I think we can agree when I say traveling the world while making money as a digital nomad is every wanderlust’s dream. 

After all, all you need is a laptop, wifi connection, and a sense of adventure to become and make money as a digital nomad. Imagine picking any location in the world that you itch to travel for some time, while bouncing from cafés to cafés working out of your laptop – probably funding (and then some) the next travel adventure. 

For every aspiring digital nomad, this is the ultimate goal: travel, make money, repeat. 

Whether you just graduated from school or wanting to transition from your regular 9-5 to a digital nomad who makes money full-time, below are different options that you can explore to get your foot in the door of becoming a full-time digital nomad. 

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>> 8 Benefits of Being a Digital Entrepreneur

6 Profitable Ways to make money as a Digital Nomad

1) Start a blog

The number one source of how digital nomads make money online: blogging.

But in the world of social media, many believe that blogging is dead. After all, who would read a blog post about a destination when they can just scroll through stunning pictures on Instagram, or watch endless vlogs on YouTube.

So is blogging dead? 

The short answer is NO. 

Why?

Because billions of people are actively searching for keywords on search engines, and what happens when somebody is searching online? It means they have “user intent” where they are looking for information for something they NEED. 

And when we have needs, our “user intent” to act (i.e., purchase something) is HIGH.

Many successful digital nomads are very much aware of this, which is the very reason why many have built multiple blogs on different niches, competing for keywords that can rake them easily five to six figures a month. 

So how do digital nomads monetize their blogs?

Besides selling ad spaces on their blog, many digital nomads incorporate affiliate marketing on their blog posts, which earns them a commission for every sale. 

As an example, they may have a blog with hotel reviews around the world (let’s say they have a specific blog post for hotels in Paris). They may receive a percentage for every booking they make (let’s say $3-$5 for every booking) through an affiliation with a booking company.

A $3-$5 commission for every booking doesn’t sound a lot. However, that can suddenly multiply the moment you enter the ranks on the first pages of Google. Imagine ranking for a specific keyword or phrase (i.e., “best hotels in Paris”) that millions of people are actively searching for, and percentage of that converts into a sale!

What you need: Decide on a niche, copywriting skills, researching for keywords, joining affiliate programs, learning how to rank your blog quickly.

>> Get 80% Off of Digital Marketer Elite and Start Your Digital Nomad Journey Today

2) Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a popular choice among digital nomads and digital marketers because it allows them to make money without having to invest in starting a brand or keeping an inventory of physical products. 

As we mentioned above, affiliate marketing is all about receiving a commission for every sale or lead generation. 

There is an infinite affiliate program that you can sign up, and it’s free to join. 

Some of the most popular affiliate programs out there are Amazon affiliates, Max Bounty, Clickbank, Booking.com, and a whole lot more. 

Affiliate marketing was my first introduction to the world of making money online, and the ones who are doing well are making 4 to 5 figures a day, with the most successful making six to seven figures a month. 

What you need: Decide on a niche, join an affiliate program, learn how to set up a landing page, learn how to launch ads on Instagram and Facebook.

>> Learn the skills on how to become an affiliate marketer here

3) Dropshipping

Dropshipping is another popular business model among digital nomads to make money. You build your store and launch your brand – but order directly from a supplier, and the supplier ships it to your customer. 

But how different is dropshipping from affiliate marketing?

In dropshipping, you have the freedom to set the product prices and mostly responsible for marketing your products and online store. On the other hand, in affiliate marketing, the merchant carries the inventory and ships the product. However, while you’re still responsible for marketing, you don’t get to set the product price and only receive a commission.

In comparison to affiliate marketing, there is a lot more work involved in dropshipping. It requires a lot more research, such as product trends and suppliers, not to mention handling customer inquiries. 

But just like affiliate marketing, dropshipping can be a profitable online business if you find that winning product!

What you need: Decide on a niche, research products and suppliers, set up an online store, learn how to target people on Facebook and Instagram. 

>> Learn how you can earn money by launching ads on Facebook and Instagram

4) Create a Digital Product

In this day and age, it should come as no surprise that launching a digital product is on the rise the past few years. 

And digital nomads have made a lot of money in recent years by launching their digital products. 

Digital products such as video courses, e-books, apps, downloadable templates (think of Lightroom presets that Instagram influencers sell), software, audio products, etc., are rising in popularity because the only capital and investment needed is your time and expertise to launch the product.

Thanks to the advanced targeting that you can do on Facebook and Instagram to sell your digital product, the scaling opportunities are infinite. 

Perhaps the most challenging part of creating a digital product is getting over the “imposter syndrome,” where you feel like a fraud because you doubt your skills and abilities and may not be in a position to be selling a digital product.

