Many people dream of a life working abroad, with scarcely a care in the world besides finding an Internet connection. Visions are conjured of lounging on exotic beaches with a frozen drink with a pink umbrella in it in one hand, and a laptop in the other.
That life is not as hard to achieve as it might seem at first blush. For the past two years, I have traveled the world as a freelancer, needing nothing more than an Internet connection to pave the way. I do not fuss with work visas and the associated mind-numbing red tape and cost; a tourist visa suffices since my income is earned “offshore” and I am generally considered a benefit to local economies by bringing in outside money and spending it.
Contrary to popular opinion, you do not have to be a Web designer or programmer to make money online. Just about anybody can freelance on the Web with some research, ingenuity, and tenacity. Here are some tips to make your own transition abroad a little easier.
Finding Your Career
Reading The Four-Hour Workweek is a great way to get the creative juices flowing to refocus your life and achieve your dream of living abroad. Take notes as you read, because while you learn of ways to start and run Internet businesses and manage them from abroad, you are sure to come up with a few ideas of your own. You will also learn about practical techniques for freelancing abroad, such as outsourcing (which we will get to shortly).
A fellow with a background in law recently contacted me, lamenting that he would love to live abroad, but does not know how to manage a legal practice without maintaining a physical presence. Together we brainstormed and came up with a number of ideas to utilize his area of expertise online, from paid subscription newsletters, to legal coaching, and even writing e-books and managing affiliate sales.
Research: Research is your first key to learning where your skills will fit into the online world. Learning the art of surfing for opportunities will be your first step in navigating the Web and learning how to become involved.
Subscribe to newsletters and join forums in your general area of interest or expertise. When I started out as a writer, I could barely define “html” much less determine my market or how to get paid. By surfing and subscribing to informational newsletters, I slowly learned the language of Internet freelancing, became aware of publishers looking for content, and discovered how to write queries and structure article submissions. My first byline came as a result of one of these newsletters tipping me off to an editor requesting new content for the city I lived in at the time.
Ingenuity: As with most businesses, a little ingenuity goes a long way. Finding a gap in what is currently being offered and filling that need is a great way to create a stream of income and even a small monopoly in your niche. Combined with Research, Ingenuity may be your ticket to a better income than you ever dreamed of. Without Research though, Ingenuity could simply be a good idea without a market or executable plan.
Tenacity: Once you have a plan, sticking with it will be the hardest–yet most crucial–step of the process. Be prepared to fall down a few times; simply pick yourself up and keep going, acknowledging each road bump as part of the journey up the learning curve. Some ventures will succeed, and others will flounder. The Internet is a constantly evolving entity—what worked yesterday may be old news today.
Technology is Your Friend
Susie runs a coaching business, and if you did not know any better, you would say she had an office with a view in a big city, a receptionist, dedicated assistant, and a stream of clients lining up out the door. And although Susie has streams of clients, none of them come to her door. She has neither an office, nor a desk for her receptionist or assistant. Instead, she utilizes technology to her benefit and runs her enterprise from the comfort of her home.
Susie has a toll free number for anybody in the world to call. When they do call, the automatic attendant prompts clients to direct their call to either Susie or her assistant who takes care of scheduling. When the phone rings on the assistant’s “desk”, the assistant will often answer–from the comfort of her own home eight hundred miles away, where she works part-time, freelancing for Susie as a virtual assistant.
Susie conducts client meetings using Internet tools like email, web conferencing, and Skype. No need to cut Susie a check for her services; she will send you an online invoice through Paypal which you can easily pay with your credit card, debit card, bank transfer, or your own Paypal account balance.
By utilizing technology to your benefit, you can run a very professional organization without letting on that you may really be sitting on a beach sipping pina coladas all the while.
Take Your Time
It took me one year of dedicated work (three to five hours/daily) to get to the point where my online freelancing income could pay for much more than a cup of coffee. Having started from scratch, the research process was laborious and absorbed a giant chunk of time. The good news was that I enjoyed every minute of it, so it was no hardship.
However, if you have already quit your job and are boarding that airplane imminently, plan to live off some reserves for the initial set-up period. How quickly you will become solvent depends largely on your area of expertise and existing knowledge of how to translate it into a stream of online income.
Supplementary Income
Not only might you need some reserves to cover your expenses while you kick-start your freelancing business, but even once you are producing income you may or may not be able to support yourself entirely. Much of this depends on where in the world you are, and how lavishly you choose to live.
Many parts of Southeast Asia are popular for those living abroad and Internet freelancing. The cost of living is minimal, and the Internet is widely available in most urban areas. Living abroad in Europe or North America may be more of a challenge with a considerably higher cost of living. Combine this with a nagging desire to spend and accumulate like everybody else, and I found that living in Western countries is most challenging to keep expenditures down and in line with my “Professional Hobo” lifestyle.