives them, they give him ten times that in the work they give him. At first, he had to pay a 30% fee, but after he became a drone photographer, that fee decreased to 20%. With this strategic affiliation, Dominic hasn’t had the discouraging feeling of having to find his own work. They also handle technical issues and his billing. Regarding what he’s charging in the Tacoma area, he mimicked the price sheet of the lead photographer. In Tacoma, his prices seem high, but when he goes north toward Seattle, because real estate is more expensive, they think he’s a deal. He charges $225 for photos and video; $150 for photos (interior and exterior), with a total flight time of 10-15 minutes. His full package of 25 photos (he charges by photo, rather than time) for a 3000 ft2 house is $275. Video is another $350. The drone (photo and video combination) is extra $225. Once the 3D tour (with Matterport) is added, there is a total fee of $1000 per house. He doesn’t scale for size of house; he does factor in time because a large house takes more time to take photos and to process them. His clients understand he’s standard, transparent and fair. During his busy times, he’s said his standard average monthly income during the busy summer season is $6-7 on the low end, up to $12K on the high end. Dominic has said that he’s sticking with real estate, not diversifying right now. He says trying to build relationships with construction for roofing needs to be done in the Winter season. Mastering and crushing his niche has allowed him to build a network and become a go-to person. He would like to add some more drone mapping outdoors on bigger properti

Bill is a Certified Drone Pilot and co-owner (with his wife, Laura) of Billy Productions, capturing the beauty of a home’s property and location, providing real estate agents, clients, and developers a more robust appreciation for each home’s unique character. Bill is located in ChicagoLand area, Naperville, IL. His main focus for past 20 years has been financing mortgages. The last year has been a bit more difficult in terms of compliance for the bank he works for. He needed to pick up something that would be an offshoot of that business. He picked up drones and started shooting as a hobby. After a small bit, the agents he worked with asked him to shoot a house. After a while, it was taking a lot of time from his other business. Once he got his license, that business has taken off with shoots for agents. People had seen his drone shoots and because of the synergy of the drone shoots with his previous line of work, it’s been easy to do. Bill says if you’re looking for a business, don’t go too far off, or outside of, your knowledge base, from your current knowledge base or business. David agrees that drones are a tool that is only as good as the business you’re already familiar with. It’s best have a warm audience instead of starting from scratch. Bill has always been intrigued by photography and the technology of drones makes it more attractive—they sky is the limit. Other people are interested too; people area always coming up and asking how they work. It’s an easy in to offer so many ways to shoot something. And the topic of drones is always spurning new ideas from other people. He, though, has tried to keep his focus in the real estate business. To be successful you have to develop a specialty and build out your niche. There is a nice learning curve to be leveraged when you’re out there shooting. Six to eight months ago, a developer contacted him to shoot several lots. Bill then had to create new pricing for him because he didn’t understand how drone shooting worked. Bill also had to learn how to price a new account with several lots, instead of houses. Also, if a developer isn’t aware of the issues with his property, he could end up owing the town, or being sued, so it’s worth it to them to pay for the drone shooting. It’s like an insurance policy for them. There’s evidence so there’s no argument of the value. As a way to pan out a new niche in travel, Bill shot his nephew’s wedding, but that didn’t work out as well so he’s continued to stay with real estate. He’s also hired someone to edit. Bill says a key to success is to understand that time is money and you should find others to perform services, like editing, that are time-consuming. Editing and posting to social media is one of those things. For real estate, Bill charges $250 for video; photos are $125, shooting stills is 30-40 minutes. He may charge for a travel fee so he tries to stay within a local area. Bill is always thinking of those people who can bring clients into his other business. In terms of business, winter is always slow, but things really pick up in spring. He charged $750 for an interior/exterior shoot for a $2.5M home in Springfield. “Build a signature; Create a Brand” Bill values his connections. He’s formed one of his most important agent relationships through people he knew. He admired the photography work of one agent and that photographer didn’t work with a drone pilot. He offered to promote her business and now they work well together, helping each other grow their business(es). He learned you have to be able to turn around work quick and, ideally, make it work for you and another person. Bill’s advice for someone who may want to break into real estate drone business is: “You have to like working with the drone and learning about drone technology. Don’t be afraid of giving a free shoot or two to someone who would like what you do and be able to use you. Give to get but be authentic.” The most difficult part of starting his business is learning video and photography settings. You have to make things short and sweet. You don’t always know what will look good from out