been doing real estate drone work on the side for about 8 months and its been okay but not great. getting clients is way harder than I expected. I figured real estate agents would be lining up since everyone talks about how they all need drone footage now but cold emailing has been mostly crickets and I've only got 3 agents who use me regularly.

wondering if the market is just too crowded at this point or if I'm doing something wrong with how I'm reaching out. my work is solid I think, got Part 107, proper insurance, deliver edited files within 24 hours which everyone says is the key thing agents care about. but still feels like I'm spinning my wheels a bit.

curious what's actually working for people to get and keep clients in this niche specifically.

real estate is definitely more competitive than it was even two years ago but its not dead, just harder to stand out. cold email almost never works in my experience, agents get spammed constantly. what actually got me consistent clients was just showing up at open houses and introducing myself, sounds old school but it works because youre a real person not another email they ignore.

also the agents who use drone regularly tend to be the higher volume ones selling mid-range and above properties, not the ones doing one or two deals a year. figuring out who those people are in your area and targeting them specifically is worth the effort. local real estate facebook groups are also weirdly good for this, not to spam them but just to be helpful and visible so people know who you are when they need someone.

the 24 hour turnaround thing is genuinely the thing that keeps clients coming back so you're already doing that right. from there its mostly just patience and referrals compounding over time honestly.

im in a similar boat so watching this thread with interest. one thing I tried that kinda worked was reaching out to real estate photographers who dont fly and offering to be their drone person ? they get to offer a full package to their clients, you get steady work, everyone wins. found two photographers that way and they pass me probably 4-5 jobs a month now which isnt life changing but its consistent which is what I needed when I was starting out.