Running A Drone Business
Becoming Professional
How To Present Yourself And Keep Business Running Smoothly
There are two aspects to becoming a professional: Appearing Professional and Being Professional. Appearing professional is a matter of how you present yourself and how you are perceived. Being professional, on the other hand, is a matter of how you conduct business and includes having the functionality that a professional drone photographer should have.
This course will cover information on how to increase your level of professionalism and will recommend tools and practices that can take your business to the next level.
A huge part of both being and appearing professional is having the right equipment. There are many drone models available to enthusiasts in the market today and you have to do some research in order to figure out which model is right for you. Thankfully, doing this research is not hard thanks to others who have gathered that information and compiled it in a user-friendly manners for us.
Pricing
How To Know What To Charge
What should I charge?
There is no standard rate for drone photography services. Applications range from real estate photography to building inspection and drone operators can charge from $200/hr to $5,000 per session. It does not really cost you any money to fly your drone or edit the footage, so your price will be determined by the value you provide instead.
UNDERSTAND YOUR VALUE
Just by owning a drone and being able to operate it, you can provide the cheapest, most effective aerial photography solution available to people and businesses today. Before drones were popular, aerial footage was taken from an airplane or helicopter usually at a very high cost and lower quality than what drones can deliver.
It’s important to keep in mind the unique advantages that drone photography offers. Drones can take high definition photos and videos from any angle on any property. The right shots can make a big difference in a marketing campaign, help sell a house, provide a new perspective on big problems, or share amazing views.
As an aerial photographer you are not just selling pictures. You are also selling your knowledge, skills, and expertise as a professional.
COMMUNICATE YOUR VALUE
Communicating your value is possibly the most important aspect of setting a price for a shoot. Regardless of the price point you choose for a particular job you have to be able to explain where your value is coming from. You don’t want to propose a $1,000 shoot and have a client outraged at the fact that “all you are doing is taking pictures”. As we discussed earlier, you are not just taking pictures. You are selling your professionalism; you are selling your equipment, your skill, your quality… You know all this because you are the professional, your client may not know this. It is your job to COMMUNICATE YOUR VALUE to your clients.
Average Rates
3 Common Ways To Charge For Drone Photography
Per Session
$500- $1500
Half Day
(4hrs)
$600-$1000
Full Day
(8hrs)
$800-$1500
Hourly
$150-$450
Photo/Video Editing Rates
Hourly – $110
Half Day (4hrs) – $550
Full Day (8hrs) – $933
*Statistics were calculated from data collected from drone photography listings across the U.S.. Costs do not include additional expenses (travel, etc.).
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Photographers can make additional income by selling the copyright to the pictures they take.
For Example:
Your regular flight charge might include a 5 year credited copyright that allows clients to use your footage for 5 years as long as they credit you. For an additional fee the client could buy the full copyright to your footage giving them unlimited control over it without having to credit you.
For more information check out: Photography Copyright and The Law
Tools
Essential Software For Any Drone Business
Flight Management
There are a lot of things to keep in mind while you are flying. These tools will help you stay organized and fly safely.
Hover
Skyward
Image/Video Storage
These tools will allows you to store and share high resolution images and videos
Dropbox
Google Drive
Image/Video Editing
If your final product doesn’t look professional, neither do you. These tools will help you get the job done right.
GoPro Studio
Adobe Premiere
Liability
Do I Need Insurance?
Until recently, homeowner’s insurance policies covered radio controlled aircraft. However, with innovations in the drone industry, insurance companies have begun reconsidering the coverage of these policies.
Whenever doing anything commercial in nature it is smart to consider what could go wrong and limit your liability if anything were to happen. This is where Liability Insurance comes in.
Drone specific liability policies are slowly becoming developed by companies as the market expands.
For more information on…
What drone insurance is
Accident and liability coverage
How much UAS insurance costs
How to get insured
Companies that will insure your UAV
How to file a drone insurance claim
…make sure to refer to this section’s “Reference Links” box.
Creating A Portfolio
One of the most important and effective marketing tools a photographer has is his portfolio. With the use of a portfolio an operator can not only attract business but also set themselves apart from others offering the same service.
When building your portfolio it is important to remember to keep a consistent quality across all your presented work. Your attention to detail on the editing of a photograph or the angle of approach for a video could be the selling point that creates customers out of people viewing your work.
