Travelling, while not as expensive as before, is not something to be done on a whim. Going places, especially abroad, can take some serious resources — be it time, a lot of effort, or money. Acting on the travel bug and earning enough money to sustain the wanderlust may prove as a difficult hurdle to overcome, and therein lies the problem. If only you could turn your wanderlust into profit, now that would be something!
This is where social media comes in. As you continue reading, we will explore how to use social media as a powerful tool to guide you safely while you travel and as one of the ways for you to fuel your passion for travel with a healthy and steady influx of income.
The operative word is ‘difficult’, not ‘impossible’
No point in sugar-coating this, turning passion into profit won’t be a walk in the park, and it’ll entail some grit and hard work, but you can succeed. Indeed, finding a job while travelling, especially in Asia, is a prospect that’s daunting and full of challenges. One of the first hurdles to overcome is that tourist visas or any visa-free entry country in Asia (or anywhere in the world for that matter) strictly prohibits a tourist from getting into any job or business dealings in the place they’re visiting. Rules like these make sense because it wouldn’t be fair to the locals if you visit under the pretence of touring, and then take away their jobs.
Becoming a digital nomad
An option is to go back to your old post, save, travel, and then repeat. It’s not an appealing concept, I know. Fret not, there are a lot of ways to earn while travelling and while your tourist visa is still valid. Social media and freelancing jobs have one thing in common — they’re remotely done and in a fully online capacity.
This is the stuff of backpackers dreams, and their ideal scenario is finding that holy grail of a job which will allow them to work practically anywhere. Freelancing for a variety of skills that you may have is often referred to as the digital nomad’s life, and the freedom that it entails in terms of having enough time left for walking around in your favourite city is just unparalleled.
Social media is not just a place to look for jobs
The social media revolution has dramatically impacted industries, particularly in the way they treat customers, as just a few years back customers have no way of looking at how a business treats its clients. Today, companies need to cultivate a strong media presence.
Needless to say, social media is an essential tool for travellers, particularly women travellers, as they base a considerable chunk of deciding whether or not to patronise a business on online reviews and social media profiles. Your phone is one of your best travel tools.
So much stuff to do!
Social media has also become a haven for job seekers and employers alike. Browse through Facebook pages, especially if you need to look for seasonal jobs while on the move. Write in ahead of time and who knows? You just might have your next gig locked down. Below is a list of some social media-related roles you may consider:
The digital marketer
Your job as a digital marketer is to conduct market research and roll out marketing management implementations with the result being increased organic traffic to the digital marketplace that you work for and convert them into sales. In today’s cutthroat digital business scene, a digital marketer is always in demand and paid at a premium. As a traveller, you can totally do this online while sipping on your favourite cup of coffee.
The blogger with benefits
Be it travel, a particular niche, or blog about any random stuff, a blogger can convert their content into profit by driving traffic into wherever their links lead. On top of being paid per article, you also get the opportunity to do affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is especially profitable if you’re a blogger and have a captive audience. In layman’s terms, you become a middle-man and act as a broker between the customer and a product. The more people and traffic that converts to a sale as a result of people clicking on your links, the more money that trickles into your bank account, regardless of where you are. To optimise your earnings, consider parking your profits in the highest-yield savings account to watch your savings and earnings grow simultaneously.
The social media manager
Companies and businesses now need a strong social media presence to survive. A social media manager can help a business maintain an active online presence by making sure comments are responded to and fresh content is uploaded to engage followers. New customers also check a brand’s social media accounts and base their buying decision on what they see there. A social media manager is press relations in the social networking world.
The list is in no way complete or comprehensive, but these are the jobs with distinct attachments to social media. Remember that these platforms are powerful and can make or break a start-up or even a well-established company. One needs to be responsible and accountable for every comment or story or post created on these social media platforms, and as a traveller, it would do you well to be mindful of it always.
