I’ve been at this hobby gig for going on three years now and it seems all of the sudden AP websites are coming out of the woodwork.

I’ve visited the majority of sites and I can’t believe how cheesy and unprofessional the photos advertised are.

I’ve spent thousands and countless hours investing in top quality equipment and tried building customers by displaying blown up images and nice web presentations.

Some of these new comers are offering much lower prices, and the photos they are advertising really make the whole concept of RC AP unappealing.

Anyone seeing the same thing in there neck of the woods?

Just a little rant and observation on my part. Please try not to “flame” if you’re not confident in what you do.


Edit: I would add though that there are about three locally I would actually recommend if I needed to.

Just a few thoughts:

1, If they are that bad and you are that good, then look it as a good thing,

2, with respect to lower quality and prices - welcome to business! Wal-Mart has made billions selling cheesy, low-quality Chinese imports that must make the buyers at Macy's and Dillards cringe. Guess who will be around in ten years? I'd bet a new plane that most of us have shopped at Wal-Mart or Target in the last month, while few of us have gone to a high-end department store. Econ 201 - the market sets the price.

3, other than real estate, who do you plan to market your services to? What kind of service do they require (e.g. high-end, high resolution, rescue, etc).

4, name one profession that is cheaper than real estate. They are notoriously cheap! A cheesy VGA pic may be all that is required for the average agent.

Just some thoughts - no disrespect intended.

Regards,

No disrespect taken at all. That was the purpose of the thread. To bring up a topic that would raise several different opinions on the matter.

Your points are all on the money and I’m sure are shared by many.
I don’t think I would have ventured into advertising cheesy work before I got a little practice and made an investment in proper equipment. It’s not even a matter of being “that good” Just perhaps a little more picky about presentation.

Indeed realtors are very cheap; I’ve completely given up on the thought of entertaining them unless it’s a friend of a friend job, or family. I have done work for several and I’ve never thought of giving a VGA quality photo, and I don’t think I would have gotten away with it either.

Doesn't really bother me here in AZ because if you're good at AP or AV and your site reflects it you'll get the business. I get calls weekly from realtors, land developers, etc and often times they tell me they have seen other local AP sites and they looked shady and opted to call me instead.

My price point might be lower than some may charge but it helps me quite a bit because my clients do more shoots this way. Quantity over price is what is making it work in my business model.

It's worth it to invest the time to build a professional looking site with clear examples of your works. Don't sweat it... if you're good at it and you appear professional all the other wannabes won't hurt you.

name one profession that is cheaper than real estate.

Auto Dealers!!!!!!!

Agree Dennis, as I think you already know, you're one of the three... lol...

Haven't noticed more appearing around here.
When the FAA comes out with their new rules it should cut down on the fly by night APers as long as they enforce them. Let's just hope they're not too heavy on the good APers.

P.S. Rip-N-Burn, come on one more post and you'll be at the thousand mark. very cool.

You are wasting your time. Every kid on the block with an RC Plane will sell pictures cheaper than you. That and the shrinking demand will assure that you will never never make a living out of AP. Someone will throw you a bone once in a while and you might make some money off an AP shoot, but a couple good jobs once in a while do not make it a living.

Its a great hobby, see it for what it is If you want to go beyond hobby and make some good money, go into sales, or flying real planes, or something where there is real demand. Hour for hour of time invested, you would make more working at McDonalds than AP.

JettPilot

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Here we go!

That statement isn’t entirely correct! I speak to people often who make good livings doing this. While it is true that real estate agents are “frugal” they will have to fight harder for sales.

The folks making money either do this in conjunction with an already existing business or are good business people who have treated it as such!

Originally Posted by patrickegan

That statement isn’t entirely correct! I speak to people often who make good livings doing this.

True Patrick,

There are a FEW people that make a full time living at AP. But a couple does not make it a viable business. More people have won the lottery that make a living at AP.

Dream On

JettPilot

I know when I first started on this board I saw a couple people from Wisconsin. Now there's me too. So, I guess we are growing

Rip-N-Burn,

Just for perspective, how about posting your URL and those of the sites you reference. I’m curious to see the disparity you reference.


Jack

Just for perspective, how about posting your URL and those of the sites you reference. I’m curious to see the disparity you reference.

I don’t think it would be appropriate to list the URLs to the websites, Quality is in the eye of the beholder I suppose, so I don’t want to personalize my opinion. If I had an Axe to grind that would be a different story. I’m sure eventually you’ll come across some even in your area that would make you scratch your head.

If I had to analogically put this into perspective, it would place me in my old career of an auto body technician. You see, there were always good shops, and not so good shops. For some reason though, the not so good shops in the area left such a bad mark on the entire industry that it was almost embarrassing to say what I did for a living. I heard it for years. I would just hate for the same to happen here with AP..

As far as making a living with AP, I don’t now, and don’t plan to in the future. However, I have spoken to several people that do make there living with AP, and there methods and models do not look like the hobbyists.

Originally Posted by JettPilot

You are wasting your time.

Its a great hobby, see it for what it is If you want to go beyond hobby and make some good money, go into sales, or flying real planes, or something where there is real demand. Hour for hour of time invested, you would make more working at McDonalds than AP.

JettPilot

How about your opinion on this Jett... give it to us hard and factual.

You mean even if we use JR radio equipment (the most expensive and therefore the best in the land) we won't make a living at AP?

Guess I had better put my SS, Hitec radio gear and my Aiptek 1.3 SD up for sale.

R/E

Some people take every statement to the extreme limit. By "business", some assume it means "make a living". But it is quite common for people to engage in a "business" that supplies supplemental income, offsets costs of a hobby or makes the person feel better by providing an outlet for feedback and improvement. Musicians, perhaps, are the best example.

TStokes
Futaba user