In this episode I’m going to start the conversation about how to start building your own following and traffic to reduce how much you rely on platforms like Shutterstock, Amazon, and Udemy as a content creator.
I believe the key to platform independence is to learn how to generate traffic and own the traffic. I’m still learning more about this topic. I finished reading Russell Brunson’s book Traffic Secrets and now I’m trying to implement some of the book’s suggestions.
Review of Traffic Secrets
In this podcast i introduce a tool called ubersuggest that I’m trying out for keyword research. I want to search for competitors in my space to see which sites are linking to their site to give them authority with google. I also use this tool to validate content I plan to create.
After you generate some traffic to your website it’s important to capture that traffic. What I mean is you can try to build up your email list. You can do this by using free email software like Mailchimp. Once you get a bit more advanced and have over 1000 subscribers and are looking to do some automation you can look at a program like convertkit.
If you are a stock footage videographer that is looking to promote and sell your footage direct to the customer you can get more help with this in my course Stock Footage Machine.
Learn how to build traffic, and sell your footage direct to customers
The Nomad Capitalist – Rare interview in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
During a tough year for a lot of people you have to make the most our of a situation. As a content creator that is comfortable behind the camera and in front of it I created my own opportunity while in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. I reached our to Andrew Henderson of the Nomad Capitalist for a video interview.You can read his book here.
Andrew is a hard-worker. If you look at his online social media channels in particular his youtube channel you will see how active he is. He has amassed 127000 youtube subscribers without even monetizing on it. Watch the video to find out why.
Some traditional mindsets might think his ideas are quite extreme. Go where you are treated best to even renouncing his American Citizenship. For someone that has already experienced better treatment in other countries like Malaysia I can relate to Andrew on some levels.
I was a one man band here conducting the interview and filming. It’s quiet challenging to do a 2 camera interview with 3 audio sources while being in front of the camera. I took half the day to setup my gear. You check out my full gear list and active links on my gear page
Ryan from the Colony Cowork Space helped me set up the slides on the television using Google Slides and casting technology. Big thanks to the Colony Cowork space in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
I filmed the primary camera on my Panasonic GH5 at 4K resolution to crop in with the 24-105 Canon lens on Viltrox lens adaptor. This was not the most flattering angle, but my options were a bit limited in the room plus I was hosting an interview so I had limited time and no assistants to help monitor. I attached a wireless Saramonic Lav microphone for primary audio and I used a wired lav mic to the H5 Zoom recorder.
The second camera I filmed with a Canon SLR 50mm F1.4 and my Rode Video Mic Pro for a 3rd audio backup source.
I also used my Rode Interview SCL6 kit for backup audio. I ended up using the audio from here as were less files to synch. This resulted in a lot of wires ,but I wanted to capture good audio at all costs and have an audio backup.
For the lighting I used natural lighting and an led light. The lighting changed quickly during the hour and I had to make exposure adjustments in post production later on.
I edited the Video in Adobe Premiere Pro and my first pass I just synched the audio with the primary camera. After trimming the video and audio on this first pass I synched it with the second camera angle for a second revision. The 3rd pass I added titles and plenty of Broll from storyblocks.com using my membership and some of the footage from chicvoyageproductions.com this site.
Create & Earn your Freedom
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What I’ve learned almost 10 years as a Digital Nomad Content Creator
When I left my job in 2011 in Vancouver Canada my goal was to start a luxury travel company. In 2020 I never thought that it would evolve into becoming a Digital Nomad Content Creator or a Travel Videographer. By following my passion and my heart it led me down a pathway I would never imagine.
As a write this I’m sitting in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. I’m listening to a midnight mix on youtube, sipping on almond milk, trying to publish my podcast interview with my Canadian friend Chris. We did this interview at his lavish 5 star condo in the city center of Kuala Lumpur. He asked me about everything about where I was from , what I studied in university, my time in Taiwan, and my goals for the next 5 to 10 years.
