so ive been flying for about 3 years now, got my part 107 last spring and ive been doing some side gigs here and there — real estate stuff mostly, a couple small construction sites for progress photos. its been going okay but nothing crazy. maybe $800-1200 a month on top of my regular job.

im starting to wonder if i could actually make this my main thing. i dont really know anyone whos done it full time and im not sure if the market is actually there or if everyone just says it is. like i see people on youtube saying they make six figures doing drone work and i honestly cant tell if thats real or just content bait.

if anyone has actually made the jump or knows people who have id love to hear what that looked like. what kind of work was it, how long did it take to build up, did you go through an agency or just hustle it yourself. genuinely curious, not looking for the dream version of the story either

i did it about two years ago and honestly the first six months were rough. not gonna sugarcoat it. real estate kept the lights on but the margins are not great once you factor in your time driving around, editing, re-edits when the realtor wants something different. where it started clicking for me was getting into inspection work — cell towers, rooftops, that kind of thing. the pay per job is way better and theres actual repeat business once you get in with a company.

the youtube six figure stuff is real for some people but its usually not purely flying. theyre selling courses or presets or doing aerial cinematography for commercial clients which takes a long time to break into. the boring infrastructure and construction stuff is where the actual steady money is imo. not glamorous but it pays

following this thread cause im in a similar spot. just got my 107 a few months ago and doing real estate on weekends. curious what platforms people are finding clients through — ive tried drone specific ones but the rates feel really compressed