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Drinking Coffee With Writers: Andrea Valeria of It’s A Travel O.D.

Krystal Raydo

Have you ever scrolled through a blogger’s Instagram profile or visited their blog and felt an instant we-would-totally-be-friends vibe?

I felt that way when I landed on Panama-born digital nomad Andrea Valeria’s page through a post she made in the Digital Nomad Girls community. She gave off such a warm, friendly feeling that I had to reach out and see what she was all about.

It turns out Andrea is a total boss babe abroad, travel vlogger and the founder of It’s A Travel O.D., where she reveals her secrets about the in’s and out’s of her journey as a full-time traveler.

She shares her own experiences to motivate others to break out of the mold and design their own lives.

Seriously, don’t you love her already?

Her vlogs include topics such as “How To Make Money While Traveling” and “Why You Should Travel Alone.” She’s been featured by Forbes Magazine in their article How These 6 Millennials Travel The World For A Living.

She currently lives in Playa del Carmen, Mexico—one of my favorite places to write, as it were! Read on for her interview, from her favorite caffeinated brew to what makes her tick as a writer.

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Writers Q&A - How to change your niche! - Day Job Optional Digital Nomad Writers Blog

Q&A Video: How To Change Your Niche & Hit The Ground Running

Krystal Raydo

Do you know what your writing niche is?

Having a definitive niche is one of the first steps to growing your career as a writer. A narrow specialization will let you can target higher-paying clients and quit your habit of trying to please everyone.

Sounds pretty sweet, right? But a well-defined niche takes time to develop. It can take months and even years of trial and error and honing your skills to arrive at a niche that’s perfectly suited for you. And then, when you least expect it, you could wake up one day inspired to change it!

Yup, it’s allowed. Hopefully this wave of inspiration is backed by some thorough market research, buuut that’s a story for another day.

You should go ahead and expect changes along the way as you evolve in your independent writing career. Be ready to make bold moves, call the shots and adapt when it feels right! Deal?

So anyway, when Erica, one of our facebook group members, asked us how to smoothly handle the transition of changing her niche, we whipped up this video to break down the process.

Click through and check it out. We had a blast making this one, and there are more of ’em loaded up in the queue. *wink wink*
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PHONE BACKGROUND - How To Write Every Day: Desktops & Phone Backgrounds For Writers - TOP

Free Download! Desktops that Remind You to Write Everyday

Krystal Raydo

True or false: It’s really hard to develop a daily writing habit when we’re all so freakin’ distracted.

Fellow writers, we have officially reached the age of information and inspiration overload, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Now more than ever, we need a gentle (or not-so-gentle) reminder to stay focused on our writing.

So what’s the magic trick to writing every day?

I was pondering this while setting up my new phone screen this week. I suddenly thought, “why not put something in the background that’ll help me reach my goals this fall?”

After all, my phone is the thing I look at the most during the day, second only to the bottom of my coffee cup, so I might as well utilize it.

Thus, these desktop wallpapers and phone backgrounds were born, with a pop of tropical color and a reminder to get the pen (or cursor) moving.

Click below to grab them for free.

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3 Things You Need to Know To Succeed as a Freelance Writer

Krystal Raydo

So you want to add your name to the growing list of freelance writers making good money online? Want to whip out your laptop and work from anywhere, so you can set your own schedule and live by your rules?

Of course you do! That’s why you’re here. And you’re smart for wanting to carve out a piece of this pie.

I’m here to tell you, though, that the rules have changed in recent years. Getting a writing job online today is a lot different than it was 5-10 years ago.

It may not come as a massive surprise that an online career could change so rapidly (lol, it’s the internet), but it’s tricky to keep pace with the “rules” of freelance writing when you’re focused on finding clients and doing great work.

To make matters even more difficult, every blog is giving different advice, everyone is claiming they are an expert, and some people are selling bad information just to make a buck.

Actually, that’s why I’m writing this post for you. I’ve been funding my lifestyle with online writing gigs for about 7 years at the time of writing this, so I’ve taken some major notes along the way.

Read on to learn about the new rules of making money online as a writer. There are only three, but each one is crucial to your success.

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12 Best Digital Nomad Apps & Tools

Krystal Raydo

If you’ve been working online for any amount of time, you’ve probably come up against some of the most common challenges of the “digital nomad” lifestyle.

Finding Wi-Fi can be a pain. Staying productive in paradise without a boss requires crazy amounts of discipline. Setting boundaries and managing your own projects isn’t easy. And time zone differences with international clients?

Don’t get me started.

Once I logged onto Skype at 3:00 AM to video chat with a client on the other side of the world. I had to wake up at 2 to do my hair, clean my desk (and any space that’d be on video), and drink some water so my voice didn’t sound groggy.

Anyway, as you can see, working remotely comes with a whole set of challenges you don’t encounter in the corporate world (in addition to a bunch of challenges you do find there—fun!).

Luckily, working online is becoming increasingly popular, and we have apps for just about every conundrum.

Whether you’re aspiring to escape the office or have already broken free, this list of digital nomad apps will prime you for productivity and efficiency.

We’re using everything on this list, and we’ll keep adding to it as we find new gems to share.

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