The first thing to consider when creating an online portfolio is whether you want to build your own website or use an existing portfolio building platform. Both sides have their pros and cons but what it comes down to is this:
A personal website will be the most customizable of all available options. Building a good looking website will take time but in the long run will offer a larger range of artistic possibilities than any builder site. Having a personal website you will have to worry about generating traffic to it through SEO and other technical marketing strategies including but not limited to online solutions.
A portfolio building website will be the fastest and most user friendly solution. Most photographers are not website builders however through the use of customizable templates they are able to create professional looking pages to showcase their work. Furthermore, when using a builder site you will not have to worry about SEO since the website manages that and there are usually already strategies in place to draw traffic to the site.
For more information on what to consider when creating your portfolio check out:
HiFly Photography offers artistic, easy to use portfolios for both aspiring and established aerial photographers. By creating your portfolio at HiFly you are automatically added to our directory of professional photographers and can be searched by customers in your area.
Staying Current
As a professional it is your job to maintain yourself fully informed about everything aerial photography related. Whether it be drone law, new quadcopter hardware or new software having current knowledge of your field of expertise is the most telltale sign of professionalism. The good news is that despite the rapidly changing world of drones achieving this is not as hard as it sounds!
There are many news outlets on the web that are tailored for drone fanatics and sUAV enthusiasts. Staying up to date on the world of drones is as easy as scrolling through the main page of your choice of news sources everyday.
Top 100 Drone News Websites 2015
THINGS EVERY AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHER NEEDS TO KNOW
Part of knowing your trade is knowing the lingo! Some things to familiarize yourself with when just starting off are:
Photo/Video Formats
Editing Terms
File Sharing
NAS and Drone guidelines
Hello..I just started my aerial photography buiesness. How do I copyright my imagery? Also,do I need a lawyer for my LLC. paperwork? And can someone sue me for having a simular buiesness name?
Thanks for your help!
Did you ever find out the answers to these questions?
Copyright an image is basically just putting your own watermark on the image and stating it cannot be used for any monetary gain without your prior consent. You can also pay for a service to have you fill out some paperwork and they basically just file it for you. They can be around $150. You can also pay $25 to have a notary sign a form that states she witnessed you putting a copy of the picture in an envelope and sealing it. Then you mail it to yourself and don’t open it until it is needed for court. I use a online service for my android apps. https://www.wgawregistry.org/registration.asp. A simple dark watermark using Adobe Photoshop is all you need. No one will be able to use it.
Thank you for the insight!
Great Infor: thanks;Rudy
This is one of the better overviews I’ve seen well done!
I am doing a job, for 3 vehicles filming and photos. Im charging less because it my first job, and we want to do more work together so its a sort of trial at cheaper prices. Im charging $300 for a 1 min video, and about 10-15 photos. I am going witht the client to scout out the locations etc and plan. It also is requiring drive time for me. I feel like i under charged though even more than a cheaper trial kinda deal i wanted to do. what things do I need to charge for and whats standard. Please helpe
Thats about right. We charge realtors about that for a 1 -2 minute shot with 10 to 15 pics BUT outside of real estate we charge $750 per minute for commercial shoots (which include editing and a bunch of photo’s) we always come down in price to sell the deal …ie $200 discount.
When you say per minute is that of final edit or flight time?
Taylor, reading your comment, id highly reccomend implementing the use of sales videos. As for myself, i have an extensive sales background. I know nothing about filming or drones. My cousin is in the process of launching a drone photography business. Being that his sales experience is little to none, he reached out to me to handle the sales/marketing aspect. The filming and photo aspect of this industry is the easy part. You must remeber in reality your a SALES company. Your SELLING a service! Sales is a “cut-throat” industry. You must be able to be firm. You sell to the customer, the customer dosent sell to you. Be it goods or services, the approach and steps to the sale are always the same. As good people we aim to give someone a “fair-deal” however negotating a fair deal for them often means we end up skimming ourselves. Customers care about their wallet. Our bottom line is totally irrelevant! In business people are fully aware that money has to be made. Engross yourself into the business of MAKING money! Understand your in a niche market. In closing i will give you this advice. Start HIGH! Start 25% higher than what you want to charge. By the time the deal is finalized you should either make more than what you sought out to get, or you can give a “fair-deal.” Give the customer “25%” off and youll end up getting EXACTLY what you sought out to get. Good luck Taylor.
Great advice but always remember “One size doesn’t fit all.” I liked your comment about starting high and also Business is about making money and maximizing your profit margins. This is technology that is going to be a game changer for many.
