Drone to 1K Podcast by Drone Launch Academy

In the Drone to 1K Podcast, we take an inside look at how successful drone business owners got started and scaled their company to making $1,000 per month and beyond. Whether you're just looking to make a little side cash with your drone or you want to turn your passion into a full-time career, we hope that the Drone to 1K Podcast will inspire you to take the plunge and succeed with your own drone business.

S5/EP 8 Curtis Kloc of Inspections Over Coffee 09/07/2022

S5/EP 7 Pedro Silva of Drone By Dro 08/18/2022

S5/EP 6 Chris Francescani of Sunset Beach Films 08/10/2022

S5/EP 5 Grant Puckrin of 19th UAS Precision 07/28/2022

S5/EP 4 Joey Howard of Cascade Stream Solutions 07/21/2022

S5/EP 3 Joe Morgan of Eyes Above Texas Imagery 07/14/2022

S5/EP 2 Eric Hellinger of Vivid Flight Media 07/07/2022

S5/EP 1 Dusty Jolley of Jolley Works LLC 06/01/2022

S4/EP 10 Danny Elassad of Mole Media and Hoverscape 11/02/2021

S4/EP 9 Thom Monterville of NexGen Drones 10/19/2021

S4/EP 8 Patrick Whalen of Backstage Aerial 10/11/2021

S4/EP 7 Guillermo Wenzel of Drone Sky Visuals 08/13/2021

S4/EP 6 Derek Cameron of 3805 Productions 08/10/2021

S4/EP 5 Jeff Carrillo of Tarillo Vue 08/02/2021

S4/EP 4 Merrill McKee of Northern Perspectives 07/27/2021

S4/EP 3 James Grace of JMG Aerial Imagery 07/18/2021

S4/EP 2 Kevin Olson of Maryland Drone Guy 07/13/2021

S4/EP 1 Jen Allen of Wildwood Media 07/05/2021

S3/EP 10 Caleb Randall of Randall Productions 03/17/2021

S3/EP 9 Jorge Casamiquela of JFC prooductions 03/09/2021

S3/EP 8 Rut Patel of Voyager Industries 03/01/2021

S3/EP 7 Philip Hurst from Philip Hurst Media 02/16/2021

S3/EP 7 Philip Hurst from Philip Hurst Media DRONE TO $1K PODCAST SEASON 3 / EPISODE 7 WITH PHILIP HURST Philip Hurst is the owner of Philip Hurst Media. Introduction Philip got his first drone about a year ago. He was working for an architectural company and had the idea of using a drone for roof inspections. He ended up using his drone to take videos of ongoing construction projects, as well. Philip felt like he was really onto something with drones. He pitched the idea of incorporating more drone work into his job to his boss, but nothing ever really came of it. In the meantime, Philip had been posting his drone work (cinematic videography, 3D mapping, photography, etc.) on Instagram, and it was catching people’s attention. People were reaching out to him, asking if he would do drone work for them. Philip knew he needed to get his Part 107 license so that he could start accepting these jobs and making money. Within a month of getting his drone, he took and passed the Part 107 Exam. Philip was able to get enough business to quit his architecture job, start an LLC, and fly drones full time! “It’s really about the hustle and the drive.” Philip felt lucky to be able to learn how to fly drones with a DJI Mavic because it was pretty easy to fly that drone. He dedicated lots of time to practicing flying and taking photos and videos. He also spent time branding his business and adding more and more content to his Instagram page. David: When you were still working at the architectural firm and starting to use drones for roof inspections, was that when you started practicing a lot? Or did that come later? Philip was practicing during his lunch breaks at work. He actually had his first accident during one of his lunch break flights – on the first day he had his drone! Philip took his drone everywhere. Whenever he had a free moment, he would grab his drone and start practicing. He tried flying in difficult situations, like through tight spaces. He also tried flying the drone towards him so he could practice with the controls being backwards… which ended in a crash. Luckily, his drone was okay, though! David: What was the first job you ever got? Did you reach out to people or did someone come to you? Philip races mountain bikes and knew one of the promoters of a big race. The promoter reached out to him and asked if he could get some drone footage of the race. After that, Philip went on Zillow and found $500,000+ homes. Then, he sent emails to the real estate agents that listed those homes and let them know that he would shoot footage of their listings for free. He said that the first listing would be free, and that his work would help get their houses sold. He sent out about 500 of those emails over the course of two days. He ended up landing about 15 jobs from that email outreach. Philip says that being willing to do free work is very important because it will be hard to land jobs if you don’t have a portfolio of previous work to show your potential clients. “When I send them to my Instagram, the proof is in my work.” Philip sends his potential clients to his Instagram page to see his work. BUT, he also sends them to other drone pilot’s Instagram pages and shows them what they SHOULDN’T want from the drone pro they hire. He’ll point out things like jerky, non-cinematic footage in others’ work, which helps him prove that his footage is smoother and higher quality. David: What part of the country are you in? Philip is in Ohio. He says that he is “the best in the Midwest.” “When it comes down to it, I’m not just a pilot. I’m just also a media professional and I’m a cinematic photographer and videographer. So yeah, I can catch great content and I can do good drone work, but I like to find the value in my end product, because like I said, drone work are just establishing shots to help support a much bigger story.” David: Of the 15 free jobs you landed from your Zillow outreach, how many of those turned into paying clients? Out of those 15, about 8 of them have become routine clients for Philip. Philip is also branching out into other industries. Some of his friends are shooting a pilot for ABC and they asked him to capture some establishing drone shots. Now, Philip’s name is going to be on IMDb! Philip emphasizes