Working and making money from anywhere if you haven’t yet tried,
might seem like a distant world or something you could never do. The
thought of having more control of your lifestyle by be able to work from
home or any location you choose might not even enter your reality.
Perhaps you can’t fathom a lifestyle where you don’t have a place of
work to show up every day. Maybe the thought of going it on your own as
a freelancer or entrepreneur scares you to death.
But with an
ever expanding global communication and social network the reality of
working from anywhere is becoming an everyday occurrence for those who
want a more flexible lifestyle. Yes, it is very possible to join the
droves of global citizens that have this lifestyle – but it won’t be
without sacrifices – especially in the beginning. You’ll have to change
your mindset about how you currently live and work; and you’ll probably
have to reorganize your lifestyle – perhaps by cutting back on luxuries
and expenses to make the transition possible. You’ll have to think
differently on how to approach your day to day schedule, and because
though it will be more flexible, you’ll have to also be more focused and
directed with your time to be successful as a mobile freelancer or
entrepreneur.
Ready to dive in? If so, read on.
Basic Tools You’ll Need to Make Money from Anywhere
Whether
working at home, the local coffee shop or in a country of your
choosing, the idea is that you need to be two things: 1) connected; and
2) mobile. All the basics here revolve around these two factors.
Whether you can convince your current company to let you work with a “remote work agreement” or you choose to go it alone as a freelancer/entrepreneur, you’ll need some basic tools.
Here are four basic tools you’ll need to get started:
A Sturdy Laptop or a Smart Device:
you need something that’s fairly durable as it will be your workhouse
traveling with you everywhere. I recommend something sturdy with a
great warranty package – I suggest 3-yr full coverage plan if you can
afford it, and especially if you are mobile. I don’t recommend a
netbook because the hard drives tend to be much smaller and also have
tiny screens that strain your eyes and small keyboards that strain your
hands. You’ll want as large of a screen as possible. You might
complain about the weight of it, but remember this is your mobile
office, so the extra weight is worth it. Make sure that both a webcam
and mic are built in, and most laptops come with these integrated.
External and Online Backups:
I can’t stress this enough DO BOTH. That means buying a spare external
hard drive for local backups, and also using an online backup service
like iDrive which gives you up to 2.0 GB for free. Do both types of
backups daily. Losing your work, particularly if you freelance or run
your own company can be devastating to your business.
NOTE:
if you have sensitive information on your computer always make sure to
password protect or encrypt those files, especially if doing online
backups. You may not want to back up those online for security reasons.
Solid Internet Connection:
This usually isn’t an issue in modern countries, but it may be if you
are in a remote location or a country with a lesser infrastructure. If
you are really serious about connecting from anywhere, you’ll want
mobile broadband card. Mobile broadband cards will be cheaper in
whichever country you are living/travelling. For most situations for
connecting to email, chat and basic VOIP, you don’t need more than 1.5
to 6.0 Mbps anyways which mobile broadband can get you. Obviously, the
more bandwidth you have the better.You can
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Yourself: yes, you and your trusty skills, and don’t forget your brain, please!
If
you work with small business owners or become an entrepreneur yourself,
you’ll have a lot more flexibility with using some of the free tools
like VOIP. In working for a corporate company/clients you might have a
more difficult time being able to use some of these tools, because of
corporate standards so make sure you know what those standards are.
Now
that you know what the basic tools are – let’s take a look at some of
the jobs and business ideas that can potentially allow you can work from
anywhere.
1) Writer/Editor: With so many
websites out there needing content, with more and more magazines and
newspapers going online, there’s no shortage of requests for talented
writers. Being a writer is also great for a mobile lifestyle because
you can be totally offline until you need to submit your work. You’ll
just need to gather your research and resources ahead of time to work
offline.
2) Web Developer: Got a knack for or an
interest in programming for websites? This is quite easy to do from
anywhere unlike a number of other jobs in the IT industry. Everything a
web developer does is code-related and can be done remotely. As a
developer, you will most likely interface with clients over the phone
for more advanced requests, so investing in a Skype or similar VOIP
service will be very handy.
