random question but has anyone actually landed consistent drone gigs through upwork or fiverr or whatever. i see people listing drone services on there but it seems like the rates are all over the place and honestly some of them look way too cheap to be worth it. like $50 for a real estate package?? how is that even possible without losing money on time alone

im trying to figure out the best way to find clients that arent just through word of mouth since i just moved to a new city and dont really have connections here yet. tried reaching out cold to a few real estate offices but havent heard back from most of them. just wondering if the online platform route is worth bothering with or if i should focus energy somewhere else

yeah the $50 guys on those platforms are usually either overseas accounts reselling stock footage or just people completley undercutting to get reviews. its a race to the bottom situation on fiverr especially. i tried upwork for a few months and got maybe two jobs out of it, one was fine the other client was a nightmare who kept asking for re-edits. not really worth the platform fees in my experience.

cold outreach to real estate agents is slow but it does work eventually, the trick i found is dont email the office general inbox, try to find individual agents on instagram or linkedin and reach out there. they're way more responsive and if you can show them your portfolio in like 3 taps they're more likely to engage. also property managers for apartment complexes are underrated, they need aerial content more than people think and they're not as flooded with drone pitches as realtors are

Honestly I'd skip those platforms entirely for drone work specifically. The clients shopping on Fiverr for drone footage are almost never the clients you want long term. Your time is better spent building a Google Business profile and getting a few reviews on there ? I get probably 40% of my new inquiries from local search now and those people are already pre-sold on hiring someone, they're just looking for who.