Digital Nomad
Digital Nomad Tools
Hello, fellow digital nomads – or soon-to-be digital nomads -, you guys are at the right place! On this page, we reveal all the tools we use to become and stay a successful digital nomad.
We´ve been working on online businesses for more than 10 years, and we know a thing or two about how to get around on the world wide web. These are the apps, services, sites, and tools we use for working online, how we get paid for all our efforts, and becoming successful with all our initiatives.
The digital nomad revolution is in full effect, and you can join the community of free birds, ex-pats, influencers, and world travelers with these smart tools!
Must have tools for digital nomads
If you work online in any shape or form, then these tools are a absolute must have.
Digital nomads should never connect to public Wi-Fi without having a VPN. Your connection is NOT safe without it and nifty hackers can work their way into your financials. Also please read our full article about why you as a digital nomad and world traveler need NordVPN.
Oh boy, do we love Nomadlist! This awesome site is a library of information for digital nomads, ex-pats, and free birds. They give us solid information about safety, internet speeds, costs per month, and so much more about every cool digital nomad location in the world. Our personal goal is to cross off the top 5 digital nomad locations.
Do you write in English often? Then you absolutely – and this is an understatement – need the help of Grammarly. Even if you think you write flawlessly. Trust me.
Need the password from the Wi-Fi for that airport, cafe, or hotspot quickly? No one around to ask? No problem buddy, just use Wifimap.
We can´t surf fast, work fast, and get things done, if we are constantly bombarded with popups, prerolls video ads, and annoying irrelevant banners. We use AdBlocker for a more comfortable browsing experience. But please, unblock Free Birds so that we can show you some non-intrusive relevant travel-related ads? Thanks!
Are you serious about becoming a digital nomad? And would you like to move to countries that have better tax laws for your situation? Then this book/PDF is a must-read. It helped us with useful hints about what to do and what to get fixed.
Our favourite tool for email marketing. Social media can be touch-and-go that it's always great to have your own email list, even if you are not currently using it, just in case! With Flodesk, you can have an unlimited number of subscribers for a set price (unlike their competitors that charge by the thousand). With Flodesk you can create gorgeous emails in a matter of seconds and reach your readers all around the world instantly without having to worry about algorithm.
Website creation and tools
Considering building your own website/blog/magazine, but haven´t got the faintest clue about how to program such a thing? No worries mate we got some handy tools for you!
Almost 70% of blogs and magazines are made possible thanks to WordPress. Free Birds runs on WordPress! With this user-friendly and free software, you can create your own site within a couple of hours. PLEASE NOTE: It's best to build your website on self-hosted WordPress instead of directly on WordPress.com, this way you will have much more control over it.
Our favorite WordPress plugins: Yoast for SEO help, Advanced Ads for ad placements, WP Super Cache for caching, and Head, Footer, and Post Injections to simply inject HTML in your pages.
But wait,… first, get yourself a strong and memorable brand name and then hopefully a top-level .com domain name. And then get yourself an excellent and affordable host. We prefer and have been using HostGator for years. Their hosting and customer service are excellent!
If WordPress isn´t your vibe, there is always Squarespace. Their very user-friendly and slick interface makes website creation fun!
Want to learn the real deal? Courses about programming, HTML, CSS, user experience, photography, WordPress, online marketing, and so much more (like copywriting and photography) can be found on;
Online work and marketing tools
We use many awesome and mostly free apps and sites for our online creation, marketing, and so on. These are our favorite tools to get the job done:
First things first, we love almost every tool Google has ever set forward. They are all free and work fantastic. No Free Birds without the useful services of Google Workspace. We can´t imagine working without:
- Chrome for fast browsing
- Gmail for email
- Maps for navigation
- Analytics for visitors analysis
- Drive for cloud backups
- Docs for documents
- Sheets for Excel-like documents
…and so on and so on!
Need a quality picture for your article, banner, or marketing promotion? Unsplash has two million high-quality royalty-free pictures you can use. Big shoutout to Unsplash for helping us countless times with great shots. We even uploaded some of our own shots that you can use!
Haven´t got a clue how to write code, write SEO, make logos, design banners, and don´t want to spend all that time learning those extra skills? We love to use Fiverr. For around 5 bucks, you can get all sorts of time-consuming jobs done. Many thousands of hard-working people from all around the world, and mostly freelancers from countries like Pakistan, will help you with whatever problem you have. We´ve used Fiverr for our logo, help with SEO, and with writing over more than 250 travel-related articles. It's not easy finding the right person for the gig, but when you do, you´ll be very happy with how Fiverr connected you with this professional.
Next to a solid VPN-encrypted connection, we also love to have a good firewall and whatnot. Norton provides you with everything you need to keep hackers, bots, and other viruses at bay. Their products have never let us down.
