Digital marketing is appealing for freedom seekers for two key reasons. First, the barrier of entry is low — anyone can launch a project for cheap. Second, there are several realistic ways to earn a living online. Thousands of digital nomads across Southeast Asia work for themselves making money online. Can you do the same? Here’s a realistic look at online money-making opportunities in 2020.
As outlined in our Creative Visualization guide, all projects begin with a goal. To become a digital nomad means you have achieved two things:
- A steady stream of income.
- The freedom to work independently from anywhere in the world.
If your stream of income is more than $1500 per month, you can afford to live a basic life in Asia. That gives you full-time hours to put into your projects.
From a starting position, how to reach that goal of $1500 per month? There are two broad options: the traditional way (get a job) and the optimal way (generate online income for yourself).
Visualize what you want
If you’re stuck working in a donut shop in Idaho and want out, start by visualizing a better life.
Imagine yourself living a nomadic lifestyle in Southeast Asia. Feel the warm tropical breeze on your skin. Hear the sound of your flip-flops as you casually stroll through town. Picture yourself getting breakfast from a loud, vibrant street stall.
You get a $400 per month apartment along a quiet city street. Use that as your home office. Work on your own schedule and take long breaks to go to the gym. Each month’s pay gives you enough for your needs, with a few hundred left over to put into savings. Outside of work, you have an active social life, with lots of options.
Location independent jobs for beginners
The surest way for beginners to fund a nomadic lifestyle is to get a job. In 2020, there are a few remote job options to consider.
Online teaching
Teaching English online is the bottom of the barrel. Pay runs as low as $2 per hour. On the upside, if you deliver good lessons, you can earn as much as $25 per hour.
The big problem with teaching online is that you need to be upbeat and entertaining. While dealing with stone-faced Chinese kids, that can be a drag. After 25 hours, your brain might be too fried to work on other things.
Consider this a survival option — only if all else fails.
Freelance writing
Many digital marketing agencies operate offices in the Philippines. There, fleets of full-time writers earn less than $400 per month. It’s a dreary grind, pumping out at least 10,000 words every day.
Without industry expertise in a valuable field, low-paid Philippinos are your main competition. Expect high expectations, terrible pay, and an onslaught of complex demands.
Here are some places to find freelance writing jobs:
- Facebook groups: many digital marketing groups welcome pitches by writers. Join the top groups and send out pitches. Everyone in digital marketing is always looking for high-quality writers. That’s mainly because writers burn out fast, and turnover is high.
- oDesk: this is an option for low-paid work. Getting better jobs requires a good rating. To get a good rating, you need to complete several jobs and get good reviews. A good rate for writers on oDesk is around one cent per word.
- ProBlogger jobs: this board posts the best (American) jobs in the industry. If you have a good portfolio of published work, this is a possibility.
Assessment: earning a living as a freelance writer might kill you. The work requires a sharp brain and deep concentration. Pay is low. Your reward for doing a good job is to get back to grinding. Expect to end up poor and burned out.
Work remotely for an SEO agency
Many digital marketing agencies are based in Southeast Asia. Most of their skilled staff are remote. They typically hire writers from the Philippines and SEO staff from Eastern Europe.
A lot of SEO agency jobs depend on personal connections, rather than job applications. In Southeast Asia, Chiang Mai has one of the largest concentrations of digital nomads in the world. Many people start their digital marketing careers simply by moving to Chaing Mai and mingling.
Based on our own experiences, full-time SEOs can earn around $2500 per month. If based and working in Southeast Asia, half of that can go to savings. Within an agency, there are many jobs to consider:
- Sales: a good chance for fast talkers. The company will give you leads. You do call calls and followups, earning your salary on commission.
- Writing: expect low pay and high expectations. Productive writers will get ground down until they burn out.
- SEO: if you know WordPress, you can blag your way into an SEO job. That can teach you everything you need to start your own career.
- Link-building: this is like sales, but in email format. The job involves reaching out to webmasters, then pitching articles in exchange for links. If you like networking, this might be a good option. This is the most draining and least rewarding agency job option.
Assessment: working for an SEO agency is a great way to learn what you need to do digital marketing for yourself. It also offers a better rate of pay than teaching English (online or offline).
Affiliate marketing: work for yourself
Promoting Amazon products is the most common form of affiliate marketing. First set up a website. Then promote some products. When people click on your products, they get redirected to Amazon or another seller. If they buy the product, you get a commission.
In case you haven’t heard, this has been the hottest self-employment scheme in the world over the past five years. The standard rate these days is 36 x your monthly earnings. So if your site earns $1,000 per month, the sale price would be $36,000.
Planet Asia runs a couple of affiliate sites. These generate a full-time income. It’s not an easy process — but is achievable by anyone with dedication.
Affiliate marketing simplified
Here are the simple steps to setting up your own affiliate website:
- Choose a niche.
- Write articles about that niche.
- Sign up for Amazon and insert affiliate links in articles.
- Collect money each month. Put it in your bank.
To be successful as an affiliate marketer, it helps to know your way around WordPress. You also have a handle on basic SEO concepts. The best way to build on basic knowledge is by doing. As you build and run into problems, find your solutions online.
The hardest part is deciding on a niche. It needs to be profitable, but without too much competition. As one example, one of our friends had a baby. That inspired her affiliate site about baby products. As another example, Planet Asia loves gaming. One of our affiliate sites sells gaming-related products.
The process of developing the skills and finding the right niche are journeys. These are classic Wanderer’s challenges: traveling from darkness into light.
Are you ready to get started with a digital marketing career? Start the process right now by visualizing it into being.
Everything begins with an idea.
