Promoting a new/very small local business...
Discussion
Hi PH, I would be grateful for some advice on a small side line I have developed. It was a hobby however having been involved in it for some time I saw an opportunity to offer my services out to the wider community. In some ways it is a niche market, in other ways not.
I am looking to offer packages / some kind of service for residential photography and videography. I have a full time job so it matters not whether I make a penny or a grand a month, however this in itself is an advantage as I have zero overheads. I know some will tut and roll their eyes, as these days every other person is a photographer, a drone pilot or a hot tub hirer. Its been done to death and is boring isn't it? I am well aware of this, so what can I offer that is different? Please read on.
Any old tom dick or harry can launch a drone and press click. Just look up 90 of footage on Youtube and you will see the same old shots and videos, bland log footage of single direction flights over lakes, jerky movements with no intro or ending. Boring. I however do things differently. I incorporate a variety of ground level, mid level and aerial shots using different angles and pans. Editing is my main skill, so I transition all my footage into a neat package and colour grade it, adding decent music over the top of the media on Da Vinci Resolve. I now have a logo thanks to the advice on here, so I have branded my work. I am starting to collate videos of my work on Youtube which I can then share with others. Currently I am not operating as a business for a few reasons, but I am building my portfolio to be ready to offer paid work in the near future. Currently I am volunteering my time, equipment and expertise all for free whilst I collate a decent string of demo videos. I have only started uploading videos that I feel are of a decent quality to promote myself, I want to do this for longer, then go back and delete some of the unbranded and scruffier earlier videos. That way I have a solid foundation when I do properly try and offer proper work.
Target audience is where it gets a little tricky. People are saving money at the moment and I know they are being selective with what they spend. A photo / video package of your house or business is not high on the list of priorities for most. Those with high end houses also are not likely to be scanning the social media pages either, and if you Google such a service, little old folk like me won't appear. I do have a Google business page set up but until I start work officially I won't be able to gain reviews or much traction. I also don't want to pay for a website or Google advertising as I suspect I will not be getting much work from this in the short term. I have spoken to some local estate agents (not many yet) and my general feeling is they either don't want or need such a service, or if they do they already have something in place.
I am happy to plod along and just carry on uploading things now and then to keep my video portfolio alive, but I wonder whether there are any other avenues I should explore.
Thanks
I am looking to offer packages / some kind of service for residential photography and videography. I have a full time job so it matters not whether I make a penny or a grand a month, however this in itself is an advantage as I have zero overheads. I know some will tut and roll their eyes, as these days every other person is a photographer, a drone pilot or a hot tub hirer. Its been done to death and is boring isn't it? I am well aware of this, so what can I offer that is different? Please read on.
Any old tom dick or harry can launch a drone and press click. Just look up 90 of footage on Youtube and you will see the same old shots and videos, bland log footage of single direction flights over lakes, jerky movements with no intro or ending. Boring. I however do things differently. I incorporate a variety of ground level, mid level and aerial shots using different angles and pans. Editing is my main skill, so I transition all my footage into a neat package and colour grade it, adding decent music over the top of the media on Da Vinci Resolve. I now have a logo thanks to the advice on here, so I have branded my work. I am starting to collate videos of my work on Youtube which I can then share with others. Currently I am not operating as a business for a few reasons, but I am building my portfolio to be ready to offer paid work in the near future. Currently I am volunteering my time, equipment and expertise all for free whilst I collate a decent string of demo videos. I have only started uploading videos that I feel are of a decent quality to promote myself, I want to do this for longer, then go back and delete some of the unbranded and scruffier earlier videos. That way I have a solid foundation when I do properly try and offer proper work.
Target audience is where it gets a little tricky. People are saving money at the moment and I know they are being selective with what they spend. A photo / video package of your house or business is not high on the list of priorities for most. Those with high end houses also are not likely to be scanning the social media pages either, and if you Google such a service, little old folk like me won't appear. I do have a Google business page set up but until I start work officially I won't be able to gain reviews or much traction. I also don't want to pay for a website or Google advertising as I suspect I will not be getting much work from this in the short term. I have spoken to some local estate agents (not many yet) and my general feeling is they either don't want or need such a service, or if they do they already have something in place.
I am happy to plod along and just carry on uploading things now and then to keep my video portfolio alive, but I wonder whether there are any other avenues I should explore.
