New Business Avenues

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Hey Guys!

I know that talking about the way some of us make money may be a little touchy for some, but I figured it's about time we have that discussion.

Real estate seems pretty normal. Everyone is doing it.

Where else can the money be made though?

Tower inspections? Powerline inspections? Insurance adjusting? What else?

How would a person go about getting into these markets?
 
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I was thinking low level golf course runs thru the greens at various heights. Show 1st hole sign with skill level "par" etc. the take the drone off from the tee showing distance and yardage all the way to the green. You get the drift.


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That's a genius idea!
 
I am going to get a LLC lincense in FL, then reach out to take jobs doing real estate work or whatever else may be.. after i get my part 107
 
How would a person go about getting into these markets?
That's the difficult question.
I was doing some business development and visited 10 real estate agents within range here.
I gave them a presentation with great sample images on a 10 inch tablet.
They all sounded very positive face to face but all I got was two jobs and one of those turned out to be a real turkey that ended up not paying.

Everyone and his dog is out there now having a go.
One real estate agent told me that he's probably had 20 enquiries from hopeful flyers.
As for the other areas, getting an in would be quite tricky and require a lot of luck.
 
That's what I'm saying. I'm finding that the real estate market has been completely screwed by amateurs who're watering down the market and charging $50 for a full shoot of a 20 acre property. Frustrates me so much!

Hence me wanting to branch out a bit.
 
Seperate yourself from the other amateurs by getting proper liability insurance coverage and the new inspire with the RAW camera and pony up for the pro res licence. High end clients will more often than not want to see a certificate of currency for insurance. Uncompressed video will make your footage usable in broadcast and other high end productions. Like it or not your equipment also wins some deals. Your portfolio and recommendations from happy customers will build your profile and sustainable charge out rate.
 
You need a $20000 drone to get started.


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You need a $20000 drone to get started.
Not at all.
What equipment you need depends on what your clients require.
A P3 Advanced is perfect for realestate work and will easily produce good images up to A3 size and more, lots more than required for computer listings.
And if you need more, a $20K drone isn't going to be much better than what a good operator could get with a new P4pro which will be a lot easier to operate.
Sure if you are shooting wildlife docos for Richard Attenborough's BBC team or a Hollywood blockbuster you need high end equipment but most tasks require much more modest equipment.
 
Not at all.
What equipment you need depends on what your clients require.
A P3 Advanced is perfect for realestate work and will easily produce good images up to A3 size and more, lots more than required for computer listings.
And if you need more, a $20K drone isn't going to be much better than what a good operator could get with a new P4pro which will be a lot easier to operate.
Sure if you are shooting wildlife docos for Richard Attenborough's BBC team or a Hollywood blockbuster you need high end equipment but most tasks require much more modest equipment.


It's all very well to say the advanced is good enough for real estate, but when you advertise the fact you are using a non commercial drone that a real estate can buy themselves for $1000 well it won't come over as professional, remember appearance is everything, businesses expect technology way above what they can afford for commercial work.


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It's all very well to say the advanced is good enough for real estate, but when you advertise the fact you are using a non commercial drone that a real estate can buy themselves for $1000 well it won't come over as professional, remember appearance is everything, businesses expect technology way above what they can afford for commercial work.
Appearance of your results is everything ... besides your bottom line.
Real estate agents are not at all put off by the appearance of a Phantom, those I've worked with are more than impressed with the technology.
We might think they are toys but no agent I've dealt with treats them like that.
All they need are small pics for online listings, an A4 size pic for the window display and maybe an A3+ shot for a signboard.
They have no need for ultra results and certainly don't want to pay for them.
If you get a $20K outfit and go looking for work in real estate, you will have a hard time ever paying for it.
In real estate you need a compact machine that is quick to deploy and can fit in tight spaces when required and the Phantom is perfect ... the Mavic would probably be even better..
 
Where else can the money be made though??
Other possible areas to find work are large construction projects before and during development.
I've done a few orthophoto maps for big sites up to 40 acres and have a client that gets me to do a waypoint flythrough of their big site that is going to take 20 yrs to be fully developed.
They love the video to take to their board meetings to show their bosses what prograss has been made and no-one gets their boots muddy.
It should be interesting when they start putting a few of these on the site:
647-62a-XL.jpg
 
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Appearance of your results is everything.
Real estate agents are not at all put off by the appearance of a Phantom, those I've worked with are more than impressed with the technology.
We might think they are toys but no agent I've dealt with treats them like that.
All they need are small pics for online listings, an A4 size pic for the window display and maybe an A3+ shot for a signboard.
They have no need for ultra results and certainly don't want to pay for them.
If you get a $20K outfit and go looking for work in real estate, you will have a hard time ever paying for it.
In real estate you need a compact machine that is quick to deploy and can fit in tight spaces when required and the Phantom is perfect ... the Mavic would probably be even better..

Ok a revelation, you do real estate images with your phantom? And sell the images?


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Tower inspections? Powerline inspections? Insurance adjusting? What else?
I've sold to a few ship and tug owners/operators.
They love images of their vessels and it's hard to get them themselves without paying an arm and a leg for a helicopter charter.
I think motor and sailing yachts would be a potential market if you are in a good location.
You have to have a good feel for the subject to know how to get the good angles though.
Here are just a couple I've sold:
DJI_0086a-XL.jpg


DJI_0150a-XL.jpg
 

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