How to Become a Digital Nomad - Key Skills to Master
If your idea of work life balance means firing up your laptop from a beach-side lounger in the morning, having a coffee meeting in a jungle town cafe, and then taking off the rest of the afternoon to trek up the side of a mountain to get in your exercise, you're not alone. A lot of millennials strive to be digital nomads, wandering around the globe, working from their laptops, and making money online.
But, aside from the risk of leaving a 9 to 5 desk job, many individuals are afraid that they don't have the skills to make it out there in the digital realm. So, to help get some of you potential digital nomads hyped up and ready to take on the world (and digital world), here are some skills to master if you want to become a digital nomad:
Blog Article Creation
Since a lot of digital nomads create travel blogs and then monetize them, you will want to not only set up a travel blog, but also learn how to write great content that entices people to keep reading and buying your products. Some key pieces of advice that I have found is to write longer articles, but to keep the paragraphs short. That way, your readers don't get bogged down in any lengthy paragraphs and drift away from the point of your articles.
Next, I'd suggest using sub-headers. A lot of the times when I read an article I will scan the sub-headers to grasp the main points of the article, and then decide if I want to read any deeper. Try and utilize verbs here so that your subheadings initiate an action. That will not only push people into reading more of what that paragraph has to say, but also help your readers learn what steps they should take to achieve the advice your article is providing.
Lastly, learn SEO (Search Engine Optimization). You've probably seen this a thousand times on other blog sites, but SEO in blog articles is critical to being found on search engines like Google. If you're using WordPress, download Yoast SEO. It has a free version that will help you immediately see how SEO-friendly all of your articles are. The plugin will then provide suggestions for improving each articles' SEO. Once Yoast is satisfied with your article, it will literally give you a green light to publish it.
Instagram Engagement
Another key skill to master if you want to become a digital nomad is Instagram engagement, which is essentially how often your audience engages with your posts and stories by liking or commenting on them. This is important because the new Instagram algorithm favors posts that get the highest social engagement, allowing those posts to pop up in your followers' feeds more than the ones that get very little engagement - Instagram is a social network after all!
To start, encourage your users to comment by putting a clear call to action in the caption. If you post a picture from a recent trip to Italy, ask your followers if they've ever been there before. Or, if you're posting a picture of you surfing in Costa Rica, ask your followers to tag a friend that they would try it with. The more interactions your posts get, the more Instagram will favor your posts and make them more and more visible to your followers.
PowerPoint Development
Sure, anyone that's worked a corporate job knows how to throw a quick PowerPoint presentation together, but do you know how to put one together that is truly aesthetically pleasing and on brand with your blog / website? Think about it. All of the social media influencers out there have consistent branding on all of their social media and websites. What you may not know, however, is that they carry that style over into their media kits and pitch decks.
Media kits and pitch decks are important because they showcase the statistics of your blog and / or service offering to potential clients. Since these items get sent directly to a client in the hopes of making you money, the PowerPoints that you use to create them should exemplify the quality of your brand as well. So, take the time to learn the ins and outs of PowerPoint, and then figure out how to make a PowerPoint Presentation that is better than everyone else's.
The Art of Reaching Out
This is a key skill required if you want to become a digital nomad because, most of the time, you will have to put yourself out there to get new clients and followers. Some may come to you (once you've built up a reputation), but for sure, when you're starting out, you will need to reach out to people and pitch your ideas (see the PowerPoint section above).
Reaching out may seem a little daunting, but, one thing that has surprised me, is how many people will actually respond back. What has also surprised me is how willing a lot of people are to work with bloggers and digital nomads. Sure, some people will reject you. Some people will even completely ignore you. But that's ok. You don't want to work with people like that anyways. There are tons of like-minded people and companies out there that would love to work with digital nomads (like your future self), so do yourself a favor and make the reach out happen.
As a starting point, pick three clients (company or person) that you'd like to collaborate / work with. In an email, quickly introduce yourself, explain why you like their work, and then get right into a quick pitch as to what service you provide / how the two of you could work together. If you have a specific project in mind, mention that, too. You never know what the response will be until you try!
Test Out Shopify for Passive Income
Or another e-commerce store for that matter. To become a digital nomad, you will need to be able to sell your items / services online, and then receive payment for them. Sure, if you do content creation your clients can e-transfer you money. But if you want to truly spend the majority of your time living the digital nomad life and exploring the far corners of the globe, you can't fully do that while slaving away behind a computer, even if you are beach-side. You need to create passive income.
The best way to create passive income is to develop a digital product (an e-book, digital guide, etc.) that can be sold over and over and over again without having to put in any additional work other than creating it. Once you have a digital product and an audience, you can utilize a company like Shopify to set up an online store. Then you can add your digital products and, as people purchase them, Shopify will automatically send them your digital merchandise and deposit the money in your bank account. It's that easy.
So, if you're tired of the desk life and want to become a digital nomad, I don't blame you. There are thousands and thousands of people living that life right now. All you need to do is master a few skills, put yourself out there and enjoy all of the benefits provided when you become a digital nomad.
Would you like to learn more about how to become a digital nomad? Let me know in the comments if a more in-depth digital guide book on the subject would be beneficial to you!
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