10 Steps to Becoming a Digital Nomad
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
If your goal is to become a digital nomad, these are 10 steps to follow that help you become one
00:00 Intro
00:48 Identify your marketable skill(s)
01:33 Develop a professional portfolio
02:05 Network
02:42 Choose tools
03:12 Establish a base schedule
04:11 Create YOUR VERSION of work-life balance
04:22 Stay organized
04:57 Hire business professionals
05:38 Stay connected
05:52 Stay focused
06:24 Outro
If you’re interested in becoming a digital nomad, Here are steps to take that allow you to do it. I’m Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter. People hire me for no BS coaching and career advice globally. That advice, that coaching can relate to a job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, you and the lifecycle of your career, because I make it easier for you to be successful.
Now, you have your reasons for becoming a digital nomad. I respect that. I’m not going to talk about its values. You’ve already figured it out. And obviously, you have an idea of where you want to start location-wise.
So once you have that in mind, number one is to figure out a marketable skill or expertise because becoming a digital nomad, you have to have something to market, some skill or expertise to offer to clients, or companies remotely. And this can be anything really. You know, in theory, I’m a digital nomad. You know, I never meet my coaching clients in person. I work remotely with all of them. Web Design, writing, programming, there’s a whole host of different things that you can offer to people. But you need to figure out where your expertise is, what its value is and thus that becomes your launch point.
Number two is in advance of all of this, build a portfolio for yourself. In becoming a digital nomad, you should have a well rounded portfolio highlighting your skills, your work, your accomplishments, so that way you can market yourself and attract potential clients or employers. Remember, think in terms of having a website. Think in terms of your LinkedIn profile, and how you present it to people that will demonstrate what you can do in service to others.
Number three is network and make connections. Building a strong network of contacts, particularly in the area that you’re thinking of moving to as well as in areas at your home base, your current home base, where they’re open to the idea of you working remotely, is a great place to start. So start attending events. Join online communities. Connect with other digital nomads and learn from them what they did, to start expanding their reach and find new opportunities.
Number four is choose tools to work with. So you need to have tools for communication, collaboration, productivity. So becoming familiar with, if you’re not already, Slack, Zoom and Trello, ass well as having a good laptop and a reliable internet connection in your new place. Your new home is going to be important to you. No one’s going to want to work with you if your connection is slow.
Establish a base schedule for yourself. So you may be willing to work in different time zones at different times of day. Because that’s what you’re willing to do. And one of the benefits of being a digital nomad is the ability to create your own schedule. Create a balance for yourself, because you’re not moving to, as one person I know, my first digital nomad friend who helped me write my first book did, the picture of he and his fiancee at that time, she became his wife, sitting in a cafe in Vienna, sipping coffee while he was on his laptop, doing work. It was lovely. And he was working back in the States while in Vienna. So just be aware that you want to start with a basic schedule for yourself so that you can have the leisure that you also want to have.
And thus create the kind of work life balance that’s important to you. Establish boundaries and take time for yourself to recharge and stay healthy.
Also, number seven, stay organized, because with so many different tasks that you may be taking on, so many different responsibilities, it’s important to stay organized and on top of your workflow. So, calendaring, to do lists, project management software, scheduling software–like I use oncehub for client scheduling. Whatever it is that you’re comfortable with, start using it to organize yourself as well as
,having an accountant, having a lawyer who can understand your finances, tax considerations considerations, your budget, the legal responsibilities that you’re going to have. I’ll use the example of someone I work with in Europe, who has been an employee for a while now. And a lot of his work has been in Germany, as an employee of firms where they have very good laws for employees. He’s not a consultant. He’s not a nomad per se, but he’s working at outside of his base country, in Germany, and is being well protected as a result.
Stay connected with people from your past, not just simply people from your workplace, but friends and family. It’s going to help you maintain a good headspace in order to be effective professionally.
And lastly, and this is often hard for people as they start adjusting to this life, stay focused and motivated. It can be challenging at times, but it’s important to stay focused, stay motivated, drive the bus to keep making sales, and deliver on on the sales that you do, to celebrate your accomplishments, because it is going to get tough at times. And you just want to keep your focus on the prize so that this way you can have the life that you really want to have.
Hope you found this helpful. I’m Jeff Altman. My website is TheBigGameHunter.us. Go to the blog and go exploring. There’s a lot there to help you. In addition, you can schedule time for coaching with me. There’s a button that says schedule. You can do that there. If you have questions, you can schedule time for what I call Trusted Advisor Services where I field questions from people. I want to help.
At the site, you can find out about my video courses, books and guides. Again a lot there to help. Also want to say connect with me on Linkedin at linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter. Have a terrific day and most importantly, be great!
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS Career Advice globally because he makes many things in peoples’ career easier. Those things
can involve job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, career transition, as well as advice about resolving workplace issues.
Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2500 episodes.
Website: https://www.TheBigGameHunter.us (schedule a paid coaching session, a free discovery call or ask questions using my Trusted Adviser Services)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter
Courses: https://www.TheBigGameHunter.us/courses
Main YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jobsearchtv
No BS Job Search Advice Radio Podcast: https://anchor.fm/nobsjobsearchadviceradio
Video Podcast of No BS Job Search Advice Radio: Spotify
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffaltmancoach
Medium: jeffaltmancoach.medium.com
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