Who is S. Rose on Droners.io?

[R.Perry]

I can only speak for myself, but I do my own marketing. Don't be afraid to knock on doors and find your own work. I specialize in Construction and Agriculture and there seems to be plenty of work in those two areas.

 

[adm_geomatics]

I can only speak for myself, but I do my own marketing. Don't be afraid to knock on doors and find your own work. I specialize in Construction and Agriculture and there seems to be plenty of work in those two areas.

Same here. See a need and go after it. We just picked up a contract with the City of Round Rock to document the storm damage in from the tornadoes in Central Texas. I saw the destruction and sent the City Manager an email and that's all it took. We have a little bit of an edge as we are a construction company but we also work with a lot of really big contractors and are able to provide them with services even if we don't get all of our scopes. We haven't pursued any agricultural work but our office is right next to a bunch of corn, maize and cotton fields and I know there is a lot of work out there.

 

[Rob Hodges]

I've seen a trend this year on almost all of the major platforms that the pay is going down. I'm seeing a lot of $75 dollar jobs for everything from full shopping centers to mapping. Though I've never gotten aa job through them, Droneup sent a mapping job out yesterday for $75. We must have a large influx of new people in these systems.

 

[BigAl07]

....... We must have a large influx of new people in these systems.

That's a huge understatement

 

[Fred Garvin]

Yeah, they've pretty much run through the suckers, and that drove the prices up, but looks like there might be a new crop coming in.

Doing jobs for free or very low cost DOES NOT develop a business relationship, unless you want your Clients to expect FREE or very low ball prices all the time. Once you quote what you should have been charging all along, those Clients are gone.

 

[adm_geomatics]

Yeah, they've pretty much run through the suckers, and that drove the prices up, but looks like there might be a new crop coming in.

Doing jobs for free or very low cost DOES NOT develop a business relationship, unless you want your Clients to expect FREE or very low ball prices all the time. Once you quote what you should have been charging all along, those Clients are gone.

If you don't mind - what pricing structures are you finding that work.. and what is a "ballpark" +/- for different scopes of missions?

For us it's all based on $150/hr and the client understands that is an estimate before being able to review the plans or survey data. (Operator eyes only ). If the client wants a bundle or even an outright termed contract it is easy to start from and once you learn more details you give them a good quote.

 

[Fred Garvin]

You can find a cost structure on my website. I base most on $125 an hour with adjustments made for circumstance.

 

[R.Perry]

There is a new casino going in close to me, they are now doing the excavation work. Client was very interested in site mapping and panos. Quoted mapping and four panos at $250.00 per visit.
Upon checking back, was informed he has someone doing it for $80.00 per visit.
That sure seems to be a trend in my area.

 

[Fred Garvin]

Yeah, it sux, but it's nothing new or even unique to us. It's just business. Just the way it works for almost every business out there.

Unless you're the only game in town, which probably won't last long, you really only have 2 choices:

1. Compete on Price - It's just a race to the bottom. These Clients will drive you nuts and drop you the instant someone offers $5 less. That's the business you're building: a ton of work for little to no money and a demanding Client base with no loyalty. They won't respect you and will nickel & dime you to death. You run a real risk of losing money on every job, burnout and eventually outright resentment.

2. Compete on Quality - This is all about excellence in every aspect of your business and deliverables. A premium, high-end service where every deliverable is perfect, usable and stands up for its intended purpose. The Client should never, ever think "I could have done that". All paperwork: authorizations, documentation, licenses, insurance, flight planning is presented as professionally as possible. Deliverables are easy to access. Billing is professional with multiple ways to pay. The Client feels like they are a VIP. (and they are) They would never see you as an "InstaPro" who went to Best Buy, bought a drone and is working for "beer money". These are the Clients who trust you, depend on you, respect you and are willing to pay for this reliability so they don't have to "roll the dice" with the $80 guy. These are the Clients you build your business around. These are the Clients you want.

I've retained several Clients who got burned by the $80 Droners guy. They came to me to clean up that mess and don't care what I charge. They'll pay it because they know I'll deliver every time.

 

[adm_geomatics]

There is a new casino going in close to me, they are now doing the excavation work. Client was very interested in site mapping and panos. Quoted mapping and four panos at $250.00 per visit.
Upon checking back, was informed he has someone doing it for $80.00 per visit.
That sure seems to be a trend in my area.

Wow, that is a low blow. I get paid more than that on DroneBase for a little 20 minute flight. They'll probably be gone before you know it.

 

[Fred Garvin]

Wow, that is a low blow. I get paid more than that on DroneBase for a little 20 minute flight. They'll probably be gone before you know it.

Yeah, it's not a sustainable business model.

 

[adm_geomatics]

Yeah, it sux, but it's nothing new or even unique to us. It's just business. Just the way it works for almost every business out there.

Unless you're the only game in town, which probably won't last long, you really only have 2 choices:

1. Compete on Price - It's just a race to the bottom. These Clients will drive you nuts and drop you the instant someone offers $5 less. That's the business you're building: a ton of work for little to no money and a demanding Client base with no loyalty. They won't respect you and will nickel & dime you to death. You run a real risk of losing money on every job, burnout and eventually outright resentment.

