Great... and out of all those postings and shares... how many jobs have you gotten?
Hard to find work
- Thread starter Rcarman
- Start date
Thanks for supporting the senile citizens, or is it senior citizens!
There were some other truly wonderful ideas listed. I love the thought of Groupon and Craigs List. Hone the skills one has and check for pricing for a quick TV commercial. Volunteer in local community to further enhance the community’s awareness of the drone medium for advertising. Volunteer rescue to help get experience and reputable background. Co-contract with ground level photographers for outdoor aerial coverage of events. Be ever mindful of limitations and waiver requirements. Any zip lines in the area? Scenic outdoor tourist hot spots
Sales 101: You lose 100% of the opportunities you never competed for. Find and create opportunities from all the ideas presented here! Prospect. Qualify. Close. Keep track of how many potential prospects you made contact with every day and every week. Until you have found work, you should set a goal of locating and presenting to 10 people a day. Even a bad salesman can outsell a good one, if he makes enough extra presentations to overcome his poorer sales skills! Your goal is to find and compete for 100% of the opportunities in your market. Good luck! *
*If all that fails, find something else to sell, or go get a job!
*If all that fails, find something else to sell, or go get a job!
Have you reached out to your local realtor's board? Maybe do a lunch and learn at an upcoming meeting on the latest FAA NPRM or the risks associated with contracting with non 107 certificate holders? Perhaps you can talk about tips for selecting the right aerial photographer or how to check airspace so they will know beforehand whether and how long it might take to get LAANC or FAA permission if necessary. Draw up a subcontract that they might want to use for when they hire a part 107 pilot and distribute that?
Like any other business, it's all about networking and providing value.
These are just ideas
Like any other business, it's all about networking and providing value.
These are just ideas
I borrowed it from John DiJulius He gets the credit. Google him.
What Pennsylvania law(s) are yo talking about? I live in PA and I’m aware of no such sweeping law. There’s this:
Title 18 Sec. 3505 // 2018
Makes it unlawful to operate a drone to intentionally or knowingly conduct surveillance of another person in a private place, operate in a manner that places another person in reasonable fear of bodily injury, or to deliver, provide, transmit or furnish contraband.
Perfect Dave! Retiring from 45 years in sales management from a global manufacturing company, we call that feature/benefit. Daves first two comments are features. They allow a potential customer to ask "so what". The third example provides a benefit (how it helps the customer). A feature is meaningless unless you can also provide the benefit.
Not sure about your area but real estate is a great place to find work. Where I live (Arkansas), real estate drone photography is a relatively new marketing technique and for me very little competition. Luckily I'm married to a real estate agent/broker who knows close to 150 agents in the market.
Skywatcher2001
Well-Known Member
That is brilliant . . . simply brilliant.
No, I’m not working in that type of business. I’m a truckdriver in my professional and driving a fuel truck with diesel and petrol for CircleK here in Sweden. But I use to have my little Spark or Mavic with me to take those pictures In my lunchbrake. But It could be a way to announce your self with the name at Google maps where it’s free to upload. Everyone with a Google account can do so and as I said earlier my pictures have been viewed over 770.000 times since 2016.
When you look at a spot or place on Google maps and there is pictures showing that place, every picture is named by the uploader who took i and then you can go to that persons portfolio and look at this persons other uploaded pictures. A good photographer can as I think use this way to sell his or here name.
- I've found that it's hard to give away product/service. It almost always comes back in something beneficial in the way of current or future business or referrals. Think of it as a proof of concept or a demo for someone who might be interested but isn't ready to put $$ into it (yet). This is not discounting, it's promotion. You're helping someone understand why he needs your services.
- Second recommendation is to pick a market space and concentrate your cold calling in that arena. I've seen too many guys try to throw a buncha stuff on the wall to see what sticks. Don't try to be in all the markets you can think of. Be prepared for cold calling to work only in the long haul. But it works, so make it count where you want to be 12-24 months from now.
- Last recommendation is don't chase the low-end work unless it's for the experience and exposure. I've done some of that and quickly decided to get out it. (But I did learn how to fly close to obstacles doing insurance inspections for one of the "dating service" jobbers though). Let the other guys spend their time trying to be the first to respond to a $100 job an hour and a half away. Invest your time in your chosen market creating your brand awareness (there's that giving-it-away thing again.
BTW -- I don't use my web site for clients to find me. I use it to refer prospects when they want to know what I've done and see what my clients have to say about my services. It's helpful in that regard. I don't spend money on SEO or web designer to make it look spiffy. Just another reflection of who I am.
Good luck........... Bob R.
www.HAWK-i.us
- Second recommendation is to pick a market space and concentrate your cold calling in that arena. I've seen too many guys try to throw a buncha stuff on the wall to see what sticks. Don't try to be in all the markets you can think of. Be prepared for cold calling to work only in the long haul. But it works, so make it count where you want to be 12-24 months from now.
- Last recommendation is don't chase the low-end work unless it's for the experience and exposure. I've done some of that and quickly decided to get out it. (But I did learn how to fly close to obstacles doing insurance inspections for one of the "dating service" jobbers though). Let the other guys spend their time trying to be the first to respond to a $100 job an hour and a half away. Invest your time in your chosen market creating your brand awareness (there's that giving-it-away thing again.
