We’ve been travelling full time since 2016, and have been making travel a priority in our relationship (and our lives) since 2011. We get asked a lot of questions about how we afford so many trips, what we do for our jobs, and how we make it all work, so we want to open up about it!
One of the primary reasons we have the financial freedom to travel so much, is because we work for ourselves. We have both been self employed for all of our adult lives, and have built multiple businesses around our different skills and interests. Steph has worked as a sports coach, a strength and conditioning specialist, an athletic camp director, an independent baker, a video editor, and a web master. I (Kaitlin) have worked as a dance teacher, a fitness instructor, a freelance performer, a choreographer, an independent model, and a digital content creator. We have both leveraged our work experience to make our “jobs” as flexible as possible, and that means that we can make travel a huge part of our lives.
We hear a very common goal from the people in this community, and it’s that everyone wants to find a way to travel more. Our biggest piece of advice to make that happen, is to take control of your work, and make it work for you. Whether that means starting a side hustle on top of your regular job to earn extra funds for travel, or going entirely freelance with whatever you do to make your schedule more flexible. There are so many different ways to make it happen, and it’s never been easier to work for yourself. Start an online business, start freelancing on the side of your job, build a brand, grow your idea, make something happen! Keep reading for our top tips on how to branch out and work for yourself.
EDUCATION
Whatever it is you want to do, educate yourself and continue educating yourself! Seek out as much information as you can, and never stop learning about what it is you’re interested in doing. It’s the best way to spark an interest, organize your ideas, and fuel your passion, and it’s the easiest thing you can do to get started right now.
Take an Online Course
When we decided to start this blog, we already had a lot of the skills we knew we would need. We’re confident with writing, photography, and building a website. But we wanted to launch this blog as a business, and so we educated ourselves by taking an online course from one of the biggest bloggers in the travel space, Nomadic Matt. We learned so much and it gave us the confidence to fully dive in! Whatever it is you want to do, find an online course or a class to take, and set yourself up for success from the beginning.
Read Relevant Books
Another great way to educate yourself, is to read! Find books on business, productivity, entrepreneurship, etc. and set aside the time to dissect them. Some of our favourites are The 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris for work-life balance, The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday for determination and resilience, and You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero for overall motivation and personal growth. There are amazing books out there on every subject you can possibly imagine, so whatever it is you’re interested in, get reading!
Listen to Podcasts
Podcasts are an amazing way to educate yourself. There is so much accessible information out there on every subject, and you can listen to them while you’re driving, on a flight, or just doing chores around the house. It’s an amazing way to receive the information you need, and there are so many great podcasts out there on a variety of topics. Search within your niche, and start listening until you find something that really resonates with you.
BUILD A BRAND
Whatever your business is going to be, you will need to build a powerful brand in order to succeed. Maybe you’ve decided to start a business as a general virtual assistant, or you want to start an Etsy shop and make original products, or cut together videos for corporate clients. Whatever it is, building a solid brand from the very beginning is going to make your business thrive! Define your goals, sketch out a business plan, and get to work.
Get a Logo
Whatever your business is, it’s essential to have a professional logo. This is something you’ll use on your website, on your social channels, on your business cards, and more! While it may seem easy to create a logo yourself, having a business logo designed by a professional can make such an enormous difference. It’s an investment that is well worth the cost, and will help you establish an influential brand for your business. When we wanted a logo for Lez See the World, we used a service called 99 Designs. We were actually able to host a design contest which gave us access to a number of professional designers, and they all created logo ideas based on our brief. We could narrow down the results, and then make small changes with our favourites until the design felt perfect. We ended up choosing a design by an incredible female designer, who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community and was really passionate about our message. Her design perfectly embodied what we were looking for, and we couldn’t be happier with the results! If you don’t want to host a contest, you can also just work one-on-one with a designer to create a logo for your business. We highly recommend 99 Designs. Click here to check them out!
Build a Website
Every business needs a website, and it can be pretty simple to set one up yourself depending on your needs. If your business requires something beyond your skills, you can always hire a web developer and designer to bring your vision to life with their technical expertise. To create a website you will need a hosting service, as well as a platform to build with. Hosting is basically what will make your website accessible on the internet. BlueHost is a great service to start with. They are secure, reliable, and one of the largest web hosts out there with reasonable prices. Click here to get started with them. Then you will need a platform to help you build your website. Depending on what type of website you need for your business, different platforms are great for different things. For instance, this website is built on Wordpress because it’s primarily in a blog format. We’ve also built websites for other businesses on Squarespace because they have a very visual format and are great for portfolios! Choose a platform that works best for YOUR business, and start building!
Establish Your Social Media Channels
After you have your logo and a website, you should establish your brand on social channels. A good place to start is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Each platform serves a different purpose, and all of them have their own benefits when it comes to growing your business and engaging with your community. Facebook is a visual platform that works great for photo and video content. Twitter is wonderful for building community, and is a good way to connect with people one on one. Instagram is also a very visual platform, with a variety of features that are beneficial. And finally, Pinterest is both a social platform and a search engine, being a great way to drive traffic to your website when used effectively.
PROMOTE YOUR SERVICES
Now that you’ve built a brand for your business, it’s time to promote your services. Whatever it is that you do, you need to get the word out to as many people as possible and allow it to grow. It can be hard to self promote, but if you truly believe in what you’re doing, and you’re passionate about working for yourself, you’ll find a way!
Tell Your Friends and Family
Start by telling the people in your personal network about your new business venture. Our friends and family members are often going to be our biggest cheerleaders, so let them cheer you on! Call up those closest to you, and fill them in on what you’re doing. Spread the word at family gatherings. Email friends and tell them how excited you are about your new business. Start with the people you trust, and they can help spread the word to their friends, families, work colleagues, and so on.
Print Business Cards
You may think that business cards have gone out of style, but a lot of people actually still use them and ask for them! When we were getting ready to attend a conference last year for Lez See the World, the number one piece of advice we kept reading was to bring business cards. They are still a very valuable way to promote your services, so it’s worth the investment of printing cards with your logo and contact information. We love using VistaPrint for business cards (and all of our other printing needs!). Their prices are amazing, they have frequent sales, and their customer service is top notch. Click here to check them out.
Promote Your Business on Social Media
You’ve already established your brand on different social media channels, and now it’s time to use them to promote your business! Use Facebook to create a business page, and you can even use a scheduler to schedule your posts. Share the posts from your business page to your personal profile every once in awhile, so your personal network can see what you’re up to with your business. On Twitter, follow other people who are in your business niche, engage with their content, and start making meaningful connections. On Instagram, post regularly to your feed, use stories to show a behind-the-scenes look at your brand, take advantage of story highlights, and create a great bio with a link to your website. On Pinterest, pin regularly, and do some research on how to use it the most effectively for your business, because it works so differently from other social media platforms! If social media isn’t your thing, you’re going to have to find a way to get into it. It is ESSENTIAL for any modern business.
If you have any questions about starting a business or working for yourself, please don’t hesitate to ask! Yes it’s a lot of work, but it’s also extremely rewarding. We are both so in love with being self-employed and being entrepreneurs, that we have never looked back. We’ve been able to build a life doing the things we’re passionate about, and we have the freedom to create whatever we want. If we can do it, so can you. There is endless opportunity to create the life of your dreams. You can have more time and flexibility to travel, and do the things you love to do. We promise!
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this blog post may be affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, we could make a small commission through your purchase. We only recommend products and services that we truly believe in, and the income generated goes toward creating more content on this website for you to enjoy for free.
2 comments
I just added this blog site to my rss reader, great stuff. Cannot get enough!
So glad to hear it!