Getting the right aerial footage of your facility builds trust in your product and shows customers what they’re buying. It’s worth the time you’ll invest in it–but getting FAA approval to fly and freeing up your schedule to shoot and edit photos is a hassle, while hiring experts is expensive.
Our friends over at Empire Storage cracked the code, snagging quality footage while building bonds in the community at the same time! Let’s dive into a secret maneuver that entices leads and situates you as an involved local business–a surefire way to beat the REITs.
When you’re a local, you don’t need an extensive videography department. You already have one at your local high school.
That’s right—partnering with your local high school’s tech club, film club, or even computer science class gives you a team of eager volunteers hungry for their chance to shine. And by giving these young adults that opportunity, you’ll endear support for your business while yielding them experience to put on a college application.
And given that 49% of surveyed consumers prefer buying from businesses with a local presence, you can see how the exchange will give you more than just footage.
Let’s talk about how we can employ this win-win tactic to make a scene.
Your first step is finding out which nearby high schools have a tech club, class, or department. Schools typically have grants and initiatives aimed at providing better access to technology and its related fields, but not all schools can or will utilize them. Even if you find a school full of willing students, you’ll need to align your goals with their academic interests.
To that end, cold-calling a local high school and requesting videography work probably won’t work without preparation. In a perfect scenario, you’ve already been maintaining your community presence, and you already have an idea of exactly who to contact to get this project started. Maybe you’re able to chat with the right people at the next community event you’re involved in, or maybe you’re already on a first-name basis with the head of your local high school’s tech club already! But even if you’re establishing contact for the first time, you should make use of specific terms to show stakeholders just how beneficial this exchange is for both parties.
So in reaching out to your community’s high school to learn who heads the tech club, film club, or computer science club–or what teacher runs a class open to some real-world filming and editing experience–you’ll be able to lead with a powerful pitch.
Here’s what you’re offering:
Giving students real-world experience shows them the value of the things they’re learning–the answer to “When will I ever use this in the real world?” (Teachers love having answers to that question, by the way). And the things they’ll learn on this project will stick with them in a meaningful way once they’ve applied them in a professional context.
This kind of outreach is called a Partnership Process; both the school and your business gain something from the exchange. On the student end, refer to your request as a Work Experience Program–the teacher will want to help the students simulate working as an actual videography team and treat the project as if they had been professionally hired for the job, giving them hands-on, real-world experience.
And the teacher who runs the club or class you’re working with will be delighted to hear of a project that can allow hands-on learning or as a test of what their students have learned throughout the semester.
By carefully laying out how this partnership hits academic and practical goals, you’ll be more likely to find a teacher willing to collaborate with you. With that step secured, it’s time to get the specifics settled.
You’ve made contact, you have a team, and ideally you have an invested and motivated teacher leading that team. Your next challenge is getting this exchange into an actionable state.
The first and most important step is getting parent permission for students to participate and making sure transportation is available. This is probably something your teacher collaborator will handle–but it’s good to double-check.
Next comes drawing up a contract of sorts. Clearly outline what you intend to gain from the project–do you want the high schoolers to shoot and edit footage, or just shoot and let you handle the editing? Will they provide the drone, or will you? What kind of timeline are you looking at, and when do you expect a finished project? Do you intend to see drafts of the project and send it back with feedback, or will you trust their growing technical expertise?
There are no wrong answers to these questions. It’s a matter of having answers that gives the project a level of specificity–and reduces the potential for miscommunication. If you’re not sure what to ask for, our guide to drone photography can help you get an idea for projected outcomes.
You’ll also draw up documentation for students to officially “take the job” as if they were picking up a commission during this phase. And to make crediting their volunteer hours easier, creating a way to log the hours they put into the project is a must. The teacher you’re working with will have insight here, and may offer to create these documents entirely, too!
Once you’ve got a date (or range of days set to account for weather), get ready to host a tech club at your facility.
Our next step can be as simple as you want it. All you have to do is allow your local school’s tech club to show up and capture drone footage on the designated day.
But there’s potential here if you want to take it further.
Creating a little bit of an authentic ceremony around the event goes a long way in making your guests feel like they’re a team of growing professionals hired for an important job. Consider how you would interact with a team of videographers if you hired them for this job. Showing these young members of your community that you take their skills seriously will make a powerful statement about your company values.
And while you’ve got a drone camera ready and in operation, why not snap some pictures to commemorate the event? You can tell people you’re a local who supports student growth with real-world experience–or you can show them the photos of the project taking off! You don’t need to guess which one will get people more invested.
Once the project is done, you’ll want to credit each student who participated in getting your footage. Creating and signing a certificate that indicates how many hours they contributed to the project and confirms completion of the job will provide something official to show in the future. Proof of those volunteer hours and a completed Work Experience Program may be the deciding factor in getting a scholarship or internship in the future.
Have a look at our sample templates for a Work Experience Contract and Completion Certificate to get some ideas--or use them as-is!
It’s good to keep a line of communication open afterwards. Students who worked for you might ask to use you as a reference when taking on freelance projects in the future–if you’re feeling generous, you can even offer to do so proactively. And now that you’ve built a line of communication between yourself and a local school, consider that the end of this project could be the beginning of more community outreach that tells your story as a local business who adds to your town’s growth.
At the end of this project, you have a reel of captivating drone footage in your hands crafted by young experts willing to go the extra mile to prove their skills. And in some cases, that might be all you needed–the aerial shots, and a mention of the project on your website to help establish you as a local contributor. But ongoing partnerships can help you even more in the future.
Consider that keeping your photos up to date is beneficial to your online presence, and more tech projects can boost the image customers see when they land on your website. Virtual tours in particular require quality footage, and having one less task in your hands can free you up to handle more challenging arenas in your busy schedule.
Beyond those prospects, though, there’s another reason you might want to maintain communication and outreach with your local high school. By making yourself present in the community, you position yourself such that people see you—you become the facility everyone knows and trusts.
And when that moment in their life comes when they need someone to rely on for storage space, your name will be the first one they think of.
Ready to keep thinking outside the box to secure leads? Check out more creative ways to level up your business:
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