1. TRAVEL

Hey Freelance Friend,

It’s quite apt that this edition is being written in an airport, at 1:30am.

That sweet digital nomad lifestyle.

Scattered around the boarding gate are countless bags and bodies, each as still and motionless as the next.

Everyone here is either delayed, or on a massive layover, or both.

I’m part of the layover gang.

Sounds awful, right?

But what if I told you that it’s all worth it?

See, if you’re reading this, you’re probably a Freelancer.

(Or thinking about becoming one)

What that often means is that you are your own boss, and you can do with your days what you like.

Sure, you have clients, deadlines, and expectations.

But one of the major ways that you can make the most of your Freelance experience is by travelling.

It’s definitely not the only way, but it’s for sure one of the best.

After around 12 years of roaming around the world, here are some of my best bits of advice for making the most of that nomad lifestyle:

1. Network hard and fast. As soon as you land. 
   
   Or even on the flight out there. Speak to people.
   
   Your network grows from these first seeds.
   
   That person on the plane may be a local who knows the best spots and may invite you to a gathering.
   
   If they are also not from there…well done…you just made a friend to explore the place together.
   

2. Meetup, WhatsApp Groups, Facebook groups are your friends. 
   
   Some of the best connections I’ve ever made are from posting on a Facebook group before I go somewhere along the lines of
   
   “Hey everyone, I’m coming, whats happening, who wants to hang out”
   
   with a nice photo of you where you don’t look like a total weirdo.
   
   You’ll be surprised how many nice people are either:
   
   a) already there and know how you feel arriving alone or
   
   b) are also planning to come, and will reach out to you too.
   

3. Give yourself a break. Even if you’re still working. 
   
   Take breaks, unplug, make the most of your time.
   
   You’ll never get it back.
   
   When you’re home you can make those hours up instead of Netflix for a few nights. Nobody is going to tell your clients…
   

4. eSims.
   
   They are a thing.
   
   They have been for a very long time.
   
   You dont need to go to some random shop and get a physical SIM card, find a friend with an ear piercing and fiddle around and lose your home SIM card.
   
   Just eSim.
   
   You’re welcome.
   

5. Please please please don’t ever exchange currency or use your old crusty traditional bank abroad.
   
   If you are using your traditional bank to exchange currency, take it out at an ATM or (god forbid)…exchanging physical money at one of those booths.
   
   You are absolutely losing money. T
   
   ransferwise (now Wise) and Revolut are accounts you can open for free, and you can exchange and even take out money abroad at the REAL exchange rate you see on google.
   
   With Revolut you can even leave your money in your home currency and spend in whatever local currency it is, and they will do the conversion for you, at the real rate.
   

6. CoWorking Spaces Are Your Places.
   
   For legal purposes I can’t.
   
   But I guarantee that you will make back the money you spend on a CoWorking space in projects, networking or just friends.
   
   It’s the place where all of your Freelance / Digital Nomad kind go.
   
   There are always social events and mixers too.
   
   Get out of the corner of your hotel room.

7. Bonus Tip:
   
   Tell everyone you are going. Socials, LinkedIn, everyone.
   
   Someone will always pop up and say
   
   “hey I’m gonna be there at the same time” 
   
   or
   
   “I was there and I went to this amazing thing…here, I’ll introduce you to…”

Extra Sentiment FOR NON-NOMADS: If you do work mostly from home or from a specific location. You don’t need to be left out.

Part of your job is probably a huge amount of admin.

Schedule in some admin days. Make them a Friday and a Monday.

Take your admin and do it from somewhere nice, change that scenery, you are your own boss.

It feels like you can never do it. But even in normal jobs, you would sometimes be taken out of the office for things like training courses, first aid courses, sales training, whatever.

So although it feels like you can’t, even if your Freelance job is 100% in person and location dependent, schedule time in and call it “development” time.

2. FREELANCER FEATURE

Merve Goulding

Merve is a Systems Designer and Notion Consultant.

She is one of the top Notion Consultants in the world, and has the accreditation to prove it.

Every time I talk with her (often weekly) she is doing the next level notion course to achieve accreditation and enhance her skillset.

She truly is the Queen of Notion.

As Freelancers we often struggle with keeping our shit together. All of the various moving parts that go into running our own ‘business’.

You need one central place to keep all of the different parts, that place is Notion.

Merve has kindly dropped by to give some advice on using systems to manage your Freelance life.

3. Affiliates / Supplemental Income

As a Freelancer, you need a LOT of tools to run your business.

Nowadays, pretty much every company has an affiliate programme.

Often they will give you a flat fee or a percentage of the sale you bring.

That software you use every year for taxes and recommend to everyone? Become an affiliate.

Design websites and always use the same platform? Take a % of every site you would be bringing to them anyway.

The Social Media Marketing platform you love? Yep, they will have one.

Something I add to my to-do list every year is an affiliate review.

I make a list of EVERYTHING I do and check for affiliate programmes.

It may seem like a small amount at first, but over time they really do add up.

You then have this slice of money coming in every month which you can then use on whatever you want.

Ideally you reinvest this into premium software / subscriptions which will enhance your Freelance business.

But you could equally just use it on flights, therapy, spa days or language classes.

All are great options…

Next Time

018: FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS

You want to focus, you have huge goals, it’s Q4, they haven’t quite happened.

You have motivation, you have the plan, you just can’t seem to focus.

This issue will dive into why, and what to do about it.

With you on 11 OCTOBER 2024 at 11:00am (UK TIME)