so ive been flying for about two years now, got my part 107 last spring, and im seriously considering trying to pick up some paid work on the side. right now i do warehouse management which is fine but not exactly exciting and i keep thinking about whether there's actually a realistic path to doing drone stuff more full time or at least as a solid side income.

ive done a few jobs for friends — shot some real estate, helped a buddy with some roof inspections — but nothing i actually charged real money for which i know was dumb in hindsight. im in a mid-size city, not a huge market but not tiny either. curious if anyone here has actually transitioned into freelance work or found a way to get consistent gigs because every time i google this i just get SEO garbage telling me to "build a portfolio" without any actual detail on how you find clients who will pay more than like 150 bucks for a full property shoot.

not trying to quit my job tomorrow or anything, just want to know if this is a realistic goal or if im romanticizing it

honestly the real estate thing is tough to make money in unless you can do high volume or bundle it with other services like interior photography or floor plans. the guys i know who are doing okay with it have basically become full service real estate media people, drone is just one piece of it.

where i started getting actual traction was reaching out to construction companies directly. progress documentation, site monitoring, that kind of thing — they have ongoing needs so once youre in you get repeat work without hunting for new clients constantly. it took me probably four or five months of cold emails and showing up at job sites before i landed my first regular account but now i have three contractors who call me pretty consistently. not life changing money but its real and its growing. the 150 dollar shoots will eat your time and kill your enthusiasm fast so you were right to recognize that

im kind of in the same boat as you actually so watching this thread. i did get one paid gig through a local facebook group for a small business owner who wanted some aerial shots of their storefront and parking lot, paid me 200 which felt great at the time but then i thought about the time i spent editing and it wasnt that great lol. curious what rates people are actually charging for inspections because that seems more interesting to me than real estate anyway