I am about to publish a new ebook about how to become a digital nomad. I have been traveling around since 2010 and now I am going to share all I know about digital nomadism. Below is a free chapter of the book. I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 2: The Digital Nomad Blueprint
Now it is time to get into the nuts and bolts of the Digital Nomad Blueprint. This is where I will walk you, step by step, through the entire process.
1. Get Marketable Skills
This is the most important step and it is also the one that most people ignore. Too many people take off to Chiang Mai or someplace and think that they can figure out a way to make money once they get there.
This is the absolute wrong way to do it.
You are going to need marketable skills, skills that people will pay for. If you do not do this you will be dead in the water.
If you do not have any skills you will need to acquire them. The good news is that getting these skills has never been easier. There are a number of websites that are set up to teach you a specific skill.
You can be certified in any number of coding language, copywriting, video editing, etc, fairly quickly. Sites like Lynda.com or Code Academy have dozens of courses to choose from.
I have personally gotten certified in Inbound Marketing for free from HubSpot, an industry leader.
It is going to take time and effort to get these skills. There is no other way around it. But know this, the more effort you put into this step, the easier the other steps will be.
2.Create Your Platform
You need to be found by potential clients and the best way to achieve that is to have your own website.
Setting up a website is fairly cheap and relatively easy to do. I have my personal site, as well as affiliate sites, all hosted on GoDaddy. You can choose any hosting company you like, but this is who I use.
You can buy a domain name for about $12 and get a hosting plan for about $10 a month. That's just over $20 to get your business started. Think about that for a second. For the price of a few rounds of drinks, you can have a business instead. That's a good deal if you ask me.
Once you have the domain and hosting set up, add the Wordpress plugin and you are ready to go. This whole process will take less than 30 minutes.
Once you get the site set up, you need to place some sample of your work there. If you are going to be doing video editing, you should have some sample videos on there. For me, there are a bunch of samples of my writing.
I have also ranked the site for certain keywords because I also provide SEO services. You need to show people that you can actually do the things you say you can do. Your website is the place to showcase your talents.
Also, do not forget about social media. At a minimum, you should have a Facebook Page, YouTube channel, Twitter page, and Google+. This is the bare minimum.
You can add profiles on other platforms, but these are the ones to start out with. make sure you place a link to your main website in all of your social media profiles. Not only with this make it easier for people to get to your website, but it will also help with the search engines.
Once all these platforms are set up it is time to figure out how you are going to get paid.
3. Find A Way To Get Paid
For the most part, this will be pretty straightforward. Most digital nomads I know get the majority of their payment s processed through PayPal. There are good and bad points to this.
First, PayPal is so popular and trusted, most clients will not think twice about sending you money this way.
On the other hand, PayPal is notorious for freezing and closing account on a moment's notice.
Because of this, you may want to offer a few options to your clients. Accepting credit/debit cards and ACH bank transfers is one option. GoDaddy has an invoicing suite that makes it seamless to accept different forms of payments.
You may also accept cryptocurrency like Bitcoin as payment. This has been an intriguing development for me.
There is a website that I post on called Steemit. If you are a creative at all you should be on this site.
Anyway, the site runs very much like Reddit. Users can upvote and share (re-steem) your posts and you make money from this. The money is real. You get paid in what are called Steem Dollars. Once those funds have been deposited into your account you can then transfer them out and convert them into Bitcoin.
That Bitcoin can then be turned into cash. I have done it numerous times and it is still amazing every time I do it.
As Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies in general, become more known and accepted, you will be able to request payment in these without hesitation. Right now it is difficult to get a client who is not already into Bitcoin to pay you that way. But those people who are will love doing business that way.
Remember, the more payment options you give a client, the more likely they will be willing to do business with you.
4. Market Yourself
You could have all the skills and the greatest website in the world but if people don't know you are open for business they will never find you.
You need to market yourself on a consistent basis. Let people know you are open for business. Tell your friends and family what you are doing. They may know someone who is in need of your services.
I know people roll their eyes when I say that, but I have gotten a good amount of work this way.
You should be marketing your services on social media daily. And I am not talking about posting a bunch of ads and thinking that's okay. You need to engage with people. Provide value. Answer questions. Be the Go-to Guy or Girl in your industry. People like doing business with people they trust.
I'm going to give you a very simple, yet powerful way to market on Instagram. For this example let's say you design websites. Let's also say that you want to target the plastic surgeon market.
So, now you go on Instagram and search for the hashtag #tummytuck and you see all these photos come up. Start searching through those photos and find the doctors that are posting them.
In their bio they should have a link to their website. Go to the site and take a look. How could it be better? Once you have made some notes, get in contact with the doctor via Direct Message and off some tips on how to improve his website.
Don't go for the hard sell just yet. If he responds, then let him know that you design websites for a living and if he ever needs anything to just let you know.
Most likely, you will not close the deal right there and then (though it has happened) but you should keep in contact. Like and comment on their posts. Provide as much value as you can. It will pay off in the end.
It should go without saying that this is not a onetime event. You need to be doing this on a daily basis. If you continue to do this, I guarantee you that you will get at least one client. Just remember not to be pushy or annoying.
5. Travel
This is it. This is the payoff for all your hard work. Now you finally get to go sip fruity drinks on the beach and enjoy your life.
That's the dream, isn't it? And it is a reality for some digital nomads. For the rest of us, the reality is traveling to big cities, searching out free Wi-Fi and eating on the cheap.
While digital nomad travel can, at times, be glamorous for the most part it is living like the locals do. And either way is okay.
You need to decide what is best for you. When I first started out, I wanted to be sitting on the beach with my laptop and making money hand over fist. That was, until I actually tried it. It really wasn't for me.
First of all, you have to be a lunatic to bring your laptop to the beach. Trying to work out in the hot sun is nearly impossible. As is trying to get work done at a beach-side bar.
I find best to go to a coffeeshop or local library and just get as much work done as possible. Then go out and enjoy the beach.
The great thing about being a digital nomad is that you can literally travel anywhere in the world and still be able to work. As long as you can find an Internet connection.
And you can travel relatively cheap. In some places, like Europe, you can find airline tickets for $10USD, one way. Other places, like Central America, bus travel is affordable, and they go everywhere.
I will get into how to find the cheapest plane tickets in Chapter 4, but for now, make a list of places you would like to visit. Start doing some research. Go to YouTube and watch videos about your dream destination. See what other people are doing there.
Find out how much it will cost to travel there and what costs are like in the country for hostels, hotels, food, drink, and entertainment. Create a budget a budget and start saving up.
This is your trip and you want to make it as memorable as possible. The more information you have, the better off you will be.
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