The new year has come, and I’m super stoked that I’ve crossed the $1k mark to start the year off. Let’s just hope this income is sustainable ;).
I spent my month in Chiang Mai (which I talk about more in-depth here). I am convinced that I need to come back next winter. The weather is perfect at this time, and it’s a GREAT place to reduce expenses and start bootstrapping your startup or whatever you’re building. And of course, it’s just wonderful in general.
Travel
This month I not only visited Chiang Mai, but also traveled to Krabi in Thailand as well as Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. I loved Krabi! I ended up crossing off two bucket list items there (including fishing), and I embarked on an island hopping tour:
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia had a different feel. There were parts of the city that were super advanced, while there were still areas that were a bit more impoverished. There is really only one season there – temperatures are generally above 80F, normally ranging from 80-100F.
Having hit up Thailand and Malaysia in January, I’m already at 27 countries visited. 3 more and I’ll reach my goal of 30 countries by end of the year :).
In February, I will be heading back to my 2nd home base (Hong Kong) for about 2 weeks, and then visiting Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam on February 25th. I’ll meet up with the homie I met in Bucharest. I’m pretty stoked! I’ve wanted to visit because it’s another nomad hotspot (and of course, I’m ready to stuff my face with pho).
Etsy
Etsy has been again, a great source of income. I’m working extremely hard on the channel, but as mentioned before, it’s been difficult trying to focus on growing other income streams with the knowledge that this avenue is my biggest moneymaker. I’ll have to keep working on finding my balance.
If you’d like to open your own Etsy shop, you can use my link here which gives you a free 40 listings (and provides me with 40 free listings as well).
Physical Products
I’m attempting physical products now and testing different ones to gauge interest. If there are sales, I will import more product through suppliers I’ve found. (I know this all sounds vague, but I don’t want to talk about it too much unless this actually works.)
Fiverr
I’m showing success on Fiverr! I didn’t expect it to work, but now I think it’s showing potential. I’ve gotten about 8 or 9 orders now. It’s not passive yet, but with the help of virtual assistants I’m pretty sure I can make it passive through outsourcing. I received my first $50 order on one of my gigs (you can tier off the gigs to have higher priced levels). This made me think that even though the profits are low, I could change that fact by pricing up the tiers in the future. I would only do so after I get a more substantial amount of sales and reviews.
Blog
I earned my first paycheck (from ads) for MeWantTravel! I am splitting with Heesun, my homie and blogging buddy. It isn’t much, but making a bit of money online from different income streams always helps.
Okay, I keep saying this but I’m going to start blogging more on DigitalNomadQuest and MeWantTravel. I think I’m realizing that I haven’t really monetized much at all, and I’ve been blogging for about 1.5-2 years, which is kind of sad.
I also want to start writing more informative articles. I’m sure you’re tired of me constantly discussing my feelings all the time and want to actually learn something off my blog. Hahaha.
Kindle
I met with Adrian Ingram from DrivenLiving while I was here in Chiang Mai. He makes $10k/month doing kindle books! I am getting more motivated to start back up again. I figure if I make it a goal to outsource one book in February, I can focus on other things while the writing is getting done.
Conclusion
Being immersed in Chiang Mai really brings some motivation. The problem I’m facing right now is the fact that there are so many routes and it’s hard to choose the “correct” path. I’m also getting a bit nervous cause I’ll worry that the Etsy sales volume will slow down (as it sometimes does)…let’s just hope it keeps working.
I think the most important step right now is I need to plan out what the next few months should look like and keep moving. Rather than waiting for motivation/inspiration, I have to do something (which will lead to more motivation/inspiration). I have to take action!
