How to become a digital nomad copywriter

Copywriting is one of the jobs you can do from anywhere. It’s a perfect job for a digital nomad, because a digital nomad copywriter enjoys both the freedom of a nomad life and the advantages of a well-paid job.

As long as you travel with your laptop to places with a decent internet connection, you can work as a location independent copywriter and live the digital nomad lifestyle.

The battle for attention online is fierce these days, whether it’s on social media or in the ecommerce sphere. That’s not likely to change any time soon.

Copywriters who know how to get that coveted attention for the businesses they promote will always be in demand.

That’s why if you’re in the process of choosing what to learn in order to become a digital nomad, or looking for a new source of income, copywriting may well be a good choice for you. Read the rest of this guide to find out of it is.

This guide includes essential info on what copywriters do, copywriting training, how much copywriters make and finding work as a copywriter.

What is copywriting and what does a copywriter do?

You come across copywriting every single day.

Copywriters write promotional texts intended to convince people to act, especially for landing pages, emails, Facebook ads, slogans, video scripts, press releases and the like.

The text has to be persuasive and engaging, usually conversational and entertaining where necessary.

The copywriter’s work is essential to the marketing process. A copywriter goes beyond creating awareness of what’s promoted: They craft texts with a clear call to action.

That call to action might be to buy a product or a service, subscribe to a newsletter, schedule a meeting and so on.

The work of a copywriter requires great writing and research skills, but also quite a bit of psychology: Understanding what is likely to get the audience to act, for example, what emotional motives they may have, what would grab their attention, etc.

Being good with words is a great starting point for an aspiring copywriter. The rest of the skills and formulas can be learnt through effective copywriting training.

How to become a copywriter

Copywriting training

There are tested formulas that copywriters have developed over the years based on their experience and psychological understanding of what motivates people.

You can take an up to date online course as a great shortcut to a career in copywriting.

Online courses will give you a realistic picture of the industry, efficient working methods, and copywriting formulas that actually work.

Leading professional copywriting courses:

• Become A Professional Copywriter For Any Platform by Fiverr: A course series for all levels of experience, covering a range of content creation skills.
• Viral Marketing & Copywriting by Fiverr: Suitable mainly for those wanting to improve their digital marketing and storytelling skills.
• SEO Copywriting: Optimize Your Website Copy
• Become A Content Marketing Specialist

Online courses come with sample videos or webinars to give you a taste of the course content and of what the instructors are like. They’ll help you choose the right course(s), so make sure you watch them first.

Some of the classic books on copywriting are:

• by Bob Bly
• by Miles Young

These copywriting books will give you a good introduction to the main concepts.

One word of advice if you choose to learn from classic books: Things in the industry change over time, so some parts of some books may be outdated.

This is inevitable. However, you can still get some timeless advice from books on the most important concepts, such as how to craft a good headline or how to understand motivation.

How much money can you make as a digital nomad copywriter?

Before embarking on your digital nomad journey, you want to make sure you’d be able to sustain it.

My general advice is to start your travels once you have enough paying clients or a reliable remote position.

You don’t want financial stress ruining your digital nomad experience. Too many digital nomads discover that they cannot support themselves at some point.

As you’ll see from the details below, there’s no reason to let that happen with a copywriting career, especially if you become a freelance copywriter.

According to the average salary for a copywriter is $60,296 per year.

If you choose to work as a freelancer, rather than a remote employee, you increase your chances to earn more than that.

Though workload and income may be unpredictable when you’re freelancing, you create your own reputation over time and set your own rates.

Upwork reports that most writers’ hourly rates fall in the $30-50 range, depending on factors like expertise, experience and location.

But that’s certainly not the upper limit. Browsing through online, you can easily find some very highly-paid freelancers who charge over $100 per hour.

The nomad lifestyle varies from person to person and depending on which countries you travel to, location independence gives you the chance to earn more than you spend, as you choose where you want to stay.

Whether you become a freelance copywriter or work remotely, consider the time zones your clients/employers are in, and then pick countries with a cost of living that matches your income.

How to find work as a digital nomad copywriter

Where to start as a new copywriter

Start by using everything you learnt in the copywriting courses to sell  yourself. Write great copy to convince your potential employers/clients that they should hire you.

You can also create your portfolio before you have paying clients in various ways, for example:

• Write copy for a friend’s business
• Write copy for a charity
• Write copy for a fictional client

You may also want to start with some low paying gigs, so you can add more writing samples to your portfolio.

This will also give you a chance to practice and to receive real-life feedback from clients when you’re at an early stage of your copywriting career.

Where & how to find jobs for copywriters

Copywriting is the type of work you can do as a digital nomad freelancer. You can also work in copywriting as a remote worker.  

Freelancers have more flexibility in terms of their time and who they want to work with, while remote workers may have a more reliable income.

Start by browsing job offers and send them your well crafted pitch.

Click here for a long list of job boards – Use it to find both remote work and freelance gigs.

Apart from browsing job listings, you also want to use your network of friends and acquaintances (online or offline) and spread the word about the services you provide.

To establish your brand and present your portfolio and all the skills you acquired, build an SEO optimised website (or have one built for you).

At later stages in your copywriting career, you may find that you can rely more and more on the trust that previous clients have in you, as they start to recommend you to other potential clients.

This word of mouth marketing is any freelancer’s dream, and it will significantly reduce the time you’ll have to spend on pitching job listings.

More business ideas for digital nomads

• Vlogging
• E-commerce

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