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If you're daydreaming about becoming a digital nomad and traveling the world, you may be burning to know just how much do digital nomads make, right?
HOW do they make money to travel, how MUCH do they earn, and how do they earn enough to KEEP traveling? ðĨ
And while I can't speak for ALL digital nomads, I can answer all three of those questions for those who choose social media management as their route to location-independent work because that's what I did!
I became self-employed as a social media manager within just 4 months of taking an online course, then I became a pet & house-sitting digital nomad less than one year later.
I've shared how I did that previously in this post, so today I'm going to get into the money-making secrets behind nomadic social media managers so you'll learn exactly how they do it.
Because while it's not ideal to travel right now while the world is just starting to recover from COVID, it's a great time to start thinking about how you can when things get back to normal!
1. HOW do digital nomads make money to travel?
Social media management is one of the most popular, easiest, and fastest pathways to freelance self-employment outside of becoming a virtual assistant.
There's no need to get a degree to do it! All you need is a good online training course, some experience in the trenches, and 3-5 clients.
Your ability to create content that kicks up engagement, gathers leads, and sends traffic to client websites is far more important than any certification.
And you can learn to do that and show proof that you can all on your own, just as I did.
I am always studying and practicing how to get better and better results for my clients. Now, after five years of self-employment, I am creating my own course to train others how I do it for a living or for their business.
Sign-up for the S.W.A.N. Transformation Marketing Strategy Academy waitlist below if you'd like to find out more about that!
And read this post to learn how I went from unemployed and financially struggling to securely self-employed and free with multiple income streams.
2. How MUCH do digital nomads earn?
Honestly, it makes me cry how little some noob social media managers are charging for their services - but they are doing it all wrong.
They think because they are new and inexperienced that they should charge less than a few hundred for monthly organic content creation and community management.
They assume because they aren't running ads for their clients, or not getting sales for their clients, that their services are not worth much.
This is totally monkey-balls backwards!
Whether they do basic awareness, a.k.a "hey, we're here! We're ALIVE!" social media for a business or they do social media advertising, they're still saving someone TIME.
ONLY THE MOST VALUABLE ASSET ON EARTH.
So don't underestimate your skills if you are a noob - charge a BARE MINIMUN of $500 to $1,000 for each and every social media client.
Charge them for a monthly ongoing retainer, payable at the START of the month. Never, ever, ever, ever EVER charge hourly for social media management. (Feel free to ask me why here, but be prepared for a rant!)
And for that little, you are only doing 3-4 posts on 3-4 platforms a week, OK?
Why do I know this???
BECAUSE IT WAS MEEEEEEEEEE! ð
It took me years to get the courage to make $900 a minimum to work with me, and now I wouldn't onboard a new account for less than $1,500 a month. I've learned too much to be paid less than that.
But the most important lesson? TIME is the value you bring to clients, even when you're not highly skilled.
3. How do they earn enough to KEEP traveling?
I retired from pet & house-sitting in 2019 (thank f--k before COVID hit and I truly would have been homeless!), but I know many digital nomads who have been traveling for YEARS.
HOW?
At some point as a freelance service provider, VA, social media manager or whatever you choose to do to earn money online, you'll realize there are a lot more ways to earn money online than simply trading your time for money.
If you truly want to travel till your tits fall off, ideally you'll want to go to places with flakey wifi, or big firewalls, or just deep in the jungle.
Or places with NO wi-fi. ðą
So a great way to ensure you can earn more money while also enjoying less time working to earn it is to create and sell digital products.
I'm building my S.W.A.N. Transformation Marketing Strategy Academy course with all-in-one software called Groove Funnels.
There are dozens of software choices out there for making and selling courses, products, video workshops and whatnot, but that's the one I've chosen to build my business on. Because it does E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.
Starting out as a service provider is hands-down the fastest way to become a digital nomad, but if you want to earn a whole lot more, plan to create sellable assets as well.
You don't want to spend a month in Bali as I did, working nearly every day, even on the beach. You want - as I do - to go to Bali, work a few days, but also have a few days completely OFF.
Digital products make it possible to travel for longer, and with less stress.
You can become a digital nomad social media manager, but if you're undercharging and working your ass off, you're going to hate it!
If you want to travel and enjoy traveling while you work, you must learn how to manage clients and quickly batch-create and schedule content. And you need to be able to do that AND have that content get great results to keep your clients happy!
If you're still wondering how much do digital nomads make, feel free to ask me more about becoming a social media manager in my free Facebook community, Marketing For Creative And Unconventional Women & Gender Diverse. ðŠðĶĒ
About half the members in that group are either social media managers or freelancers, and many are digital nomads, too.
And ALL of them are BADASS entrepreneurs, learning to outgrow ugly duckling impostor syndrome, kickass with their marketing, and fund their alternative lifestyle DREAMS of freedom and world travel.
