Posts

,

How to Become a Digital Nomad: 6 of the Best Online Courses

Online courses. Digital Nomad. Remote worker. Fulltime freelancer. These expressions are very common in the online world. If the idea of working 9-5 in an office scares the hell out of you, life as a digital nomad will have surely crossed your mind at some point. It has mine. I spent the best part of a year and a half working freelance when I ran my own travel blogging/content creation company, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. As well as the flexibility of being able to work where I wanted, when I wanted, I loved the freedom that being a digital nomad gave me. I didn’t have to worry about limited annual leave, or about taking time off for a doctors appointment, I simply just worked whenever I was able to, and chose not to work when I fancied some time off.

 

 

The digital nomad life is not for everyone though, and it was incredibly tough at times. If I’m honest, although it was amazing at the start, I really struggled for the last six months of my 18 month freelance life and made the decision to go back to full time work shortly after. I found I was constantly hustling, constantly pitching. I had visions that being a full time travel blogger meant I went on back to back press trips, writing hotel reviews and destination guides left, right and centre. But in reality, hardly any of my income came from press trips/sponsored blog content, and the majority of what I earnt was through social media management from clients that weren’t in the travel industry. I woke up late and went to bed late because I had no routine. I needed structure in my life, and a 9-5 job gave me that, so I started working in luxury travel in September 2017 and have been grateful to enjoy a fulfilling career until Covid-19 ruined the travel industry!

But lets go back to the digital nomad life for a second. If I had more determination, more consistency and perhaps a little more time to make it work, I have no doubt in my mind that I would largely still enjoy being a freelancer. I just wish I’d had more of a niche, and perhaps more transferable skills or multiple income streams, that would have made it work better for me. Having worked for both myself and for others, there are so many benefits to freelance life that you just don’t get when you’re an employee for a company. However, in order for your career as a digital nomad to be as successful as possible, I think it is absolutely KEY to invest in yourself, and your future.  By constantly learning new skills you can apply new experience to every role you take. As well as networking and attending events, I found that online courses were also a fantastic way to learn new skills and build my confidence. So, without further ado, here are 6 of the best online courses to help you on your way to being able to work from anywhere in the world…

 

An English teaching course with The TEFL Academy

 

View this post on Instagram

☺️ Meet alumna @eslroxy! Roxy is from Australia 🇦🇺, currently teaching online in Scotland with Palfish. ⠀ ⠀ "I've been teaching online for a few months now and I love it! I have been inundated with job offers from different companies thanks to my level 5 TEFL Certificate and the help from The TEFL Academy with re-writing my resume. I teach kids from all over the world and have already formed a solid base of regular students. I can work part time and maintain a full time salary which gives me the ability to do more of the things I love!" 👏⠀ ⠀ #teach #teacher #teachenglishonline #teachenglish #teaching #teacherlife #teachers #onlineenglishteachers #remotework #remoteteaching #remoteteacher #tefl #teflteacher #efl #eflteacher #teachersofig #remoteworker #teflteacher

A post shared by The TEFL Academy (@theteflacademy) on

 

During lockdown I promised myself I would finally enrol on my first ever TEFL course after putting it off for months! Back in April I finally took the plunge and enrolled on my level 5 168 hour TEFL online course with The TEFL Academy to teach English as a foreign language. Whilst I was on furlough for three months I dedicated a lot of my time to doing my course, and I have very nearly finished it with just one unit and one assignment to go before I’m qualified! I cannot wait to get my certificate and would really recommend doing a TEFL course to anyone looking for another way of diversifying their income and taking a step towards digital nomad life. Once qualified, there are plenty of online teaching platforms you can choose from so you can teach adults or children from the comfort of your living room and start earning money whilst teaching from your laptop.

