How to Make Active Income Online While Traveling

“How to Make Money Online” series table of contents:

1. How to Make Money Online While Traveling: The Fundamentals
2. How to Make Active Income Online While Traveling
3. How to Make Passive Income Online While Traveling

Overview

I am always asked how to work online while traveling.  As discussed previously, I categorize income as active or passive. In this post I will dive into the active income side of things and provide you with the best resources for landing your first remote job. But first, please read part 1 of this series if you haven’t! This is very important in understanding the fundamentals of how to make money online.

In my previous post I created an infographic describing different active income skills and how they compare with each other in terms of difficulty, startup costs, and time and effort.

Disclaimer: This is a subjective map of how each skill ranks in terms of barrier of entry. This is mostly for ENTRY of channel – but each channel requires a lot of time and effort to actually get good at.

Feel free to share the above infographic and credit to digitalnomadquest.com 😉

With this post I will show you how you can find positions with each of these skills, starting with the lowest barrier of entry to the highest barrier of entry. With so many available resources in the palm of your hand, I feel most everyone can find remote, active income with the right amount of hustle. However even though there are many routes to making an income, make sure you focus on ONE channel and build from there, as mentioned from my previous post.

Start Tracking Your Net Worth

Before you start making money online, make sure you are tracking your net worth. It is crucial to develop a clear understanding of your finances so you can define your financial goals.

Check out Personal Capital for tracking your net worth and debt online. It is free to sign up, and it automatically updates your account balances so you can see how you’re doing. Checking your net worth allows you to start adjusting your strategy to reach your financial goals by gauging how far you are from your objectives. Personal Capital even provides recommendations on spending allocation. As you start seeing your net worth increase, you’ll be more motivated to save and earn more income.

Sign up forPersonal Capital here.

Filling Out Paid Surveys

There are many sites that pay you to take surveys online, play games, or do easy tasks. The best way to approach these survey sites is to sign up for many of them and get them going ASAP.

Here is a list of paid survey sites if you are interested in pursuing this channel.

• Swagbucks
  • $5 Signup Bonus
• Survey Junkie
• Vindale Research – Get rewarded to give your opinions on products and services
  • $2 Signup Bonus
• Inbox Dollars – Pays people to read e-mails, take surveys online, plays games, and you get $5 just for joining.
  • $5 Signup Bonus
• Earning Station

Get Cash Back While Grocery Shopping with Ibotta

Ibotta gives one of the best payouts and is one of the best receipt scanning apps out there. You can earn cash back on grocery receipts by taking pictures of products at stores. If you shop name brand, Ibotta usually offers a rebate on whatever you’re buying.

All you have to do is scan an item’s barcode, take a photo of your receipt, and money goes into your account. There are so many offers and they’re constantly adding more. They’ve now expanded to electronics, alcohol, and dining out. Earn between $0.25 – $5 in cash back per offer.

Earn a $10 welcome bonus for signing up with Ibotta here.

Get Cash Back with Ebates

I’ve been using Ebates for a while now and it’s such a great way to get cash back on your purchases. I signed up for an account and added the Chrome extension. Every time I buy something I can check if Ebates grants a cash reward for the purchase and use it to get a % back of my money.

Join Ebates for free and get a $10 bonus through this link.

Become a Virtual Assistant

You could also look into becoming a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants (VAs) are self-employed people who help with administrative and technical tasks. Because all the work can be done online, VAs can work anywhere in the world.

VAs are extremely helpful to business owners as these entrepreneurs need to outsource their other tasks while focusing on growth. You can easily get started as a VA on sites like Upwork, popular job boards, and more.

Become a Proofreader in your Spare Time

Caitlin of Proofread Anywhere actually made over $43,000 as a freelance proofreader in her spare time. Check out Proofread Anywhere – she created this training to teach people how to do the exact same thing of becoming a proofreader on the side.

