This content outlines over 25 diverse income-generating opportunities for individuals with a Part 107 drone pilot license, ranging from side hustles to full-time careers, emphasizing the transformative impact of drone technology across various industries.
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So, you've got your Part 107 to fly
drones commercially, and now you can get
paid to fly. Today, we're diving into
over 25 ways that you can make money
using your drone. Whether you're looking
for a weekend side hustle, you're
dreaming of launching your own business,
or you just want to work for a drone
service provider, we'll cover the best
options out there. Let's get to it.
Let's kick things off with drone jobs
that are perfect for a side hustle.
These are low barrier to entry. They
give you flexible hours and they can
generate some extra income. Stock
photography and videography. You can
upload your videos to sites like
Shuttertock or Blackbox. And if your
content gets used, then you get paid.
It's passive income and you can't go
wrong with that. Practice your shots, do
what you love, and make money doing it.
To get started, look for stock
photography sites and find out how to
become a contributor. Another option is
event videography. You can cover local
events or concerts or even festivals.
Reach out to your city's event
department or local venue to get
started. If you live in a place that is
a destination for travel, you can create
some amazing travel footage. Pitch it to
your local tourism board, hotels, and
city marketing departments. Reach out to
your local cities event or tourism
department and offer your footage.
Sporting events, skate parks, surfing,
motorsports. Offer highlight reels to
events organizers and to individual
athletes. Post sample work on social
media in order to attract attention. The
goal here is to capture footage that
people want to see. Drone light show
assistant. This one is an easy in. Drone
light shows are always looking for extra
hands and they want pilots with a 107
license. Join an existing LRO team as an
operator or as a tech. You learn the
ropes and also earn something on the
side. Drone footage sells houses.
Period. No questions about it. Offer
your services at a discounted rate to
start. And when you deliver results to
agents, they're going to ask to do more
work. Find realtors via Zillow or your
local agencies. Educational content.
Make tutorials or 3D maps, for example,
and sell them to schools or upload to
YouTube for monetization. Weddings, you
can partner with local photographers or
videographers and offer your aerial
work. If you have a ground camera, you
can offer that too. Reach out to your
friends and your family to build your
portfolio. Search for ads that are
looking for wedding photographers or
videographers. You can also go look on
Facebook groups, freelance platforms
like Fiverr or Upwork or even Facebook
Marketplace. There are ton of one-off
drone jobs that you can sign up for.
List your drone services and start
accepting gigs. If you're looking for
more information on jobs in the
industry, we have a lot of content that
you'll find useful. Head over to the
premium community. We have interviews
with working professionals and workshops
in various fields with plenty of
insights and tips that you're going to
want to check out. If you're ready to go
allin, you're going to need to put in
some work. First, you have to focus on
building your brand. If you want to
scale a real business, you're going to
need to build your foundation and pick
an area where you want to specialize in.
Inspections can bring good money. Reach
out to roofing companies or insurance
adjusters directly. Construction
progression surveys. Provide weekly or
monthly updates to builders. Offer your
services to general contractors or real
estate developers. Even offering a free
flight to show the value of a drone can
get your foot in the door. Use
photoggramometry to create a mosaic and
land elevation models. Great for civil
engineering firms. However, a surveying
certificate might be required.
Cinematography and scouting. Directors
are always looking for previews of where
they're going to shoot their movies.
Reach out to indie filmmakers or
production studios. And if you have the
skills, this can lead to future jobs and
the things that you like to do. And yes,
this one's on here again. Not only can
you do real estate for some side gigs,
if you're good at it, you can actually
build a successful drone business that
specializes in real estate. That being
said, expect to provide ground camera
photography and videography as well.
This may require an investment in some
decent cameras and lenses if you don't
have them already. Solar panel
inspections. Thermal cameras can detect
when a cell is not working correctly or
when there is debris on a solar panel. A
lot of companies may not realize the
value a drone can give to efficiency.
Pitch your services to solar companies
or property managers. You can work with
car dealerships, real estate agencies,
or even tourism departments in your
local area and sell them your product.