in the field. Find the settings that will work to produce the best results. If Bill were starting over, he doesn’t know what he’d do differently. He says it’s fun learning, and he’s still learning. But finding out what his biggest distraction is and staying away from that has been the thing to do. He says that distractions can keep him from his end goal. He’s gone into a few other areas and has had to learn how to stay focused. His advice is: “Always have fun ... don’t be too hard on yourself with the learning. As you’re developing your skill, share with others, because they will see your enthusiasm.” Connect with Bill Website: www.billyproductions.com Instagram: www.instagram.com Facebook: www.facebook.com Vimeo: www.vimeo.com Email: [email protected] Have a Drone Business? Want to be Interviewed for Season 2? Complete this questionnaire: Drone to 1K Bus

Tom is President of Swampfox Aerial, which provides professional aerial imaging & mapping for construction and real estate development companies. Tom got into the business almost by accident. He’d run an investment fund and did some investment banking. During that time, he represented a drone company that was being bought by an engineering company and he fell in love with drones. He propositioned becoming part of the company but they didn’t want the infrastructure, so Tom told them he might become a competitor. He’d found out what drones could do—how they are changing how things are done in so many businesses. He also figured the drone industry was a good idea because it was changing rapidly so he got a couple of partners, founded a company and started a business. He says they jumped into survey grade lidar (certified surveys) which made it like graduating from college and jumping into brain surgery. Tom went straight to mapping with lidar as a niche. They had to raise capital to buy a Riegl miniVux, which goes for over $260K. Tom finds this drone fascinating—it shoots thousands of laser beams per second and registers and returns at the speed of light. You can capture returns right to the ground through the trees, making surveying in an afternoon with data back within a week. The business itself has grown, he now has a partner processor, a head of business development, a head of operations and two pilots. They also have a network of pilots for outsourcing. How does Tom use Lidar or why do people hire him to do Lidar? Surveyors may feel Tom is doing his/her work, but Tom says he actually cuts that surveyor’s costs. For example, with a difficult job, he can use Lidar to get topographical data much more quickly. It’s really rich data, carpeting the ground. Surveyors can use it to create 3D point data in a survey program and then do topographical maps. They can also screen through the trees. So they do the work for the surveyor’s programs and save them time. For landowners, for example, their drone can get 4-6 points of accuracy for a prospective buyer. This information can be gotten fairly quickly without paying for a survey. Developers and builders can find something later that makes their project more difficult, so Tom helps them avoid problems. Tom works with surveyors and builders alike—builders see the immediate economic benefit, surveyors may be not as receptive as quickly. Tom’s partner also has a lot of ties into the real estate industry, which gives them easier entry into that business. So Tom’s advice is to have ties but also, to get business, since drones are really just a way of getting a camera or sensor into a way that it hadn’t before, he says that business owners need to focus on what they will provide. Through experience, he says SwampFox has defined the best business model for them. They are also trying to get themselves into easier and regular jobs to offset the Lidar jobs. “Make sure you keep your drones in the air; the lower-end applications are a more predictable revenue stream. Focus on the product.” How Lidar jobs are typically priced depends on the accuracy and the processing. For example, flat land is less complex and less costly. If they have to do a tree survey, they price it by the day, as well as how much processing they’ll put into it. They’ve had jobs for $20,000/day or less than $10,000/day and the much of that goes to the processor. Questions to consider for pricing are: Who puts out boundaries? Who does process control? Are diagrams necessary? Tom says the irony is that the jobs they’ve charged the most, they’ve made the least amount of money. David says it’s good for people to understand what the investment Tom made nets him in general; for Tom, this is still part of his learning curve. The biggest or least expected challenge for Tom was finding the right partners. Because the industry is new and fragmented, there’s no one out there with brand recognition. Tom says he works a lot with competitors. It makes things fun but if you have a bad partner, there is a lot of strife and loss of money. Tom says anyone you partner with should be vetted and will do what they say they will do. Tom does not fly drones—they scare him. But he does go out on site to make sure he can see what’s happening. He wants to be able to explain things to customers. He’s been trained how to fly but he is not overly comfortable doing it. As President, he feels lucky that he has a great CEO because everything he’s doing is being done for the first time—insurance, taxes, agreements, etc. Tom says he has some big contracts they are competing for and may need subcontractors with specific experience. When they do big jobs, they have to recruits pilots from networks (see their Instagram page below for an application). Tom’s advice: “Find your niche and where you want to be and figure out your business around that. It’s easy to get caught up chasing different ideas and to lose focus. Balance interplay betwee

