I got my FAA drone certificate and I'm building a local aerial photo and video business. If you know a roofer, agent, or venue that could use listing shots or inspection photos, I'd love an introduction. Here's a sixty-second sample: [link]
Friends, family, former colleagues, and their employers. Specific, not spammy.
Hi [name], I'm a Part 107-certified drone pilot based in [town]. I shoot aerial photos and video for [roofers: hail and inspection documentation / agents: listing packages / builders: monthly progress]. I'm not looking to replace anyone you already use, and I don't undercut working pilots. If your regular pilot is ever unavailable, keep my card: certificate, insured, COI on request. Reel: [link]
Send to the person who actually buys: agents for listings, office managers at roofing companies, project managers at builders, venue marketing leads.
Most will say they already have someone. That answer is the relationship starting, not ending: operators report their best clients arrived months after exactly that reply, when the incumbent was busy or gone. Keep the card on file; stay present in local groups and on LinkedIn where the commercial buyers actually are.
Investigate first (who is calling, what site, what they need, what the airspace allows), then send a written bid that names deliverables, dates, and price, and teaches what professional work includes:
Included in every job: FAA-certificated remote pilot, aircraft registered and Remote ID compliant, liability insurance with your company named as additional insured if needed, and airspace authorization secured before flight day.
Never let a client rush a number out of you. If the caller needs a quote "in the next fifteen minutes," that urgency is theirs to manage, not yours to absorb.
That flight isn't legal under Part 107 without a waiver I don't hold, and flying it would put my certificate and your liability at risk. Here's the legal version that gets you ninety percent of the shot: [alternative].
The alternative matters: pilots who only say no get replaced; pilots who say no and offer the legal version get remembered. The certificate you spent months earning is what is at stake.
| ☐ One free job per target client, framed as a sample, never as your rate | ☐ Deliverable carries your watermark |
| ☐ Follow-up asks for the paid engagement and a referral | ☐ The moment a client pays once, free work with them ends |