Home > Fast Money > Online Work > 13 Digital Nomad Jobs That Will Make You A Lot of Money While You Travel
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Finding digital nomad jobs might appear hard when you first consider it. You might think that there is a secret to it, or that there is a hidden website somewhere that offers digital nomad jobs to a selected few. The good news is that this is not the case.
Digital nomad jobs have grown over 115% in the past 10 years and they are not projected to stop. — FlexJobs, 2018
Benefits of Being a Digital Nomad:
Less stressful environment (you can work in your favorite cafe, on the beach, or in your private home office, listening to your favorite music, away from office drama)
No more commuting during rush hour
No need to dress up with office attire
You are in charge of your own schedule (as long as you meet deadlines)
Higher productivity
More motivation to deliver quality work (so you get to keep your gig in place)
You can travel while you work
You can live anywhere since proximity to the office doesn’t matter
Healthier lifestyle due to less stress
Better eating habits (no need for office food)
Constant growth with many opportunities
We did some research for you and have compiled a list of 13 digital nomad jobs that can virtually make you a lot of extra cash.
1. Writing
That one seems easy, right? But taking on freelancing gigs as a writer can be a real opportunity if you actually have the required skills.
Required: You need to love writing, and you need to be able to switch on your creative mode on demand. You also need to have excellent research skills, since most of the time you will be asked to possibly cover subjects that need research.
Opportunities
Content companies hiring remote writers
Corporate companies looking for writers for their social media/website
Marketing companies looking for writers for social media accounts
Little mom-and-pop stores who need writers to help them go online with good content
Pro Tip: Define your pay before you approach clients. Some digital nomad jobs will state the pay rate for the project. However, when you go out looking for clients you will need to be clear on your pay scale and package offers.
Similar to writing, Illustration requires an artistic flair and an innate talent for the art. If you have your skills in place, as well as your software, then you are ready to join the digital nomad jobs community.
Opportunities
Remote job platforms such as Fiverr and People Per Hour
Facebook “writer groups”, are always looking for illustrators for their next book
Children book authors
Marketing companies looking for extra design help
Pro Tip: Based on your experience, it is a good idea to create some package offers, or define your pay rate. You can charge per illustration, or per hour and keep in mind that in most case revisions will be needed.
Good to Know: From our research, we noticed that many illustrators will offer up to 2 revisions for free, and then begin charging for anything extra. If you are new to the online methods of making digital nomad money check out our article on how to start a business without money.
3. Virtual English Teaching
Teaching English online is a great digital nomad money opportunity. This particular job is booming, and it shows no signs of stopping. The demand is very high for people who can teach English online.
Pro Tip: We did our research and we zoomed in on one particular company that stood out, TeachPartTime.
Requirements to Work for TeachPartTime:
Bachelor’s Degree
A native English speaker
According to theBritish Council approximately 1.7 billion people were learning and using English worldwide in 2015. The numbers have increased since then, making working nomads jobs a more attainable dream.
Good to Know: Research claims nearly one-third of the world’s population (2.5 billion) will soon be studying English. This is a whole lot of people who will need teachers. Virtual English teaching is booming thanks to globalization, and the growing number of people who are able to join the world wide web daily.
Benefits When Working for TeachPartTime:
Earn anywhere between $14 and $25 per hour
Make your own hours
Work from home
It is fun and rewarding
Connect with people from around the world
No previous experience required
Get paid bi-weekly or monthly
Extremely easy to sign up and get started
With a total of 61,715 English Degrees awarded in the US alone in 2016, we are certain that this digital nomad money-making opportunity is a great option for many of our readers.
4. Development Jobs
Developers are in great demand. As the entire world is migrating online, developers are set to make a fortune.
Opportunities
Online freelance platforms such as Fiverr, People Per Hour and Github
Companies who are looking to add remote programmers on their teams
Reach out to Startup Accelerators who are looking for developers for their startups
Talk to small local stores who might be looking to go online, create an app, etc.
Pro Tip: If you are a developer, the supply and demand scales are on your side. There is a lot of demand and this means you get to set higher hourly rates.
You can choose to get paid per project or per hour. Just like the previous digital nomad jobs mentioned, it is good to have your rates/package offers in place before you go out looking for clients.
Good to Know: If you have years of experience in the sector you can charge $150+ per hour. For newbies research showed that the going rate is $30 + per hour. We feel that a smart step to take while looking for digital nomad jobs is to consider how to lower your expenses. Like every career change, switching to a digital nomad job might take a few months to yield results. We suggest you take a look at these 13 bill negotiation apps that will help you keep your monthly costs down.
5. Consulting
Years of experience in business has left most of us with a wealth of knowledge. Many times we have told ourselves that if we were to start over again, we would avoid so many errors. Consulting is a great opportunity to put all that knowledge down and guide clients to optimize their businesses. Depending on your background and credentials you can consult in a number of areas.
Consult in One or More of the Following Categories:
The list of possibilities is too long to fit here, but we hope that we gave you some ideas on how you can capitalize on your existing wisdom and knowledge.
Pro Tip: We suggest that no matter whatever area you decide to focus on, to prepare a presentation for your consulting services. There are many examples online to give you ideas. You can use Facebook to advertise your services, as well other social media. Set your prices or packages ahead of time. Brand yourself and ask for reviews and endorsements from clients to help your consulting business grow faster.
