Have you ever wondered how those wealthy digital nomads afford their Instagram-worthy lifestyles, exotic villas, and globe-trotting adventures? You’re not alone! In this post, I’m pulling back the curtain to reveal how digital nomads like us earn money from anywhere in the world. Whether you dream of sipping cocktails on the beach or exploring new cultures while maintaining a steady income, these strategies can help you get started.

If you’ve been following digital nomads on social media, you’ve probably seen the pictures of luxurious villas, tropical beaches, and carefree living. But behind those stunning photos is a well-oiled machine of diversified income streams.

We currently have almost a dozen different sources of income, and we’re sharing them with you so you can build your own roadmap toward financial freedom as a digital nomad. The key takeaway? You don’t have to tackle them all at once. Start with one, and when you’re consistently doubling your 9-to-5 income, only then should you consider adding another source.

One of our biggest income streams is nomadic closing—closing high-ticket sales deals from anywhere in the world. We’re talking about deals worth $3k, $5k, $10k, or even $15k and more. The great part is that you don’t have to sell your own product or service to start closing.

Here’s how it works:

For instance, if you close a $10k deal, you could earn $1,000 just for that sale! The best part? You can do this over and over again, scaling your income as you get better at closing. Plus, you can choose to work in any niche that interests you—finance, yoga, fitness, you name it!

Once you establish yourself in a niche, people will naturally start associating you with that skill or service. This opens up opportunities to offer coaching and mentoring programs.

Here’s how we do it:

Depending on how you structure your coaching business, you could be earning thousands from a single client. If closing deals isn’t your thing, you can hire someone else to do it for you while you focus on delivering value to your clients. It's a win-win!

Imagine creating something once and selling it for years with zero inventory. That’s the magic of digital products. These can be anything from:

The beauty of this model is that digital products have 100% profit margins. Once you’ve set up the infrastructure to automate sales, you can sit back and hear the sweet sound of “cha-ching!” every time you make a sale.

Not only does this provide a passive income stream, but it also makes your expertise accessible to people who can’t afford high-ticket coaching or mentoring. For example, someone might not be ready to invest $10k in a one-on-one program, but they might buy your $50 ebook or course.

The next stream of income we recommend exploring is e-commerce. More specifically, dropshipping and print-on-demand.

With dropshipping, you don’t need to store any products or manage a warehouse. Instead, you list products from a supplier in your online store. When a customer makes a purchase, the supplier ships the product directly to them. You’re essentially a middleman earning a profit for facilitating the sale.

We also use print-on-demand for products like books. We don’t store inventory—instead, when someone orders a book, it’s printed and shipped directly to the customer. It’s a hassle-free way to run an e-commerce business without dealing with physical stock.

One of our favorite ways to generate income is through joint ventures. This is where we partner with others to promote an event or project. For example, during our digital nomad summit, several businesses joined forces to sponsor and promote the event.

Everyone benefits from the collaboration, either through direct financial sponsorships or by gaining visibility for their products and services. It's a powerful way to tap into other people’s networks and create a win-win scenario.

Next up is YouTube AdSense. While it might not be the biggest earner on this list, it’s still a great way to generate income from content you’re already creating. Here’s how it works:

For example, a video with 1,000 views might earn you around $60. It’s scalable too—the more videos you upload, the more views you get, and the more money you make.

However, we don’t rely solely on AdSense. We also use our YouTube videos to promote our other products and services, which significantly increases the income potential from the platform.

A classic route to earning passive income is through stock investing. We maintain a diversified portfolio of dividend-paying stocks. This means that on top of the regular stock market growth, we earn dividends—payouts that some companies offer to their shareholders.

While stock market growth typically averages around 8% per year, we focus on squeezing out an extra 1-2% by optimizing our portfolio. Though this isn’t the flashiest income stream, it’s reliable and continues to grow over time.

Last but not least, let’s talk about real estate. We started investing in Airbnb properties a couple of years ago, and it’s been a great source of income. While it’s not 100% passive, once the property is set up, you can generate consistent revenue.

For instance, once my current apartment is ready, I’ll be renting it out on Airbnb to bring in passive income. It’s a skill worth learning if you want to diversify your income and create additional financial stability.

By now, you’ve learned about almost a dozen of different income streams we use to make money as digital nomads:

Remember, you don’t have to implement all of these at once. Pick one that resonates with you, master it, and scale from there. Once you’ve built a strong foundation, you can start stacking income streams to build a sustainable digital nomad lifestyle.

Ready to get started? Check out our free masterclass below to learn more about building your first high-income stream and start your journey toward financial freedom as a digital nomad!