I think you’ll agree with me when I say:
Most of us aspire to be our own boss and travel the world, but only a few actually get to do it.
Is that really true though?
In December 2018, I left my favorite place in the world — San Francisco — to go travel, or as they say now, become a digital nomad. In two months, I doubled my revenue compared to the same time last year.
I’m convinced that becoming your own boss and working remotely is much easier than most people think… when you find the right approach.
And in today’s post (and video), I’ll show you exactly what I did to make this happen, so you can do it, too.
Making the Decision to Travel the World and Become a Digital Nomad
I’m pretty sure I have a travel gene in my DNA.
I’ve been captivated by the open road ever since I devised an escape plan from kindergarten at the age of 5. For the record, I loved kindergarten. But I loved the thrill of adventure more.
I’ve also had some sort of “travel fund” since I was 13. But when I started earning “real money” in my first job, I began saving for my big, global travel adventure.
But the timing was never quite right. I immigrated to the United States and needed to wait for paperwork. Then another thing got in the way. Then something else.
And then… I got into a habit of waiting. Mid-2018, I examined my life and realized something fascinating:
I was still in the state of waiting, but there was nothing to wait for anymore.
All the things I’ve waited for in the past were resolved. I had an open road in front of me, but I didn’t see it.
I tell you this story so you can pause for a moment and wake yourself up from the autopilot mode. Is there something you’ve been wanting to do, but waited for a better moment? Then things cleared, but you forgot to wake up?
Sometimes it takes a lifetime to realize that the time to do that thing you’ve always wanted to do… is NOW.
Sometimes it takes a lifetime to realize that the time to do that thing you've always wanted to do... is NOW. Click To TweetSo WAKE UP! What’s your big dream? What’s REALLY stopping you from making a move towards it? Perhaps life is waiting for you to make the move.
When I saw that, making the decision to leave and become a digital nomad was easy. I just knew I could make this global nomad thing work; it was just a matter of taking care of logistics.
If traveling and becoming a digital nomad is something you’re contemplating, you might have more questions and concerns, I get that. The next few sections will help you get through them.
How to Make Money As A Digital Nomad?
For most people, money is the biggest concern when they consider global travel and becoming a digital nomad.
Not knowing how to make money outside of traditional employment creates a legitimate fear — the fear of uncertainty. If you put the fear aside and evaluate the options you have, you’ll see that this question is figureoutable, and it’s easier than you might have thought.
If you want to make money as you travel, you have a few options:
- Find a remote job
- Become your own boss:
- Consultant / freelancer
- Instructor / coach
- Travel blogger / vlogger
Let’s take a look at each option in detail.
Remote Jobs
There are more and more companies that embrace the idea of distributed teams and hire employees remotely. Most of such remote employees work from home, but why work from home if you can work from anywhere? #WFA
Here are a few prominent companies that hire remotely:
I’ve prepared a detailed spreadsheet with 74 established companies that provide remote jobs — click below to download it (it’s free). It’s got all the deets you need — links to job postings, address, email, address, social media links, etc.
Just remember: this is still full-time employment, and while your employer doesn’t care where you are, they do care about the work you deliver and your work hours, which means you’re not as free as you could be with some of the other options you have as a digital nomad.
Below is a snapshot of a recent poll from a prominent Facebook group for digital nomads. As you can see, what people value above everything else in their digital nomad life is flexible hours and the freedom that comes with that:
So, how can you earn money as you travel and have flexible hours?
Become Your Own Boss
If you ask me, nothing compares to the freedom you feel when you are your own boss.
You set your own schedule and decide when to work, who to work with, and where to be while you do it. You answer to no one except yourself and are free to create and do what you love.
Be your own boss: Set your own schedule, decide when to work, who to work with, and where to be while you do it. Answer to no one but yourself, and be free to create and do what you love.Click To TweetIf you’re currently in a job you want to quit and do your own thing, here are 3 easiest ways to break free and start working for yourself.
Solve Someone’s Problem
The key to earning money online is to find a group of people with a specific problem and help them solve it. Obviously, since we want to be location independent, this needs to be a problem that can be solved digitally.
If you’ve found a group of people with a problem, but you don’t know how to solve it — learn how to do it! You can literally learn a new skill (like building chatbots) from a free blog post, and then offer that as a service.