Robert is Founder & CEO of Aerial Look, a service & technology company changing the way people experience real estate utilizing drone, 3D and VR technologies. Aerial Look has been in business for five years; they got into drone business early in game. They were developing hardware and software until he realized that, from having been in the real estate business, it would be a good tool for that industry. From 1-2 real estate videos per day, they quickly began being asked to do 5-10 per day. Keeping customers happy was taking time away from research and development on the drones so they had to pivot. They soon realized that the drone could be used to for content creation. Robert wants to be in the place in the market that he is the best product for the most competitive price. In real estate, no one wants to pay fees, so they had to change the way people experienced real estate. A drone operator needed to be able to do a drone video in under one hour. They went from drone exterior video to interior video. They took some high-priced US properties to get business in China. They now work with different builders and developers across the globe. When in manufacturing and research, he had a genius CEO who made a lot happen. They thought of many different applications and each application had to be scalable. They knew a rotor on the drone would help them go further. Another drone had a scanner that could be used for security certificates. They decided a few of these applications could be used for agriculture. This could be used to analyze the field in terms of watering, planting, etc. They then came up with a drone that could also go to disaster areas. All these areas were popular, but they were also expensive. They kept trying to find new ways to use the drone. As they got into drone services vs. drone research, they began focusing on real estate. As they became more involved in the industry, they saw themselves as not just a drone company, but a content creation, media or marketing company. The drone business is really a service business. “If you can build a service, then you build a market. If you start the service first, you don’t have to spend as much money to get the business because you offer a valuable service. With that, you build market share. With market share, you control things.” Robert implies that as soon as you take out a drone, people are interested, they want to know what you’re doing...that means you are constantly in front of a client base. Robert says he had to utilize the market to build the business. By building partnerships, he built his name. He utilized the drone to build a market of new services for realtors. He then saw a market to do business with builders and now he rarely takes out a drone, yet it all came from the drone. Basically, he used the dron to get market share and then used marketing to get revenue streams outside the basic drone industry. Robert believes you must hustle but you don’t have to try so hard—if you have business skills, you are ahead of the game. If you see development, you shoot with the drone, you go home, do video and send it to the developer. You have to be creative. His business now has in-house deployment and they subcontract. They have added drone deploy and 3D services. They can also take on work anywhere in the world, because their drone operator network is large and they have exclusive rates. In his opinion, it’s a waste of time to go to a realtor, and ask what they need, he says he tells them what they need. Robert’s company also works on minimum deals and gets paid by a firm...sometimes on retainer. Robert says that even if you think what you charge is expensive, the truth is the firm is paying more than that in marketing—you just have to convince them that you can do it cheaper and provide more value. What Robert says works for him is that he finds the value of the service, then break it down to a per listing rate. From there, it’s easy to decide what to pay a subcontractor, he pays them more and then he has an ongoing valuable and stable relationship...what everyone wants. Robert has set up his company to get paid from conception, i.e. when a developer is buying land. He gets a pilot to fly a drone over the land and sends them video, which almost always turns into a deal. Then before models come in, they do CGI animation, virtual reality sales centers, etc. At the end the drone comes in for a final fly over of the community. In between, everything is being done on computer. They do 3D tours, neighborhood profiles, etc. and he uses all of this to help the client market the home, community, neighborhood, etc. “If you’re going to shot video and hand off to client, you will not stay relevant and you will not scale up because not everyone knows what to do with it.” He started the drone company because he didn’t want to rely on other people. He knew he could do much better by putting the controls in his own hands. As a pilot, he would go into meeti

