How do we find our customers as digital nomads? 7 practical tips

Many people ask us how we manage to live as digital nomads and how we find our customers. This article isn’t a guide because we are privileged and today (we touch wood) have no worries to find customers.

Without planning it, our first 10 years of work have allowed us to develop the skills and professional network necessary for our current lifestyle.

If you have a few years ahead of you before you launch yourself and become a full-time digital nomad, you may find some tips that can apply to your activity.

Background

As a reminder, we went around the world for 11 months before deciding to be full-time nomads. A few months before the end of the world tour, JB signs a big contract for 6 months and we decide to be full time nomads.

We had already created our company (SAS) 2 years before the round-the-world trip, because JB already had at that time some freelance contracts in parallel with his salaried activity.

First tip: don’t start from scratch. It’s much easier to start a life as a digital nomad if you already have a business and a few customers.

Our activity

JB is a specialist in natural search engine optimization (SEO). I am a specialist in paid search engine optimization (SEA). Our services are highly sought-after because we specialize in a niche in our business. We both know how to code, we create custom solutions for our clients if needed, and we target primarily high-volume clients (millions of pages, or with a very large media buying budget).

Tip #2: Specialize to differentiate yourself from the masses. There are thousands of webdesigners, there are thousands of developers, … why would a client call on you who are thousands of miles away? If your only argument is price… you’re in trouble because there will always be someone cheaper than you somewhere on the planet.

Our history

This knowledge was acquired through the management of very large portfolios during our respective agency periods. It’s a choice we made, to be trained by the best in the sector, on the most interesting accounts, in record time – admittedly, there are some sacrifices to be made, in terms of salary (salaries aren’t top in the agency) or personal time (I regularly came home at midnight). Once again, it’s a choice, because we are really passionate about our respective jobs. And we did everything we could to work with the best people in our agency, who are visionaries and who have oriented us towards the niche skills we have acquired alongside them.

Third tip: agree to be a “slave” in an agency for a few years at the beginning of your career. It’s thankless because you work a lot and are poorly paid, but it’s an excellent school that will allow you to quickly develop your skills and multiply your experiences. These few difficult years will serve you well throughout your career.

Our customers

Thus, thanks to this passage in agency, we have not only acquired technical knowledge but also built our professional network. Our former agency colleagues have gone to work for the advertiser and some of them call on us for more or less long assignments.

JB then worked for 5 years for a large company that was not in good economic health. Many of his former colleagues changed jobs: so many more potential clients!

Today, 100% of our clients are former colleagues or people to whom we have been recommended. Long live word of mouth! Our Linkedin, Viadeo, our website… are up to date, we are registered on freelance platforms, but be honest, all this has brought us almost no leads.

Our company is French, allowing us to participate from time to time, when we are solicited, in calls for tenders from French public institutions. Learn more about our tax status here.

Tip four: Your colleagues today can be your customers tomorrow. Show that you are reliable, be professional, build relationships with colleagues and maintain them once they are no longer reliable. If one day one of your former colleagues is looking for a provider, they will be more than willing to use someone they have worked with and trust

Our Rates

Not liking the commercial steps, we decided to post our prices directly on our website. This allows us to skim: we don’t waste time with someone who will end up finding us too expensive after long discussions. It also allows us to reduce as much as possible the negotiation phase in which we aren’t necessarily very comfortable.

Tip number five: many freelancers waste a lot of time in commercial processes. These are obviously essential when looking for clients, but keep what you can do to a minimum. Don’t forget that the time you spend on sales is time during which you aren’t paid.

Our partners

We keep in touch with other freelancers we trust. Thus, when we are underwater, we recommend them to our prospects, and vice versa. We propose a solution to our prospect and bring business to our partner, who may one day return it to us.

We thus have a partner in Paris who can be called upon if certain missions absolutely require a physical presence.

Under no circumstances do we subcontract work to others. Our reputation is our only asset and we do not take the risk of providing poor quality services.

Sixth tip: develop a network of trusted partners with whom you can exchange work if you don’t have the time, if you aren’t interested in an assignment, … or on the contrary, get an assignment back if they aren’t interested.

Knowing how to say no

If your business starts to run, the risk is that you will take on too much work.

This is the main area of improvement for JB, who finds it very difficult to turn down work.

I think we have to keep in mind the reason for our lifestyle choices. Do you want to make more money? To be freer? To travel? Work less? Depending on each person’s objective, the contracts signed will be different.

For example, I will never accept a contract that requires me to work 5/5 days – because my goal is to have more personal time.

Tip #7: Remember your personal goals and learn to say no accordingly. We’ve already said no to a prospect because we don’t have the time and he agrees to give us his assignment a few months later when we have time. It is better to refuse a contract than to deliver mediocre work and ruin your reputation