So, for those of you who live under a rock and who don’t know what a digital nomad is by now, a digital nomad is someone who by virtue of being able to generate an income remotely, chooses to travel and effectively earn their money from anywhere where they can work via the internet. Now I’ve already fallen into the trap of suggesting that a digital nomad spends their working time actually working, i.e. typing away at their laptop or perhaps doing anything else which essentially has them exchanging their time for money.
While that probably typifies the stereotype of a so-called digital nomad, that is indeed what this post is about. It’s about the different types of digital nomads, who earn their money in different ways, albeit all of them do indeed earn it remotely. The freelancer or contract worker as described above falls into one of the two main groups of the different types of digital nomads, which will be further broken down to explore in a little greater detail.
So there two main types of digital nomads, which are those who run businesses remotely (usually an online business) and those who work remotely.
Running an online business
Those digital nomads who run an online business are perhaps in a better position than those who operate as freelancers, simply because what this suggests is that they have a little bit more time off to enjoy the destinations they find themselves in than someone who is selling their time for remuneration. These digital nomads do have to make sure that their online business website is functioning and easy to use, otherwise, customers would go elsewhere. To learn more about user experience on the website, it might be worth visiting Qualtrics. Luckily though, there are many different types of online businesses which are actually legitimate and can therefore sustain their operation over years, such as SEO agencies, e-commerce establishments and even consultancy businesses that essentially hire freelancers and other remote workers on a contract basis.
Working remotely
By now I guess it has become clear as to what entails working remotely as a digital nomad, but to get into some specifics about what they actually do, you have the likes of freelance content writers or copywriters who get paid by the word or by the hour for the content they churn out and submit electronically. All manner of professionals can also fall under this category and it’s not necessarily those who have some kind of technical background like programmers and the likes.
You can do consultations as a legal professional, for instance, or even give counselling sessions as a professional such as a psychologist. Many remote-working digital nomads teach language, particularly English! No matter what profession you engage in, you need to ensure that you have a robust internet connection (for more info, go through buckeye broadband internet plans or similar ones in your locality) so as to make your work run smooth. And if your work entails detailed researching on several websites, you might also have to get a VPN because it can help you cut through geo-restrictions! Any VPN system may not be enough, because the availability of a large network and speed plays a prominent role in VPN selection. Freemium business models like Hola VPN can be considered. You can read the hola vpn review to check if it is suitable for your remote work.
Living off of earnings from investments
As a digital nomad this is probably the category under which you want to find yourself. If you’re not working towards living off of passive earnings then perhaps now is the time to re-evaluate your trajectory as a digital nomad.
Imagine something like owning a backpacker’s hostel in the like of the one you might be working out of as something like a freelance writer, which would perhaps be located in your home country and all you really do for “work” is check on bookings and collaborate with your manager(s).