David is a pilot with Robotic Air Services, a startup in Southern California that focuses on the construction industry—providing drone services using a subcontractor business model that, David says, works. Let him tell you how and why... Two yrs ago, David was working in construction with architecture background. Drones came on the scene and he saw need in as-builts and during construction needs. He became excited and started to put some interest into drones. Are they effective? Can they deliver? Could he create a profitable company? The following year, he built up the company which went full-time in June 2018 and David never looked back. It DID take his own initial investment (he took Drone Launch’s Part107), and he is now profitable. He goes to network events to educate people on what can be done with drones. It works—with a LOT of legwork. David says if you’re going to get into an industry, you need to know how to approach a niche market. For example, architecture is narrow, and marketing takes a lot of thought. He advises that you laser-focus on that. When he tells people he’s a drone pilot, people ask if he works for the army. He responds that he flies a “friendly” drone and is in construction. When he explains further, he says they are amazed. Everyone he talks to leads to something or someone else. When he started out, he had his equipment ready and his business ready. He had a LONG conversation with his CPA. David says—for him—he needed to cut the cord as an employee. If not, he would never have bitten the bullet. He DOES say, “Don’t do what I did, don’t jump off the board unless you know how to swim!” He says what he has going on right now works 75%; he has other plans for the rest of his success plan—risks never go away. Start-Up Equipment His initial equipment was a MavicPro. He jumped in understanding what he wanted to achieve with mapping and point clouds and that was the best drone at that time. He flew his drone for months before committing to the business. He did a lot of investigation by flying a few hundred hours over a few months. He did mapping, flying with intention of creating a point cloud, which is when you fly drone over a site in a grid pattern. He knew targeting a 3D model was going to be the goal. He had to be able to crunch data or deliver a CAD drawing. He says he got great training from Drone Launch Academy, especially as pertains to understanding the weather to fly the best pattern. The orthomosaic map is only the first level. What’s Happening Now? David wants to get into mining and civil construction. He is educating his current clients that the imagery is not just a flat map, but how they can use more of the data. Mapping usually hands off to general contractor. In one of his client’s cases, a general contractor questioned the civil engineer, so he hired David to fly a drone and map the site. He found out that, in some cases, the measurements were off by almost 3 feet. With the drone imagery the measurements are nailed more accurately. He sees this type of work as great opportunity because every time you are called in to work, you can educate people as to how much the drone can help them. “Education is the biggest thing in the drone business” Where Are The Clients? Getting clients is about talking to people and also about how and where to find business. David had to understand what he wanted to accomplish and the niche market, for him—architecture, engineering and construction. You don’t just buy a drone and get business. You have to put work and effort into it. He said you have to learn everything about an industry to talk to people on their level. If you are going into cinematography, he hopes you know how to take great pictures. It’s not putting the drone into the air that’s the hard part, it’s about knowledge about how to make it work as a business. David thinks through everything before the flight. It’s already been set up and checked so when the flight comes, it’s just the push of a button. First Projects & Growth Since going full-time, company started to make money positively in December, passing investment level in January. It only took two months for investment to be re-couped. He doesn’t want to put out numbers because in Southern CA, it’s expensive to live and work. He does say that his first bit of work was done pro-bono, but with organizations that matter. He worked with an organization that preserves portions of land. He asked about the quality of their map imagery. He offered to fly and provide imagery because they are a volunteer association. He says he wanted to begin by giving back FIRST before he focused on developing clients and his own business. That got his name out there and also allowed him to practice in the real world, delivering real world work to real world people. When he delivered, he asked who they knew that he could talk to. Doing that work gave him a portfolio of real work. David’s favorite part of having his own business is being his ow

Bill is a UAS Solutions Director, Professional Drone Pilot and Owner/President of Eagle Eyes UAS About Bill Bill says he’s always been kind of a techno nerd. While working a project in Florida several years ago, he came across a professional pilot who was someone he perceived as worth knowing. “I kept his information and then when I moved over to the area where he lives, I looked him up and I said, 'Hey, what are you doing?' He told me he was in the drone industry. As someone who believes in going after technology when it first comes out (even though not perfected) drones had already caught my attention.” Bill’s contact then started sharing ideas of what he was doing. With a background in sales and marketing, Bill saw an opportunity to be in the beginning of an industry which, if done right, he could really do well with it. So Bill started working with his connection for about a year, not making a lot of money but learning from his business skills, about drones and orthomosaic imagery. He then took the Part 107 and did very well. Starting A Business What happened next was ironic. Bill had branched out on his own doing inspection work of the damage after Hurricane Irma. Bill felt himself an apprentice of drone work during this time. He learned about a variety of different equipment and he learned just by flying drones. “The learning experience was mostly good...a few bad. There's never a dull moment. To me, flying a drone is somewhere between super exciting and terrifying.” At that point, Bill’s inspection work wasn’t for insurance companies, because insurance companies, like many industries, know that drones exist, but they don't know how they can benefit them. Bill said it took time for people to embrace and understand drones. According to Bill “Your job is going to be more on educating than flying a drone. You need to become a master educator and someone who can explain whatever industry vertical market you're going into. You need to be able to explain 'what's in it for me?', 'why do I need this technology?' 