32 | How To Prepare Your Business for Travel as a Digital Nomad
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE
How To Prepare Your Business for Travel as a Digital Nomad
In just a few days, I’ll be embarking on a 5-month trip backpacking around South East Asia. I’ll be visiting countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bali & so many more!
Over the past two months, I’ve been preparing my business for life as a digital nomad! As I prepare to pack my bags and travel, I’m sharing exactly what I’ve been doing to prepare my business for this trip.
LINKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED:
How I’ve been preparing my business for travel.
Although I’m not a seasoned digital nomad (this is my second solo trip ever), there have been times in my business where I’ve had to take time away and over the years I’ve learned a few things about how to prepare your business to take time off, or be less hands on.
As I’ve been preparing for Digital Nomad life, I’ve pulled from this experience and there are 3 key things that I’ve done to prepare my business for 5 months of travel.
1. BATCHING MY PODCAST CONTENT
AS I was planning this trip, I realised that I had 2 choices:
Wrap up season one of the podcast and take a break while I travel
Continue to create and release episodes
I’ve really gotten into a consistent flow with the podcast over the past few months and I love bringing you a new episode every week! I didn’t want to disrupt that flow by stopping and taking a 5 or 6 month hiatus. So, over the past couple of months I’ve been recording extra podcast episodes so that I’m ahead of schedule.
At the moment, we have podcast episodes recorded & scheduled up until June, and then after that we’ll make the decision about whether to continue or wrap up season 1 and take a break for a couple of months.
I will be taking a mini microphone with me when I travel so I can still record on the go if inspiration strikes, but that’s not something I’m going to force on myself if I decide that actually, I just need a break.
2. PRIORITISING MY EMAIL LIST
I have had an email list since I first started my business, and I’ve been pretty consistent with it, BUT the growth was slow. I would probably get around 30-50 new subscribers a month from my organic marketing, But I knew that I really wanted my email list to be one of the main ways I make money in my business and one of the main places I have a community.
I’ve always been very active on Instagram, and that won’t change, but Instagram is not enough. I spoke about this in-depth in episode 24, but anything could happen to your Instagram account tomorrow and there wouldn’t be a thing you could do about it.
Not only that, but reach is significantly decreasing on Instagram. I’m sure you’ve noticed it with your own account, and it’s not just you. Most creators on Instagram are experiencing this, and it’s because there are just more people, more content, and more competition.
So while I will continue to show up on Instagram, I also want to double down on my email list as this is my security blanket, and selling to your email list is soooo much easier!
With social media, like we just said, your audience are logging on and seeing hundreds of different pieces of content for them to consume and it can be overwhelming and it means that they don’t often pay that much attention. But when someone opts into your email list, they’re giving you a direct line of communication with them. They are much more likely to see your content, because it’s landing in their inbox! And they’re much more likely to interact with it because they’ve shown a genuine interest in you and you’re not competing with a million other messages like you would on social media.
3. OUTSOURCING
As I’m travelling, I don’t want to be doing all the menial tasks that come with running a business. I already have a VA that works around 10 hours a month for me, which is already a big help in saving time! But while I’m away, we’re going to be doubling her hours to 20 hours a month.
20 hours a month is around 5 hours a week, which might not seem like a lot, but it really does save you a lot of time in the grand scheme of things. That’s 5 extra hours I gain back and 5 extra hours I get to spend exploring.
And while we’ve gone for 20 hours a month initially, that could always change. If I decide I need more help and she’s able to, we can increase her hours and vice versa.
It’s all little things that make a big difference!
How I’ll be running my business while backpacking through South East Asia
Now that we’ve spoken about how I’ve been preparing for my trip, let’s talk about what I’ll be doing to continue growing & working within my business while I’m travelling.
1. I’LL BE TRAVELLING SLOWLY
There’s no rush. I have 5 months to travel and I could even be away longer if I felt like it, so I am not in any rush and I plan to explore each place slowly.
I’ll be starting out in Thailand for 6 weeks, so I’ll be going slow as I get used to travel and Digital Nomad life. After Thailand, I’m meeting a friend in Vietnam, so I’m going to Vietnam a week and a half before she arrives, and I’ll use that time to focus on work before I take a couple of weeks off to explore with her. Like anything, it’s about finding the right balance. I know that I won’t be working as much when she’s there, so I’ll make up for that before!
After Vietnam, I am going to make shorter trips to countries like Laos and Cambodia and Singapore, and when you are travelling a lot, it can take a lot out of you. So, once I’ve done my short trips, my plan is to head back to Bali and stay there for a full month to focus on my business and relax after a heavy period of travelling.
This is a loose plan, and I haven’t planned any further, but I do know that I’m not in a rush and that reduces a lot of stress.
2. UTILISING MY MOST PRODUCTIVE HOURS
Personally, I’m at my most productive first thing in the morning. So, the same as I do back home, I’m going to dedicate the first couple of hours each morning to working on my business.
If I wake up at 7 and spend the first 2 hours working, I’m ready to go out and explore by 9am, and I still have the entire day ahead of me!
I am an early bird so this works for me. I’m not someone who can really work in the evenings or at night, I can on the rare occasion, but most of the time it’s not going to happen. So I think it’s just about playing to your strengths. And for me, it fills me with a lot more comfort to know that I’ve got all my work done before I go out for the day.
On that point, 2 hours a day is enough for me to get the work done that I need to do. Normally, I work 4 hours or less each day in my business. I am cutting that time in half, but remember that I’ve already batched my podcast episodes (which probably takes up the most time) and then I have a VA working for me as well who can take over those time-consuming tasks.
3. DEDICATED CO-WORKING DAYS
I’ll visit a coworking space on days where I’m batching my content for the month so that I can focus and get it all done in one day. And then, I’ll visit a coworking space on days that I’m working on client work for my repurposing clients as well.
I think having the odd structured day here and there will be really helpful, and going to coworking spaces is also a great way to meet other nomads.
—
Now, this is all how I’ve been planning. I might get there and realise that, actually, I needed to do XYZ as well. But like anything, this is all a learning curve and this trip will be full of lessons that I’ll learn and adapt to.
I’ll definitely be updating you all over on Instagram, so make sure you’re following me there if you want to see the behind-the-scenes of my travels and how I adapt to digital nomad life! I’m @marketingwithtish if you’re not following me already.
And if you’re preparing for your own adventure at the moment, I would love to hear about it! Send me a DM and let me know where you’re going
LET'S CONNECT:
🎙 Follow the HER Purpose Podcast Instagram
WORK WITH TISH
If you’re an ambitious entrepreneur looking to create more time, freedom & profit in your online business and finally start building your business in a way that feels good to YOU, click here to learn more about how Leticia can support you with Private Voxer Mentorship.
SUBSCRIBE, SHARE & REVIEW
Thank you so much for listening to this episode. Your support means the WORLD to me. If you liked what you heard and want to continue learning more, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you can get notified when a new episode drops each week.
If you found value in this episode, it would mean so much if you shared it with a friend. And to help us reach more ambitious entrepreneurs, please consider leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Reading your review would make my week!
featured episodes
Hey! I’m Tish!
I'm a marketing mentor for ambitious entrepreneurs who want to create more time, freedom & profit in their online business, in a way that feels good to them!
If you’re ready to build your business on your own terms, so that you can live the life you desire… grab a cuppa, get comfy & stay for a while ☕️ ✨
KEEP UP ON THE ‘GRAM
FREEBIES
THE GOODS
