Pilot How To’s
Simply Click the “List A Service” button anywhere within DrotoBay to take you to the listing form. Complete the form and submit for moderation. You won’t be able to edit your listing until it is approved. Approval will typically take up to 4 Hours.
Check each one of the drop-down items below for specific details on each of the listing fields.
The Listing Type is the category of your listing. This help users when searching for listings. It is recommended to create multiple listings to list your services within different categories. This will help users to find all of your available services.
To select a Listing Type, simply click the Listing Type box and select a category.
This will give your listing a searchable Title. We recommend short titles that sum up your service in just a few words such as, Roof Surveys, Real Estate Photography, Cinematography, Etc.
You can select up to 6 Images for your listings. The first image will be used as your featured listing image and will be the image seen in the search page and when sharing to social media. Most photo file types are accepted but we recommend JPG, or PNG files.
This field is your overall listing description…
This is a great place to describe yourself, your services, your experience, your equipment, and your capabilities.
This is your physical location. We will not display this to users, it is simply used to allow users to search for Pilots based on location. We recommend you use the GeoLocation button as it works with our search database seamlessly. We don’t need a physical address, just generic info such as street name, city, and state.
This is your base price for your service. This should be set as a general price for your minimum services. Keep in mind, that a customer may order your service without any extras so set your base price at the minimum you are comfortable accepting for a job. You will be able to add all service extras at additional charges at a later point.
This field is optional. It allows users to know how far you are willing to travel at NO additional cost. If you are willing to travel but will charge additional fees we recommend adding this as an additional fee at the bottom of your listing.
This field is used to let users know how long it typically takes between when the order is placed and the service is complete. Lower is typically better, however, you should consider realistic delivery times as not meeting these times could result in negative feedback from clients.
Tags are a great search tool to add additional searchable criteria to your listing. Let’s say you are a Real Estate Drone Photographer, some great tags may be Real Estate, Homes, Drone Photos, etc.
To enter a tag simply type your keyword, then press comma.
This is to provide any additional extra options to your Client. This field could be used to offer an additional video or additional photos above and beyond what your general services offer. It can also be used to add a fee for travel beyond your listings Travel Distance criteria.
This field will show all users who order your service a pre-written note. Anything you want all of your Client’s to know after placing an order can be entered here. This helps when you have a standard instruction or note for all your Client’s.
As a Pilot, there may be many reasons you need to cancel an order. Simply go to your account, then click on our Resolution Center from the menu. Then select the option to cancel an order.
Order cancellations are always approved when requested by the Pilot. Upon cancellation, your Client will receive a full refund within 48 Hours.
Simply click on our Resolution Center link from within your account menu. Choose the option that best describes your issue and submit the required information. You will typically receive a response within 6 hours.
After you deliver the order, the Client will have an option to either Complete or Reject the order. If an order is rejected, you will have the chance to view the rejection, make any necessary changes, and mark the order as Delivered again. Upon completion of the order, you will receive the funds in your DrotoBay account immediately. You can then request a Payout anytime. Payouts will be sent to the method you request and will be paid within 48 hours.
Your client may have some special circumstances that your listing doesn’t cover. If this is the case, they can go to your profile page and submit a custom request to you.
In this request, they will list what they need and submit you an offer. This offer will go to your email. When you review the request, you will have the option of making the buyer another offer for more or less money than their offer.
When buyer accepts the offer and pays for the service, the order will be added to your order queue just like any other order.
There are many types of files which can be sent by clicking “Select File” within the messaging platform, however, files larger than 50 MegaBytes should not be transferred this way. This can include extremely high definition photos, and videos greater than 75 seconds. Please scroll through the instructions below to learn the best methods to share files with your clients.
There are two methods of sending files to your customers.
Option 1: Send small files <50 MB directly through our messaging platform.
Option 2: Upload the files to your online drive and send your client a private link to the file. (See below for simple instructions)
We recommend creating your own personal online drive to handle all of your business photos and videos. Online drives can make uploading, downloading, and sharing photos and videos much faster and easier to manage. To start an online drive we recommend using google as it is free until you hit a their limit of 15 GB, then very cheap after you hit that limit.
To start a google drive go to https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive and create a google account or sign in if you already have one.
Now that you are logged in, simply add files by clicking the “NEW” button on the left side of your screen.
That’s it! Now you have an easy to manage file storage platform.
You can add a file by simply clicking the “NEW” button on the left hand side of the screen above the menu.
If you want to create a new folder for your files, “Right-Click” on “My Drive” in the left hand menu, then click “New Folder”
To send your customer a private link to your file, simply upload your file to your drive as demonstrated above. Now, please follow the instructions below.
1: Right-Click on the file you want to share.
2: Click “Get Link” – This creates a custom link to the file or folder to send to anyone.
3: IMPORTANT! Now change the dropdown below the link from “Restricted” to “Anyone With A Link”
4: Copy the file link and send the link to your customer through our platform’s messaging system.
Although you can use our system to send photos and short videos, we recommend using your drive to share all files, this makes file storage and management much easier for you as the business owner.
HELPFUL HINT – You can save yourself a ton of time by creating a new folder in your drive for each order. This way when you add all photos/videos to that folder you can simply share a link to the entire folder to share with a customer. This will make it incredibly easy to share lots of files at once and to look up if needed at a future date.
Client How To’s
To place an order, simply search for services, and click the package you want. Then click buy now and complete the required order form. You can pay for your order using any credit or debit card. All transactions are processed securely through PayPal.
You can send your Pilot any additional information via the Private Messaging Platform
If you don’t see a service that meets all of your needs, you can submit a custom request which will then become available for all Drone Pilots to view. There are two ways to submit a custom request.
Option 1: You can click the “Post A Request” link in the top menu. This type of request will become available to all Pilots to view. They can then send you offers on that request. You can view these offers from your account page.
Option 2: If you have a Pilot you already want specifically, you can go to any of their listings. From their listing page, click on their username below the order field. From their you can submit a personal request only to that Pilot.
Regardless of which option you choose. When you accept an offer and order the service, your order will be added to your account dashboard just like any other order.
As a client, you should contact the Pilot to cancel the order. Orders cancelled by the Pilot are always approved and upon cancellation you will receive a full refund within 7 days.
If you need to request an order cancellation, you should submit the request through our resolution center. Please give us specific details. Upon cancellation you will receive a full refund within 7 days.
Anyone with a Remote Pilot Certification as authorized from the FAA can list their services as a Pilot. To learn more, please visit our Become A Pilot Page.