If you intend to turn your hobby of flying drones into a venture that will actually make you money, we have the perfect guide for you.
First, before embarking using your drone for business purposes, you need to obtain a permit from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This process takes 120 days and you are required to petition the FAA for your permit through an exemption in Section 333. You will need to describe your drone, its maintenance and control in addition to your qualifications and business plan, describing exactly how you intend to fly it in terms of distance, altitude, and the approximate location.
Second, you need to know the various businesses you can go into with your drone. Below are a variety of examples.
Photography and Filming
There are various types of industries you can go into namely:
• Weddings. People are willing to pay in surplus for a unique aerial view of their D-day celebrations and you can definitely cash in on that.
• Sports Action Shots. Drones are able to capture overhead shots in any type of sports ranging from athletics to in-the-wild bike races to cliff divers and that is with a unique twist as compared to existing companies like GoPro.
• Journalism and Reporting. Drones have the ability to go into hard to reach areas, especially in times of natural disasters, accidents, conflicts, wild fires and so on. You can, therefore, work as a contractor for a news agency and get the required footage. This can also be coupled with search and rescue missions.
• Freelance shooting. If you possess good shooting and editing skills, and own a drone with good shooting capabilities, for example, the Phantom 3 Professional with 4K video, this is for you. Many freelance websites are searching for freelancers who are skilled, like mindbites.com, freelancer.com, and many others. This definitely a lucrative area since you might earn a lot from very short jobs.
Advertising
Advertising is wide as you can choose to focus on shooting high-end real estate (over $500,000) to attract prospective buyers, ski resorts, golf courses, amusement parks, beachside resorts, hunting lodges, or ranches, the list is endless. Anything that is luxurious and fun you can advertise through unique aerial clips and photos.
Aerial Surveying
To fully evaluate their projects, archaeologists, map makers, topographers and so on employ the use of drones for aerial surveys as it is a cheaper option to helicopter and airline flights. Moreover, drone speeds are slower, therefore, better capture of site images.
Inspection of Resource Systems
For companies operating oil and gas pipelines, bridge and cell tower inspections, roof inspections and electrical lines, their systems need constant inspections. Usually, they need to hire teams to walk the line or low flying helicopters. Drones are therefore best for this sort of situation as they can easily get close enough to spot any defects or hazards.
Delivery
Companies such as Amazon, AliExpress, and Australian Post are already looking into drone delivery of items, in addition to charitable organizations delivering to hard to reach areas.
Monetizing a YouTube Channel
Utilize your drone footage to start your YouTube channel and ensure you enter the partnership program to revenue. Clips with many views earn handsomely from the advertising revenue generated by YouTube.