6. Coaching
The difference between consulting and coaching is sometimes hard to understand. A consultant solves problems, whereas a coach takes you or your company to the next level. Did You Know? A top coach is Tony Robbins, he uses his incredible personality and energy to push people in order to discover a better version of themselves. If you have a similar personality, and you find yourself doing this often for your friends and family, you might want to consider switching to a digital nomad career as a coach.
Opportunities
Big Corporations looking to train their employees further
Startup CEOs
Online platforms, such as Fiverr and People Per Hour, where you create a profile and offer your services
Small Business Owners
Pro Tip: You will need to attend a lot of networking and business events. You also should look into local clubs that have weekly meetings to get an opportunity to grow your network. We suggest you build a website where you can brand yourself and your coaching lessons
Good to Know: Finding people offline does not mean you carry your sessions in an office setting. You can let all your prospective new clients know that you perform all sessions online.
7. Blogging
Blogging is one of the most fantastic digital nomad jobs because it can be combined with anything. For example, if you are a coach, consultant or a developer you can build your own blog as a means to collect leads, help people and showcase your work. You can travel and promote hotels and restaurants while getting paid.
You can be a stay-at-home mom and share your daily routine with your audience while getting to promote relevant products.
How to Become a Digital Blogging Nomad?
Pick a subject
Start a blog
Share your expertise
Get leads and turn them into clients
Review products and services under affiliate agreements
If you are quick to pick up social trends and you know how to work with social media, this digital nomad job is perfect for you. Social media managers are in charge of social media accounts for small or large enterprises.
They post updates a few times a week, respond to clients who message the company on the social channel, design and run ads for various promotions and maintain the branding guidelines of the client.
Opportunities
Run ads on social media advertising your services
Find local small businesses who cannot afford the large marketing companies and offer to run their social media for a portion of the price
Network and go to business conferences.
Who Are Your Potential Clients?
Bakeries
Flower shops
Startups
Hotels and Restaurants
Spas and other Beauty Services Providers
Pet shops.
The above list is just to get you thinking about some of the possibilities.
Pro Tip: At the beginning, it might be hard to get people to trust you, so we suggest offering to run their social media account / s for free for a month. Once the business owner sees the audience grow and engage with the brand, they will want to pay you to continue. This is probably the fastest way to break into the Social Media Manager arena.
A virtual assistant is a person who provides customer support services for businesses remotely. Virtual assistants are changing the way businesses do customer service and are allowing more people to being working nomads’ jobs. It is a booming area for digital nomads, and if you are customer care oriented, this can be a wonderful match for you. Sometimes virtual assistants take on the role of personal assistants, and get to organize and run the schedule of big CEO’s. It does not require much hustle to get your own clients or run a business. You simply get to support clients during their purchasing experience or answer any questions from prospective customers.
Opportunities
Platforms that connect you with companies looking for virtual assistants
Large companies like Amazon and other global Fortune 500 companies
If you chose to go with a platform, you will have to agree with their terms and conditions, which usually state the pay per task. If you decide to go after one full-time Virtual Assistant position expect to get anywhere from $800 to $1500 monthly.
Project managers are the glue that helps a company stick together. They are in charge of delegating tasks, monitoring the process and making sure all deadlines are met. Entry level project managers make close to $90,000 a year, so this can bring in some serious digital nomad money.
Opportunities
Startup companies
Local small enterprises looking to take on new projects and expand
Large Companies that have personnel in various countries
Online platforms that can match you with project management positions
In most cases you will need to have at least a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management for this position.
Pro Tip: Familiarize yourself with online project management tools such as Asana or Slack. If you do not have a college degree we have you covered.
For the creative digital nomads out there producing music, video, or animation for sale is the perfect match among the large list of digital nomad jobs.
Opportunities
Online platforms for artists
Movie production companies
Music production companies
TV
Warning: Music / Video / Animation can be done remotely, however, it might not be the best match if you are looking to travel while you work. The above positions might require access to a studio, which means it might work best if you work from home.
Pro Tip: This is one of the hardest industries to break into, however we have heard from many successful music composers that they offered to write music for trailers for free in order to start building a portfolio.
12. Translator
You do need to know more than one language for this one. This digital nomad job involves translating text from one language to another. The more languages you know, the more jobs you can do.
Opportunities
Large e-commerce sites that need their websites translated to various languages
Check for remote postings on popular platforms such as Fiverr or Crowdsurf
Get a contract with a government agency
The average translator brings in over $25 per hour. You can combine this with an Interpreter job, especially if you travel to countries that English is high in demand.
Pro Tip: Get a Certification exam from the American Translators Association which will allow you to designate yourself as ‘certified’ in the field of translation.
13. E-Commerce Store Owner
If none of the above digital nomad jobs appeals to you, then you can look into moving product online and getting paid. You can either create your own online store or do dropshipping.
For those not familiar with dropshipping, it is a method that allows you to transfer the customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer, another retailer, or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer.
Opportunities
Either build your own online shop to sell your own produce
If you have successfully discovered more jobs for digital nomads, comment below and let us know!
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Logan is a practicing CPA, Certified Student Loan Professional, and founder of Money Done Right, which he launched in 2017. After spending nearly a decade in the corporate world helping big businesses save money, he launched his blog with the goal of helping everyday Americans earn, save, and invest more money. Learn more about Logan.