S2/EP 10: Fred Light from Nashua Video Tours
Drone to 1K Podcast by Drone Launch Academy3 Juni 2020

S2/EP 10: Fred Light from Nashua Video Tours

Fred owns and operates Nashua Video Tours, a real estate video and photography company.

David: ”Tell us about your company.”

Fred has been doing this for 15 years, starting with putting video online. Because the internet didn't support video very well, realtors didn't have computers, or didn't know what the internet was—it didn’t work out too well. When he was just about to quit, the real estate market tanked and people needed ways to sell properties. At that point, flash became the de facto way of delivering video but there were three or four different types of platforms and none of them were compatible with each other. When broadband came into play and the internet became predominant, Fred realized he could do it.

Fred had started doing realtor websites. He jokes, “I've never wanted to be in this world, I just fell into it and I haven't been able to climb out yet.” He says back then, you’d buy a template so websites all looked exactly the same—nothing stood out. What became popular were 360-degree tours that were not well put together; that was when Fred thought that a video walk-through of the house made sense because then you could see the layout and the flow.

“I just had this bright idea that it would be a way to do something different—but nobody was doing it because they couldn't. I really got started out of frustration trying to differentiate these people.”

David: “Let’s start from when the internet was working, you could put video on the internet, and you had a drone. How did using a drone change things for you— if it did?”

Fred says he’d been in the video real estate video space by himself for years but as more people got into it, he needed to differentiate himself again. Back then, you could fly drone for commercial purposes with no licensing, and everything was still very fuzzy.

For Fred, the real estate market has been an odd place to be. Some realtors think they can get their nephew to buy a drone and let him take pictures, or they don't see that you need to have a license. We know there’s a difference between having a drone and pushing a button to take a picture or video—and being a photographer with a drone.

“If you don't know how to use your camera, you're not a photographer, you don't have the right eye or the right equipment and you don't know how to do it, so it's not going to look very good. The drone is the least important part of the equation.”

Fred says it’s nice to show how a property sits on a big piece of land, but flying around, looking at the roof and gutters, then left and right and up and down for three minutes isn’t all it’s about. A simple top down picture of the roof of a ranch with an ugly front yard and an ugly backyard with dead grass is horrible; it’s more of a detriment than a help. If you're trying to promote a real property, you don't want to show the crap in the neighbor's yard or graffiti on the driveway or bad shingles. Fred advises that you should be truthful, but also show people the highlights. They'll realize that the roof needs replacing or that there's a highway back there, but you don't want to promote that right up front.

When Fred shoots a house he does the video, interior, exterior stills, floor plans, all of it—he has about five different cameras for different things, including a camera he can stick out of the top of his car to show the neighborhood—and, of courses, he has a drone. He doesn’t use all of those for every property but chooses what he thinks makes sense. Driving through the neighborhood, for example, his goal is to show whether it’s an older or newer neighborhood, if houses are setback from the street or are right on the street with the trees. His goal is to present the property in the best light.

“I treat the drone as just another tool. When I get to a property, I either choose to use it or I don't. It's my choice. I don't want someone saying I need to.”

Also, Fred sees a lot of video from new drone pilots that’s too high because the pilot is thinking about max altitude when it’s more important to think about what they’re looking at. Sometimes, Fred doesn’t even know what he’s looking at.

David: “The thing people struggle a lot with is wanting to get into this—whether it's real estate marketing, promo videos or photography—but don't really have good methods or know how to get a first client. What advice would you give someone? How would you go about starting fresh?”

Fred teamed up with a friend who is a realtor and did all of his first stuff for free. He was able to practice, but also able to get stuff out there for other people to see.

“What I did then, I still do now. I make it very easy for someone to find me. It's not a secret. I put my name, phone number, and website at the end of every video. I've done a lot of these and I've never had anybody tell me to take my name off. The biggest thing is if nobody knows how to find you, how are they going to know how to find you?”

Fred says the real estate business is a lot of repeat business. He doesn’t even want new business because his regular customers keep him really busy. He says clients want to use you for everything—for every listing. The smart realtors understand you have to spend money to make money but they’re busy too; they don't want to call a photographer, then a videographer, then a drone guy, then a floor plan guy. They call Fred and he goes to house, spends 2-3 hours at the property and does all of it.

David: What do you typically charge for a job when you do everything—photos, some video, and some drone. What does your full package include? What's a typical price you would charge for that?”

For under 4,000 ft2 and just video, he charges $300-$400. For a full package with drone, floor plans, etc, Fred charges $800. He says that realtors want to pay $300-$500 but if you're spending the same amount of time, it’s not worth it to not make enough money. Fred sees people either charging too much and complaining because they're only shooting one house a month or charging too little that are going to burn out.

When someone calls him, Fred tells them to look at his YouTube channel, plug in their house to any video, and that's what theirs will look like. It all doesn't take very long, and you don’t have people wanting to change stuff because expectations are set at the beginning. He does charge $100 if someone wants to change anything.

“What I give my clients is very fast turnaround at a fair price. What people don't understand about realtors is they care that you're accessible and affordable (which doesn't mean cheap) and that you turn it around fast and are dependable. That's all that matters.”

Fred says that the most valuable part of the video is getting the listing. It's not about selling the house, the house will sell by itself. It's about getting the listing. If you're a listing agent, you're competing with two or three other brokers. The reality is if you're out there at a listing presentation with a seller and you're offering video and the other two aren't, then you have an advantage. Not many use video. Sellers want it...buyers love it. He says it’s funny cause you think if everybody wanted it, more people would do it. But because it's so difficult to do, a lot of people stay away from it because they can't figure out how to price it. It’s really all about workflow—shooting as best you can to get what you need, shooting it so your editing time is minimal, and having the right equipment so you can process it quickly and get it out the door.

David: “I've heard from other people that are also really successful that they focused on knowing one thing...

Avsnitt(67)

S1/EP 3: Jeff Lewis from Special Point of View

S1/EP 3: Jeff Lewis from Special Point of View

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, but I had to do it. It’s like life…all my blunders get me to where I am. We all wish we were 16 again, but I don’t have regrets.” Jeff says that what’s worked for him and others is working hard. Jeff believes there are a handful of people doing stupid things which will inevitably cause change, so the droners of the world have to be responsible. Connect with Jeff Jeff's Website: www.specialpointofview.com 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

2 Juli 201936min

S1/EP 2: Alex Castillo from LA Aerial Image

S1/EP 2: Alex Castillo from LA Aerial Image

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

25 Juni 201940min

S1/EP 1: What is the Drone to 1K Podcast?

S1/EP 1: What is the Drone to 1K Podcast?

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: support@dronelaunchacademy.com

17 Juni 20196min

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