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How Digital Nomads Finance Their Lifestyles
95% of DNs do one of these five things.
1,012 Words | 4 Min 13 Sec Read
Welcome to another issue of Passionate Income.
Today we’ll be discussing how digital nomads finance their lifestyles.
In particular, the most common types of businesses and remote work jobs that lends themselves to living overseas.
Let’s dive in.
When I started working online in 2012 the term "digital nomad" wasn't really a thing. We were just early to the trend of working online from foreign countries.
Fast forward to today and it's almost weird if you run an online business and decide to stay in your hometown.
Not to mention, most Western companies are way more comfortable with the dynamic these days.
Sure, some businesses want their remote employees to be based in their home country. A rule many people test through the use of VPNs, etc.
But generally speaking, living and working from overseas has never been easier. Which raises a question:
If more people are doing this than ever before, how do they pay for it?
The short answer is by working remote or running an online business.
The long answer is a bit more complex, as some business models and remote jobs (and the companies that hire for them) are more suited to overseas living than others.
So after watching this video, and reflecting on my 10+ living the international lifestyle, here are the most common ways digital nomads and expats support themselves financially.
#1 - Coding / Marketing (Remote & Freelance)
In theory, you should be able to live overseas with any job that allows remote working. In practice, I'd say 90-95% of digital nomads work in either coding or marketing. Why?
A few reasons.
First, there are only four components to a business:
Marketing
Sales
Fulfillment Operations
Finance
While it's true "high ticket closers" tend to work remote, they make up a small percentage of the overall sales industry. Mainly because most companies want their sales staff in the office where they're monitored and managed by a sales manager (or potentially selling face-to-face).
As for fulfillment, in the case of brick and mortar and physical product companies, most "fulfillment" is does in person.
Sure, the Customer Support side of operations can be done online. But if a company is willing to outsource CS offsite, they're probably willing to outsource it overseas. And because of that, I've never met a single person who works remote doing Customer Service.
Last, while you "could" work as a fractional CFO or accountant from overseas, most companies don't have particularly large Finance departments. And the ones that actually need finance executives typically hire someone in-house.
In short, there just aren't that many Sales, Fulfillment or Finance roles that large swathes of companies hire freelancers or contractors for (with the exception of full remote companies, which in general are a tiny portion of all companies in the US / First World).
On the flip side, marketing and coding aren't as important to handle in-house. Mainly because they:
Don't require client interaction
Are not timezone sensitive (doesn't matter when the works gets done as long as it gets done on-time)
Make up a large part of a company's labor force (relative to something like Finance or HR)
Do not necessarily require 40-hour per week commitments
And because of that, most people who work from overseas do so remotely or in a freelance capacity as coders or marketers.
#2 - OnlyFans / OnlyFans Growth
We should preface this by saying we do not condone OnlyFans from a moral or ethical perspective.
But from a purely business perspective, it would be foolish to pretend this isn't a common path. In fact, while you might not "hear" about people working with OF very often, that's because it's a taboo topic.
In reality, you might be shocked to realize how many men (OF managers) and women (OF models) support an international lifestyle this way.*
*Or maybe you wouldn't be shocked LOL
#3 - Coaching / Consulting / Course Sellers
Similar to the coding and marketing paths outlined above, coaching and consulting fit many of the same criteria.
Mainly because coaches and consultants:
Are not full-time employees (in the case of consultants)
Do not have to be online 8 hours/day during US / Western timezones
Have less obligations than remote workers or contractors
Admittedly, the timezone thing can be difficult if you're halfway around the world from your clients and have to do occasional calls/Zooms.
But it's not a deal breaker. Worst case you have to get up early / do calls late.
#4 - Drop Shippers and Affiliate Marketers
Relative to the options above this is by far the least common path.
Mainly because both require a level of digital advertising savvy most people do not possess. But, if you understand media buying, copywriting and funnels, drop-shipping and affiliate marketing are arguably the most digital nomad friendly businesses of all.
Affiliate marketing in particular.
#5 - UGC Creator / TikToker / YouTuber
Ok so I don't know how many people actually have success with the "influencer" model.
But you see enough of them online (showing the international lifestyle) that they have to be included on this list.
From what I understand, influencer brand deals have fallen through the floor relative to the industry's peak in 2021.
But if you have an engaged, niche audience, there's still plenty of money to be made with this model. Especially if you can combine multiple revenue sources, e.g. ad payouts, shoutouts, sponsorships, etc.
💡 Takeaway: Despite how many career paths and online business models there are online, 95-98% of digital nomads work in a handful of industries. So if you want to go this route, consider the above options.
🎁 Resources:
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