2. Compete on Quality - This is all about excellence in every aspect of your business and deliverables. A premium, high-end service where every deliverable is perfect, usable and stands up for its intended purpose. The Client should never, ever think "I could have done that". All paperwork: authorizations, documentation, licenses, insurance, flight planning is presented as professionally as possible. Deliverables are easy to access. Billing is professional with multiple ways to pay. The Client feels like they are a VIP. (and they are) They would never see you as an "InstaPro" who went to Best Buy, bought a drone and is working for "beer money". These are the Clients who trust you, depend on you, respect you and are willing to pay for this reliability so they don't have to "roll the dice" with the $80 guy. These are the Clients you build your business around. These are the Clients you want.

I've retained several Clients who got burned by the $80 Droners guy. They came to me to clean up that mess and don't care what I charge. They'll pay it because they know I'll deliver every time.

Or you just build a reputation that proceeds you and get clients that actually know what they are looking at. The problem right now is that so few people are ACTUALLY using this data for anything other than a few pictures, a CAD overlay and maybe some stockpiles along the way - if that. I talked to a peer the other day that I have been consulting and all of the sudden they have an M300 w/ P1 and are barely doing anything with the data. I'm pretty sure the $80 guy was just someone that got lucky from a buddy of a buddy or just a cold call. Contracted pilots don't normally get paid directly by the client and if it was a pilot network service they would have paid more like $300-400 for that flight for the pilot to get $80. Or at least that's the profit that Dronebase Flyguys are pulling.

 

[R.Perry]

Time will tell how well this does or doesn't work out for them. I keep saying I'm going to hang it up, but then a decent job comes along, and away I go.
One thing I learned many years ago, a person needs a skill or profession that not everyone can jump into. As a pilot I looked around for where I could make some decent money, at the time the industry was loaded with pilots, so I learned crop dusting because most pilots wanted nothing to do with it, and I married a farm girl.
Build a skill set that others have a difficult time competing with, work hard, and try to be the best at what you do, and eventually you will succeed.
Another thing I've seen happening is companies training their own people to do their drone work. The contractor on the UC Merced project now has two of their civil engineers with 107 licenses and they are doing all their work in house now, and reality is that makes sense.

 

[Tylonius]

To address the original question, S. Rose is Scott Rose, founder of

Drone Services | Professional Aerial Video & Photography Company

We are a Nationwide Drone Media Company that Films Affordable High Quality Custom Drone Videos and Aerial Photography for Real Estate, Construction, Farms & More. DroneVideos also has Drone Stock Footage, a daily blog covering Drone & Aerial Photography, Viral Videos & More

dronevideos.com

Like DroneBase, they advertise cheap aerial photo and video solutions for real estate brokers, and then farm out the contracts to pilots via sites like Droners.io.

A typical RE package runs $400 retail (Order a Custom Real Estate Drone Video and Aerial Photos), which includes all of the color-correcting, video editing, and a landing page. For that, pilots can't expect more than $100-150.

I suppose that you could gang up multiple listings if you worked in an area that supported that, but otherwise, there's no way to make any actual money with them.

 

[adm_geomatics]

I suppose that you could gang up multiple listings if you worked in an area

This is a great point. We do this whenever possible. Our reoccurring routes are flexible so if they need to push a day or come a day earlier it is usually pretty easy to mix in these contract flights and really mitigate windshield time that gets charged to each project.

 

[JimD]

kicked s.rose off the platform. youre welcome everyone

Why? S Rose was a paying customer so why would you do that?
Course I don’t believe you anyway.

 

[unmannedaerialops]

I obviously didn't, I think they left because of a dispute. regardless I haven't seen any jobs posted by him since.

 

[kthomas]

I've seen a trend this year on almost all of the major platforms that the pay is going down. I'm seeing a lot of $75 dollar jobs for everything from full shopping centers to mapping. Though I've never gotten aa job through them, Droneup sent a mapping job out yesterday for $75. We must have a large influx of new people in these systems.

Unfortunately I think any real money in this kind of job is niche jobs where you have a specialty/expertise background.

Like it or not, just getting a Part 107 license and a drone isn't going to cut it - almost anyone can do that. The barrier of entry is just too low for people to pay top dollar, especially when the market is flooding with people that can perform that task.

 

[unmannedaerialops]

Unfortunately I think any real money in this kind of job is niche jobs where you have a specialty/expertise background.

Like it or not, just getting a Part 107 license and a drone isn't going to cut it - almost anyone can do that. The barrier of entry is just too low for people to pay top dollar, especially when the market is flooding with people that can perform that task.

I think a video job for $75 is ridiculous. Expenses like: insurance, cost of equipment, travel, time on site, TAXES and not to mention droners.io's 10% cut put you making hardly any money.

$75 for a mapping job is just insulting, nothing else to say about that.

Honestly, I'm going to start a new network where there is a baseline for pay. I think minimum $150 if say, the pilot lives right next to the location.

Probably market it as "For higher quality drone services"

vetting would have to be way better than droners.io though

By a drone pilot, for drone pilots. 1776 baby

 

[kthomas]

I think a video job for $75 is ridiculous. Expenses like: insurance, cost of equipment, travel, time on site, TAXES and not to mention droners.io's 10% cut put you making hardly any money.

$75 for a mapping job is just insulting, nothing else to say about that.

Honestly, I'm going to start a new network where there is a baseline for pay. I think minimum $150 if say, the pilot lives right next to the location.

Probably market it as "For higher quality drone services"

vetting would have to be way better than droners.io though

By a drone pilot, for drone pilots. 1776 baby

I agree.

I don't think folks should take such low paying jobs, just for the sake of work. It undercuts the value of what our field brings.

However, as long as there's an influx of people getting their drone license and buying a drone, this will probably always be a reality. The barrier of entry is too low.