You can here to find out what I’ve learned. So here we go:
Follow you Heart and Passion
Don’t rely on a single platform or stream of income
Do things gradually. Don’t leave your jobs right away
If you decide to become a Digital Nomad do it from destinations that will give you the most advantage
Understand the building blocks of Content (text, images, videos)
Find-like minded people
Use the information online from youtube and on-line courses to find what works and experiment
Learn Online Marketing to Excel like Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Email Marketing, and Sales Funnels
Please listen to the podcast if you want me to expand on these points. What I will say is that following my heart and passion for travel, video, and business led me down a path I could have never predicted. I didn’t even know what a Digital Nomad was by the time I had already moved to Taiwan in 2013. I already had Macbook pro laptop and a SLR camera so I was early in the game. It is different now as there are many youngsters in the game that are excelling at what I’m doing.
Create & Earn your Freedom
Subscribe for tips to help improve your ability to create and earn your time & location freedom.
What your will get:
Gear & Tools I use for my Business
Tips to Improve your Ability to Create & Earn with your creativity
Business & Marketing Tips
Destination Guides
Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.
I’m glad I made the decision to come to Asia as this region has a lot to offer. Great weather, fast internet, great food, cheap travel costs, and like-minded people. My favorite destinations are Chiang Mai Thailand, Danang Vietnam, and Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
For May 2020 I’m going to give you an update on the coronavirus lockdown situation from kuala lumpur malaysia. I’m also going to share a lot to help with content sprawl and management, by introducing how my content schedule.
I’m going to give a recent update on the Malaysia lockdown including a recent easing of the restrictions as of May 4th that will see restaurants open, cowork spaces opening, and certain non contact sports permited. I also have reached a milestone on my youtube channel chicvoyage so I’ll share that and my strategy for what content I create using the analytics. A whole lot more. I’ll be sharing my headstart package with my top interviews with successful entrepreneurs in the online teaching and Youtube space.
Sign up for the Headstart Pack that will include some gems to get your start with your online business. I will include full entrepreneur downloads from established Youtubers and Online teachers and more!
This is the course thumbnail I used for my Adobe Spark course Link to the Course https://chicvoyageproductions.com/adobespark
I’m using more of Adobe’s tools for my Video Editing and Design work since I started using Adobe Premiere Pro for Video Editing. Why? Because Adobe is a company that is focused on designing software and services for creatives (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Spark, Adobe Rush, Adobe Premiere).
My youtube channel Chicvoyage. 95% of these videos have been edited on Adobe Premiere 2020. Bottom line it has increased my productivity.
There were other reasons for this as well. At the end of 2018 I decided to upgrade my Macbook Pro to a Huawei Matebook Pro X. The main reason I switched was that Apple was charging way too much for the hardware they were giving.
Here are the products I use from Adobe and Why?
Adobe Premiere Pro 2020 – I can use it to Video edit on any type of PC not just a mac. It has efficient with handling high resolution footage, it offers powerful motion graphics and fonts to give my videos a customer look.
Adobe Spark – I’m using this program, which is free to use if you have are paying for Adobe Premiere cloud creative service. It allows me to easily create professional looking graphics for my Youtube videos, Online Courses, Kindle Book Covers and more
Adobestock – I use them as a contributor as I submit my stock footage here more frequently in recent years since they have entered the game. They have good integration to their stock library with their programs
Here is a thumbnail I created using Adobe Spark.
This is the course thumbnail I used for my Adobe Spark course Link to the Course https://chicvoyageproductions.com/adobespark
Disclaimer: Please note that I’m an affiliate of adobe. I use the these products for my core line of business, but I get some compensation at no extra cost to you by using these links if you decide to use their products as well.
With the Corona Virus impacting all of our lives I can’t help but wonder if the era of being a Digital nomad is over for awhile at least. The allure of being a digital nomad is closely linked to Travel, which is the hardest hit industry. Countries have closed their borders to foreigners, and even transiting through an airport is not possible at the moment. Airlines and Airports have started to downsize staff, and operations making less flights available. I and some friends are currently in various parts of Asia went this pandemic suddenly accelerated into a full lockdown.
the stereotype of a digital nomad or freelancer working at a cafe
The last 7 years have been a bit of a roller coaster with ongoing travel and what seems non stop hustling and grinding to scale our businesses. It’s also a good time to reflect a bit on highlights of the digital nomad lifestyle.
