How To Make Money With A Drone [Reliable Options Explained]

Although flying a drone is exhilarating, they are not just toys for fun. You can use your drone to generate income in several reliable ways.

Whether you sell aerial photos/footage, aerial wedding videography/photography, reselling drones, paying inspection jobs, or advertising real estate through videography/ photography or aerial mapping, you can make income with your drone. Interestingly, the opportunity from drones allows you to be your own boss.

If you are a tech-savvy individual with an incredible passion for flying drones, you should explore reliable ways to make money while doing what you love the most. Read on for more ideas on how to make money with a drone.

How To Make Money With Drones

While there are endless methods that you can embrace to make money with your drone, we have outlined the top five to try out. They range from simple aerial videography and photography to more creative techniques.

1. Sell Aerial Photos And Footage

Selling aerial photos and videos is one of the common ways to make money using a drone. People want exceptional images and videos from a unique perspective, and if you can provide them with exactly that, you should be able to make money.

However, if you want to venture into drone photography and videography, you must equip your drone with a gimbal and quality camera for crystal-clear images. Further, you must offer exceptional services to your customers to stand out from the rest.

In addition to equipping your drone with a gimbal and quality camera, you would also need to identify places with outstanding beauty, including tourist attractions spots, breathtaking landscapes, and even popular landmarks.

Another way to earn more through aerial photography and videography is to launch a YouTube channel and post the videos you make with your drone. Eventually, your channel will grow and make money through advertisements.

2. Reselling Drones

Drones have become popular around the globe, with many people purchasing drones for hobby or professional purposes. The idea is to buy quality and new models wholesale and resell them at a profit.

Besides opening a physical store to sell your drones, you can create a blog to review top drone models and recommend them to potential buyers. Buyers who find your products interesting can contact you to close the transactions.

3. Advertising Real Estate

Real estate is a booming business that needs more marketing strategies. With top-notch aerial photography and videography, you should provide some real estate investors with an exciting technique for advertising their companies to the outside world.

In addition to taking videos and photos of real estate, you can also use your drone for advertising hotels and resorts. People often want a complete view of a hotel or resort before they can fully commit to such amenities. A drone equipped with quality cameras can make a resort or a hotel appear more attractive and appealing to potential customers.

4. Private Investigation

You can also use your drone to conduct private investigations or surveillance and make money. Companies find hiring one individual to carry out aerial surveillance more economical than paying for constant surveillance. Moreover, drones make surveillance and monitoring easier and less noticeable to people.

However, before you embrace the idea of using a drone for surveillance and investigation, you should ensure that you comply with all the rules and regulations governing drones and personal privacy.

5. Structural Or Building Inspection

Property owners want to ensure that their properties are always in perfect condition, and drones can offer a cost-effective way of achieving this objective. A drone can easily access places humans cannot access with no risks.

To increase the chances of securing a deal with property owners, you may consider getting certified as a building inspector. You can also get in touch with home inspectors in your locality. Sometimes, property owners needing building inspectors look for freelance building inspectors equipped with drones to do the job.

How To Make Money With A Drone License

Having a drone license will make it possible for you to make money with your drone because there are some money-generating tasks that you can only do if you have a drone license. To be a commercial pilot, you must obtain a drone license through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

With a valid drone license, you can make money working in various industries, including real estate, agriculture, journalism, construction, insurance, and filmmaking.

How To Make Money With A Camera Drone

When it comes to answering the question of how to make money with a drone, equipping your drone with a camera is the starting point. Fortunately, there are several ways that you can make money with your drone once you equip it with the best camera. Some of the opportunities to make money with a camera drone include the following;

• Selling  aerial footage and photos
• Getting paid to conduct aerial surveying for companies or individuals who need the surfaces
• Selling aerial photography and videography services
• Getting paid to carry out inspection tasks
• Taking videos and photos for advertising resorts, real estate, hotels, and more
• Carrying out paid surveillance, video monitoring, and private investigation
• Carrying out paid search and rescue missions
• Precision agriculture
• Taking aerial videos and photos for sale
• Filmmaking
• Aerial mapping

How To Make Money Commercially With A Drone

You can make money flying commercially by engaging in several activities, including filmmaking, aerial mapping, precision agriculture, wedding photography, and many more. However, flying for commercial purposes requires that you will have a drone license.

Further, when flying a drone for commercial purposes, the regulations that apply to you fall under FAA's part 107 small unmanned aircraft rules, which include;

• You must have a remote pilot certification from the FAA to fly for commercial purposes
• Register your drone with the FAA before you start flying for commercial purposes
• Ensure that your UAV weighs less than 55 pounds with the payload included at takeoff
• You must fly in class G airspace
• Ensure that you always fly at or below 400 feet
• Use anti-collision lighting when flying in the evening
• Always yield way to crewed aircraft
• Never fly from a moving vehicle unless you are in a sparsely populated area

How Feasible Is It To Make Money With A Drone?

It is normal for people to wonder whether making money with a drone is doable. The truth is that making money with a drone is a feasible project that anyone can easily accomplish. Nonetheless, you should always remember that you can only make money if you solve a problem. Therefore, whether it is wedding photography or selling stock photos and videos, you should always make sure that you are solving a societal problem.

In addition to solving problems and filling business gaps, you have to work smart to make money. If you take a competitive business idea, ensure that you offer excellent and outstanding services to your clients if you want them to keep coming for more.

How Much Money Can You Make From Your Drone?

While many people make a lot of money using their drones, you must be patient when starting as a beginner. Besides your expertise and skills, many other factors will influence how much money you would be able to make out of your drone business venture, including the quality of your gear, technical knowledge, target niche, and your effort,

Conclusion

If you are looking for reliable ways on how to make money with a drone, be sure to conduct extensive research and develop a business plan for your venture. Additionally, you should ensure that you comply with the FAA regulations to avoid inconveniences.

Whether aerial photos/footage, aerial wedding videography/photography, reselling drones, paying inspection jobs, or advertising real estate through videography/ photography or aerial mapping, you can make a fortune with your drone as long as you work smart.