Examples of services you can offer as a digital nomad:
- Solve SEO issues for bloggers
- Help business owners design logos and collateral
- Manage social media for brick-and-mortar companies
- Help podcasters or video bloggers with editing
- Help write resumes and cover letters
- Build websites or chatbots for small businesses
Want more ideas? I’ve prepared a comprehensive list with more than 100 business ideas for digital nomads or anyone who wants to work remotely. Click below to get instant access (it’s free).
Offering services is the easiest place to start because you begin earning money right away (as opposed to some other ways described below).
I started earning money online by providing services. My first ever gig was a cold email campaign for a growing company. I charged the client $600 for it. The marketing agency I run today offers cold email campaigns, too, and an all-inclusive project costs $5,000.
And that’s another thing I love about being your own boss — your room for growth is unlimited.
Teach Online – Become An Instructor / Trainer / Coach
The most fun way to make a living while you travel (or stay at home, or do anything else, really) is to teach others helpful and unique things you know.
There are two ways to teach something online:
- Online courses
- Coaching
If you have expertise in a field that others find helpful, people will be happy to pay to learn from you. When you set out on a path to become an online expert and sell online courses, even though there are many variables, at the core, you must have two things: something to say and an audience that will listen.
Here are a few examples of things you can teach online:
- How to take care of their gut health
- Languages
- Coding
- Career skills
- Public speaking
- Dog training
- Parenting approaches
- Time management
To make a profit selling courses, you must have an audience (also known as your email list) — people who are eager to learn from you. That’s what this blog and my email list are about — building an audience of engaged, interested folks who buy your products.
The first course I pre-sold (but not created) was on creating content upgrades. One person bought it, and because I didn’t get enough interest, I didn’t create that course and refunded the money.
My next course (a comprehensive program on how to build an email list) made $1,500 during its first launch. My next course (growing blog traffic & email list without ads) made nearly $5,000 in its first launch.
When you figure out an audience you can help and build a product that solves their burning pain, online courses are the best source of predictable and repeatable revenue.
When you figure out an audience you can help and build a product that solves their burning pain, online courses is the best source of predictable and repeatable revenue. Click To TweetBecome a Travel Vlogger
And then, of course, there’s travel blogging and vlogging — perhaps every digital nomad’s dream. Share your experiences on YouTube, grow a following, and make money from advertising and partnerships.
It’s an enticing prospect for many global nomads, but there is a big caveat:
To earn a significant amount of money from advertising on YouTube, you need to have a significant number of viewers and subscribers. To get there, you need time and lots of content. And in that time, you still need to somehow support yourself and your travels.
That’s why I see travel vlogging as a side-hustle, a supplement to everything else you do as a digital nomad. If it grows and becomes your main source of income — great! Just have a plan for supporting yourself in the meantime.
I just started a YouTube channel, too! Please welcome into the world my first video ever (likes and comments are appreciated beyond measure):
Fear Setting Exercise (Tim Ferriss)
If you have a decent plan for supporting your digital nomad life, but you’re still anxious about quitting your job and making a move, I find Tim Ferriss’ fear setting exercise very helpful.
In the exercise, you write out things that scare you, and then apply a scenario-planning approach. You answer a set of questions to get to the bottom of it and often discover that things that scare you are either preventable or only have a temporary impact.
You can read about fear-setting exercise at length here.
“Usually, what we most fear doing is what we most need to do. That phone call, that conversation, whatever the action might be—it is fear of unknown outcomes that prevents us from doing what we need to do. Define the worst case, accept it, and do it.” — Tim Ferriss
My Take On Becoming a Digital Nomad
I don’t really like the term “digital nomad”, and prefer to talk about #WFA (working from anywhere). For me, this is about having total freedom to be wherever you are, and not about constantly being on the road or going from one place to another.
I’ve only been doing it for a month now, but here’s a curious thing I noticed (and heard from others):
I am MORE productive now than before.
And this is not just a feeling: I see more progress and more revenue in my business than before. After thinking about it, it’s not that surprising:
- I nourish my soul’s need of adventure
- I get excitement and energy from fulfilling my desires
- Because of that new energy, I want to do and create more
- I channel that energy into my business.
I’m excited to see what this year of travel is going to bring.
Have you read up to this point? I want to hear from you! Drop a comment below with your thoughts and your take on working from anywhere or being a digital nomad. Let’s be friends.