Thanks
Funerals I would do, but who asks for that?
Weddings - unsure for a few reasons. Long griefy days, high expectations from customers, only ever get 1 chance to shoot the critical moments, and would have to work alongside a static photographer and collaborate. All of this I am prepared to do, but it is a big ask and a day off for me gone. Doing the residential stuff is far easier, quicker, and less stressful. I would do a wedding but it would have to come at a cost.
Car meets is an idea, any kind of leisure or hobby is to be honest. But I want to make sure I am not involving myself in tomfoolery - so the right car meet would be essential.
Weddings - unsure for a few reasons. Long griefy days, high expectations from customers, only ever get 1 chance to shoot the critical moments, and would have to work alongside a static photographer and collaborate. All of this I am prepared to do, but it is a big ask and a day off for me gone. Doing the residential stuff is far easier, quicker, and less stressful. I would do a wedding but it would have to come at a cost.
Car meets is an idea, any kind of leisure or hobby is to be honest. But I want to make sure I am not involving myself in tomfoolery - so the right car meet would be essential.
OP, have you established that property owners would want to pay for aerial videos of their properties?
There might be a market with local estate agents who can be addressed directly, but beyond that?
We used to get knocks on the door from folks who had done local aerial photography and were trying to sell pictures of peoples' houses on spec, but I doubt they ever even covered the cost of avgas, let alone made a viable business out of it
There might be a market with local estate agents who can be addressed directly, but beyond that?
We used to get knocks on the door from folks who had done local aerial photography and were trying to sell pictures of peoples' houses on spec, but I doubt they ever even covered the cost of avgas, let alone made a viable business out of it
Pro video is part of my professional repertoire, including drone work.
Your ideas and approach are sound. The difficulty you will face is finding sufficient fee-paying work to justify the effort of doing fee paying work, even at a side hustle level.
I would suggest that you pitch your services to local videographers / video production companies. Some will have a drone themselves but many won't. The benefit of this is they do all the hard-yards in winning clients and just sub-out the drone stuff to you. The fact that you edit as well will be an added-value offer that many may well find attractive.
Ahead of that, rather than just build your online portfolio, create a channel on Insta and TikTok. Get your best snippets on this channel and promote them across your local area. Become an 'influencer' so that when you knock on doors, you're likely to already be a known entity.
Your ideas and approach are sound. The difficulty you will face is finding sufficient fee-paying work to justify the effort of doing fee paying work, even at a side hustle level.
I would suggest that you pitch your services to local videographers / video production companies. Some will have a drone themselves but many won't. The benefit of this is they do all the hard-yards in winning clients and just sub-out the drone stuff to you. The fact that you edit as well will be an added-value offer that many may well find attractive.
Ahead of that, rather than just build your online portfolio, create a channel on Insta and TikTok. Get your best snippets on this channel and promote them across your local area. Become an 'influencer' so that when you knock on doors, you're likely to already be a known entity.
A good friend of mine does something similar
He did it alongside a career in the Police but got busy enough after a few years to leave the force and concentrate full time on his business. He works with one of the larger local estate agents as their property photographer and does internal/external videos for each but also does a similar package for individuals who want a set of pics and video to give to other estate agents if they want. He always seemed to be the local go-to guy for car photography, rig shots, light paining pics etc. He appears at most local trackdays whether they are general ones or high end dealer ones and uploads his pics online and is then often contacted to do full sets. The pet thing is done from a "studio" in his garage.
From what I can tell everything seems to have grown up initially through social media, FB, Instagram and then from that personal recommendation and repeat business. He did tell me that joining the local business community groups for networking grew things rapidly to the extent that he couldn't really have coped if still working full time. He's also got far more expensive!!
He did it alongside a career in the Police but got busy enough after a few years to leave the force and concentrate full time on his business. He works with one of the larger local estate agents as their property photographer and does internal/external videos for each but also does a similar package for individuals who want a set of pics and video to give to other estate agents if they want. He always seemed to be the local go-to guy for car photography, rig shots, light paining pics etc. He appears at most local trackdays whether they are general ones or high end dealer ones and uploads his pics online and is then often contacted to do full sets. The pet thing is done from a "studio" in his garage.