'How is it going to make my life better?' We understand it as pilots and we learn it more and more every day. We learn new applications and we read about them. But the bottom line is you've got to become good at educating people and making it simple. Don't get complicated. With most people, the simple aspect of how this can help them on their job or business is where you're going to gain customers.” Bill started out with a Phantom 3. He understood orthomosaic imagery and had been flying enough. “I already had one drone stuck in the tree and then another one I whacked it into a wall. It was a friend's and broke off the camera. You do these things and you not only learn to fly drones but not to fly it where there's a lot of trees.” Bill’s Simple Marketing Advice Bill suggests you learn the basics before trying to get fancy--things can happen. Bill literally started in the community where he lives. The manager asked what he would charge for it, told him to do some before/after pictures of their pool project and even suggested he charge $1,000. That’s how he came up with a per acre rate for doing orthomosaic imagery. He flew again and again. Then he literally went down the street and knocked on the doors of the managers of other buildings. He got into a couple of them; he did some research online. “One called another and told another and then I had four associations that wanted to hire me—all of a sudden I was busy. Then I started calling up other community association managers, you know, just googling names. Through picking up the phone and calling people or driving by with some marketing material, I just kept sharing what I could do.” The Secret To Roofing Inspections Bill says that in South Florida you can't get a roofer to come out and inspect only 2-3 association buildings. If you have 20 buildings on your site, you don't want to send your maintenance guy up there to walk around and see what kind of structural damage there is because the potential for him to break a leg, or fall off while trying to take pictures is ridiculous. “When I explained that I could fly a 20 acre location in 30 minutes and in 24 hours I could give them detailed pictures of damage on the rooftops---they got excited. Without exception, I hand-delivered the results via thumb drive. They were blown away because I showed them how they could literally use the snipping tool on a windows PC and take each individual roof mark up where the damage is, but, more importantly, they could see which one needed immediate attention, where they might want to throw a tarp on and which didn't need any attention.” Bill found out this was important because after it rains, water intrusion would further damage the building. That was one of the best things that could happen because he could sell the before and after so they could do a comparison and show insurance companies how it worked. Bill’s advice, if you’re seriously looking at this business, is

Jeff is the Chief Pilot and Owner of Special Point of View, specializing in aerial videography and photography. Jeff was retired and happily playing golf when he did damage to his shoulder which required surgery. As he put it, “I was home for 8 months driving my wife crazy, so I bought a drone for amusement (that one flew away). I ended up getting into the DJI world and had fun...so I bought a few more.” Jeff started doing jobs for friends, taking pictures of property. People really liked his work and wanted him to do more. Jeff says he thought, “If I’m doing this, I may as well make money.” It was then that he found out he had to get a 107 license, so the hobby became a business. It took one year from starting with a hobby to creating a business. The Business Today At this point, two years into operating a drone business, Jeff has clients that are developers, builders, owners and realtors, most of whom he met being board member of his HOA He started doing jobs for free and, once word was out, he had people coming to him. The work he does has evolved. Jeff says, “Knowing realtors, residential was easiest in the beginning. From there, I got involved in ranches and farms, which I love. It was a lot more fun flying a drone on a few hundred acres.” Now, he is focusing more on promotional and property management work. He does some strip malls or apartment complexes, but says there is a lot of competition there with people who are willing to do the work for next to nothing. Successes, Challenges & Struggles Jeff has had a few successes with larger realtors who he continues to work with. He says much of his success has depended on finding the right relationships. David agreed that all the successful drone business owners have spent a lot of time working on relationship-building—which has gotten them more listings and developed a stronger business. Regarding making a healthy income, since Jeff is retired, he didn’t have financial pressure and flying drones was easy. Editing—learning to use PhotoStop or FinalCut—was a more challenging business prospect. Jeff says, “the software is sophisticated and trying to use capabilities is challenging. I have some friends who sub the editing out. For me, once I start a project—most of which are 