The most important thing to remember is that you have something valuable to offer from your experience and your knowledge and that somebody out there is willing to pay money for accelerated learning!

5) Launch an Online course

Launching an online course is an extension of the previous point above. 

Digital nomads have made a lot of money launching video courses on how to earn while traveling the world at the same time. 

So for this reason, I’m going to add extra care on this section of the blog post.

For many beginning course creators, you must first understand this before starting:

People don’t take online courses to learn.

People take online courses to achieve a result.

What? Isn’t it implied in the very name itself, “online course” that people are taking a program to enhance their knowledge?

And isn’t your job as the instructor of the course to impart your knowledge onto them?

No.

Your job as the instructor is to leverage your prior experience in a subject to quicken the student’s path to their goal.

If all people wanted to do was learn, absorb knowledge for their benefit and store it away in their brains for a rainy day, they wouldn’t spend money to do so. There’s no need. The internet is full of free information from which they can learn.

As an infopreneur, you should be providing tons of free content to your audience to help educate them about your specialty.

But people who take courses aren’t just looking to spend money just to watch and absorb information.

What they want is to apply that information to achieve results in their own life, business, relationships, etc.

And yet: so many video courses go unwatched. They’re long and tedious, and people don’t have the time! They start out motivated, but it all becomes too much too quickly.

People who take online courses want to be educated but also equipped with the necessary training and tools to put the knowledge to action and achieve results or a transformation.

(and here’s the key!)

As the course creator, we must understand this.

Why? Because it will then affect our decisions about how we plan and compose our courses.

Understanding this critical concept helps us as course creators see our courses more like packages – rather than just a series of videos – that we should create with the sole purpose of guiding our students to achieve the desired result as quickly as possible.

Our course “package” isn’t just going to contain video lectures, because that’s not enough to equip someone to achieve results.

We need to give them everything we possibly can to help them take action.

The necessitates that we start to think beyond the course videos and begin thinking about assets we can include in our course that will help the student achieve their goal.

What PDF worksheets, guides, templates, done-for-you resources, additional training can you provide to help your students get to their goal?

The difference between thinking, “I’ll just teach them how to build the funnel,” for example, and just giving them the actual funnel they need.

If the course creator can show their potential enrollees that their courses aren’t just about boring them with video lectures but equipping them with every resource they need to succeed, they position themselves much better to close a sale.

In a phrase:

Just do the work for them as much as possible!

There’s another benefit to designing courses this way as well:

When you give your students everything they need to succeed, they will more likely succeed – which means more happy students willing to provide testimonials for your program, which increases the perceived value of your course, which means more sales.

By far, one of the best ways to increase enrollments in your course is to show your process works. When it does, the social proof that comes will improve your course’s standing in its industry exponentially as word gets out that you can help your students achieve the transformation they desired initially.

More done-for-you course assets > more students achieving results > more happy students > more testimonials > more course value > more sales

So, bottom line?

People don’t take online courses just to learn. They take them to achieve results. So don’t only include videos in your program. Include as many done-for-you assets as possible, so your students can plug-and-play and achieve their goal that much more quickly!

Here are some high-value assets you can include in your course:

  1. Email Scripts / Sequences
  2. Video Scripts (does your funnel have videos in it? Give people video scripts for them!)
  3. CF Share Funnels
  4. CF Share Action Funnels for Actionetics
  5. A “rolodex”: access to the contact information of your contractors, so if they need to outsource something, they can easily find the right person to do it. (Bonus: if your contractors have referral programs, watch your referral bonuses roll in!)
  6. Canva templates or graphic design templates (for social media images, website images, funnel images)
  7. Daily step-by-step “This is what you do today” action plans

But you must think outside the box, depending on what your course is about!

Nutrition course? How about done-for-you meal plans? Fitness regimens? Partner with a food delivery company for 50% off coupons.

Website design course? Partner with a lawyer who can draw you up some template privacy policy, disclaimer, and terms and conditions text.

Get creative! Give value!

>> Get our Blueprint on How To Launch an Online Course

6) Provide professional services

Do you have a professional skill that you can do remotely? 

If you have skills in graphic design, programming, accounting or other professional skill that you can do remotely, you can monetize your skills by applying on different platform such as Upwork , where businesses (and individuals) search for independent professionals and freelancers for paid projects. 

A popular method for many digital nomads is launching their digital marketing agency, where they offer their skills and expertise to businesses wanting to advertise on Facebook and sponsored post on Instagram

Businesses such as dental offices, law firms, real estate, plastic surgeons, restaurants are typical clients of digital nomads where they launch Facebook ads to get leads for these local businesses. 

>> Get 80% Off Digital Marketer Elite and Become a Digital Nomad TODAY