From what I can tell everything seems to have grown up initially through social media, FB, Instagram and then from that personal recommendation and repeat business. He did tell me that joining the local business community groups for networking grew things rapidly to the extent that he couldn't really have coped if still working full time. He's also got far more expensive!!
There are several things to consider
- everyone has access to kit which can produce amazing results
- people are used to and accept much lower quality editing online than they might have done when it was the preserve of the professional
This means that unless someone has a need they can not meet themselves, they see little need for such a service…
This means that there can be a jump to the level where people do pay - so you might need to be offering a lot more to be seen as a service / result that can only be accessed through you…
- everyone has access to kit which can produce amazing results
- people are used to and accept much lower quality editing online than they might have done when it was the preserve of the professional
This means that unless someone has a need they can not meet themselves, they see little need for such a service…
This means that there can be a jump to the level where people do pay - so you might need to be offering a lot more to be seen as a service / result that can only be accessed through you…
Ubiquitous2024 said:
Funerals I would do, but who asks for that?
Funerals are my sphere of knowledge and I own and run a number of companies within the industry. Funeral photography / videography is becoming more and more popular. It had a massive uprising as a ‘concept’ during the C19 Lockdowns - when numbers were significantly restricted and stringently policed - and it now seems to be something that has added immense value to the families.
All crematoria now record and/or live-stream services for families that could not attend in person - family who are geographically displaced or unable to travel as an example. Google Funeral Photography and have a look around. You might be surprised…
This is great thanks. Glad to see I am not too far off the mark. I fully expect a vacuum until someone somewhere sees what I do and like it. I am plaguing the local media sites and I haven now started to get contact. I also agree totally with the above comment re everyone doing it, and the step up to actually be worth paying for. I am not a professional editor but I have my own style. At some point I will post something up but for now I am still fine tuning. Nothing short of perfection is acceptable!
I wanted to provide an update to this as I have been on quite a journey since posting, and it may be of use to others in the future. I have reached equilibrium, there is good and bad news however it is what it is and I know where I am at so to speak.
I started flying and doing all this in December last year, so I am at around 4 months in now. I have just successfully completed my first paid job, so I am giving myself a virtual pat on the back. However, I have put far too much time and effort into this in general, and despite this accomplishment, work is scarce and I suspect will remain so permanently. I have a full time job so this for me is done around that. I have put all my time into it though since Xmas to give it the best chance I can. Its kind of worked - I have a google business page, a Youtube page and a small exposure on my local social media groups, but I have found out this is too niche. All people want are freebies and nobody is paying for drone footage for the following reasons:
“Go and speak to estate agents”. No - don’t bother. These are the last people who want your service. Why on earth would a local estate agent pay you £100 - 200 for a collation of stills or a video when they could buy their own drone instead and do it all themselves for no cost. And this is what they are doing. I have been in contact with around 20 local agents, a few have engaged but the rest haven’t. They all have their own drone, and are self sufficient because it makes no business sense that they pay someone else to do what they can do for free. They only want simple quick shots for a listing, they don’t need posh videos or colour grading, it is of no interest to them as their customers are quick clicking one after the other. In fact they are sick of being contacted by drone locals trying to find work. It has been done to death and they use their own drone to provide average shots as that's all they need.
“What about roofers and local builders?”. Exactly the same as above. They all have their own equipment because it makes business sense, they can do their own surveys and fault finding instantly and at no cost. They aren’t paying a third party hundreds to do this and they won't have any way of passing on the cost of hiring you or me to fault find and pass a quote to someone else.
“Photography and Weddings?”. Awkward. Go onto any local group and you will find 100 photographers all touting for business. Everyone is a photographer, or a hot tub hirer, or a pet sitter e.t.c. Weddings are only complimented by drone footage so you would need to collaborate with a static photographer, they seem unwilling to engage as why should they split their earnings? Weddings are also long gutty days where you would need to be available around 8 to 10 hours to capture everything. Not worth it for me unless I was paid for it, but that would be a huge bill for my time and people won't want to pay it.
