YDQA: Ep 51 - "How Much To Charge A Client For Drone Work?"

John Dickow: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome back. Another episode of your drone questions answered. I'm John Decker with the drone launch Academy here to find the answers to your drone questions.

And today's question is we get this question a lot. It's how much do you charge a client? When you're going out and shooting a drone video for them. Also, how much are you going to charge a client to license a drone video? You currently already have shot. So today I have with my, I have Kevin Olson.

He's an FAA certified drone videographer, drone photographer, Kevin, you've been with me before. Thanks for coming back. No, thanks for having me again. I appreciate it. So let's just jump right into it. let's start with the first part of the question of how much are you going to charge a client to go out and shoot fresh drone video for them?

Where do you begin? what's that process like?

Kevin Olson: I don't think it's a definite like sentence. Don't answer. It all begins kind of where you are in your career. Like for me, I started out just doing a lot of free work and a lot of people are like, oh, don't do free work. And I've heard different advice about doing free work to start with, but that's how I started just getting my portfolio build up and getting experience.

but I think your question gears more towards, okay, I've done the free work, I've gotten my [00:01:00] portfolio established, how much I start charging now and back where I am now. Back when I first started, I was charging about a hundred, $150 just for a quick video. again, I was doing them just for like social media for like local businesses and like, you know, breweries and wineries and stuff like that.

So back then, after I got past my free stage where I was doing free work, I kind of started, around 100, 150. And I know that's very low and I know there's some of those other drone websites out there that will offer you jobs and a lot of them are for less than 100. I didn't take those. I'm like, that's not worth my time.

the bigger question is more is like, how much is your time worth? And what, does that actually mean to you? Cause it's not just going to a shoot and flying your drone and taking pictures. You also got to factor in driving there, gas and all toll. I can take tolls to get there and then getting back, editing your footage and going through the footage.

And if you're brand new to this. to photography and videography. Editing can take hours. Like if you don't know what you're doing, I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea about like ISO and shutter speed and what was too dark or too light and overexposed, underexposed. I had no idea about any of that.

So [00:02:00] when I got back to editing, it took me hours sometimes. So I'd be working three, four or five hours on a video that was only like a minute or too long. And you can't really factor that in your pricing at the beginning because Clients expect you to have a reasonable amount of time editing. Like if you're a professional, you should be doing it within an hour or two.

so now I've gotten my editing process down or I'm only editing stuff like an hour or two. I got the process down, but at the very beginning, when you're starting, it's going to take you a couple hours to do that kind of work, so you gotta factor that in and I guess your price per hour is going to be quite lower at the beginning.

And then as you get the hang of it and get your routine going and get your process, it's going to be a lot better. but I've gotten to the point now where I've started raising rates and started, charging clients more. it just depends on your career and how you're going. And I've gotten to the point now where I've gotten very picky with who I have the luxury of being picky of who I work with and I'll get.

People reaching out to me through my website or Instagram. Hey, can you do this job for me? And then I asked them the first question I always ask, what's your budget and what are you looking for? so I kind of get the feel of them. If I could tell they're kind of going to be a hard time. It's not going to be an easy job and their [00:03:00] budget's only like 150, 200.

I'm going to like, Hey, I can't really do it. Like you may have to do some ask someone else. Reach out to someone else to see if they can do it. But I've had the luxury of being picky like that. but also sometimes that's the opposite way. Like I called, asked them and I talked to them on a phone call and they seem pretty easy.

It's going to quick job in and out. They only want some quick photos. I'll take a job for 150, 200. If it's going to be quick and easy, but if I could tell, it's going to be more in depth and complicated. That's when I go to my rates. So, I guess it all depends too. It depends on your area as well. So like, if I'm, you're a big metropolitan city and the, you know, Prices of things are more expensive where you are, then it's going to cost a little bit more.

Whereas if you're in the middle of nowhere and people are expecting the lower price, you know, you're gonna have to start charging lower just to compete with other people. So, you don't want to pigeon yourself into being a race for the bottom. I've definitely had jobs pass me by and other people get jobs just because.

I charge too much. but again, I want to value my time. And if it's not worth my time to go do a job for a hundred dollars, I'm not going to do it. Sure. Some people have different attitudes about it and like, Hey, I'll just take any job I could get to make ends meet. And if that's what you got to do, if [00:04:00] this is your full time job and that's how you make the money and that's all anything you have, then.

