Still Want to Live, Travel, and Earn Abroad?

In this Part 2 of Tips for Making your Nomadic Dreams a Reality, we're going to pick up right where we left off in Part 1 with additional options for earning while living or traveling overseas. Keep reading!

Selling products online no longer requires an excessive financial commitment or inventory storage commitment. Instead, drop shipping allows you to market and sell products directly to consumers and contract with a wholesaler to deliver the items directly to the customer. This is admittedly a bit of an oversimplification, and I would recommend you do your research before deciding you want to get into this business. I do have some tips (tips within the tips - that's nice!) and am happy to share what I've learned if you decide you would like to take this on.

a. Choose a niche that is 100% aligned with your interests. My husband and I shoot and edit video for people and businesses using the "small lens" so we are familiar with all of the products on our website. We are passionate about telling stories through video, making it easy to market and write about the topic.

b. Avoid selling too many high priced items. There are various reasons you will have to offer refunds to customers and you don't want huge deficits because you are selling high ticket items. Customer expectations are also much higher with high priced items. Drop shipping delivery times can take anywhere from 7 to 10 business days.

c. Know that you will have a hard time selling to people outside of the United States if you are on the Shopify platform. The platform considers financial transactions that come from outside of the United States and some parts of Europe as high risk. To mitigate this risk, you should verify each order with an email the customer must reply to asking them to confirm they made the purchase using their credit card. You should also be very careful to target your customer carefully when marketing.

There are different rules in different countries about running a physical business with some requiring a license and/or work permits. In the case of the Boquete, Panama Tuesday Market, there are special exceptions for small businesses to sell there. You can see the variety of businesses who set up shop every week. For the investor, opportunities like the Chiriqui Storage represent the chance to purchase an established and existing business and build on its successes.

Relocating and Earning Income Overseas

For those who are considering relocating and earning income overseas, I recommend the following process:

1. Set up an online business to consistently make money at least one year before relocating–if you’re able to support yourself in your home country and assuming that the area you’re moving to has a more favorable cost of living, you should be able to support yourself in your new location.

2. Research the area you’re moving to and identify opportunities for business ventures that complement your online business.

3. Catalog your experiences in whatever way is most comfortable for you whether it be through pictures, video or written content. Your story has value.

4. Plan to acquire new clients every year and start a new online business every year. Every business has a cycle, and online businesses are subject to changes from shopping behavior to Google search engine updates to freelancer platform algorithm modifications. Your job is to be an early adopter of new platforms and always prepare for the inevitable change.

5. Finally, do not incur additional debt for any of your businesses. Part of the reason for relocating to an area that has a lower cost of living is to enjoy the freedom that comes with financial security. Economic prosperity in these environments can be a reality but not if you incur debt while experiencing the unknown. You don’t know when business laws will change and you don’t want to get caught in a financially precarious position. There are too many outstanding business opportunities that do not require a significant financial investment to get started.

Today's technological landscape makes your nomadic dreams of traveling or living and earning overseas a reality - what are you waiting for? The world awaits!

If you missed Part 1 of this series - don't worry, just click here. Till next time!

Enjoy.