“Residential showcases / imagery”. I think this is where it is at, however, you find someone that actually wants this. Not many people are thinking about a showcase video over their morning coffee. For those that are, they are generally higher earners who are not going to use local business on social media. They will just go to Google, which will throw up the big shiny website with the best SEO (search engine optimisation) and pay huge amounts for what will likely be a generic video (I have seen many and believe I can do better). So trying to make contact with your target market is seriously tricky. There are big shiny websites offering national drone coverage, I would love to know how they work or who is contacting them. There are also loads of local business pages that look like they were setup some time ago and been left to fester. I tried to call a few near me to suss out the competition and the number didn't exist anymore. No reviews either - that kind of thing.
“Local Business”. I also think this is also where it is at, but, obvious hurdles here. I have done some free promo work at care homes, residential homes and leisure centres to build demo material. They all have their own marketing person, who in turn will have their own website builder and media contacts, so the relationships are already founded and for a newbie it is nigh on impossible to get a foot in. An example of this is a video I did in Sunningdale of as part of Audley Villages. They have an existing 2 min video of the location which is highly generic - straight line / bland / vanilla type video. They have seen my 4 min 30 version at sunrise, and that’s all great, but they have existing processes in place and why would they change those? I could have gone to many of their sites nationally and delivered media for them, and likely at less than what they are paying, but the conversation isn’t even there to have as marketing just isn’t a priority for them especially when they have their own process in place. You can't gazump an existing relationship.
“Adverts”. This is where I have found some interest. Supporting local business with local adverts. This is all well and good but the ceiling of opportunity feels low at the moment. That may change. For context I have had to spend a considerable amount of time making numerous demo videos simply to post as examples and gain traction. I have been posting relentlessly across countless social media sites since December - and have had a couple of questions and one or two successes. I am going to continue doing this as it is possible time of year plays a part, but it feels slow. I have also undersold myself which is a big lesson going forward. I just created 4 adverts, 3 minis and 1 long corporate one for a local security company. I charged £165 for this - however it took me weeks of work to get it perfect. I take responsibility for this and it is a learning curve, but going forward I need to up the price to reflect my efforts - site visits, footage, editing, transitions, colour grading, presenting, hosting online, adding to memory stick and delivering to business e.t.c. I loved doing it all but if work were ever to take off I would be very busy and need to renumerate accordingly.
So in summary this is a tough gig. Google “Drones xxxxxx” replacing xxxxxx with your location. I bet you find loads of them, as I have. A lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon - I have always said anyone can launch a drone but find me someone that can do the whole package well, as in fly well, edit well, be communicative, be efficient e.t.c. I believe I am those things but I don’t know how to advertise myself efficiently. Paying for advertising doesn’t make sense, looking at the costs I would be at a permanent loss. Or maybe I have it all wrong - who knows, you can tell me if you like I won’t get upset.
I am going to continue plugging away as it is still fun. I believe I only need one company to like what I do and offer me something a little more cyclical but who knows. I am also conscious that I predominantly lives in urbansville so I am trying to make average locations look great. I don’t have access to sweeping expanse of stunning nature, but whenever I visit them I will take my drone.
Hope this helps someone else looking at doing this more seriously. It is a race to the bottom littered with the corpses of those that have tried before! Good luck! Oh and if you are reading this as a proffesional who has found success, what am I not doing that you have done?
I started flying and doing all this in December last year, so I am at around 4 months in now. I have just successfully completed my first paid job, so I am giving myself a virtual pat on the back. However, I have put far too much time and effort into this in general, and despite this accomplishment, work is scarce and I suspect will remain so permanently. I have a full time job so this for me is done around that. I have put all my time into it though since Xmas to give it the best chance I can. Its kind of worked - I have a google business page, a Youtube page and a small exposure on my local social media groups, but I have found out this is too niche. All people want are freebies and nobody is paying for drone footage for the following reasons:
“Go and speak to estate agents”. No - don’t bother. These are the last people who want your service. Why on earth would a local estate agent pay you £100 - 200 for a collation of stills or a video when they could buy their own drone instead and do it all themselves for no cost. And this is what they are doing. I have been in contact with around 20 local agents, a few have engaged but the rest haven’t. They all have their own drone, and are self sufficient because it makes no business sense that they pay someone else to do what they can do for free. They only want simple quick shots for a listing, they don’t need posh videos or colour grading, it is of no interest to them as their customers are quick clicking one after the other. In fact they are sick of being contacted by drone locals trying to find work. It has been done to death and they use their own drone to provide average shots as that's all they need.