2-minute videos—I have a plan. When I get to editing, I can’t picture handing that off.” Tapping the Growth Potential For a 2-minute video or 25 pics and a few videos, Jeff charges $500 (see his website below for more pricing information). He came up with that number by asking himself “what’s the amount that is worth the time it takes from my life?” In order to get new business, Jeff’s relationships have provided substantial opportunities. However, he made a decision to branch out to restaurants, offering to do a free video, which came out really well. Other work then came from that. He strongly believes that if someone wants to grow their business, they have to create something to promote themselves. “The sooner one can put together a portfolio (like a commercial photographer or artist), that will help. You just need 5-7 pages of your work to demonstrate your skills, even if you didn’t get paid to do it. If you’re not good at relationship-building, or aren’t plugged into a community/network, hire someone to knock on doors for you. It has to be done.” “My goal is pretty simple, I’m looking to bring in $2500/month. I HAVE made that in a week. I’m trying to cover flying the drones I have. The deal with my wife is that any excess money over that amount goes into our travel fund.” He hits that target three of every five months. Winter is slow and business ebbs and flows. In the slow months, he makes more videos. In the spring, he can have more $4-5K months. The Future of Special Point of View “There is so much happening in the future in the drone world. I love talking about it,” Jeff says. Jeff is currently involved with a national organization called Operation Drone Search & Rescue, whose mission is trying to build infrastructure for a nationwide “1-800-I-Just-Had-A-Disaster” that would employ a group of drones. Where is Jeff headed? “I’m 68 years old. If I were 40, I would be all in. I find myself sliding into the idea that I could turn this into something by hiring people. But why would I want to do that? Yesterday I talked to another drone company about joint partnerships. I see myself passing some of this work off to a younger group to get me some ‘mailbox money’. Having moved from residential to commercial, these guys have recently moved into the inspection world and are making $15K per month—cell towers, pipelines, not a bunch of on-offs, but contracts and higher-paying gigs. These require expensive equipment, but they make the money. Final Thoughts “I think you have to learn all the lessons. I started with residential and recognized challenges. That gave me enough activity to fly my drones inside tight quarters. I might say I wish I didn’t do that because it wasn’t productive

Alex Castillo from LA Aerial Image shares his journey growing his drone business. He and David cover how he got started and how that’s taken him to where he is today. This has always been a side gig for Alex, but that might be changing since he’s been able to match his full-time income. This started as a hobby for Alex. Hear about his background and the first way he monetized his hobby. That was before a website or a solid business idea. It didn’t take long for him to realize that there were a lot of applications, so he started LA Aerial Image, his wife built the website and he started making connections. Alex shares what type of work is most profitable for him now. It’s an industry that has huge potential and will continue to grow. Be sure to hear about his LA Olympic Committee project and how he has credits on an Amazon prime show. Find out his top 3 ways to get clients and how he’s been able to provide extra value by educating people about what’s possible. He outlines 5 different types of projects and how it benefits the client. The biggest challenges are broken down and explained as well. Being a great pilot is important, and he shares some of the mind-set required for making this a money-making venture. David asks him for his best advice to someone just starting. His first tip is to be a confident flyer. Tip 2 and 3 cover his business start-up advice. Connect with Alex: Instagram Facebook Website Drone Launch Academy Courses Podcast Listeners Can Use Code podcast50 to save $50 off the 107 Exam Prep Course Complete Course Listing: FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Exam Prep Course Part 107 Flash Cards Aerial Photo Pro Aerial Video A to Z You have to see this: Timberland Commercial

Drone to 1K Podcast host David Young helps drone pilots get their 107 certifications. He’s the founder of Drone Launch Academy where over 8000 people have used the course and study materials to successfully pass their 107 exams. This podcast will feature people who have make 1K a month (and more) by running a drone-service based business. Getting certified is the key first step. Drone-enthusiasts who want to start a side-gig or a full-time business don’t always know where to go next. That’s why David is launching the Drone to 1k podcast. David will interview people who are successfully building their drone business. Episodes will range from business owners using Mavic drones in the $1000-$2000 price range to Lidar mapping drones costing up to 200K. His guests will share how they’ve been able to grow to the 1K or more monthly income. You’ll hear about different types of drone businesses, how to find clients, what type of equipment to use and more. This fast-growing industry has lots of potential and David is talking to people who’ve figured out how to make it work for them. Season one is just beginning. There are 10 great episodes that will be published weekly. Check them out and let David know if you have any questions, or if you know someone who’d make a great guest. Contact David: [email protected]