so ive been flying for about two years now, got my part 107 last spring and ive done maybe a dozen paid gigs so far ? mostly real estate stuff for a local agency that a friend hooked me up with. the pay has been decent but its not like im drowning in work. maybe 2-3 shoots a month if im lucky.

im at a point where i'm seriously considering whether i could make this a real income thing or at least a solid side hustle. i work a desk job right now that i genuinely dont hate but also dont love, and i keep thinking about what it would look like to actually build something around this. i live in a mid-size city in the midwest so its not like im in a huge market but there are definitely developers and construction companies around.

has anyone actually made the transition to full or part-time freelance drone work? what did your first year look like honestly? im not expecting anyone to sugarcoat it

honest answer ? it took me almost 18 months before i felt like i had anything resembling consistent income from it. the real estate work is a good starting point but the margins are brutal once you factor in editing time, driving, equipment wear, insurance. i was charging like $150 a shoot at first and thought i was doing great until i did the math on actual hours.

what actually moved the needle for me was getting into construction progress documentation. developers need regular flyovers, like weekly or biweekly, and once you land one of those contracts it's recurring revenue which is a totally different thing than chasing one-off shoots. took some cold emailing and a few awkward meetings to get there but worth it. also worth getting comfortable with Pix4D or similar if you havent already because that opens up the mapping and inspection side which pays way better than photography generally.

midwest market is real, dont let anyone tell you otherwise. theres just less competition in a lot of those cities which can actually work in your favor once youre established.

im kind of in the same boat as you so cant speak from experience exactly but i went to a local real estate photography meetup a few months back and was surprised how many of the photographers there were actively looking for drone pilots they could subcontract to rather than deal with the cert themselves. might be worth checking if theres anything like that in your area, seemed like a decent way to get more volume without having to do all your own client hunting