How many times have you seen work-from-home jobs and thought it would be awesome to work from home? You’ve probably seen them a lot more frequently now than ever before because employers are reaping the benefits of work-from-home employees.
According to Harvard Business Review, companies are discovering that if you want to increase productivity, you have to start letting employees work from home. But what these work-from-home employees are realizing is that just because the title says “work-from-home,” that doesn’t necessarily mean that they have to work from their actual home… they can actually work from anywhere in the world.
When you take the word “home” out of work-from-home and replace it with the word “anywhere,” to create the title work-from-anywhere, you’ve just changed the title to digital nomad, meaning you can work from anywhere in the world as long as you have a computer and access to the internet.
If you still work for your company, that’s technically called remote work, but even with remote work, you can still work as a digital nomad because you’re location independent.
The Rise of the Digital Nomads
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More and more people are ditching their 9 to 5 jobs and trading them in for location-independent work. The real question is why though? Why are so many people trading their financially secure jobs for a possibly “unstable” stream of income?
Well, first and foremost, the “unstable” source of income is something that people say who don’t have a full understanding of what it means to work as a digital nomad, and we’ll get into earning as a digital nomad shortly. But to answer the question of why so many people are quitting their jobs to work as a digital nomad is because of the lifestyle.
People oftentimes get the verbiage of digital nomads confused. A digital nomad isn’t something you are, per se, it’s a lifestyle. You live the digital nomad lifestyle and you work as a digital nomad. The biggest difference is that you’re not tied down to an office… and that is what people enjoy the most about the lifestyle.
Working as a digital nomad allows you to work from anywhere in the world. You can work in Las Vegas for three weeks and possibly strike it big while you’re working and sightseeing, and then go and spend four months in Indonesia, and then go spend eight months in China, and so on and so forth… living the digital nomad lifestyle seriously allows you to travel anywhere in the world and work as long as you have a connection to the internet.
How to Earn a Great Income As a Digital Nomad
This is the area where people tend to panic a little. Those that are considering the lifestyle feel uncertain about making the lifestyle change because they don’t want to go somewhere and run out of money. Little do those people know that the last of their concerns should be earning income as a digital nomad… their biggest concern should be whether or not they need a passport when traveling to Jamaica!
All kidding aside, earning as a digital nomad isn’t and shouldn’t be a scary thought because there are so many ways to earn a steady income. If you’re still a little wary about it, take a look at the different ways to earn… that should put your mind at ease.
Rent Your Home Out
Living the digital nomad lifestyle is a long-term venture, meaning you can rent your home out and earn a steady monthly income from that until you’re ready to come back home for a while. You just need to make sure you find the right tenants that are reliable and trustworthy and are able to make the monthly rent payments that you require.
The leasing agreement will completely be on your terms. But you also want to take the time out to really think about this because this will not only be a means to fund your travels but it’s also a roof over someone’s head, so you definitely want to make sure you’re looking for tenants that you feel you can trust. You might want to start with close friends and family.
Build an Online Store
Building an online store is one of the most trusted ways to earn a great and steady income as a digital nomad, and you can run your store from anywhere in the world. People tend to feel slightly intimidated by this form of earning because they think they’re not tech-savvy enough to build an online store but the reality of the matter is that there is a website builder for beginners and experts alike.
So building the store is the easy part…The part you want to get right is determining what to sell in your store. Do some market research to see what the biggest need is among consumers and focus on selling that. As the needs of the consumers change, you have the ability to update your products as well.
Remote Work
Remote work is what was discussed earlier but it’s definitely a guaranteed source of income because you’re working for an established company. Before you embark on your digital nomad journeys, it’s always a great idea to check with your job’s HR department to see if there are work-from-home opportunities and if there are, look into those to see if you’re eligible for them. Even if you’re not, there are plenty of companies specifically looking for remote workers.
Freelance Work
Freelance work is one of the most common ways digital nomads earn income and it’s the job type that can be unstable because your income is dependent on how much work you do. Freelance jobs come in many different titles, you just need to assess your skills to see what services you can provide for freelance work. Freelance jobs include:
- Writing
- Graphic Design
- Social Media Management
- Virtual Assistant
- Translating
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There are all kinds of freelance jobs out there that you can do, you just have to find the ones that best suit you. Companies even hire freelance workers as an alternative to hiring a full-time employee, so your options are limitless, you just have to look for them.
About Peter C.
Peter is a digital nomad who largely writes from Asia, Europe, and South America. Always following the "vibe," he sets up shop in hostels and AirBNB's and continues to entertain us with wild stories from life abroad.
