Have you been considering moving on to a digital nomad lifestyle and living your life to the fullest, but you are still sceptical about whether you can make it? Here are some of the best digital nomad careers.
First of all, it is natural to feel anxious and have some doubts about deciding to be a full-time remote worker who travels. It really is a lifestyle that comes with many risks. However, being a digital nomad is one of the most rewarding and satisfying ways that someone can live their life. The level of autonomy, freedom, and peace that you get from being a digital nomad cannot be achieved in any other way.
“A year from now you will wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb
The world is evolving, and information and communication technology has never been this advanced and developed. By being a digital nomad, you are actually making use of the development of technology, standing a step ahead of everyone who is still working in traditional ways when they do not have to. There are many careers out there in which you can be extremely successful as a remote worker – digital nomad.
More and more people from all around the world are leaving they’ve tied up 9-5 jobs and moving into the freedom and joy of being a digital nomad. See if you can do that too!
Web / App Development
In my journey as a digital nomad, Web/App developers and programmers are among the most common kind of digital nomads that I’ve had the good fortune to meet. They are also among the ones having the most fun, since one big project can get them enough funds to last a while, meaning that they do not really have to work all the time to make the ends meet!
As a developer, you can make an arrangement with your full-time company to work remotely, if you are not sure about completely quitting your job to pursue this lifestyle. More and more companies are making allowances for their employees to work in the environments that they feel the most comfortable in, making this one of the ideal digital nomad careers.
Even if you want to quit your 9-5 job, there are plenty of opportunities that you can find online that need the services of good web/app developers. In fact, with the rapidness that the tech world is evolving, you will be able to find a lot more projects that you can actually work on, as well. If you are a skilled developer who is confident about your work ethic to deliver quality work when you are away from work, you do not have to think twice about making a good living as a digital nomad. You will be able to meet a lot of like-minded people along the way as well.
Online Marketing / SEO, PPC Specialist
The online or digital marketing industry is at an all-time high in this era. If you are a digital marketer who has specialized in techniques such as an SEO and PPC, you can make a comfortable digital nomad career remotely, mostly helping the up and coming start-ups with their marketing strategies.
When it comes to online marketing, everything depends on being on top of the current trends in the world and leveraging them to get your brand or the company you work for into the conversation. This is surely a task that you can do from anywhere in the world as long as you have a laptop and access to an internet connection.
Even if you are a traditional marketer who has an eye for trends and a knack for marketing, you can push yourself to learn the digital marketing techniques if you have a goal to be a DN one day. Being a digital nomad is all about being resourceful, and you can use the skills you already have and turn them into ways that you can create yourself a career that allows you to follow your dream of being a world traveller who works along the way.
Writing/Editing/Translation
Writing is no longer considered to be a low-income position that demands you to stay in one place. When the internet has introduced to the world, it created a demand for a constant flow of original and new content. There are thousands of websites that are existing and being created every day which need content for them and therefore if you are a writer, the amount of work that you can find to work remotely is limitless.
As long as you have a good command of the language and a creative mind, you can get into a digital nomad lifestyle working as a writer, an editor, or a translator.
Being a writer brings even more freedoms to you as a digital nomad since it does not require an exceptional internet connection in order to make it work. When you are travelling especially in South and Southeast Asia, you cannot expect good internet all the time, which works the best for writers. While you are professionally writing for clients, making time to maintain your own blog can also lead to creating a passive income channel eventually. Publishing fiction and non-fiction eBooks on e-commerce websites like Amazon is also a great way to make a passive alternate income for you.
Teaching Online
Teaching online is an ideal digital nomad career especially for native English speakers who like to pursue a digital nomad lifestyle. Countries like China have a constant demand for native English speakers to teach spoken English, especially for children. There are services out there which provide you with the syllabus and all the teaching tools needed, and you have to conduct classes online as a video call or a streaming session.
Some of these services require a Bachelor’s Degree or a TEFL certificate. Especially if you are a native English speaker moving to Asia, having a TEFL certificate can get you positions in traditional schools and non-profit organizations if you want to add a variety to your digital nomad life in times.
While teaching English is the most common teaching job that you can find online, if you are fluent in other major languages such as Spanish, French, and German, along with regular school subjects such as Math, Science, and History, etc, there are quite a few online educational centres that allow you to join as a teacher. Once you manage to enter a program like this as a teacher, it will be a stable remote working job that you can get consistent work for a long time, which is the ideal setting for a digital nomad.
Social Media Management
With the popularity of social media, brands cannot simply exist without a good social media presence. There are many start-ups and entrepreneurs out there who outsource their social media management to freelancers in order to get a consistent and quality social media presence without having to increase their physical team. If you are savvy with social media networks, have an eye for creativity and marketing, you can make a portfolio as a social media manager.
It is basically getting paid to do what you are already doing in your social media profiles. It is, however, important that you are delivering a service, and make your targets accordingly and meet them by the deadlines while keeping a good working relationship with your clients.
If you like to start your career as a digital nomad, check out the countries that have visas and programs for digital nomads.