5 ways to actually make money as a Digital Nomad (without becoming a TikTok influencer)

Whenever I meet other travellers and try to explain what I do - the typical response is 'ahhh, you're one of those coaches'.

You know the ones I'm talking about. The coaches who coach coaches and all seem to have $10k months. Those ones.

You might be relieved to hear that that is not true.

I've met digital nomads in a million different fields, who have landed in this position in so many different ways.

I believe it's something that you can make happen with almost any skillset, without even needing a social media presence - let me tell you how.

Understand your digital skillset.

In the age of the internet, no matter what you do - you can most likely do it online. Unfortunately this doesn't really apply to builders or dentists, but most other people are in a good position. & honestly, even as a builder or a dentist - it's still likely that you could teach someone else a skill digitally, consult online or get paid to write. So never rule out becoming a digital nomad! It might just be a little harder.

For me, the world completely changed when we entered the pandemic. Instead of going to the office everyday - we learnt how to do everything online.

Working in tech, we already knew this was possible. However, we hadn't seen how well we could all function whilst working fully remotely.

Prior to this, I was considering learning how to code so I could create websites for people whilst I travelled. As soon as the office went remote, I realised that I could do exactly what I already did - but from anywhere in the world.

If you haven't had the luxury of this realisation, then sit and assess what you do everyday. You can write this down in terms of tasks, and in terms of skills. Note down which tasks you can do, and skills you could utilise fully remotely.

If you're a teacher - you can teach online.

If you're a PT - you can coach online.

If you make jewellery - you could bulk make jewellery and still sell this online with the right distribution process whilst you travel for a period of time.

Understand how you want to make money.

5 of the main channels for making money online are:

1. Teaching / coaching others: if you're an expert in any skill, there will be ways you can do this.
2. Writing: become a freelance writer, write about your niche. You could also start a blog / social media channel, but these take a while to build up and make profitable.
3. Running an e-commerce business: as long as you have the right processes set up to sell your products (even easier if it's services) then you can do this from anywhere.
4. Work as a freelancer
5. Work for a remote company

I have also met a tonne of people that run their start-ups remotely. If you have an idea for a new business, why not start this in Thailand!

In the last 2 years, my revenue has come from a mix of:

• Coaching: I coach people and teams how to be brilliant at Product Management
• Writing: I write for Product Management publications, and as you can tell - I write about being a digital nomad
• Freelancing: I primarily work as a consultant with different Product Organisations to help them to grow in Product maturity and deliver even more value from their Products.

I've found it super beneficial to own different revenue streams. I feel like I'm creating more sustainable growth, and I have the variety in my life which I love.

My work has also evolved a lot over time. I started out by creating conversion audits and hands-on helping teams to optimise their digital products. Now I primarily work with teams to help them with Strategy and Product Maturity growth.

I realised that I have so many different ways to cut my skillset, and so much value that I can offer to different organisations. I think I'll constantly be trialling the different skills to see what I love and what I can offer.

No matter which field you've worked in before, you can probably try one or a mix of all of these things to allow you to get started remotely.

The pros and cons of different revenue steams

My number one goal as a Digital Nomad is to travel. This meant that freedom and flexibility were far more important to me than money or stability.

These values might change over time, but for now - these shape most of my career decisions. This doesn't mean that the path I've chosen is always easy, but it gives me everything that I need in my life right now.

Here are the pros and cons for the different paths you might take.

Writing, coaching & freelancing

The tricky part.

All of the revenue streams that I have chosen (writing, coaching, freelancing) mean that I need to find my own work.

I created some stability by constantly nurturing a pipeline of work, diversifying revenue streams and developing retainer clients.

However, it's still not always easy. There will be some months where you feel like the world is your oyster and your options are endless. There will be other months where you think you'll need to pack it all in and return to an office job.

As time goes on, you learn to keep a level head and know that new opportunities will come your way. You just have to keep putting yourself out there and creating them.

The positives.

I get to choose my own work. It's like creating a job role that is perfectly suited to me.

I write about the things that I love.

I coach the people that I love to see grow.

I work with amazing clients, that I get to choose, on topics that I thrive on.

I have also been able to bake in a huge amount of flexibility. I don't work every day when I travel. I sometimes take breaks to allow me to go on bigger trips like Hawaii and East Africa.

This has been absolutely perfect for me.

Running a start-up / e-commerce business

The tricky part.

Again, I'm no expert in this space - but there are some things to consider here that I have seen from other travellers.

When you run a business, you are often always on.

Yes, you can still choose flexibility and which hours you work. However, there are often fires that you need to fight. Your business is your baby. You want it to succeed over anything else. This is not always easy. It takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

The rewards can be insane. Your company could be worth millions and set you up for life.

If you're going to do this as a digital nomad, just make sure you're prepared for it.

The positives.

You will meet some other amazing entrepreneurs whilst you travel. You'll have amazing conversations, networking experiences and incredible ways to switch off when you're not working.

You'll often travel slower, so you can fully immerse yourself in different places, make friends and get to know a culture better.

Again, this is why understanding your own values and motives and what you want to gain from the experience are the most important things.

Working for a remote company

Unfortunately, I feel like the trend has started to shift to more people returning to the office. However, there are still a lot of fully-remote companies out there and I met loads of nomads that gained this flexibility from their company.

The tricky part.

You won't have as much freedom and flexibility. You probably need to work set hours, which meant starting work at 4am each day for some people that I met in South America.

You also probably want to negotiate your contract to work 80%.

I worked remotely on two occasions when I was employed full-time, and as amazing as it is to watch the sunset after work and explore on the weekends, it can be quite tiring. If you're staying in one place for a long time, it works. However, if your goal is to see the world - then you'll need a bit more time to be able to do this. Working 80% or less should give you this capacity.

The positives

It's a super safe way to get started. You have a lot of stability. You know that you will be paid at the end of each month. You know what you need to do to excel in your job and you can do just that.

Conclusion

Depending on your personality, your values and your reasons for becoming a digital nomad - there are a lot of different approaches you can take to actually start making money and making it a reality.

It is not always easy. You need to know what is important to you and constantly trade-off the pros and cons of different approaches. You need to know how to make everything work, even when it is tough.

& sometimes, you just need to know when to go home and re-group before you have the motivation to go again.