I would like to share a bit of background before I continue. I have been a digital nomad since 2013 before I even heard of the term in Taiwan. I first heard of the term from a Canadian Digital nomad named Nigel while in Taipei in 2014. I’ve been able to earn an income regardless of location using my video and creative skills in freelancing and online business and sustain it for 7 years. I consider myself a veteran in this game due to my age and time in the game and share my creative, travel, and business knowledge in my Creator Academy School. I have digital nomad friends that are 10 years my senior as well as the younger group that are 10 – 15 years younger than I am. Although I don’t consider myself a digital nomad because I tend to stay in a location for 3 – 6 months I do identify most closely with this group.
Traveling itself was never an essential requirement of being a digital nomad although it has been one of the perks being able to travel primarily to lower cost countries with a good lifestyle. The term nomad implies not having a home base, and there are different flavors of the digital nomad from slow to binge traveler. The issue is that regulation and government visa’s haven’t adapted to technology and the new lifestyle possibilities that digital nomad’s have enjoyed in recent years using tourist or social visit visa’s. Digital nomads often use creative means like visa runs where they change location every 1 to 3 months to another country often returning to their home base country to reset the duration of their visa. If you spend any length of time in Thailand especially in Chiang Mai you’re bound to hear a visa run story.
Work hard play hard. Celebrating Thailand Songkran in Chiang Mai with long time friends
If the traveling lockdown does ever end and I think we may be looking at a very different environment for travelers and digital nomads. Travelers are already in the crosshairs of governments seen as the primary carriers of the coronavirus. In the future we may be looking at countries that make non essential travel a lot more restrictive than ever. Of course digital nomads are just a minority of the potential victims of a post corona fallout. We’ve already read stories of airlines, hotels, tourism operators, and travel companies like Lonely Planet take a hit.
Human’s are naturally curious and I think the rules will relax over time to allow travel again. I’m not sure how long this period could be. It could be 6 months, it could be a year or many years. By this time there will be a larger group of people with home base businesses with the ability to live a digital nomad lifestyle. There may come up a point where pent up demand meets a relaxation in traveling again potentially creating the next larger wave of digital nomads.
The original crew Chiang Mai, Thailand enjoying Beer o Clock outside Nimman Punspace. Rip Christian. This was my second night in Chiang Mai Thailand and the beginning of long friendships.
How are Digital Nomads coping with the lockdown?
For this year 2020 at least I think the established Digital Nomads are in good shape partly because most will benefit from the rest of the world spending more time online than ever. They had a period of 5 years to ramp up their knowledge and skills to make a sustainable living without the need to return back to their home countries. They are highly independent and it is normal for them to solo travel and work in isolation at home or from a co-work space or cafe.
I myself teach online courses and I have seen all-time highs of my teaching minutes as well as watch time on myYoutube Channel.Most established digital nomads are able to earn an income purely online so that they don’t have to be in physical contact with people. They have learned specialized skills in areas of affiliate marketing, online teaching, dropshipping, ecommerce, youtubing, video editing, teaching english, teaching online courses, translation, search engine optimization, stock trading, licensing video and templates and more. It’s true there has probably never been a better time for someone to make a living online due to the technology we have available and the number of people spending time online in isolation.
We are fortunate that technology is where it is today in 2020. Internet speeds, smartphones, laptops, and essentials apps and platforms have made this lifestyle possible. Starting in the period between 2013-2015 developing and lower cost countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia offered everything that a Digital nomad needed and then some. Things like good weather, safe environments, cowork spaces, fast wifi, nice places to stay, and the opportunity for new friendships and relationships. Established digital nomads are quite tech savy, adaptable, flexible, and can operating a business lot of overhead. My Videography production side of the business has been impacted, but I had build a business on the foundation of diverse income streams. For example, I have online course, license footage, and still freelance by video editing for clients.