By all means do it. but you got to do what's best for you and your area and go from there.

John Dickow: that's great. and when it comes to location and just kind of your, the general area where you're, serving, would it be fair to say that it's a good idea to see kind of what others are

Kevin Olson: charging in that area?

Yeah, for sure. And I, I know even in my area, I'm part of an Instagram group of just chatting with other drone pilots in my area. And we're not afraid to talk about, Hey, pricing and what's going on. So we're not. Fighting each other and racing again, racing for the bottom. Like, yeah, we're competitors, but we're also in a team together.

You know, we're in the same industry. so we work together in an area and if I can't do a job, I'll reach out to them. Hey, I can't do the job. And then you guys want to do it and vice versa. So it's good to know local people around you who are doing the same business and don't think of them as competition, but more, you know, kind of working together.

And then you could, you know, work together and there's jobs. I have one coming up where I'm working with another photographer. He needs a visual observer. So I'm going to be working with him. So those types of things where it's, it may not be direct competition, more like teamwork. So sure.

John Dickow: that's a great point.

And so it kind of, the takeaways I'm [00:05:00] taking with this part of the question is, first of all, if you're just starting off, it doesn't hurt to do some free work really, you got to think about the time, resources that you're spending. and know what that is and kind of calculate it so that you kind of know that when you're going to charge someone, you're at least making some money out of it, You want to start low, to kind of have low

Kevin Olson: either. Then another point I have to that is not starting too low is now I have a client that I first I've been working with since I started and they've been like, Constant business since I've started in the business. but now I've kind of pigeon my health self into that low rate with them and they expect that rate.

So now when they have a job coming up, you know, every time I go to a job for them now, it's only 150 and they're a good customer. I don't want to lose them. I don't want to risk raising my prices and then going somewhere else cause they've been steady business for me. But now they're probably the lowest rate.

where I am now, I don't normally take a job for under 200, 150, but now I'm kind of stuck. Giving them that rate now it's been four or five years and they've been at that same rate. it's kind of one of those tricky things where you, you don't want to start too low, so you're, you're not, interfering in your future business, but you don't want to be [00:06:00] too high where you're not getting any business.

So it's like a fine line. No,

John Dickow: that's actually a really, really good point. And it probably lends more to that kind of having those connections with other local people, other local pilots, who can probably be. a good guide and a good check on, let's move on to the second part of the question, which is okay.

So you've shot drone video, it's in your portfolio, and a client really likes it and would like to use it. And so how much are you going to charge? what is that process even like not just how much you charging to license the drone, but is there. number of uses that you're attaching to it

Kevin Olson: Yeah, it depends again to where you are in your career. Like when I first started, it was like a local apartment complex. I was just shooting for fun. I was doing it and I put it up on my Instagram page and like, we licensed that photo. And I had no idea what I was the same question.

Everyone's asking how much did I charge? I had no idea. So like, I was trying to like. Figure it out and they're like, Oh, we'll pay you 250. And to me, I was like, all right, yeah, whatever. Cool. That's fine. It's a photo I already took. I don't do any work. I just got to send you the PDF or the JPEG. And they weren't.

So I was doing back then it was 250. I'm like, it wasn't too bad. And now they're using it for print on all [00:07:00] their elevators and the town I'm in to advertise for their apartment complex. So I'm like, Oh, every time I'm like locally around town, I'm like, Oh, cool. That's my photo on that elevator right there.

so it's pretty cool to see that, but now that I've been at it for a while, my 250 is not a lot of money. for license of photos. Like I have also had some of my footage, NBC was doing, a show and they needed just quick, like two, three second clip of downtown Baltimore near where I am. And I already had that footage on hand and like, they saw it on my website that I quee licensed that video.

We don't have time to send a drone pilot out there. Can we just license it from you? And I'm like, all right, cool. And then I was trying to like figure out, I'm like, this is NBC. This is like a big production. So I just threw the number out there. I'm like, give me a thousand dollars. And they're like, okay, no problem.

And I was like, all right. I'm like, what did I charge? Not enough. Like a thousand dollars seemed like a good amount for me. And it was only like a literally three second clip that they put on one episode of a show. And then, other times I've done that, right.