3) Virtual Assistant:
This is great for stay at home mothers, but also people who want to be
their own bosses. There’s no limit to what tasks you’ll be asked to do,
so be prepared for requests from the mundane to the zany like customer
services call, making reservations, research, data entry and more. Some
even move on to managing their own teams of virtual assistants and
outsourcing to other VAs.
4) Blogger: Ah, the
ever popular blogging profession. Not a business for the faint of
heart. A blogger is not just a writer, she is a business owner. As a
blog owner you will do your share of writing, but also a large part of
your time will be spent networking with other bloggers, posting on both
your blog and theirs, and doing whatever you can to attract readership
and traffic. How you do make money with blogging? The most popular
form is by selling advertising. You also might be able to sell your
products or other people’s as well. At some point, when you start
making money at blogging, hiring writers and editors to help will
probably be a good idea as you grow.
5) E-Commerce Store:
Have a product line or industry you are passionate about? Maybe a
product of your own you want to develop and sell? Opening an E-Commerce
store online could be the way to go. You can often find someone
willing to drop ship products you’d like to sell, so you don’t have to
store inventory anywhere. You will be taking orders online (possibly by
phone), handling customer service requests and returns.
6) Graphic Designer:
Now that virtually all graphic design is done on a computer, this is a
perfect mobile job or business. Everyone needs a logo, ads designed,
website images and more. If you’re artistically talented and can
deliver to client specifications, graphic design might just be for you.
7) Translation (Writing):
If you are a linguistic expert in one or more foreign languages, then
you can do written translation work from anywhere quite easily. Many
businesses from those that sell products to finance companies to law
firms need translators for such a purpose, and if you can charge a lower
rate by telecommuting or by the fact that you live in country where the
cost of living is lower, you can probably beat the local guy who needs
to be there in person.
8) Virtual Project Manager:
With Outsourcing being such a thriving industry these days, you could
be a remote team manager for a variety of different businesses that have
projects in the works. Check out oDesk.com for a look into this type
of work, they actually are seeking people just for this role. This
might be something you could do along with freelancing on a site like
oDesk.
9) Bookkeeper: If you’ve a talent with
numbers and enjoy math, why not be a remote bookkeeper? Take some
accounting courses and learn how to do the books. Or maybe you’ve been
working for the man as an accountant for too long and know you can go it
on your own. Although be careful about giving tax advice if you are
not a CFA (certified financial accountant).
10) Data Entry:
Probably the least glorious of all, but still always a necessity for
businesses someone’s data always needs to be entered, combed, adjusted
and cleaned up. Just make sure that the data entry opportunity is legit
and there are no upfront fees for it sometimes these jobs can be
scams. Again a freelance job website like oDesk or Elance is a great place to start finding legitimate work.
“Scammy” job listings to avoid:
filling out online surveys, assembly jobs (assembling gifts, etc),
multi-level marketing, anything that asks you to pay upfront “training
costs”, envelope stuffing, certain data entry jobs. There might be some
legit opportunities with some of these, but be careful in general.
Remember
– if you live in an area with a lower cost of living or even another
country, you have an advantage over the local workers as far as cost is
concerned. If you can provide quality service and product to your
clients, you’ll be in the running for sure.
When to Form Your Own Business
Once you begin to make money regularly, you’ll probably want to consider setting up an LLC,
S-Corp or other business entity to protect you and your work. You can
do this beforehand as well, but that all depends on the type of work you
are doing and your financial resources at the time. You can save money
by forming an LLC
or other simple business entity online just make sure you do it
correctly. If you are unsure, it’s always great to check with a local
business or entrepreneur organization for some free advice.
So let’s wrap it up.
Now
you know the basic tools that you’ll need to begin a work from anywhere
lifestyle, along with some job or business ideas to get you started.
Rest assured there will be a lot of work involved, and it may not be
easy. But that never stopped anywhere from doing what they really
wanted, now did it? So don’t let it stop you if you really think it’s
right for you.
Have ideas that weren’t covered here? Feel free to
comment below for any ideas, questions or experiences you’d like to post
about making money from anywhere.
