The travelpreneur lifestyle is an enticing one. The ability to work anywhere in the world, earning enough money to support your wanderlust? It’s a no-brainer.

For those brave enough to take the plunge as a travelpreneur, read on for five business ideas to get you started.

Create a niche blog

If you feel comfortable putting words to paper, then blogging is a viable business model to support your travelpreneur lifestyle. Writing content that audiences enjoy, are entertained by, or learn from can build you a solid readership, and one that you can monetize.

The secret to blogging success is by finding your niche. Identify a topic that you’re interested in but that has little coverage elsewhere. For example, if you’re a health and fitness fan, narrow that down by writing about how to keep fit while travelling. The more niche you go, the less competition you’ll have, which in turn boosts your blog’s value as a business.

When you’ve built up your readership and you receive regular traffic, you’ll be able to monetize it. There is a variety of ways to do this, including:

• Charging businesses for ad space: use Google AdSense to connect with businesses who can place ads on your site for a fee.
• Running affiliate schemes: writing reviews of products or services within your niche and receiving a percentage of every sale that they produce.
• Selling products or online courses: creating and selling a product or course that relates to your blog’s niche turns your existing audience into a prolific consumer base.

One or a combination of the above can all provide a considerable income stream to support your travelpreneur lifestyle, but don’t spread yourself too thin too early. Build on your success gradually to create several income streams from your blog.

Join the e-commerce revolution

The rise of easy-to-use e-commerce platforms such as Shopify or WooCommerce have made it easy for anyone from all over the world to create their own digital business. All the aspiring travelpreneur needs is a laptop and an internet connection.

It’s simple to do and often very affordable. Many e-commerce platforms offer learning resources, and you’ll find it easy to get started.

And you can sell anything, from your own handmade art to online courses. Or you could start a drop shipping business, selling products via a third-party supplier to save you hassle with shipping and storage.

Building a flourishing e-commerce store takes time though, and you’ve got itchy feet. Thankfully, there are shortcuts you can take. If you have the capital, it’s possible to simply buy a business online. The Exchange marketplace has a variety of businesses for sale for you to pick up and generate a (relatively) passive income.

While many of these often require little input on your part, you’ll need a modicum of basic e-commerce and marketing knowledge to help it keep ticking over. Find an online e-commerce course to learn the basics and hit the ground running, and automate as much of your day-to-day business tasks as you can.

Provide a proofreading and editing service

If you prefer editing content to write it, then starting a proofreading business might be a better option for you. A variety of people need proofreaders on a regular basis — copy-editing is in high demand.

It goes without saying that a strong knowledge of grammar and spelling is required for proofreaders. Knowing the rules for correct apostrophe usage, US/UK spelling, and when to use en and em dashes are just a few of the basic elements you need to provide stellar service for clients.

And if you know another language, then you’ve got a great unique selling point that adds another string to your bow. It essentially doubles your potential client base, helping you stand out from your competitors a little bit more.

Create an online CV and sign up to a freelancing platform such as UpWork or Fiverr. Work might be slow at first. But the more positive references you get from clients, the more work you will receive (and the more you can charge too).

Become a virtual assistant for businesses

The global availability of the internet has even changed the way that basic office admin is performed. Where businesses previously required admin staff to be in-house, today they can outsource it to virtual assistants anywhere in the world.

The work itself varies, ranging from basic email admin and reception work to bookkeeping and record management. It generally encompasses all the behind-the-scenes tasks required to run a business.

To get started as a virtual assistant, you ideally need a few years’ experiences working in a physical office. Source a few strong references from former employers and build an online CV for prospective employers to vet you against.

Bear in mind that virtual assistants are self-employed rather than part-time or contract workers. As such, you’ll need to track your tax, working hours, expenses, and so on yourself. Quickbooks Self-Employed is a handy tool that simplifies this for you, and it’s well worth the investment.

Share your web development skills

In a digital age, the world needs web developers more and more. Individuals with advanced coding and design knowledge are crucial in the world of business.

Every enterprise worth its salt has a website, but many small businesses either lack the coding ability or the budget to afford a web design agency. Consequently, they reach out to individual web developers, solopreneurs who can provide a personal service at a fraction of the cost.

Like many of the business ideas on this list, joining a freelancing platform is your best bet for finding work. But it’s possible to find more work by reaching out to small businesses yourself.

If you know of a local business with a lackluster website that could do with a reboot, offer it your services at a lower cost. You get some experience and a reference, and they get a shiny new website.

And it’s easy to teach yourself to code too. There are dozens of online courses available that teach you the basics. And #100DaysOfCode is a great community that supports and guides aspiring coders as they start their journey.

The travelpreneur life is within your grasp now more than ever. The internet has enabled individuals to embrace the entrepreneur lifestyle and start their own business from virtually anywhere in the world. Use the above ideas as inspiration and take your first step to the travelpreneur lifestyle.