Photo: Rawpixel via Pixabay
We all admire those amazing Instagram accounts and travel blogs with gorgeous images from exotic locations scattered across the world. But how do they do it? How do they earn money while enjoying the adventure of a lifetime?
As it turns out, there’s a lot of work behind those perfect pictures. It takes organization, determination, and a lot of courage to be a digital nomad and influencer on social media!
If you are determined to try it, we’ve created a list of our top tools and resources to help you deal with the most challenging tasks you’ll encounter along the way.
1. Find your Niche
Before you start the grand adventure of your lifetime, decide on the niche that best fits your skillset. For instance, most digital nomads make money from content (video, photo, or written) and use affiliation platforms to promote products. However, this means you already have a solid following that’s constantly engaged.
Other digital nomads use job boards to find remote work that fits their skills. For instance, as a freelancer, you may find jobs on platforms such as Fiverr, Upwork, Hubstaff Talent, Working Nomads, or Freelancer. These platforms offer jobs for people with skills in content, programming, management, finances, and more.
2. Get the Right Equipment
Each niche requires a certain type of equipment, but to be a digital nomad you’ll definitely need a laptop and smartphone to keep in touch with your audience and your clients. Now, if you are a photographer or videographer, you’ll need a different set of tools such as professional cameras or arial photography drones.
3. Continue to Improve
Being constantly on the move can take a toll on you and on your content. Furthermore, to be successful as a digital nomad, you need to work harder than anyone else to get an edge on the competition.
Luckily, due to E-learning platforms, you can always take a class, regardless of your location. For instance, if you want to sharpen your video-making skills, you may want to consider an online video editing course. On the other hand, if you’re a programmer, you may want to pick up a new programming language.
4. Stay Organized
Organization is a crucial skill when you’re traveling with equipment, all of your belongings, and trying to keep up with deadlines! However, our brain is not designed to keep track of every last detail, which is why you’ll need some helpers to keep you on top of things.
One such helper is G Suite, an entire collection of apps and tools created by Google to encourage communication and collaborative work between remote team members. The package gives you access to Gmail, Drive, Docs, Slides, Calendar and more.
Furthermore, there are lots of task management tools that you can use for free, such as Trello and Asana.
5. Find Affordable Accommodation
Unless you’re extremely wealthy and can always afford to stay in expensive hotels, accommodation will prove to be a challenging task. The fact that you’ll need a quiet place to work and recharge is going to make your quest even more difficult.
There are tools to help you through this as well. Sites such as Airbnb, MindMyHouse, or Facebook groups created with nomads in mind offer the possibility of cheap accommodation in good conditions.
6. Deal with Loneliness
Yes, you will be traveling the world and having tons of fun, but it can get lonely (especially if you do this alone). That’s the main reason why there are lots of online platforms designed to help nomads meet and share their experiences.
Sites such as Find a Nomad, Meetup.com, Nomad List, or Facebook groups are perfect to find other people on an adventure that’s similar to yours.
7. Stay in Touch
Apps such as Skype, Slack, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and more are great for communication with both customers and friends. They may not seem as important when you’re stationary, but to a digital nomad, they are free connections to the rest of the world.
So, make sure the find the best apps that meet all your requirements. For instance, if you need to video chat with customers, you will need a good internet connection and a reliable app, such as Skype or Zoom.
8. Organize your Finances
This can be a tricky task since you don’t have a fixed address, but most banks nowadays have the necessary services in place. However, there may be situations when your card gets declined or worse, stolen, so you must be prepared.
Furthermore, since you are working online, it makes a lot more sense to use PayPal to collect your funds from various platforms. Another useful financial tool for a nomad is Trail Wallet – an app that keeps track of your expenses as you move from country to country.
9. VPN Service
When you hop from one public WiFi to another, you need a strong VPN service to protect your sensitive data. Most VPN services available on the market are affordable and offer access to a wide range of countries. However, not all services work well in all the countries, so it’s best to check with your provider first.
10. Keep Track of your Work
Some customers may want to see your work schedule to make sure you weren’t having fun on company time, and here is where tools like Toggl come in handy. True, some work platforms have their own trackers, but Toggl works on your computer and sends online reports with how you spent your work time. In full honesty, this is a tool that most nomads use even without being asked by a customer. They use it because it helps them understand where their time goes and why.
Wrap Up
Overall, as a digital nomad, it’s important to know how to manage your time without losing sight of the fact that you’re on an adventure! All the resources and tools mentioned above are amazing little helpers to keep track of time, finances, customers, friends and family, deal with the challenges of traveling alone.
Oli Kang