Co-work spaces
Co-work spaces were also an important, but not an essential requirement of the digital nomad. In fact it was in 2019 that co-working spaces had reached the mainstream where giants like we-work had become the domain of team startups and even larger firms. In Thailand and Malaysia I had seen cowork spaces sprout up to serve Digital nomads, students, and businesses. Co-work spaces for some were essential to get the necessary environment to do their work, for some a place to get inspired and get out of the house, and for some it was a place to network and community. However many cowork spaces will likely loose a lot of money and business during the lockdown and may even shutdown and not reenter the market. I hope this is not the case.
the coco kala cowork space in Chiang Mai Jan 2020
The Hubba Discovery cowork space in Bangkok Thailand
A popular 24/7 Cowork space Camp in Chiang Mai Thailand
Chiang Mai, Thailand was considered the global capital for Digital nomads. In my opinion it reached it’s golden age in 2015 where there was peak interest and there was a strong organic international community. It was a great time to meet other like-minded people, exchange ideas, get inspiration, make friends, and attend business and social events. This year in 2020 the dreaded burning seasons started as early as January and still continues to plague Chiang mai even into April. Digital nomads value the basic essentials like fast wifi, good weather, but also value good air. I see digital nomads spending shorter periods of time here in the future unless this changes.
Enjoying a sunset with friends at the baristro cafe in Chiang Mai January 2020
When stripped down to the bare essentials needed to run my online business it is fairly basic. I need a power laptop, hdmi cable, fast internet, monitor, and comfortable desk and chair. If this is the last season for awhile to being able to enjoy this lifestyle I will have no regrets. I’ve had a lifetime of experiences being able to make good international friendships, relationships, scaling my business, and experiencing living in different cities around the world. Some digital nomads and travelers currently abroad including myself are currently in Asia anxiously awaiting to see what will unfold during the lockdown. There are many factors at play like government decisions on lockdown’s, visa length, airport closures, flight costs, and even health and safety being in a plane and airport with other travelers.
Chiang Mai House Party 2016
a vlog from my latest visit to Chiang mai Jan 2020
We may end up staying in our current destination longer than expected or our options may dwindle down to one, which is to return home. Whatever happens I will treasure the remaining time abroad. If travel is restricted, if cowork spaces close, if we have to return home it mark a different chapter for many digital nomads. 2013 to 2020 was a good run and I’m grateful for it. Thanks Thailand and Malaysia for the memories. If you have enjoyed any of these digital nomad vlog videos be sure to subscribe to my digital nomad Youtube Channel.
The modern tech savy creators that can make their own career using their creative skills in video, audio, graphic design using the Internet and today’s technology. I met an interesting creative digital nomad Kim Li in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. She shares a South African background with me as well as a creative background. She started her entry into the entrepreneur world on Upwork, a platform for freelancers. She is a general graphic designer and is doing well for herself. Find out more on the episode.
In this interview with a former client you will get tips for learning how to start a global video business. It was a first for me to have an interview with a former repeat Video client in Chiang Mai Thailand. Terry Masson of Raynor Massage and Youtube of the OSHITS channel had an interesting discussion with me about how he find my video business in Bangkok. He also had some interesting questions about the early stages of my business. This is a valuable discussion for young video production businesses or people thinking of starting their video business from anywhere.
If you’re interested in learning more about improving your video skills or how to start an online video business with passive income streams to give you the ability to travel anywhere using your skillset then check out my travel videographer school here.
In this episode I’m going to reveal 3 scams I was exposed to in Vancouver Canada including the Wedding Video QuickBooks Scam, Fake Google Rep scam, and the spam government calls. In my 9 years providing video services internationally I’ve never been scammed until in December 2019.
I think various locations outside Vancouver are targeting our province because of the wealth in this city. As a videographer I’m going to expose them as I ended up losing $200 through a fake wedding where I was encourage to sign up for quickbooks.
I grew up in Vancouver beginning in 1991 in Richmond and then moved to Vancouver Island before returning in 1995. I’ve seen how Vancouver has changed very quickly most notably after gaining global attention after the olympics.
Vancouver attracted global attention and started ranking as one of the top cities to live in. This attracted foreign investors to purchase a lot of property. Many locals (myself included) that had property at the time cashed in, but now prices in 2019 have become still affordable for most locals. There has been a trickle down effect from this property market. Locals with families have been forced to move further outside of Vancouver and make long commutes for work. Restaurants are close and younger talent are moving out of the city because its just too expensive. Salaries have not increased along with the property prices.
In this context is there still a future in Vancouver for new residents, university graduates, and locals that for whatever reason don’t own property post 2010 olympics. I explore this topic in this podcast.
