so ive been flying for about two years now mostly just weekend stuff, got my part 107 last spring and done a few small jobs for friends and local real estate agents but nothing serious. lately ive been really thinking about whether i could actually do this full time or at least make it a meaningful side income. my day job is fine but not exactly exciting and every time im out flying i just feel like this is what i want to be doing.

the thing is i dont really know how to find consistent work. like i know real estate is the obvious one but everyone seems to say that market is super saturated now. ive heard construction and inspection work pays better but i have no idea how you even get your foot in the door there. do companies just hire freelance pilots or do you need to be on some platform like Dronebase or whatever its called now.

anyone actually making decent money from this? not looking to get rich just wondering if its realistic to replace like half my current income from drone work alone

honest answer — it depends a lot on where you live and what niche you go after. real estate is saturated in most markets yeah, but inspection work, cell tower stuff, solar farm surveys, that kind of thing actually has pretty decent demand right now and most of those clients want someone who can be consistent and reliable, not just whoever is cheapest on a platform.

i made the jump to doing it part time seriously about 18 months ago and the thing that changed everything was just cold emailing local construction companies and engineering firms directly. most of them either didnt have anyone or were using some random guy who was flaky. once you get one or two solid clients who actually like working with you the referrals start coming. the platforms like dronebase are fine for filling gaps but the rates are pretty low and you're kind of at the mercy of whatever jobs come through your area.

the other thing id say is think about what deliverables you can offer beyond just flying. if you can do decent photogrammetry or orthomosaic processing that opens up a lot more doors than just stills and video.

im kind of in the same boat as you so cant give a ton of advice but i did do a few jobs through Zeitview (i think thats the new dronebase name?) and the pay is honestly not great but it was good experience figuring out what a real client workflow looks like. like actually delivering files in the right format and communicating with someone who doesnt know anything about drones

also heard weddings and events can pay well but thats a whole different skill set with the pressure of getting it right on the day