Today I'm pleased to share with you a post from Luke Thomas of Thatmarketingdude.com, one of my first “e-friends” in the Internet Marketing business. Over the years, I've watched Luke battle with procrastination and his desire to travel, in order to build a lifestyle business whilst travelling the world.
Unlike Luke, I built a business first, THEN started to travel. Luke's done it the other way round, so he knows what it's like to build a business on shaky wi-fi connections, and most importantly of all, on a budget.
Today he's going to talk to you about the best ways to actually go ahead and do the same thing he's done, if that's your desire.
Over to Luke..
MY STORY
Not everyone has a desire to travel. For those who do however, it’s like a fire that’s been lit inside them that cannot be extinguished. For the last 5 years it’s been a fire that’s been raging inside me and one I wish to ignite in others… And having a successful online business can help myself, and others, follow that passion.
I’ve been toying with online business since 2007 but I’ve spent the majority of my time procrastinating, which I’ve written about before on Human Proof Designs. It wasn’t until I returned to the UK after my first bout of traveling that I realised the change it had made in me. Now it’s something I want others to experience.
Now a similar fire burns inside me to help others create an online business that helps support a lifestyle that allows them to travel wherever and whenever they want. This is what many people call a “lifestyle business.”
Creating a lifestyle business isn’t something that has to be done before you begin traveling. I’ve created a business whilst on the move and there’s no reason why you can’t as well.
BUILDING AN ONLINE BUSINESS TAKES TIME
The first thing we have to acknowledge is that building a successful business isn’t going to be achieved overnight. The old saying “Rome wasn’t build in a day” applies to business, so ignore any of the “get rich quick” crap you see online.
Let me say it again… Building a successful business isn’t going to be achieved overnight.
But also don’t think that it’s going to take several years to do so either. With the right levels of dedication and work put into your business you’ll be able to create the lifestyle you want.
However, don’t rush towards success either. You’ll end up skipping important steps which will come back to bite you in the ass at some point.
For example, many business owners don’t define their perfect avatar which in turn makes creating content, effective marketing (content or paid), clarity in your direction and the rapport with the people who find you a lot more difficult than it needs to be. This is the very first stage I address with all digital nomads that come to me, both beginners and seasoned entrepreneurs.
BUILDING A LIFESTYLE BUSINESS DOESN’T COST A LOT OF MONEY… IT’S RELATIVELY CHEAP!
The benefit of an online business is that the costs are much lower compared to a traditional brick and mortar business. This means you have more money to spend on traveling!
You can run a successful business on less than $50 per month… You just need to put in more time. The essentials are a domain name, hosting and an email service provider. There are a few other things you’ll drop a few bucks on each month (graphics and maybe a few Facebook ads) but you can decide on how much you spend on these each month.
When your business is in profit you can reinvest money back into it to help it grow quicker.
So you can beginning traveling whilst your business is growing if you wanted.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BUILD YOUR BUSINESS FIRST… THERE ARE WAYS TO BEGIN TRAVELING NOW
Like I’ve already mentioned, the expenses of an online business and low so you can build your business whilst you’re traveling. There are a few things you’ll need to consider though.
Internet Quality
Most countries have good quality internet now compared to 5–10 years ago, but it’s still something to consider.
If you’re going to be in a town/city you’re going to alright, 90%+ of the time. If you’re going to be in a remote location for an extended period of time (like I was when I was in Fiji) then the internet isn’t always going to be reliable.
With a little bit of research online you can find this information out.
Another option is to get your hands on a mobile WiFi hub. Once you’re in your destination country you can purchase a local SIM card and have wifi on the move… So long as you’re in an area with cell reception.
However, if you end up going to a country that’s popular for digital nomads then you’re likely to find co-working spaces. These are basically offices you can rent on a daily bases (pretty much a desk… but they don’t look like your stereotypical offices from the late 90’s) for a small fee. Co-working spaces normally have high-speed internet and you’ll also get to mingle with other digital nomads in the area.
A great way to meet like-minded friends whilst you’re traveling!