that he started about 6 months ago. It’s awesome to see how much his business has grown in just half a year. He says that his drone is one of his most powerful tools. “You gotta put the time in. You gotta grind, you gotta believe in yourself. You gotta have that confidence. You know, you gotta walk the walk and talk the talk. Go out there and look professional.” Philip says that you need to make potential clients feel confident in choosing to hire you as a drone pilot. He also stresses that you need to be posting on all social media platforms. But, you can tailor your messaging on each platform. David: How would you do something differently for Instagram vs. Facebook vs. LinkedIn? For Instagram, Philip will post short, 15-second clips or stories. His Instagram grid is a bit more curated. He’ll curate his Instagram grid based on the seasons or even moods. The coloring and moodiness will change as you scroll down his Instagram feed. His stories are usually behind-the-scenes footage. For LinkedIn, Philip likes to have his feed look a little more polished. As far as TikTok goes, Philip says, “If you’re not on TikTok, you’re missing the boat.” He says that you can reach millions of people on TikTok. He says it’s a great place to brand yourself. David says that one of his friends is on TikTok and that one of his posts got half a million views. One of Philip’s TikToks actually got 5 million views in the first week! Philip says that he treats his drone work very seriously. When he gets home from a shoot, Philip removes his memory cards and uploads all of his footage so it doesn’t get lost. He also unpacks, cleans, and inspects all of his equipment. Philip says he treats his equipment well because it makes him money. He says that networking is very important. If you want to be successful, get to know successful people. You never know who someone may be friends with or who they might be able to introduce you to. Strive to become known as “the drone guy” or “the drone gal” in your town so that people will immediately think of you whenever they (or someone they know) need drone work. Because David started Drone Launch Academy, many times people will reach out to him for drone work. Once, he made $1,300 on a shoot for commercial properties that a friend recommended him for. Philip says that calling himself “the best in the Midwest,” saying his name is “Maverick,” and constantly talking about and posting about drones helps people to associate him with drones. When someone thinks of drones, they usually immediately think of Philip because of the way he’s branded and marketed himself. Other drone pilots have actually reached out to Philip to see if he’d do a tutorial video on how he edits. David says even if you have the best product on the market, if nobody knows who you are, you won’t get much business. You need to be willing to network and marketing your business so people will know about you. Philip says that, “the squeaky wheel gets the oil.” David: Are you doing walk-through videos for real estate? Or are you just doing photos? What’s your typical package for people? Depending on the client and their needs, Philip can do interior and exterior photos (including HDLR photos with bracketing, flash photography, and editing), virtual staging, virtual tours/360 Matterport tours, 3D exterior mapping, cinematography (both aerial and ground), and walk-through video tours. David: What do you charge? For aerial photos, Philip charges $250/hour. His starting price for a video (for an up to $400,000 house) is $350. For houses above $400,000, he charges a $1 per $1,000 listing price for video (for example, for a $3 million home, Philip would charge $3,000 for a video) because there’s usually more places to film in a more expensive home. Also depending on the size of the house, he’ll usually do Matterports for about $300, with a same-day turnaround. For each house, he’ll probably do around 20-50 photos. For 50 photos (which are edited and use HDLR, flash photography, removal of chips on walls, and other high-touch edits), he charges about $400. He adds extra finishing touches to his photos and videos because he wants to help sell the house. Of course he needs to make money with his business, but he really wants to build relationships with people and help them sell their houses. David: It sounds like you’ve been making money in the real estate area, but you’ve also gotten some other interesting jobs, like the mountain biking thing. Do you have any other, more outside-of-the-box jobs? What’s one of your favorite, non-real estate related gigs you’ve gotten? Philip really likes doing product photography and brand marketing. He’s shot footage of wakeboards, boats, and outdoor events. He’s also working with models to create demo reels for their modeling career. He also has a couple of weddings booked. David: You said you started about 6 months ago. What would you say is your average revenue per month? Philip says that he’s making about $3,000/month. He makes sure that a percentage of his revenue goes back into the company, a percentage goes towards being able to buy new equipment in three years, and a percentage goes to him, and a percentage is put aside for taxes. David points out that if you have a W2 job, the government will hold your taxes… but if you have your own business, you are responsible for putting aside money for taxes. Philip says that he’s actual had someone tell him that he’s not charging enough for his drone services. Don’t forget to enter our weekly giveaway before 2/23/21 for a chance to win one of 5 prizes (including a free 15-minute coaching call with Philip and David): Connect with Jonathan: Facebook: Instagram: YouTube: Have a Drone Business? Want to be Interviewed for Season 3? Complete this questionnaire: Training from Drone Launch Academy ($50 off) ($50 off) ($100 off) ($100 off) ($20 off) Other Places to Listen /episode/index/show/dronelaunch/id/17965784

