a friend told me about these platforms that basically match you with clients and you just show up and fly, they handle all the client stuff. sounds almost too good but also sounds like youd get paid almost nothing. has anyone actually used these for consistent work or is it more like a last resort when you have no other leads

im asking because im trying to figure out the best way to build up a portfolio and get some experience with actual paid jobs. ive done a couple shoots for friends basically for free just to practice but at some point i need to start charging real rates and i dunno if these platforms help with that or just train clients to expect cheap work

used dronebase a while back when i was starting out. the pay is not great, not gonna lie - you're basically doing the flying while they take a big chunk. but here's the thing, for a newer pilot it can be genuinely useful because you get structured jobs with clear deliverables and you learn what clients actually expect. i did maybe 15-20 jobs through them and by the end i had a decent portfolio and a much better sense of how to scope jobs and deliver files properly. i dont use them anymore but i dont regret it either, kind of treated it like paid training.

yeah the rates on those platforms are rough. i looked into it and walked away pretty fast. my take is that your time is better spent cold emailing local real estate agencies directly, even if it takes longer to get the first few clients. you keep 100% of the money and you're building actual relationships instead of just being a contractor for a middleman. harder at first but better long term imo. that said i know people who swear by those platforms so probably depends on your market and how much hustle you want to put in on the sales side