Sell Your Stuff or Flip Items

A minimalistic approach to life tends to make for a happier life, or so it seems. I’m guessing you probably have a lot of stuff laying around that you don’t use! Or if you don’t, there are many people who make money buying items or grabbing free stuff from flea markets, garage sales, and yard sales, and then flipping them online. Here are some places to consider selling on:

• eBay
• Craigslist
• Mercari (Get $10 off with my link)
• Poshmark (Get $5 off with my link)
• Amazon
• Garage sales and thrift stores

Freelancing (Copywriting, Customer Support, Digital Marketing, Graphic Designing, Web Design, Computer Programming, and more)

If you have specific online skills like the ones mentioned in the title, you have more opportunities to earn money online! I’d definitely recommend mastering at least one of these abilities.

Here are different methods on how to grab your first remote work/freelancing position:

1. Use Your Existing Full-Time Job

This is what I did, even though I didn’t directly ask for a part-time, remote position. I told my manager that I wanted to live abroad for at least a year and that if he needed it, I could work remotely, part-time (as I would be hustling online month-to-month in different countries). My manager granted me this position, which ultimately could be transitional until they hire a new manager. That’s why I’m not banking on it to last, but I am still happy to have it, regardless.

4-Hour Workweek gives step-by-step methods on how to request part-time, remote work from your full-time employer. I recommend getting this book as it motivated me a lot on starting my journey.

2. Craigslist

Craigslist is a platform for users to put up their own classified listings. Employers can list their positions under “jobs” for a fee of around $50-75, or they can post under “gigs” for free.

This was my second means of securing online jobs. I realized the potential of this channel after reading this book about how to make money online. The author teaches you how to make websites while using Craigslist to secure clients. This sparked the idea to look for positions through the site.

I spent one day searching keywords like “remote”, “work from home”, + “marketing” under “gigs” and “jobs”. I even browsed on Craigslists of different states. The great thing about remote work is you can look on job boards from any location.  I sent out dozens of resumes, and a few of them contacted me back. Through these means, I ended up being able to secure two positions.

3. Remote Work Websites

These websites are especially for digital nomads who want to secure jobs location independently. Because employers are listing on these sites with the direct knowledge that they are for digital nomads, I believe it gives you a better chance of getting hired.

Here are some good sites for remote jobs:

• We Work Remotely
• Remote Ok
• Working Nomads
• Remotive
• Skip The Drive
• Flex Jobs
• Virtual Vocations

4. Freelancing Websites

Along the same lines, there are many websites you can use to search for freelancing positions. These 4 are among the most popular:

• Upwork
• Elance
• Odesk
• Freelancer

And these are some other sites I have stumbled upon:

• Toptal
• People per Hour
• Guru
• iFreelance
• ProBlogger
• Smashing Jobs

Finding Clients – Networking

1. Friends, Family, & Connections (For All Skills)

Do you have any friends who are already working remotely? Or do you have connections who are looking to hire remote workers? Your network can be huge for seizing new opportunities. One thing you can try is speaking with digital nomads and company founders and hearing more about their current work. Learn more about what they do and perhaps indicate that you’re looking for work. Your friends and family may steer you in the right direction!

2. Networking Events (Build a Brand and Find Clients)

Networking can be scary. Rather than self promote and come off as annoying or spammy, attend meet-ups and events with the intention of meeting new people and having a good time. Exchange business cards without selling anything. The more and more you participate in events in your space the more likely you’ll meet the RIGHT people. Just get to know others and have them remember your name and face. Chances are they may come back to you with some work they need.

Social Media (Build a Brand and Find Clients)

If you’re trying to find clients, you can utilize social media platforms to even get them coming to you:

1. Pick a platform and build content

Get your expertise across by building a social media profile and churning out useful knowledge consistently. Pick one or two channels out of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube. Then schedule out extremely useful content that people will be interested in. Strong content is key. For example, try sharing articles, participating in Twitter chats, and creating advice videos. You want to build value so that the customer COMES TO YOU instead of the other way around. The more you deliver, the more you build trust.

2. Join Facebook groups

Search for “Facebook group + your niche/target audience”, or go on Facebook and just search under “Groups” for your specific niche. For example, if you’re a marketing professional looking for clients like small business owners, try joining a group like Savvy Business Owners.

In Facebook groups, do not spam or constantly self promote. The best way, again, is to provide value and help people in your community. If you become someone people turn to for advice, they may want to seek your services. Only after GIVING, you can say something like “I actually run a marketing business, so feel free to e-mail me and I’ll be happy to help you out with any services you require.”