 

An SEO blogging course with Make Traffic Happen

 

 

Run my two full time bloggers and SEO consultants, Make Traffic Happen is allllll about keywords, optimisation and Google rankings. After attending a couple of Gemma and Laura’s SEO talks at various Traverse conferences over the past few years, I felt inspired to learn more about how to optimise my blog. SEO the Easy Way, one of Make Traffic Happen’s most popular online courses, gives a fantastic introduction to the world of SEO and how to implement strategies that will make your website traffic skyrocket. There are 35 video lectures, 16 worksheets and 7 checklists to track your progress as you go, and you’ll be sure to notice an improvement of web traffic as you make y0ur way through the course. Admittedly I haven’t actually downloaded the course or the e-book yet, but I am a member of the Facebook group and find some of their posts incredibly helpful, and I have a few friends who have downloaded the course too. This course will be hugely beneficial if you’re looking to increase your web traffic and, in turn, maximise opportunities to monetize your blog.

 

A marketing course with The Open University

 

 

During lockdown The Open University offered free access to hundreds of online courses across a range of industries, with marketing being one of the most notable. The idea was to encourage the th0usands of people on furlough in the UK to do something useful and interesting during their free time whilst they weren’t working, and what better way to do that than to learn something new! Throwing yourself into a new course is always a great idea, and if it’s online it means you can study at your own pace, however slow or fast you like depending on how busy you are. The free courses have unfortunately now ended, but OU still offers plenty of online courses to get stuck into, with their marketing ones proving popular. Improve your social media knowledge, gain an understanding into how brand campaigns work or specialise in digital marketing.

 

A language course with Duolingo

 

 

I downloaded the Duolingo app a couple of years ago when I was trying to re-learn Spanish and practice my fluency. I took Spanish for GCSE and earned a B grade in my written and speaking exams but didn’t take it at A Level, which is something I really wish I had done! I was struggling with websites or audio books which made learning Spanish feel fun and easy, until I discovered the Duolingo app and I instantly became hooked! With daily levels which can be unlocked as quickly or as slowly as you like, and both audio and visual prompts to encourage different learning styles, understanding the basics of a new language has never been easier with Duolingo, and it’s totally free to use!

 

A Photoshop course with Adobe 

 

View this post on Instagram

Hey guys, @georgiarosehardy here! I'm very honored to be doing this week's takeover for the theme #Ps_Imagine.⁠ •⁠ When people ask what I do for a living, I'm often unsure how to answer. Am I a photographer? A digital artist? An escape artist? A weirdo in a field with a tripod? The lines are definitely blurred. I started shooting self-portraits at the tender age of 16, and I'm now nearly 30! The ability to create magical worlds (as a teenager with a low budget) was transformational for me, in more ways than one. It's given me a career, been therapy through the challenges life has thrown, and makes up a large portion of my identity.⁠ •⁠ I am so looking forward to sharing more of my journey and work with you all and seeing the different ideas people come up with for #Ps_Imagine! Thanks so much for having me, Photoshop.

A post shared by Adobe Photoshop (@photoshop) on

 

Photoshop is one of the best tools out there for editing images, and if you want to start making money from your prints, it’s a good idea to invest in some training with Adobe first. Choose from a wide range of beginner, intermediate and advanced online courses to suit your needs depending on which learning level you’re at. Becoming a bit of a professional with Photoshop means you’ll learn how to become an expert in image editing and can really show off your creative photography skills. If you specialise in Instagram and want to take your account to the next level, these online courses will be right up your street.

 

A social media course with Buffer

 

 

Much like the Open University, Buffer often offers a multitude of free online courses to help you grow your skill set, but these are available throughout the year, not just during lockdown! Specialising in social media and marketing, Buffer’s fun and interactive online courses are perfect for delving deeper into the digital world and discovering algorithms and trends within social media platforms. Whether you’re more interested in Facebook or Twitter, or keen to learn more about strategies than advertising, Buffer’s insightful online courses are the perfect place to kick-start your social media learning.

 

I hope this selection of online courses help inspire you to think about which path you want to take in order to obtain that digital nomad life. There are plenty of free online courses out there which you can take alongside your day job so you can earn whilst you learn, and even the ones that aren’t free should still provide an excellent return of investment once you’re qualified/certified and can use those transferable skills. Have you ever taken any of these online courses before? I would love to know if any of them have brought you one step closer to your dream of being a full time freelancer!