BTW -- I don't use my web site for clients to find me. I use it to refer prospects when they want to know what I've done and see what my clients have to say about my services. It's helpful in that regard. I don't spend money on SEO or web designer to make it look spiffy. Just another reflection of who I am.
Good luck........... Bob R.
www.HAWK-i.us
Good points. I should have qualified my recommendation above.
"Your goal is to find and compete for 100% of the profitable opportunities in your market."
PWIdmayer
Well-Known Member
My best advice is to take a look at what DroneU is putting out. I have been watching their YouTube videos for awhile and they have some great information on marketing as well as operating as a Part 107 pilot. I have no affiliation with DroneU but just from their YouTube videos, you can glean some really good stuff for building your business.
There is a lot of good advice in the discussion above. Now for some tough love..
In my part of the world (London) - and I assume the same is true elsewhere - there simply is not much demand for licensed commercial drone pilots. I put this down to a few structural issues with the industry:
1. Training providers oversell the scale of the opportunities available - and have a vested interest in doing so. Passing the exams, however, says nothing about your capabilities beyond being smart enough to pass an exam most high school graduates would sail through. Where I live, there are simply too many pilots.
2. Many prospective clients just buy a drone and do it themselves - think real estate agents and friends-of-a-friend doing wedding stuff. These people simply don't know or care whether this work complies with the law. Think uber vs London cabbies and you are there.
3. Flying a drone is EASY. It basically takes zero skill to safely take off, fly around, and land. Practice a bit, review some photos on instagram and videos on youtube, and pretty much anyone can be decent at this. For most use cases, good enough is good enough.
So, unfortunately, we're left with a situation where we've paid good money for certifications no one knows or cares about, in a world that believes (and is largely correct) they can just take a DIY (Do It Youself) approach. Would you really hire a professional to roll some white paint onto the walls of a room? I wouldn't.
This is, for most people, an expensive hobby. Recouping a bit of that cost is welcome. Actually making money is a whole 'nother kettle of fish!
In my part of the world (London) - and I assume the same is true elsewhere - there simply is not much demand for licensed commercial drone pilots. I put this down to a few structural issues with the industry:
1. Training providers oversell the scale of the opportunities available - and have a vested interest in doing so. Passing the exams, however, says nothing about your capabilities beyond being smart enough to pass an exam most high school graduates would sail through. Where I live, there are simply too many pilots.
2. Many prospective clients just buy a drone and do it themselves - think real estate agents and friends-of-a-friend doing wedding stuff. These people simply don't know or care whether this work complies with the law. Think uber vs London cabbies and you are there.
3. Flying a drone is EASY. It basically takes zero skill to safely take off, fly around, and land. Practice a bit, review some photos on instagram and videos on youtube, and pretty much anyone can be decent at this. For most use cases, good enough is good enough.
So, unfortunately, we're left with a situation where we've paid good money for certifications no one knows or cares about, in a world that believes (and is largely correct) they can just take a DIY (Do It Youself) approach. Would you really hire a professional to roll some white paint onto the walls of a room? I wouldn't.
This is, for most people, an expensive hobby. Recouping a bit of that cost is welcome. Actually making money is a whole 'nother kettle of fish!
Oswald
Active Member
I feel like this is a large part of it. Drone flying is not that hard. Good photography is still mostly about composing the right shots, understanding lighting and post-processing skills. A good photographer could become a good drone-photographer with a fairly short learning curve. And that would lead to established pros expanding out with their existing clientele/reputation. At least that's my opinion of it. (as a complete amateur)
You pretty much nailed it. The drone is just the tool... it happens to be a flying camera. Fortunately DJI has made it so easy to fly that just about anyone can get one off the ground, click the shutter button, and capture data.
- Composition is KEY! If the shot is crap to begin with nothing in POST is going to fix a poorly composed shot.
- Getting the camera settings to capture the right and best DATA comes next. You can fix some camera issues in post it's a lot easier to KNOW your camera and get those right to begin with.
- Post Processing is very important. If you're good you can eliminate a lot of the POST work otherwise you'll spend a LOT of time trying to correct things that could have been better from the start.
Right. Not everyone with the latest Leica/Fuji/Canon/Nikon has an amazing eye for a great capture.
In drone land, a lot of people think that, with the right qualifications and good piece of kit, they have everything required to market their services. I don't blame them - this is a dream proactively sold by training providers.
The best of the best, as in any creative pursuit, will do well. The rest of us are jobbing actors/actresses, hoping for a break.
In drone land, a lot of people think that, with the right qualifications and good piece of kit, they have everything required to market their services. I don't blame them - this is a dream proactively sold by training providers.
The best of the best, as in any creative pursuit, will do well. The rest of us are jobbing actors/actresses, hoping for a break.
Similar threads
DJI Drone Deals
1. Mini 2
2. Mini 3 Pro
3. Mini 4 Pro
4. Air 2s
5. Air 3
6. Avata 2
7. Mavic 3 Pro
8. Mavic 3 Classic
2. Mini 3 Pro
3. Mini 4 Pro
4. Air 2s
5. Air 3
6. Avata 2
7. Mavic 3 Pro
8. Mavic 3 Classic
New Threads
-
-
Air 3 Spring Sunrise at Low Tide - North Pier, Blackpool, Easter 2024- Started by AlbionDrones
- Replies: 0
-
-
-
Forum statistics
