How I Started Making Money Remotely

When I decided to become a business owner after my studies, I didn’t have any concrete plans to make money. I wanted to grow a startup that would earn me revenues later, but I still had to live from my savings. Fast forward 2020, I’m finally in a position where I can make a living working remotely without having to worry about running out of funds.

5% of my revenues come from making digital products (Software as a Service), and the remaining 95% from writing as a freelance for an American startup.

When it comes to freelancing, I never had to join a platform such as Fiverr or Upwork. I never had to send an email or a resume or anything of the sort. I didn’t even ask for anything: the opportunity came to me through Twitter after writing every day for a year.

There are two reasons for that: 1) I have a huge portfolio of writings (more than 300+ articles at this point in time and a good Twitter audience) and 2) I have a highly-valuable niche I address in my writings (software tech).

More generally, I think that making money remotely comes down to a simple observation: skills aren’t enough, you have to demonstrate your expertise in a way that will create trust. Most people can’t handle long-distance relationships because they can’t communicate their love—their value proposition—properly: remote work is no different.

If I were to start all over again, I would focus on two things: 1) acquiring career capital (coined by Cal Newport: rare and valuable skills people want), and 2) documenting my learnings through writing.

Even though the pandemic forced companies to adopt more remote-friendly approaches, the job opportunities are still scarce. Growing your career capital is mandatory to just get a foot in the door.

In parallel, it’s important to understand that written communication is still the most used medium to work remotely. Good writers clearly have an edge over the others, not only because clear writings improve the overall productivity of the team, but also because looking for remote positions without an online presence is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

In one sentence: learn something every day, publish what you understood on your blog, and share your content everywhere. Do that long enough and I’m sure opportunities will come your way as well.