Top 5 skills to learn if you want to earn an income whilst you travel

Following on from my post last week about things you might like to consider if you’re planning to set up a business that allows you to travel permanently, I had a couple of emails from people who wanted to know what sort of skills I’d recommend they learn if they want to do this.

It’s a good question and particularly so, if you consider that the skills you learn to enable a life of permanent vagabonding are also likely to stand you in good stead if you ever decide to settle down and run your own business.

Here are the top 5 skills I believe are vital if you want to run a successful (profitable) business that enables you to travel the world as much as you want:

1. Online marketing skills – crucial to generate business, attract customers and get the word out about what you do. If you’re going to be location independent, then marketing yourself online is going to be one of the primary methods to generate new business.

2. Writing and copywriting skills – much of your marketing will require effective and compelling copywriting skills and if you’re going for freelance writing gigs to supplement your income, the ability to write is obviously a prerequisite.

3. Web/blog design – even if you don’t plan to sell your services as a web/blog designer being able to set up your own websites to market what you do will save you from having to pay someone else to do it for you and is always a useful skill to have.

4. Networking – a subset of marketing, the ability to network both online and offline is important, not only for your nomadic social life but also to help promote your business.

5. IT/computing skills – this may seem a given in today’s society but I’m constantly surprised by the number of people I hear cursing the computers in an internet cafe because they can’t figure out how to do what they need to do. I’m not saying you have to be the techiest geek imaginable, but it doesn’t hurt to be able to find your way around a computer and use the software you’re likely to need for your business without having to call a friend for help every 10 seconds.

For any of you thinking about how to set up a business that will enable you to travel the world and work from anywhere, investing the time and energy to develop these skills will be time well spent and I can almost guarantee that they’ll pay you back in spades.