4 ways to earn a living as a Digital Nomad
So you are ready to leave the 9 – 5 slavery, you can’t stand your boss and your annoying colleagues and you want to run wild and free and live on your own terms.
The first thing you need to get in line before becoming a location-independent digital nomad is ‘mindset.’ Many of us are programmed from a young age to believe that we need to work for the man. That we need to suck it up, work hard to earn a living and pay the bills, at a young age I realised that simply wasn’t true.
“There is money inside the internet.”
In this video I talk about my experience living as a digital nomad in Thailand
Throw yourself in the Deep End
So, you have got yourself in the right mindset, you believe in your Unlimited potential – now it’s time to go out there and take on anything the world throws at you. If you truly want to be your own boss and live a location-independent life, you will make it happen!
1. Teach a Language
The first step in the road to becoming a digital nomad might just be getting in that first paycheck.
For anyone that asks me “how can I live a location-independent lifestyle like you?” I tell them if you need money right now just start teaching a language. Yes, this is something I have also done!
In 2018 my job had run its course and I was in Thailand with very little cash coming in, I signed up to a language teaching website and within 48hours I had a few clients booked. I had ZERO language teaching experience and was a little nervous in my first few lessons but after watching a few YouTube teaching tutorials and a little preparation I was on my way.
Online teaching became my main job for around 3 months during 2018 and I was making up to $1000USD per month. My partner Tida who is a Thai native also took up language teaching when she left her 9 – 5 job, she made a successful living teaching Thai language for over 6 months.
Look up language teaching platforms like Preply and Palfish.
2. Freelance a service on Fiverr or Upwork
Freelancing sites are becoming more popular. For businesses seeking services to outsource – this can be a quick and effective way to find the right person for the job!
If you have some skills to offer you can sign up to one of many freelancing sites and list samples of your work and set your prices.
Some skills that are often outsourced are: graphic design, web design, blog writing, voice-overs and animation. Of course there are many more just have a look on any freelancing site. List your service for a set fee and start earning.
3. Create an Online Store
Do you have a product idea that you believe in? Selling a physical or digital product is very simple – buy a domain name and some hosting space from Siteground (link below) and easily manage your own personal website.
Within Siteground you can install a WordPress website and Woocomerce webstore. Siteground has a great support chat that can assist you or you can always contact me through email and I will offer any assistance I can.
Once you are set up create keyword-rich articles that relate to your products and post them on your site. This will direct the right people to your site, collect their email addresses with an attractive pop-up box. This way you can market new products to them through weekly newsletters and share newly written articles with them.
4. Content creation with monetisation
While you are browsing this very article you may notice some targeted Google advertising showing here and there. Simply displaying these ads can generate Google Adsense revenue. If your articles are well written and based on trending topics you may receive hundreds of organic viewers to your site everyday, these views turn into cash.
YouTube is part of Google and works in a similar way. You may be familiar with my YouTube channel Esquire Unlimited, this channel has generated millions of views over the years and has shown many advertisements before and during the video – this turns into monthly payments paid out through Adsense.
You will need to set up a Google Adsense account and have your website and YouTube channel verified.