So what is a digital nomad? A digital nomad is anyone who works completely online. Every aspect of their job is happening from a laptop, from a cell phone, anywhere in the world with wifi. And I love this concept, because before I got into drop shipping, I used to work at a bar. And working at a bar means that if you are not behind that bar, you are not making money. Now, as a digital entrepreneur and a digital nomad, as long as I’ve got my laptop, I can run my entire business and always be able to make money.
Part of the reason why I got into drop shipping was, I am a big traveler. I love to go out of the country, I love to travel, I love weekend trip, if it involves an airplane, I’m down. But having bulk inventory or traditional inventory, or even the idea of brick and mortar businesses meant that I would be attached to one location all the time. Wasn’t my jam. So part of my obsession with drop shipping was just knowing that I could be anywhere in the world as long as I had my cell phone, I had my entire business
How Does it Work
So how does this work? As a dropshipper, we have no inventory, I do no packing, I do no shipping, I don’t have a warehouse, I’m not holding orders in any capacity at any time. And not only that, no orders are ever coming to me. No inventory is ever coming to me. So I’m not beholden to one location ever, which means that as long as I have internet access, I can run my entire brand. And I’ve got a few apps that I love that I want to suggest to you guys, who are looking to get into dropshipping to become digital nomads.
Best Apps For Digital Nomad DropShippers
My number one favorite is Loom. Loom is like a video recording software, where I will record standard operating procedures for my business, and give them to my employees. That way they know exactly what I want done, and the way I want it done. So I’ve got virtual assistants from a completely separate side of the planet, but there’s no miscommunication because I recorded exactly what I want done, and they are able to implement it. And Loom, I think, is free. You should definitely check it out.
I also am obsessed with LastPass. When you’re running a business, there are going to be a lot of passwords involved, especially because everything is online. LastPass helps me communicate with my employees, helps me give them access to things without having to give out my hard passwords for my business. And this is so clutch when you’re never in the same place with somebody. It’s not like they can just borrow your computer and get some work done.
And my third favorite, of course, is DSers. DSers is like the magic behind the scenes when you’re a drop shipper, that allows your suppliers and your inventory to kind of communicate with your Shopify stores, so that everything runs seamlessly. And when you’re traveling as much as I do, when you’re a digital nomad just in general, sometimes you’re stuck on a plane for 12 hours. Sometimes you’ve got a long travel day. Sometimes you’re just out of town for the weekend. DSers helps your entire back end of your business run seamlessly, so everybody has clarity, everything is in the same place for your suppliers as well as your Shopify store, so that orders can still be going through no matter where you are in the world.
Another quick tip for that digital nomad life, absolutely have the Shopify app on your phone. I cannot tell you how much work I can get done from that Shopify app. It’s the best app in the world. You can get customer service through that app, you can see your sales for the day, you can see all your reports, you can communicate with your team, everything you need will be in your Shopify app. Major, major key for digital nomads working from anywhere.
And it’s really, really important as a digital nomad to stay organized. Why? Because we can get up and go whenever we want to, we work from all types of different places, and we work with all types of different people to help our business run. Asana saves my life. Asana is a project management tool, where I can communicate with everybody on my team, they can communicate with me, and everybody can see what everybody’s got going on. My main staff is in the Philippines, I’ve got staff in Canada as well, and then I’m in the States. So with the time zones, with the location differences, with the fact that none of us have ever been in the room together, having a project management tool like that helps everybody communicate and provides clarity so that my drop shipping business can run seamlessly and effectively, and we’re not wasting a ton of time hopping on Zoom calls back and forth. All the work can just get done right in the project management software.
Customer Service as a Digital Nomad
Here’s a pro tip for your customer service as a digital nomad. Be sure to hire someone who is either in the country that you sell to, or is capable of working the business hours of the country that you sell to. Sometimes I travel to the other side of the world, there will be an eight or nine hour time difference, but my customer service staff is trained on the customer service hours of the country that I sell to. So if it’s nine to five, and you’re on the other side of the world, it’s not really helpful for your business. It’s hard for you to reply to emails, it’s hard for you to jump on the phone, because the time difference is so crazy. So that’s just a little pro tip that I’ve learned after many, many years of running my business this way.
So my question to you is, are you a digital nomad? Do you want to be a digital nomad? Do you want to have a business that you can run from anywhere in the world on your cell phone? Have you tried it? Or do you like to work from the office? I’m really curious to know, but that’s the beauty of dropshipping, is that you can decide, you’re in charge, and you never have to go into an office again if you don’t want to.
All right, hotties, that’s going to do it for me this week. I hope that I’ve shed a little bit of light onto being a digital nomad for you. But if you want to know more about digital nomad life or drop shipping, I’ve got you covered. I’ve got a free masterclass going down this week, where I am teaching all the behind the scenes scoop on dropshipping. You can register for free right now, right here. I cannot wait to have you in class.
