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Are you ready to hit the road on a long-term basis while building an online business?

I have been a digital nomad for the past 7 years.

Being on the road for years at a time is a fun, freeing and sometimes challenging way to enjoy the world and its many dazzling sights and fascinating cultures.

Establishing a full-time income while living in spots for months at a time can be rewarding but quite a difficult endeavor until you gain some experience as a globetrotting entrepreneur.

Before you decide to become a full-time digital nomad keep these tips in mind.

1. Follow your dreams, don’t run from your problems

Some full-time digital nomads hit the road being driven by fear to leave their homelands.

Said world-traveling entrepreneurs carry this fearful energy with them, allowing this lower energy driver to leak into their personal and professional life on the road.

Make sure you are hitting the road to enjoy a life of fun, freedom and travel versus leaving some nightmare scenario in your home country. Address financial problems, personal issues or any pressing situation at home before you hit the road.

Being a full-time digital nomad poses enough challenges. No need to carry an extra energetic burden as you routinely sprint out of your comfort zone while traveling the world.

Bali | Ryan Biddulph

2. Focus on passive income streams

If you currently focus primarily on a service-heavy monetization model for your business shift toward passive income streams.

Changing time zones like most people change their minds creates a difficult environment for building a thriving, stable, service based business. Imagine trying to enjoy your travels while attempting to service clients with a 12 hour time difference separating you both?

Ditch the graveyard shift model if your clients live on the East Coast of the US and you live in Bangkok. Slowly add passive income streams to your online business. Slowly free yourself from a set work schedule to seamlessly move from timezone to timezone.

Feel free to work your consulting business but if you want to full embrace the digital nomad lifestyle you’d be wise to establish passive income streams to have fun traveling, to work normal day time hours and to stress less when time changes or poor internet connections plague you.

Costa Rica | Ryan Biddulph

3. Schedule business and pleasure

Wise digital nomads remember to focus on both the “digital” and “nomad” aspects of their lifestyle.

Do not make the common mistake of believing that being a successful entrepreneur on the road is an easy endeavor. You need to work intelligently and persistently, following proven strategies, to become a professional in your niche of choice. Otherwise, you’re just a nomad who runs out of money quickly.

On the flip side of things, do not become a workaholic on the road. Why travel halfway around the world to spend months in Fiji if you rarely visit the beach because you work all day long?

Find a balance between working and playing to embrace the digital nomad lifestyle. Schedule time to work on your business and to enjoy your travels.

4: Automate and engage

Full-time digital nomads need to automate certain aspects of their business.

Using tools to share valuable content helps you drive traffic on autopilot during your travels.

But automating becomes ineffective unless you manually engage people on the networks through which you automate. People need to see that you are a real, living, breathing human being who listens to their problems and addresses their needs to freely click on your automated updates.

Check your email at least once daily. Notify your tribe of the time difference between you and the geographic location of your target market. Share helpful content from successful entrepreneurs in your niche to form powerful friendships with influencers.

Foolish, automating-happy digital nomads soon discover how people ignore folks who fully automate their accounts. Manually engage people. Build trust. Add potency to your automating campaign to grow your business while you sleep or fly.

Myanmar | Ryan Biddulph

5: Handle logistics before you leave home

  • Ask a friend or family member to check your mail.
  • If you don’t have anybody to collect your mail buy a PO box to secure your correspondence during long term trips.
  • Call your bank and credit card companies to place travel flags on your cards.
  • Purchase a VPN to access financially sensitive sites overseas without any interruptions in service.
  • Handle the day to day stuff from a hometown and international perspective before you hit the road.

Your turn

What tips can you add to this list?

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