To follow up on How to become a digital nomad, here are few ideas to create income as a nomadic.
Common Sources of Income for Digital Nomads
Here is a list of common projects we have found meeting Digital Nomads on the Road.
Blogging
Whether it be a "Traveler's Blog", a "Specialist Non-Profit Website", an "Experts Resource Website", a "Photography or Animation Portfolio & Services site", one thing is true for all - Content is the currency of the web - New content means new views and new visitors. Quality display of your content whether it be articles, photos, videos, services or products will produce more page impressions. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a bit of a buzzword but worth implementing. There are many articles on what makes a good SEO website.
Blogging by itself will only produce income in one of the following ways:
- Charging visitors a subscription fee - Works with Highly Professional content, like AFR.
- Advertisement Revenue:
- The most used are Google AdSense.
- Video Ads are very effective as Advertisers pay a premium for Video Ads.
- Affiliate Partnerships. See 20 top brands with Partner Affiliate Programs for a list of Affiliate programs. The more relevant your content is to any Affiliate Partner the more effective your Click-through and Conversion Rate will be. Good for you because you only get paid if your website visitor spends money with your Affiliate:
- A common Affiliate program is Amazon Associates which allows you to create pre-approved product lists and advertise the products directly.
- Another similar Affiliate Program is Shopify.
- Also, check out Xero Affiliate Programs.
- Selling your particular services directly.
- Selling a product or line of products (either your own or as an intermediary).
Personal Services
Often in combination with Blogging, you can advertise your services directly. A great way to display your portfolio or skills, however, if you are not blogging or getting additional content created for you, you will need to source additional contracts using other channels (see below).
Success Story: In Spain, I met a Digital Marketer. Whenever she stayed in a Hostel she would offer them free Digital Marketing services to increase their booking with a contract that allowed her to take 10% from any booking that was generated through her channels. Most people will never say no to a free service, and once she had 20 hostels in her portfolio it became a great source of residual income. Not to mention often free accommodation and food.
Sales
Creating a channel to sell (and/or buy) certain products is a great way to produce income while on the road.
Success Story : I met a guy in Austria that had been traveling around the world for 3 years doing nothing more than collecting product suppliers within countries he had visited that he viewed to be "underpriced merchandise" and reselling it on ebay and Gumtree. No website, just looking for good bargains and using his Mother's basement.
Contracting
It is worth noting that my first experience as a Digital Nomad was with one of the largest website companies in Australia - they had a remote work location structure for their 120+ developers spread throughout the world, and after some negotiation on specifics I moved to Bali, Indonesia and finish the last 6 months of my contract.
Although many workforces still have an office mentality which can be important for many types of work, IT work is not necessarily one of them - more and more companies with IT teams are moving to a remote location set up to better accommodate their IT Specialist. Often it just requires a bit of negotiation...so if you already have a contract or permanent role then moving from office cubicle to working from anywhere may be as close as a persuasive discussion with your boss. It can even be more cost-effective for the company you work for.
The second option includes sourcing new contracts, and there are many ways you can do this. Recruiters are very helpful especially if you have specialist skills. LinkedIn is a great way to profile yourself and find Recruiters ready to source contracts for you. The more employable you are, the more they will like you as they generally take a percentage of the contract value.
I've met Web Designers, Graphic Designers, UX Designers, Web Developers, Mobile Developers and FullStack Developers all working from cafes or hostels in remote parts of the world under contract.
Additionally, resources like FreeLancer, RentACoder, Fiverr and Get a Copywriter, where you can bid on projects and are selected based on your performance reviews of previous contracts. These types of contracts are Project-Based and can range from Design to High Tech Cryptography. Your rating will be invaluable here as clients will choose you on your price AND reviews from past clients.
Success Story: In Granada Spain, I met a Video Producer that invested in a $3k Quad Drone and Camera, and travelled through the world by stopping by all the Real-Estate Companies and Property Managers in the area and offering state-of-the-art Aerial Videos of their properties. He needed four contracts a year to be financially viable and was finding himself new clients every 2 weeks, not to mention repeat business from previous clients. A very lucrative business that allowed him to travel, play with his quad drone and edit videos all week.
Getting customers, clients, work and income
It's not about Money......until it's about Money
Although your particular goals may not be specifically about money (although if it's not included in your plan you need to reassess and set goals), you must be able to generate income either directly or indirectly. The clarity on your financial targets is a great indicator on how successful you're likely to be.
In our experience, there are a few little truths about money that will make things much easier.
Money goes where there is passion behind it.
When deciding to invest in any project I look at who the driver is - If they have a great idea and nothing more I'm not likely to partner with them. If they are deeply passionate about their project then they are a partner well worth investing in. My time is an investment, and as an investor in projects, I am not alone in this perspective.
If no-one knows about you, no-one pays.
Whether you're fundraising for a project, offering digital services or running a special interest blog to sell services or products - if no-one knows about it, it's not going anywhere. Talk about your work. Go to your network of friends and ask for their support. Ask them to share it themselves. Digital Marketing or "Social Hacking" to create a following is also very fruitful for creating exposure. The greater exposure the greater your niche audience and the greater your opportunities. Add your skills or projects to other groups in your chosen channel. Be creative to gain interest. Seek great testimonials and ratings from clients.
Money goes to where there is a Plan.
The more precise and comprehensive your project or service, the more likely it will attract investment or income.
You are only worth as much as you think you are worth.
A lesson I learnt early was that you will only generate income based on how much YOU think you are worth. Never more. Of course, there are market expectations, but 10 clients paying $1,000 each is often better than 100 clients paying $100. The old 80/20 is very applicable here - you will quickly find that work producing 20% of your income is taking 80% of your time. By constantly reassessing on "What is of most value to me, whether it be in quality of projects, or quantity of income" will make your endeavours much more enjoyable and much more effective.
You don't need as much as you think.
Did you know, based on population density, you can live on more than 75% of the planet for less than $800 USD (€650) per month with savings to spare. That's less than $11K USD per year. Add another 75% to this figure if you have a partner. Families are a different story depending on size and ages of children.
Additionally, it quickly becomes apparent that you need very little while travelling. Aside from your Backpack, Clothes and a Laptop, your costs will be one of the following categories: Travel expenses, Accommodation, Food and Drinks, any additional entertainment such as Sightseeing or Physical Activities, Luxury items (we travelled around with a Guitar and Ukulele) and of course Business Expenses.
There are additional costs you may encounter - Travel Insurance is popular, my partner is Pro Insurance, I personally don't pay for the "What If" scenarios. A little foolish considering our recent 3 Months Motorbike ride around Vietnam driving among some of the most chaotic traffic in the world.
Meticulous record of where your money goes.
Another lesson we learnt early - untracked money is like a tap that hasn't been turned off....it just runs down the sink. Track it. Categorise it. Recognise ways to be more efficient with what you already have.
As Expats there are often great Tax Benefits.
Depending on where you are from, what your citizen status is, how long you are on the road or what kind of legal structure (if any) you work under will determine your obligations to both your home country and your current location - Look into it, but a little research here can save you upwards of 30% of your income. That means you now require one third less income to achieve the same goals.