Are you serious about your mailing list? Then OptInMonster is worth checking out. They have so many cool tools to score hundreds and thousands of much-wanted emails!
Social media tools
Nowadays, just having a site is not enough. A social media presence helps with getting your message out to your desired audience. We love to use these tools to get the job done:
Creating inspiring, original, and atmospheric Instagram Stories can be done with Unfold, the user-friendly tool kit for storytellers.
Lightroom from Adobe is the ultimate tool for editing your pictures. Editing is an essential part of turning average pictures into pure art. Photographers always use Lightroom as their tool, and so should you. The mobile version is free by the way!
Also, Photoshop is a great tool if you want to really change/improve your pictures. A bit more difficult to learn, but invaluable for the pros.
No access to Photoshop or Lightroom? With this free browser-version, you can come a long way.
Uploading your Facebook and Instagram wallposts, stories, and more, can be also done on your desktop with Studio from Facebook. Not perfect by any stretch, but still a decent option.
We prefer Later, a great and extensive tool for uploading and planning your Instagram posts. The best influencers all use Later as their favorite tool.
SEO tools
No successful site without SEO. Google is God, so you better adhere to their algorithm by using proper search engine optimization.
The guru of SEO, Neil Patel, shares his best SEO tips and lets you use his tools for free. We´ve gotten so much valuable information from his tools, that we can safely say that we couldn´t be successful without Ubersuggest. Comparing keywords, best-ranking pages, and so on, from your own sites and competitors, has never been so easy and insightful.
Knowing your market, niche, competitors, and yourself is key to success on the web. If you are serious about website traffic and your SEO, then the fascinating data from Similarweb is a great recommendation to regularly inspect and study.
An all-in-one toolset for everything SEO, that´s SemRush. A must for bloggers, marketers, and online entrepreneurs.
Editing & Photography
What tools do we use to create top-notch pictures, social media content, and marketing promotions? We´ll tell you:
Where would we be without Canva! This awesome site has a plethora of options for creating logos, stories, banners, presentations and so much more. Once you discover the possibilities of Canva, you will be amazed that you used to work without it.
Creating inspiring, original, and atmospheric Instagram Stories can be done with Unfold, the user-friendly tool kit for storytellers.
Lightroom from Adobe is the ultimate tool for editing your pictures. Editing is an essential part of turning average pictures into pure art. Photographers always use Lightroom as their tool, and so should you. The mobile version is free by the way!
Also, Photoshop is a great tool if you want to really change/improve your pictures. A bit more difficult to learn, but invaluable for the pros.
Find the best photo spots around the world with this helpful site.
Making money online
If you are an online entrepreneur, influencer, photographer, and/or blogger, then we have some great sites that can help you with making money online.
Affiliates
Affiliates are a great way to earn a commission on a recommendation that you actually use yourself. This page is also filled with affiliate links, so whenever you buy or book something, we get a small percentage of that deal. It's an excellent way to monetize your content, without being spammy. Be sure to only recommend services and products you really use and like. We use these three agencies.
Display ads
Got a big audience on your website? You can monetize your ad space with excellent banners. Contact these agencies;
Although we dislike Google´s ugly ads, they are still a good partner to monetize your site.
Sell your work
Creating products, (digital) art, photos, videos, and other sellable items? Consider these services:
Ebooks, courses, audiobooks, software, comics, and so much more, you can sell them all with Gumroad. They help with the creation, selling, and promotion.
Photographers and artists who shoot fine art, can sign up for a collaboration on Society6. It's one of our ways to make money and share our finest prints with the world.
And then there´s Shutterstock, the behemoth of photograph licensing. If you got some really awesome pictures, then consider a move to Shutterstock. Most make nothing, but many hit it big!
Remote work
Looking for a full-time remote job or multiple remote freelance jobs along the way? These sites help you find the perfect gig.
Coworking
Need an office or an ergonomic desk for your work while traveling the world? Try coworking spaces! With these sites mentioned below, you will find a desk anywhere in the world!
One of our best tips for digital nomads who want to combine accommodation with workspace, is Selina. These hotels around the world provide the perfect mix for us free birds!
And the best option for hardcore online nomads:
Serious digital nomad veterans know about CoPass. A worldwide entrance pass for all coworking spaces around the world.
Now it´s up to you!
Now you know exactly which sites and services we use to successfully travel and work as digital nomads all around the world. Now it´s your turn!
Also check out our other tips, hacks, and recommendations on:
Your favorite tool?
If you have a great suggestion you use as a tool, and it´s not to be found on this list, let us know! > info@freebirdsmagazine.com
* Disclosure: some of our recommendations are affiliate links, and we earn a commission if you make a purchase. This keeps the magazine up in the air and us on the road. Thanks in advance!