Visas
Most countries allow people to stay in their respective countries under a 90-day tourist visa which means you’ll need to move on after 3 months. If you wanted to stay longer in a specific country you’d need to look into a visa to allow you to do so.
In Thailand for example, they’ve released a 6 month visa aimed towards digital nomads. People use to do “visa runs” to the border to extend their tourist visas, as Thailand only allow people to stay for 30 days visa-free, but the Thai government have stopped this. Now for a small fee you can stay in Thailand for 6 months of the year without worrying about visa runs or fines for overstaying the 30 days most people have.
If you’re under 30 years old you can also look into “working holiday visas” which allows you to stay in countries for up to a year.
When I went traveling the first time I had a 1-year working holiday visa for Australia and at the time of writing this post I’m on a 2-year working holiday visa in Canada.
Getting your hands on these visas are great if your business isn’t funding your lifestyle quite yet as you’ll be able to legally work in the country. You can get a part-time, or full-time if you so wished, to help cover your living expenses.
Americans, Canadians, British, Irish, Europeans, Australians and New Zealanders have a wide variety of working holiday visas they can apply for. I’ve already used one for Australia and Canada… Next I’ll be applying for one for New Zealand before I hit 30 (eek!).
If you’re from another country then you’ll need to look into what countries you can apply to for a working holiday visa… Definitely worth doing when you’re going to be building your business whilst traveling.
CONSIDER LIVING IN CHEAPER COUNTRIES
Another option is to move to a country where your money will go a lot further. South East Asia is the most popular at the moment with countries like Thailand and Vietnam at the top of the list.
But there are lots of other countries you can go to where your money will stretch a lot further too.
Countries that are really popular right now are: Medillin (Columbia), Chiang Mai (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), Berlin (Germany) and Lisbon (Portugal). If you’re interested in traveling to a country where you’ll mean other digital nomads pretty easily, do some research on one of these cities.
Moving to one of these cheaper countries, and filled with other digital nomads to talk business with, is that your business needs to earn less month each month to sustain your lifestyle. So instead of working your 9–5 or part-time job, you can dedicate 100% of your time taking your business to the next level.
Then you can start traveling and living comfortably in those slightly more expensive countries 😉
DO YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN TRAVELING AND BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS ON THE MOVE?
Have you considered doing any traveling yourself? Have you considered it but your business isn’t in a place to allow you to travel yet?
Hopefully this blog post has helped you to see that it is possible to travel and build a business. I’ve been doing it and I’ve been helping others do so too. Traveling opens your eyes to the world and has certainly changes my perspective on what’s important in my life.
Travel and helping others travel that’s supported by a successful online business are the 2 most important things in my life. Don’t hold yourself back… Live life to it’s fullest!
If you want to talk to other digital nomads, and aspiring digital nomads then I invite you to come join us over on Facebook. We have a free group going where we discuss business, travel and how to do both at the same time. You’ll find the group over at DudeBrood.com so come over and request access.
Very nice post. I learned a lot of similar information from podcasts from Johnny FD, who’s not in affiliate marketing but e-Commerce. It’s amazing when I see others living this lifestyle and traveling. I had always had the strange urge inside to have freedom and for the longest time it’s been killing me.
When I learned about other guys living near a beach, say in SE Asia and earning US dollars but paying so little for expenses, it blew my mind! Just amazing.
It’s my dream and why I am a new HPD customer.
It’s kind of strange how it seems so out of reach, but at the same time I know it’s possible. I hope to succeed and help others once I reach that point and have scaled things well.
I do dream of living & traveling in various countries, coincidentally in Medellin, Colombia (and other cities) as well as Chiang Mai, Thailand, etc.
‘..from Johnny FD, who’s not in affiliate marketing but e-Commerce.’
What? 90% of his income comes from affiliate marketing. e-Commerce is just the product/package he uses.
Bryon, Like, thanks for sharing an inspiring story!
I am personally not into travelling but I am as much as you guys into having a freedom to do what you want 🙂
Thanks Nadya!
The travel lifestyle requires freedom, so we both have the same goal essentially 😉
I’m glad you enjoyed this post!