“What about roofers and local builders?”. Exactly the same as above. They all have their own equipment because it makes business sense, they can do their own surveys and fault finding instantly and at no cost. They aren’t paying a third party hundreds to do this and they won't have any way of passing on the cost of hiring you or me to fault find and pass a quote to someone else.
“Photography and Weddings?”. Awkward. Go onto any local group and you will find 100 photographers all touting for business. Everyone is a photographer, or a hot tub hirer, or a pet sitter e.t.c. Weddings are only complimented by drone footage so you would need to collaborate with a static photographer, they seem unwilling to engage as why should they split their earnings? Weddings are also long gutty days where you would need to be available around 8 to 10 hours to capture everything. Not worth it for me unless I was paid for it, but that would be a huge bill for my time and people won't want to pay it.
“Residential showcases / imagery”. I think this is where it is at, however, you find someone that actually wants this. Not many people are thinking about a showcase video over their morning coffee. For those that are, they are generally higher earners who are not going to use local business on social media. They will just go to Google, which will throw up the big shiny website with the best SEO (search engine optimisation) and pay huge amounts for what will likely be a generic video (I have seen many and believe I can do better). So trying to make contact with your target market is seriously tricky. There are big shiny websites offering national drone coverage, I would love to know how they work or who is contacting them. There are also loads of local business pages that look like they were setup some time ago and been left to fester. I tried to call a few near me to suss out the competition and the number didn't exist anymore. No reviews either - that kind of thing.
“Local Business”. I also think this is also where it is at, but, obvious hurdles here. I have done some free promo work at care homes, residential homes and leisure centres to build demo material. They all have their own marketing person, who in turn will have their own website builder and media contacts, so the relationships are already founded and for a newbie it is nigh on impossible to get a foot in. An example of this is a video I did in Sunningdale of as part of Audley Villages. They have an existing 2 min video of the location which is highly generic - straight line / bland / vanilla type video. They have seen my 4 min 30 version at sunrise, and that’s all great, but they have existing processes in place and why would they change those? I could have gone to many of their sites nationally and delivered media for them, and likely at less than what they are paying, but the conversation isn’t even there to have as marketing just isn’t a priority for them especially when they have their own process in place. You can't gazump an existing relationship.
“Adverts”. This is where I have found some interest. Supporting local business with local adverts. This is all well and good but the ceiling of opportunity feels low at the moment. That may change. For context I have had to spend a considerable amount of time making numerous demo videos simply to post as examples and gain traction. I have been posting relentlessly across countless social media sites since December - and have had a couple of questions and one or two successes. I am going to continue doing this as it is possible time of year plays a part, but it feels slow. I have also undersold myself which is a big lesson going forward. I just created 4 adverts, 3 minis and 1 long corporate one for a local security company. I charged £165 for this - however it took me weeks of work to get it perfect. I take responsibility for this and it is a learning curve, but going forward I need to up the price to reflect my efforts - site visits, footage, editing, transitions, colour grading, presenting, hosting online, adding to memory stick and delivering to business e.t.c. I loved doing it all but if work were ever to take off I would be very busy and need to renumerate accordingly.
So in summary this is a tough gig. Google “Drones xxxxxx” replacing xxxxxx with your location. I bet you find loads of them, as I have. A lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon - I have always said anyone can launch a drone but find me someone that can do the whole package well, as in fly well, edit well, be communicative, be efficient e.t.c. I believe I am those things but I don’t know how to advertise myself efficiently. Paying for advertising doesn’t make sense, looking at the costs I would be at a permanent loss. Or maybe I have it all wrong - who knows, you can tell me if you like I won’t get upset.
I am going to continue plugging away as it is still fun. I believe I only need one company to like what I do and offer me something a little more cyclical but who knows. I am also conscious that I predominantly lives in urbansville so I am trying to make average locations look great. I don’t have access to sweeping expanse of stunning nature, but whenever I visit them I will take my drone.
Hope this helps someone else looking at doing this more seriously. It is a race to the bottom littered with the corpses of those that have tried before! Good luck! Oh and if you are reading this as a proffesional who has found success, what am I not doing that you have done?
