How to become an online freelancer while traveling the world

Do you know how to monetize your skills and your passion so you can be a freelancer and travel the world with a laptop? Let me show you how!

What are your skills?

In reality, not all skills are equally profitable. Certain skills are surely more profitable than others. For instance, translation is a pretty good skill, yet if you want to monetize translation online, it’s not practical as usually you are competing with many translators based in third-world countries. So, if you are good at languages, you should probably consider writing or editing rather than translation – language skills are very transferrable. As I see it, if you are from an English-speaking country, your writing skills are highly valued because the average hourly rate in English-speaking countries is quite high. Now you are competing with others who also expect high pay. In this way, clients will definitely pay you fairly well. 😊

Niche down.

Which freelance writer makes more money?

The writer who tells everyone that they can write about every topic in the world;
The writer who tells a specific group of clients that they can write about money and business.

Theoretically, the freelance writer who wants to write about every topic in the world should make more income as this individual is able to handle each type of writing. However, realistically, that’s wrong. Here is why:

If you’re talking to everyone, you are basically talking to no one. Period.

By contrast, when you talk to a specific group of clients who look for articles regarding money and business, these clients will surely pay full attention quickly.

In other words, you must be specific enough so clients will immediately understand what you are saying. When clients understand what you can do for them, they will know your value, so they will pay you. This is called ‘value exchange’.

Remember: the more specialized your services are, the more real clients you will get rapidly.

Note that this strategy applies to all freelancers.

It’s your job to look for clients.

If you plan to be a freelancer and travel the world, all of your clients should come from the Internet. Don’t set up a website and then wait for potential clients to contact you online. You need to be proactive.

You can join some freelance-focused job sites and then you will accumulate a lot of positive reviews. Most clients need to see enough five-star reviews before hiring you.

Here are some well-known freelance-focused job sites:

Please join all of these sites so you can see which one works best for you. Not every freelance website is the right platform for you and your niche.

Next, you must cultivate the ability to generate leads without freelance sites. Here is how:

Add your name and your link to your products. Let’s say you are a freelance writer: your by-line is the organic marketing tool because potential clients will probably see your name and then contact you.
Ask for referrals. Your existing clients are probably very happy to introduce new clients to you.
Join Facebook groups and answer people’s burning questions. When they see you add good value, they will consider hiring you.
In order to have the resources to travel overseas, you need to manage your time and your money well.

You are supposed to find out the standard salary in your niche. Then you may use accounting and bookkeeping software Xero to manage your finances accurately.