so ive been flying for about 2 years now, got my part 107 last spring and been doing the occasional paid gig here and there — mostly real estate stuff for a local agency that a friend hooked me up with. nothing crazy, maybe 3-4 shoots a month. but lately ive been seriously considering whether i could actually do this full time or at least as a real side business rather than just random jobs that fall in my lap.

the real estate stuff pays decent, like $150-200 a shoot which takes maybe 2 hours including editing. but i dont know how sustainable that is or if i should be branching out into other stuff. i keep hearing about construction progress shots and cell tower inspections and all that but no idea how to actually break into those markets. does anyone here do this full time and if so how long did it take before it felt like a real income and not just beer money

yeah i went full time about 3 years ago and honestly the first year was rough. real estate alone wont cut it unless you're in a really hot market and have like 15-20 agencies feeding you work consistently. what actually changed things for me was getting into infrastructure stuff — utilities and telecom companies will pay way more per day than real estate ever will, but getting in the door is the hard part. most of them want to see some kind of portfolio or want someone who already has experience with their specific workflows.

what worked for me was basically doing some work almost for free for a small local contractor just to get footage i could show around. took about 6 months of that before i landed a proper contract gig. not gonna lie its a grind but once you have a couple solid clients in the commercial/industrial space the rates are genuinely good. day rates of $600-900 are not unusual once youre established. just dont quit your day job too early is my main advice lol

im kind of in the same boat as you so ill be watching this thread. ive heard mapping and surveying work can be really good money but you need the right equipment for it — like a proper mapping drone and software like pix4d or similar which adds up fast. curious if anyone has gone that route without already having a surveying background