S3/EP 6 Jonathan Stettler from Steady Focus Media 02/09/2021

S3/EP 6 Jonathan Stettler from Steady Focus Media Jonathan Stettler is the owner of Steady Focus Media, a business that specializes in providing photography and videography services for businesses and real estate. Introduction Jonathan has always been into drones. The first time he saw a drone, his friend was flying one of the original DJI Mavic Pros. Jonathan thought it was cool, but he didn’t actually buy a drone until years later. Jonathan’s background is in photography. He had tried wedding photography, but he didn’t love it. He wanted to be a photographer, but he just wasn’t sure what industry he should try to get into. Last year, Jonathan bought a DJI Ronin gimbal so that he could put together a video for his taekwondo school. He had never tried videography, but he decided to give it a go. Once he sat down to edit the video, he was surprised at how much he enjoyed the editing process. When he showed the video to the taekwondo school, they were really impressed. Jonathan started Steady Focus Media to create promotional videos for small businesses. Once he actually started his business, he felt like he was officially a photographer and it really helped him to take it seriously. He ended up buying a drone, and then a few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. All of the small businesses (his normal clients) shut down. He wasn’t sure what to do. He had the idea that maybe he could make money with his drone. So, he looked into it and figured out that there were Part 107 regulations he’d need to learn so he could pass the exam to be able to fly his drone commercially. He went online and found Drone Launch Academy. He enrolled in our FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Exam Prep Course and it helped him study for and pass the exam on the first try. Then, he enrolled in our Drone to $1K program, which helped him to grow his business. David: How’d you get your first client? He found his first client through a local Facebook Classifieds group. He put up a post that said he was looking for a realtor that wants a free home tour. He got responses back from people asking what the catch was. He said that there were no strings attached, he was just trying to build his portfolio. He ended up getting a response from a realty team. He went out to the house that they told him about and it was a super nice, $800,000 house that had an indoor pool and a tennis court! Although the realtor loved the video, Jonathan didn’t really hear anything back from them. He tried to use Facebook to promote his business, but he wasn’t getting any leads. After about a month, he heard back from the realtor he had worked with and they asked if he could also do another video, as well as photos for another house. As he landed more jobs, he had more and more material that he could use for demo reels and for promotional materials for his own business. Jonathan stresses the importance of having a portfolio of your work. He says that doing free work when you’re first starting out will help you get the content and footage you need to build your portfolio. “It’s the thing you need to start building the ladder to get to where you need to go.” Since Jonathan started using drones when the pandemic hit, he hasn’t shot photos and videos for a single home without wearing a mask. He realized that photography and videography is a job that you can do even during the pandemic. “It’s still a viable business, even when everything’s going wrong.” Jonathan’s business slowly grew from $200 the first month, to $500 the second month, and then 3-4 jobs a week. Jonathan is now working with several local realtors. David: How did you go from having one client to then getting booked 3 times in the same week? Jonathan says that it all happened very organically. A realtor that he had been communicating with a month before ended up reaching out to him because she had a house that she needed photos and video for. Jonathan went out and shot photos and video of the house and sent everything over to the realtor that same night. After that, she became one of his consistent clients. Because of the pandemic, Jonathan couldn’t