64 Ways Location Independent People Earn a Living

Have you ever wondered how you could earn a living that would allow you to live and work anywhere in the world? Many people already living that dream shared the details of how they make a living in the recent Location Independent and Digital Nomad Survey.

64 of their answers are below. The results might surprise you if you thought location independent people were all bloggers or online business owners.

The truth is that these people earn a living in many different ways. Sure, there are plenty of freelance writers, consultants and web developers, but there are also professional musicians, lobbyists and land developers on the list.

Check out these 64 real ways people earn a location independent living:

  1. Database consulting for MySQL
  2. Sales (other peoples’ products)
  3. Public affairs and public relations working in digital engagement
  4. Updating blogs and ghostwriting
  5. Through coaching and consulting, by helping expats and diplomats cope with homesickness and culture shock, staying focused on their goals and overcoming the emotional and motivational challenges of expat life
  6. As a music composer and sound designer along with running an audio production company
  7. Website design and audio engineering
  8. Through a business that produces ready-made newsletters, sold online to people cross North America
  9. Graphic design for a Fortune 500 company
  10. As a freelance writer, involving blogging, copywriting, ghost writing and article and e-book writing
  11. Affiliate marketing
  12. Software development, end user support, training, documentation, database management, project management, technical marketing & strategy and producing travel content
  13. As a self-employed webmaster, blogger and travel writer
  14. Communications strategy consulting and content development
  15. Running a yacht charter company
  16. Professional poker player
  17. Freelance script writer and script doctor
  18. Online community manager, community consultant and entrepreneur
  19. Translation and related language services
  20. Instructional designer and consultant for large businesses
  21. Reporting, copywriting, and marketing consultation
  22. Project Manager for an electronic medical records software company
  23. Geographical information analysis for research institutions
  24. Consulting services for organizational development
  25. Selling information products and coaching
  26. IT project management and regulatory compliance
  27. Web development
  28. Senior consultant for a large data services/hardware company
  29. Customer service manager for online software company
  30. Website design and management with 2 major contracts
  31. Sales (conducting phone sales with Skype to contacts in the US)
  32. Market research
  33. Writing for other people, recording conferences and audio programs and selling “stuff” on-line
  34. Web developer
  35. IT systems design and software implementation
  36. Creating websites to sell online niche products
  37. Freelance translation of technical documents
  38. Working as a full time employee at home for a major IT company
  39. Through three websites and some freelance design work
  40. Building blogs and websites for small companies and social media consulting
  41. International airline/aviation consultant and lobbyist
  42. Land development and consulting
  43. Affiliate marketing manager and digital marketing consulting
  44. Through recurring income from web hosting and support contracts
  45. Adjunct professor specializing in online learning (teaching and designing online courses)
  46. Consulting, training and coaching in the fields of new ways of working and information worker performance
  47. Professional musician
  48. Public relations for creative (advertising, marketing, PR, design) firms
  49. Working for a publisher (writing, illustration, photography)
  50. College instructor
  51. Health and wellness coaching
  52. Running a web application with a monthly subscription model
  53. Consulting in software development
  54. Selling an extension to a popular content management system
  55. Working for Matador Network and Where There Be Dragons
  56. Arts consulting
  57. Business advisor
  58. Manage operations of online business
  59. Senior IT consultant
  60. Marketing coach and copywriter
  61. Trading forex (foreign exchange)
  62. Owning an internet business
  63. Selling online eBooks
  64. Running a technology sales website

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