so ive had my part 107 for about 8 months now and i genuinely dont know how to break into doing this for actual money. i fly almost every weekend, got a mini 4 pro and an air 3, decent at editing, but every job post i see wants like 3 years commercial experience which is kind of a chicken and egg problem right?

i tried reaching out to a couple local real estate agencies and one of them ghosted me and the other said they already have someone. i know people are out there making this work but i cant figure out what im missing. did anyone here start from basically zero and actually manage to get consistent work? even part time would be great honestly, im not trying to quit my day job tomorrow or anything

honestly the real estate cold call thing is hit or miss but dont give up on it, i probably emailed or walked into like 30 agencies before two of them bit. what actually moved the needle for me was just doing free or super cheap shoots for friends who were selling houses and then plastering that work everywhere — instagram, local facebook groups, nextdoor, whatever. people hire who they can see has actually done the thing.

also construction and infrastructure is way less saturated than real estate in most areas. i got a steady contract doing progress photos for a general contractor through a contact my wife had and that turned into referrals to two other contractors. its boring work honestly but it pays consistently and they dont care that youre not a famous aerial photographer, they just want the photos on tuesday.

same boat as you like six months ago lol. what helped me was joining a platform called Dronebase, its not amazing money but it gets you real jobs with real clients and you start building a record of completed commercial work which you can put on a resume. some of the payouts are kinda low but when youre starting out i think its worth it just to have something to show