physically go into realtors’ offices to introduce himself, so he decided to take a different approach. He created flyers for his business and mailed them out to local realtors’ offices. That landed him a job with one of the bigger realty companies. After that, their marketing director called him to ask if he did headshots. He took a headshot for one of their realtors and she then told the rest of the realtors about Jonathan’s business and his pricing. That led to lots of jobs for him. Over the past 3 months, Jonathan has had at least one job per week. David: Do you have a full-time job in addition to your drone work? Jonathan does have a full-time job that pays well, which has helped him to be able to build his drone business. Jonathan loves that his drone work gives him the opportunity to be creative. One thing that Jonathan stresses is that you need to be willing to put the work in if you want to succeed with your drone business. “You absolutely have got to put the work in, because the thing is, if you think you’re just gonna stand around and, like you said earlier, the money’s just gonna come to you, it’s not gonna happen.” Jonathan says that the initial startup costs for a drone business can be a little expensive, but once you put that money into the business, you’ll earn it back – you just have to persevere and stick with it. David says that many times, people don’t feel like their work is good enough and they struggle to find content that they’re confident enough to post online. David says that you can post photos now, and then keep practicing and taking more photos. Once you have work that you’re happier with, just use them to replace the original photos you had posted. Jonathan says that when he looks back at the pictures that he was impressed with 10 years ago, they are very different from the photos he’s proud of now. He says that your opinion of what looks good will change over time. You can also work with others and help each other grow your businesses. David says it’s important to have a community of people to bounce ideas off of. He says that the drone community is usually willing to help each other out and give advice. David says that a drone is just a tool. In order to succeed with a drone business, you need to know about the industry you’re in and you need to have business skills. Jonathan agrees that you really need to be knowledgeable about the industry that you’re working in. “Walking into a job with confidence – that’s key.” One way that you can get industry-specific knowledge is by offering to do free work. If you’re in the roofing industry, you could offer to do a couple of free drone roof inspections for a roofing company. If it goes well, you could build a friendship with the company and start to learn about the industry first-hand. David: Do you want to stay in the real estate industry? Although Jonathan didn’t initially intend to work in the real estate industry, he actually really enjoys it. David: How are you pricing your drone services right now? Jonathan has noticed that people don’t like complication. For photographs, Jonathan’s flat rate is $125. For video, his flat rate is $200-$250 (usually a 3 to 5-minute edited video with music). For 3D tours, Jonathan charges $200. He will do photos and video for $300. For all 3 (photos, video, and 3D tour), he charges $500. The first question that realtors ask him is, “Do you do drone work?” Jonathan also doesn’t charge extra for drone footage. Jonathan says that for many realtors, his pricing model is appealing because they don’t have to guess how much the photos, video, and 3D tour will add up to in the end. In the future, Jonathan is hoping to make $100/hour. Right now, he usually makes anywhere between $80-$125/hour. Don’t forget to enter our weekly giveaway before 2/16/21 for a chance to win one of 5 prizes (including a free 15-minute coaching call with Jonathan and David): Connect with Jonathan: Website: Facebook: Instagram: Have a Drone Business? Want to be Interviewed for Season 3? Complete this questionnaire: Training from Drone Launch Academy ($50 off) ($50 off) ($100 off) ($100 off) ($20 off) Other Places to Listen /episode/index/show/dronelaunch/id/17878559

