Drone to $1K Podcast: Season 3, Episode 6
In this week's episode, Jonathan Stettler of Steady Focus Media joins us to talk about how he went from making $200/month to booking 3-4 jobs per week (and all of this was during the pandemic!).
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== Podcast Summary ==
Introduction
Jonathan’s background is in photography. He wanted to be a photographer, but he just wasn’t sure what industry he should try to get into.
Last year, Jonathan 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.
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.
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 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 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.
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 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. After that, she became one of his consistent clients.
Jonathan decided to create flyers for his business and mail them out to local realtors’ offices. That landed him a job with one of the bigger realty companies. 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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: How are you pricing your drone services right now?
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.
Resources:
Website: Steady Focus Media LLC
Facebook: Steady Focus Media LLC
Instagram: @steadyfocusmedia