Exploring Life & Business with David DeLeon of AeroViews

Today we’d like to introduce you to David DeLeon. 

David, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
AeroViews is a company that started by accident in 2016. I bought a drone because I was curious about the capabilities, quality of the video and images and thought it would be fun to play with. When I brought the drone home, my wife started asking me about my plans for it since I really had no experience in photography or videography. At that time, I really didn’t know; I thought it would be fun to fly a drone and take some photos. I could tell she was a bit disappointed that I had spent $500 on a drone for fun, so an idea popped into my head… I could make the money back that I spent on this drone by using the drone, and I’m sure that would make her feel better about it. 

That’s when I hit my first roadblock. I did a quick Google search and quickly learned that if I wanted to earn money by flying a drone, I had to have a commercial UAS (unmanned aircraft system) pilot license. I hesitated at the idea and said to myself; there’s no way I am doing that. As the days went by, I still had this lingering curiosity in my head, so I did another Google search, ‘how to make money in the drone industry.’ The results I saw were staggering, the drone market was estimated to be in the billions of dollars across the vast array of drone services, and this motivated me to get a UAS license to see where it might take me. 

I did an online course at remote pilot 101, and in 10 days I had gone through all the material, and I was getting 100% on all of the practice tests, so I decided it’s time to go for the real thing. I went to the nearest airport and took the test, and passed with a 97%. 

So now I have this license, what am I going to do with it? I figured I could try a cheap way of advertising, so I posted a Craigslist ad – drone pilot for hire – and I received a call on the first day that I posted the ad. The client asked me what I charged to take drone photos (which I had no idea), so I just threw a number out there – how does $200 sound? The client said great, let’s do it. I drove to the location, shot the photos, which took me less than 30 minutes. The client had asked if I could shoot the interior of the home and create a video, and at that time, I said no because I didn’t have the equipment or experience to do it, and that’s when it hit me, I had just made $200 in less than 30 minutes, and I was still leaving money on the table. I was starting to see that there was a viable business, and that motivated me even more to press forward. 

I already had over a decade of programming, SEO, and software development experience, so I just put my own skills to work for myself. I created the brand AeroViews, built my own website, and started to get aggressive with online marketing. 

The company grew to a six-figure company within 1 year, and I went full-time into this business in 2017. Through that time, I earned awards such as Thumbtack’s top pro award in 2017 & 2018 and gathered approximately 50 5-star reviews. I became an elite pro on the Bark platform by 2019. 

I developed my skillset from being a complete noob to photography and video to shooting photos and video for high-end luxury coastal homes, commercial properties for some of the biggest commercial brokers, and shooting media for big brands such as Skechers on their 1.2M sq. ft. facility build, the VinFast grand opening at UTC La Jolla, The Toll Roads of Orange County & high dollar projects for Moon Valley Nurseries. 

I also expanded into other industries such as music video production, promotional and corporate video production, and I have even had the opportunity to work with celebrities such as Kaia Gerber, Josh Groban, and The Chainsmokers. 

Today AeroViews is a full-service marketing powerhouse primarily serving the San Diego area, but also serve clients in Orange County and Riverside County as well. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road was definitely not an easy one, as it takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and persistence to start from bottom and bring a company into a state of profitability. One of the biggest challenges was learning a new trade and new skills. The good thing is that information is available online, and YouTube was probably one of my biggest tutors, along with Parker Walbeck and his Full-Time Filmmaker course. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about AeroViews?
AeroViews offers a reliable, professional high-quality drone photography and aerial videography service to clients throughout Southern California. We offer a wide range of services, including drone photography, drone videography, luxury real estate photography & video, video production, commercial real estate photography & video, promotional video production, motion graphics, 3D effects, professional color grading, and more. 

We are known for our attention to detail and white glove service. We catch all the little details that most people tend to overlook. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://aeroviews.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aeroviews/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SoCalAeroViews
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SoCalAeroViews
• Other: https://goo.gl/maps/VngBLAgEw7YFGoEK8