S3/EP 5: Alex Castillo from LA Aerial Image 02/01/2021

S3/EP 5: Alex Castillo from LA Aerial Image Alex is the owner of LA Aerial Image. Introduction Alex was the first guest when the podcast came out about a year and a half ago. Alex was an original RC plane flyer. Then when he was older, he was able to afford this stuff. One day at the airfield, he saw some guy with a quad copter and knew he needed to have one. Then he decided that he didn't just want it to be a hobby. So he took his photography background as a hobbyist and then just got into video and just started doing video with drones. He does a whole array of different things, such as 3-D modeling for construction sites David: Do you do real estate? I tell a lot of people to start with the real estate because it's easy to get in. Everybody knows a realtor and you can get jobs fairly easy, but you can't stay in the industry. For Alex, he says, it's just not fun. In the meantime, he picked up an Amazon prime show called The Bay and he’s also been shooting for the Pop Star network for three seasons now. David: How did you land your first construction client? What did they want? My first construction job was subcontracted from another guy. They did some progress shots and 3-D modeling. Alex has done 3-D modeling for rock quarries too, so they can judge their materials and measure them. The person who subcontracted to him found Alex on Google. He needed a pilot in LA because he was getting business there but lived in Oregon. David: One thing people are asking who are interested in industries like construction, but don't know the lingo, is “How do I give a sales pitch to an engineering firm or construction or contractor?” What would be your sales pitch for 3-D models? I don’t have to do sales pitches right now; the contractor is doing them. I learned a lot of the lingo onsite because when I first went in, I didn't know either. I learned the lingo just talking to the guys onsite. For the most part you just need to explain that it will save them time and money. Construction guys are busy as hell. If you can send them an “as built”, which is a PDF that shows all the information. David: How often did they have you go out there and do a 3-D model of the whole site? It depends on where they're at in the building. In some cases it was once per week, in others cases every other week. “We’re going to do a testimony video of one of the biggest companies we work with, how they used the 3-D model, how it worked and how it saved them money. We’ve saved them tens of thousands of dollars in the long run.” David: How much are you able to charge these construction companies or engineering firms for flying every other week and doing a three D model? About $1500 bucks a flight in total is what the contractor charges. It takes Alex only about 45 minutes to do a model and then he makes $300 when most of the guys on the site made $50 or $60 an hour. David: What’s your favorite type of thing to work on: What's the most fun for you? What do you like doing the best? “I like the film stuff; I like being on set. As the drone guy, there’s lot of waiting around, which can be a little stressful, but other than that, it’s fun.” David: Do you think the Inspire 2 has helped you get those jobs? Yes, for sure. If you don’t have an Inspire 2, they’re not going to be hiring you for that job. David: What would you say you’ve learned that's new in the drone world? Are you getting better at the stuff you already know how to do, or do you feel like you've honed any specific skills? With nine years of drone flying under his belt, Alex has had more crashes in the last couple of years than ever. “I think I got complacent with my flying and I'm thinking ‘I got this.’ I think I need to get back to the basics and be a little more aware. I got a little loose.” Sometimes you might just get on autopilot and not really be thinking it through as carefully. David: When you're flying for these construction sites, do they require you to have a tight amount of insurance? You have to have insurance and a lot of times it's at least 2 million. It could be up to 5 million. They have really expensive workers' comp and they have to pay the personnel. They preach safety all day long. David: What’s changed from getting business now from when you were first doing it. Now, are you actively searching for any business or it just all comes to you? Alex says he wants to get better at looking for it. All his work lately has been “just coming to him.” He spends about $50-$100 per month on Google Click ads. And, he says, he doesn’t even get that many people from Google. Most of it is referral. “As long as you’re good at what you do, they're going to call you back or they're going to pass your number to someone else. Don’t get discouraged. You have to work actively on your business to grow it.” Alex says it isn’t about just buying a drone. You have to learn to be a good business owner, provide good customer service and create relationships. You might have to do some free jobs here and there to get the people to know your services and to know your work. Alex says, “Just start somewhere and build it.” Connect with Alex: Instagram: Have a Drone Business? Want to be Interviewed for Season 3? Complete this questionnaire: Training from Drone Launch Academy ($50 off) ($50 off) ($100 off) ($100 off) ($20 off) Other Places to Listen /episode/index/show/dronelaunch/id/17780486

S3/EP 4: Spencer Boyd from Aerodrone Solutions 01/26/2021

S3/EP 3: Chris Dantonio from Chris Dantonio Drone Photography 01/18/2021

S3/EP 2: Nick Frandjian from Open House Foto 01/12/2021

S3/EP 1: Liam Abrigg from Bentley Studios 01/05/2021

S2/EP 10: Fred Light from Nashua Video Tours 06/03/2020

S2/EP 9: Cody Retlich from Midwest Aerial Productions 05/27/2020

Drone to 1K Podcast by Drone Launch Academy

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