I've got nothing useful to add just the observation than having recently sold my house, the photography was definitely done by subbies not the estate agent themselves. There were two of them, one took all the drone footage and then went to the next job, the other chap did shots with a camera on a telescopic pole, all the other external and internal shots, the 3D walkthrough, the room measurements and the Energy Performance Certificate.
Ubiquitous2024 said:
I wanted to provide an update to this as I have been on quite a journey since posting, and it may be of use to others in the future. I have reached equilibrium, there is good and bad news however it is what it is and I know where I am at so to speak.
Sounds pretty much all bad news. Like website design, there’s no real barrier to entry and most 18 year olds have figured how to do itIt might be that you have to go directly to the customer who wants a one-off piece of footage rather than someone who does it regularly.
Weddings: you offer to be around either during the main outdoor shoot for "B-roll" footage while the photographer is doing their thing or in the evening especially if it's outdoors in summer.
Homes: maybe find houses on Purple Bricks (because it bypasses the estate agent) and look at ads where they've got the usual photos but no overhead/drone footage.
Roof surveys: offer to scan a homeowner's home if they're suspicious that they need work doing so they do it BEFORE they get someone to give them a quote who can make s
t up ("the chimney's split but you can't see it from down here"). TBH I could do with someone having a look at my roof with a drone!
Weddings: you offer to be around either during the main outdoor shoot for "B-roll" footage while the photographer is doing their thing or in the evening especially if it's outdoors in summer.
Homes: maybe find houses on Purple Bricks (because it bypasses the estate agent) and look at ads where they've got the usual photos but no overhead/drone footage.
Roof surveys: offer to scan a homeowner's home if they're suspicious that they need work doing so they do it BEFORE they get someone to give them a quote who can make s
t up ("the chimney's split but you can't see it from down here"). TBH I could do with someone having a look at my roof with a drone!48k said:
I've got nothing useful to add just the observation than having recently sold my house, the photography was definitely done by subbies not the estate agent themselves. There were two of them, one took all the drone footage and then went to the next job, the other chap did shots with a camera on a telescopic pole, all the other external and internal shots, the 3D walkthrough, the room measurements and the Energy Performance Certificate.
Interesting... out of interest did you see the results? I wouldn't have the ability to do 3D stuff but were the images colour graded and we'll done? And was this standard media for the company or did you pay for an "uprade"?Ubiquitous2024 said:
Oh and if you are reading this as a proffesional who has found success, what am I not doing that you have done?
Forgive me if I missed it, but I didn't see a USP. I've had two businesses, one video and one photography, and they both had stonking USPs. However it's only a matter of time before the hordes catch up; if you can find clients who will give you repeat business rather than one-offs that helps.I guess my only tangible usp is that I dont do all the boring, straight line, grey and uninspiring footage you see online. I turn, pan, move and gimbal to maintain interest, and do a lot of close up / ground level clips, avoiding constant generic high level shots. I synch to music and phase, and can do themed things. None of that is special I guess but I like to think I provide quality,consistency and originality. Each video has a personality.
I like the purple bricks idea bit is it easy to contact sellers? I do have one business who will be repeat so that's good, but the Facebook advertising is painful to be honest.
I like the purple bricks idea bit is it easy to contact sellers? I do have one business who will be repeat so that's good, but the Facebook advertising is painful to be honest.
Ubiquitous2024 said:
Update stuff
Kudos for giving it a go.amongst your list of things that didn't work was my previous suggestion of reaching out to pro video companies. Any reason you didn't try that?
The challenge with many an image/creative based endeavour is that the creation of the images is often the easiest part. As you've discovered, anyone can buy a drone and create nice looking content.
As Simpo says, a USP is important; a speciality or something that makes you different.
It's also understanding the purpose and intended use of the images you capture.
I've just come back from a 10 day photo assignment in Cyprus. Anyone looking at the shots I took would be forgiven for thinking I just had a nice holiday, driving round the island taking nice photos of things I saw. I won't deny it was a nice assignment. But, it was the culmination of many weeks of research. planning and preparation to identify what was needed and consider how the images would be used and the stories they need to tell.
It's being able to grasp this and having a USP that distinguishes a pro (or even side hustler) with a really good amateur. This might be an unpopular opinion but I'd say it's more important than technical competency - not always but more often than not.
Another thing to try is getting yourself on Fiverr. And I hear good things about Bark.
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