so ive been flying for about two years now, mostly just for fun on weekends and stuff, but lately a few people have asked me to do some shots for them and i actually got paid for one job last month which was kind of surreal. it was just some real estate photos for a local agent, nothing crazy, but she seemed happy and i made like $150 for maybe two hours of work including the editing.

anyway now im wondering if this is something i could actually scale up a bit. i have my Part 107 already which i got last year just to have it, and i shoot with a Mini 4 Pro which i know isnt the most professional setup but it does the job fine i think. i guess my question is - is freelance drone work actually a sustainable side income or is the market just totally saturated now? feels like everyone and their cousin has a drone these days.

not looking to quit my day job or anything, more like wondering if i could realistically pull in a few hundred extra a month doing weekends. anyone actually doing this? would love to hear what the work actually looks like day to day.

honestly the saturation thing is real but its also kind of overstated if that makes sense. yeah theres a ton of people with drones now but most of them dont have part 107, dont know how to actually edit properly, and definitely dont show up professionally. i do real estate and construction documentation on the side and i consistently get work just by being reliable and delivering files on time. that sounds stupidly simple but you'd be amazed how many people in this space flake or deliver garbage turnaround times.

$150 for real estate is on the lower end depending on your area - i was charging that when i started but now im more in the $250-350 range for a standard package with a few aerials and some video. the Mini 4 Pro is genuinely fine for real estate by the way, agents dont care about spec sheets they care about how the photos look and that camera is more than capable. id say stick with the real estate angle to start, build relationships with 2-3 agents and you can get pretty steady repeat work from that alone.

im kind of in the same boat as you actually, been debating this for months lol. one thing i heard is that getting into insurance inspection work can be decent money but you need specific training or certifications depending on the company. might be worth looking into if real estate feels too crowded in your area