You don’t just guess what your gonna charge? That is very un professional and shows your lack of expertise. You have to charge what the standard wage rate is in your area. For example. how many hours did you take pictures? How many hours did you shoot video? How many hours do you have invested in editing? These are all separate wage scales. Check each occupation under DOL (Mean hourly wage) https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes274021.htm
Great information in this article! Thank you so much for all of the helpful insight! I’ve been flying radio controlled airplanes, helicopters, and smaller drones for several years now, and I’m considering purchasing either a DJI Mavic or Phantom 3 Pro – do you have any opinions regarding these two models? Also, any tips on where I should start my business? I’m considering purchasing one of these models first and practicing my editing skills, but I’m unsure of the best photo/editing tools to use for a beginner. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks – Dave
Go with the dji phantom 4 PRO. Best option unless you need Inspire 2. Phantom 4 pro camera has same specs as zenmuse 4 at half price.
Not to mention that the Phantom 3 Pro is no longer available. The only remaining Phantom 3 in the lineup is the Standard. As suggested, go with the Phantom 4 if you want a DJI. There are other equally good or better choices for less money, though. Check out Autel Robotics X-Star Premium drone, as well.
I disagree. For DJI, go with the Mavic Pro!
If you plan to make this a full time job, I DEFINITELY recommend going Phantom 4 Pro or higher. I operate a 4 Pro and love it, but definitely would like a little higher quality images and would NOT go any lower for commercial use. Plus it’s very easy to fly. The difference in image quality between the 4 and 4 PRO is substantial, don’t go lower than 4 PRO!
Hello, I would like to know if I can start this business in my country Nigeria.
I would like to know the cost…I am very sure this will thrive in my country. I’m currently planning on starting a video/photography company in my country. Adding drone video/photography to it will be a great flavor Nigerians would be glad to pay for.
Regards
I found this website to be most informative. I agree that the cost for photos shouldn’t be done cheaply. I paid $3000 for my drone. On top of that I have to pay $300 for n 8-hour class, $150 to the FAA and then $25 for tail registration. Let’s not sell ourselves cheap guys keep the prices up there. This is how I make my living now.
I concur!
Very informative. Thank you greatly!
This site was truly AMAZING! Not only did I find info on what I was looking for, I found info on things I didnt know I should have been looking for. Thank you for creating this site!
Great site
Awesome Site, great to find most information in one area! I’ve been looking at getting into doing Aerial Photography as well. Been flying 3D Heli’s for over 5 years and quads for 1-1/2. Started out with the Phantom 2 vision +, but looking into the 4 PRO and Inspire.
Thank you so much for all this information, we have been in different Businesses for the past 35 years and had 5 Subways at one time and are down to one now and am looking for a different niche to still bring in income and having been into photography since high school I feel this is what I want to do with my time now, this is an amazing website you shared with us just getting started, my son in law is into IT and I am going with the 4 Pro+ it seems to have everything that I am looking for. Thank you again………..
Very informative ! Excellent site
This is the best site ever.
Great site thanks for the info, starting a company now my marketing and web site or in the works , you answered some questions I’ve had .
As far as aircraft I use a inspire 2 with P4P+ as backup
I’m thinking of getting into the drone photography business I have a Phatom 3 standard, and just passed the part 107 FAA test. After I see that’s it’s for me i will be getting a p4p. The only issue now is I’m flying my drone through my ipad air 2 and editing through iMovie. I want to be able to edit the videos or photos and be able to put on a computer or off a memory stick to be played on a TV. So far I can play my edited stuff on a (Windows) computer through Quick Time player, but I can’t get it in a format to put on a memory stick to play on a TV. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Anyone have any guidance on a time lapse job? It would be approximately a three month project. Not sure how often to take the photos or how much to charge. Anyone that has experience or can help it would be greatly appreciated.
You have a great site
If you employ a certified pilot but you do the actual flying and photography, are you in compliance?
I must say you did a great job. I found it very informative. Very well written. Thank you for sharing it with us. Looking forward for more such posts.
great tips guys!! we can’t stress more on creating an online portfolio. If you are a serious aerial photographer, get The Professional Phantom 3. You will get spectacular photography that can be applied to any type of hobby or business. try to create an online portfolio as it will help you to get more business and reputation in a market. Myself create through Pixpa, as it found it very interesting and easy to use without having any coding knowledge.