Go too high. And they're like, no, no, we don't have that budget. And then they go away. I'm like, ah, say I lost a customer that way, but it's like, again, it's the fine line, so we got to know who your customer is and what they're looking forward [00:08:00] to. and kind of go that way.

John Dickow: now when you're coming up with that.

number and maybe this is something that's just figured out while you're talking to your customer, but are you thinking about like timeframe like you can use you this, this license lasts only a certain amount of time, that I'm charging for, or is it kind of like an unlimited?

Kevin Olson: The ones I've done have been unlimited. They like NBC when they license that they said is gonna be specifically for this show and this episode. I think the license, I, the agreement I signed with them is they have unlimited use of it, but they only used it for that one show.

So it depends too, if you're only, you could work that into an agreement with them. I've had no problem just giving unlimited. Use of the photo or video, whatever, you're looking for. I've had no problem doing that. So the ones I've done just been unlimited use,

you've already have it on hand.

It's just sitting on my server at home and it's collecting dust, you know, virtual dust. if I'm not doing anything with it, then why not? Why not make a little extra money? Even if it is a hundred dollars, 200, if that's all their budget is. And if it's just sitting there Collecting dust and might as well at least make a hundred bucks out of it, you know,

John Dickow: Sure. Sure. And is it kind of like the same deal where, okay, let's say you recently put [00:09:00] a new video up on your portfolio. People start really liking it. A lot of people are reaching out and would like to use it. Is that an opportunity where you would say, well, maybe I'll, I'll raise the price on this one.

Kevin Olson: Yeah. again, going back to free work too, I've given, there's a local, like parks and rec around my town where I live in, they asked me to license some photos. So I'm like. Alright, it's a good partnership to work with them. So I gave them a bunch of videos to put on these like kiosks in town that they're going to use for like advertising.

So I gave it to them for free with the impression or understanding that they're going to work with me in the future on future projects. And now I've gotten future customer out of them. So I've gotten more projects and future work for giving them these four free videos real quick. And they were like 10 seconds.

I had them from years ago. It wasn't that big of a deal. So I gave them these for free videos, but now I have a future customer and now I have a working agreement with them. So, you got to work that way. So now I have raised my prices with them, to get future business. Well, there's not just licensing, but.

I said that they licensed those four, those four videos from me for free,

John Dickow: that's great. I'm so glad that we tackled this topic. Cause we do get so many questions, from people who want to do the kind of work that, you're [00:10:00] doing, going out and, making a business out of shooting drone photos, drone video.

I know we've had you on before and I've solicited your advice around this topic already, but. I want to just give you another opportunity, especially when it comes to money, charging and, kind of calculating your resources versus how much you want to charge. Do you have any advice for our audience, who are looking to kind of do the same thing?

Kevin Olson: Yeah. The biggest thing I would say to people is like, don't undervalue yourself. Don't undervalue your time. Like know your worth and know that your time is money and like you're worth the time. A lot of people, I've talked to a lot of people, like they don't have the confidence to just throw out a number.

I'm not going to charge someone 500. That's too much. Or, the confidence that you're worth that 500 job or that thousand dollar job and know full confidence. People will see that confidence in you. And they're like, if you throw that thousand dollar number out there, they're like, Oh yeah, sure.

No problem. Okay. Your work's good enough. It's great. so have that confidence and know that you can charge people a little bit more money than you think you can and know what your worth is and what your time is worth. and don't undervalue yourself.

John Dickow: I love it. Thank you so much, [00:11:00] Kevin.

This is Kevin Olson. He is an FAA certified, drone videographer, drone photographer. you can see his work at marylanddroneguide. com. Check out his portfolio. He's done, like he said, work for some pretty cool clients. And so, thank you, Kevin, again, for, coming out. I really appreciate it and hope to have you on again pretty soon.

Of course, anytime. And Hey, if you've got a drone question, we will find the answer to it. You can go ahead and submit your drone questions over YDQA. io or if you're part of the Drone Launch Connect community, type in your questions there. That's where we found these questions actually for this episode.

So if you're part of Drone Launch Connect, feel free to ask your question through there. We'll find it. We'll find someone to answer it until then we'll see in the sky.