3. Paid Facebook ads

What works for a lot of agencies/marketing professionals/coaches is to create Facebook ads to a free lead magnet offering like a webinar course. With these landing pages, potential clients will be inclined to provide information like their name and e-mail address in exchange for the free offering. This is EXTREMELY useful for marketing – always build an e-mail list!

In the webinar case, many people provide a free webinar teaching something specific in their space, then add an offer at the end of the video to get clients coming to them. Remember, the key is to create value before requesting anything back.

Teaching Sites (Teach a Particular Skill)

If you have a particular skill you know how to teach, you can easily hook up a webcam and start finding your students. And no worries if you don’t have an expertise – I assume you’re an English speaker if you’re reading this blog. English is a well sought after language that you can teach online as well!

Here is a list of popular online tutoring websites:

• Tutor.com
• WizIQ
• Much Enough
• Learningfy
• Buddy School
• Tutor Hub
• Live Mind
• Sophia
• Happy Tutors
• Tutor Vista

If you’re not happy with these sites, it is possible to set up your own online tutoring business if you have trusted clients you can work with. Just work out an agreement with your clients, host your online sessions on Skype or Google Hangouts, and work out payments via PayPal!

Retail Arbitrage

Retail arbitrage means buying items at a lower price and selling them higher. This method of making money online requires more of an in-person effort; therefore, this is only possible if you’ve created some sort of team effort. For example, your partners could handle 1. searching for clearance items at brick and mortar stores and 2. shipping the items, while you handle online rummaging as well as online item listing.

Once you buy mass amounts of lower-priced product valued at higher prices, list your items on platforms like Amazon FBA or eBay to start raking in sales.

Fiverr: For Freelancing and Unique Skillsets ( e.g. Photo Editing, Audio Production, Audio Engineering, Voiceovers, etc.)

Fiverr is a platform that allows you to sell services for $5 (or more if you add “extras”). These services are determined by you, and can span from blog features, SEO assistance, to random things like videos of people singing. The possibilities are endless because YOU specify what service you want to sell, regardless of how silly your product/service made sound.

To use Fiverr effectively:

1. Calculate how much time $5 is worth to you.

If you feel your time is worth $10/hour, this means $5 is worth 30 minutes of work. If you feel your time is worth $60/hour, this means $5 is worth 1 minute of work.

Try to create gigs that match your dollar amount per hour worth.

2. Add extra gigs:

Some people actually make a living with Fiverr, and a lot of it is because you can upsell “extras” on top of your basic gig. For example, if you’re doing some basic audio mixing for $5, you could throw in “effects” for another $15 and mastering for another $15. If someone adds all your extra gigs you’re making $35 a pop instead of $5!

 

Drive with Lyft

This isn’t an online method but in your spare time, you can try driving with Lyft. As a driver, you would pick people up and drive them to their destinations, which can be an easy way to make money as another side hustle. There are people who drive with Lyft and make an extra $2,400/month. Uber is another one to try, but my account got hacked twice so I’m kind of scared to use it. Sign up as a driver with Lyft here (for a possible $480 bonus). And if you want Lyft credits you can sign up here with code DNQ for $5 credit.

Stocks Day Trading & Real Estate Investing (Flipping Houses)

I am currently doing some “longer term” stocks trading, though sometimes I do a bit of day trading when I can. I use Merill Edge, but Robinhood is a popular app to use for zero commission stocks trading as well. If you are interested in learning more about day trading, check out my favorite stock trading course here (or check out my review of the course here).

Real estate investing is also a popular route but may require more in-person meetups unless you have a team. The idea is to purchase homes of lower value and sell them at a higher price. You can do this by spotting great deals online, seeking out fixer uppers, purchasing foreclosed homes or short sales, and more. What many investors do is they’ll purchase a low priced home and renovate it, bringing up its value so they can sell at a higher price.

 

It took me a few weeks to create this list so I hope these methods help. Make sure you read the fundamentals of making money online FIRST before diving into this post. If you liked this post, please check out my third post on how to make passive income online while traveling!