If you have the drive and determination
for it, create a reel and showcase your
skills for local businesses. Send a reel
to local agencies and ask for an
opportunity to do some paid work to
promote their businesses. Maybe you want
the stability of a full-time gig. And I
can't really blame you. There are a lot
of employers out there that are looking
for certified part 107 pilots. Here are
some of the jobs that are offered by
companies, by government, or even by
some agencies. Join your local fire
department to monitor wildfires in real
time. Now, careful here. This is often
seasonal and on call work and will
likely include other duties in addition
to flying your drone. Make sure you
don't do this on your own. Make sure
that you talk to your local department
first and make sure that they need the
help. Find missing hikers or help in
disasters. Volunteer with your local
search and rescue team or apply for
government grants. It's important that
you reach out to your local sheriff's
office or your local authorities before
you go fly. Don't do it on your own.
Working with a local department can lead
to rewarding work in this field. You can
literally help save lives. Disaster
relief assessment. After a fire or flood
or a hurricane, teams need quick aerial
overviews. Work for an NGO, the Red
Cross, or FEMA contractors. Again, this
can be extremely rewarding, but like
search and rescue, you'll need to get
involved before there's a situation. You
can help save lives and give back to
your community in a very big way. Mining
inquiry surveys. Photoggramometry can be
used to measure stockpiles and to survey
terrain. A drone is a powerful tool.
Drones are one of the many tools in a
surveyor's toolbox, and they can help
increase efficiency. Apply to mining
companies or to subcontracting survey
firms. You can also start your own
business as a contractor for mining
companies. help preserve local dig sites
or map remote ruins. If Indiana Jones
drones had a drone, he would not have
had to run from that big boulder. That's
for sure. There's a lot more to
archaeology than just flying drones,
though. This would allow you to work
with academic institutions or even
museums. Journalism and breaking news.
You can record aerial footage of events
as they unfold. If you have a drone
handy when a breaking event happens,
capture that footage. Now, fly safely
from a distance and don't get in the way
of any local authorities. But exclusive
footage can be worth its weight and
gold. You can sell footage to TV
networks or upload to video agencies.
While very uncommon, you might be able
to work with law enforcement to help
create reconstructions. But please don't
do this on your own. Make sure to work
with your local agency in order to
provide this service. Energy sector jobs
are another option. You can inspect wind
turbines, solar fields, or refineries.
apply directly to utility companies,
their contractors, or you can start your
own business and go after the contracts
yourself. Just make sure that you're
ready to scale when you get that
contract for 1500 wind turbines. Law
enforcement and security support
surveillance of public events through
either a private security agency or as a
member of law enforcement. Work will
depend on the department or the company.
Some departments hire full-time and some
of them are going to contract out. Drone
manufacturers actually also hire drone
pilots. And yes, you can do more than
just fly, including testing, coming up
with new features, assisting with
support, selling drones, and then more.
So, where do you actually find these
jobs? Here are some sources. Drone
Brothers is a network for pilots looking
for jobs in the construction industry.
Now, unlike other websites that post
jobs and offer them to the lowest
bidder, Drone Brothers actually onboards
pilots and then selects them based on
location and equipment. These jobs can
also be recurring and onboarding is
free, so give it a try. LinkedIn. Search
for drone operator, UAS pilot, remote
sensing. There are tons of opportunities
on LinkedIn. Fiverr and Upwork. These
are great for building a portfolio with
small quick jobs. You can also go on
Indeed. There are tons of full-time
listings, especially in inspection and
in constructions. You can also look for
drone manufacturers. There are a lot
more than you think. Many list pilot
networks or have job boards for
certified users. Many larger firms also
have their own listings on their
website. If you have a particular
company in mind, be sure that you check
there as well.
Drones are doing way more than just
taking cool videos or cool photos.
They're actually transforming how the
industry works, and there is a lot of
opportunities for you in this growing
industry. We want to make sure that we
can help you be successful flying your
drone under part 107. If you want to
learn more about specific jobs and
getting work in the industry, make sure
you check out the pilot institute
community. There you're going to find
insights from working professionals in
pretty much every single field that use
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