With the advent of Starlink and other internet technologies it has never been easier to earn a living while sailing around the world. There are many different ways to make money while living on a boat, including starting a YouTube channel, consulting and drop shipping. In my opinion one of the more reliable methods is becoming an online freelancer.
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What is a freelancer?
Freelancing is a type of self-employment where you work for various clients on a per-project basis. Some clients will just be around for one project while others can become a steady source of income. It's a popular career choice for digital nomads and people who want a flexible work life, so can also be suitable for people who want to make money while living on a boat.
The benefits of freelancing while living on a boat
In my opinion there are a few reasons why freelancing is a great way to make money while living aboard a sailboat.
You can transfer skills you developed while land based to make money sailing
It can offer greater flexibility than remote work meaning you can fit it around boat work and adventures
It's possible to earn money straight away
You can get going with just an internet connection and computer
How to start working as a freelancer
As a general rule the best place to start is by analysing what you did before you started cruising full time. Think about the skills, expertise and knowledge you have, and how it could be applied to freelance positions. Here's a few questions to ask yourself.
Do you have expertise in a certain field or industry, such as law, education, marketing, IT or administration, that allows you to freelance in that niche?
How many languages do you speak and to what proficiency?
What are your literacy skills like and which genres can you write in?
How well do you understand SEO, digital marketing and social media?
Are you familiar with any technical computer programs, such as CAD or InDesign?
Can you video edit or use Photoshop?
Prior to boat life I was teaching so I used my literacy skills, knowledge of education and interest in digital technologies to guide my transition to freelancing.
Freelance jobs you could do on a boat
There are a lot of different freelance jobs out there. If you're a bit lost on what you could do, here's 10 suggestions that would allow you to earn money while sailing without needing to have any special niche skills.
1. Blog writing
Many websites and companies use freelancers to produce their blog content with the hope of driving more traffic to their sites. That in turn can result in more customers, advertising revenue or sales.
When looking on freelance sites you'll see advertisements for blogs on just about anything, so you can use filters and keywords to help find job posting with topics and pay rates that suit you. Here's some of the blog writing niches I often see.
Travel
Parenting and education
Construction and installation industries
Real estate
Personal and business finance
Gardening
Health and wellbeing
Most clients will provide a brief with a content guideline for the blog or article they want written. You then use that to write the blog, submitting it by a certain time. Since there's no set hours you need to be online it's a convenient way to work while living on a boat.
2. Proofreading and editing
Despite the advent of programs like Grammarly, there are still many clients who will pay to have a human proofread and edit their work. Within proofreading and editing there are many subcategories you can specialise it.
Legal, medical or academic proofreading
AI generated content editing
Translation proofreading
Web copy proofreading
Blog proofreading and editing
CV reviews
Book editor
Proofreading often has a quicker turn time around than article or blog writing, but you can still organise it around all the things that make life as a full time cruiser so unique.
3. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
People working in SEO help their clients to optimise their site content for search engines. That's done in the hope of increasing organic traffic to gain more leads, sales and advertising revenue. Many companies and clients choose to outsource their SEO as it doesn't require a full-time staffer. There are some areas of SEO you could choose to focus on.
Writing SEO blogs and web copy
Improving backend SEO
Creating a new SEO website
Completing a site SEO audit and overhaul
When looking at SEO jobs don't be surprised if you stumble across postings from some of your favourite sailing YouTube channels - I've come across 3 so far!
4. Virtual assistant
Depending on what you did before becoming a full time cruiser you may find that becoming a virtual assistant is the best way for you to make money on the boat. Being a virtual assistant may require set hours, but at the same time it can be a more stable, regular form of work.
5. Localisation
When companies want to enter a new market, they often choose to localise their written content so that consumers in that market feel more connected. These are some of the things that can be modified.
Spelling and grammar conventions
Sayings and colloquialisms
Measurement system (Imperial or Metric)
Local references e.g. sports teams, celebrities, locations
It's always worth checking to see if there are any localisation jobs you can do as they often don't require too much effort on your part and can be easy to fit around boat work.
6. Voice recordings
Depending on your accent companies will pay for voice recording. Generally these recordings aren't character voice acting, instead it's data collection for things like developing voice to text transcription tools that understand accents, AI development and customer service training. As a result, they're often fine with you using a phone to record. Occasionally there's also advertisements for YouTube voice over artists who match certain gender and accent criteria.
7. Graphic design and photoshop
If you have any graphic design or photoshop skills then you'll be able to use them to find freelance work while you sail. There is a huge amount of variety in the types of work on offer.
Logo design
Professional photography touch ups
Photo background modifications
Canva designs
Company print material redesigns
Book layout and design
8. YouTube script writing
There are a large number of yacht cruisers who document and share their journey's online through vlogs. If you don't want to do that, but still have an interest in video production, you could write scripts for other YouTube channels.
Many of these clients are looking for an ongoing partnership and I've seen opportunities for writers to work in just about every niche, from celebrity gossip and anime, to cryptocurrency and history.
9. Website creation
Creating a website from scratch has never been easier thanks to the large amount of builders, tools and plug-ins available online. Many companies chose to outsource the creation of their website to a freelancer, and some continue using that person to update the site on an as-needed basis. SEO is often a priority for this type of work, along with an understanding of how to write effective web copy and bring together graphics in a visually appealing way.
10. Social media coordinator
Depending on the size of the company, outsourcing their social media needs can make a lot of financial sense. As a freelancer there are various social media services you can offer, from creating content for a specific app to managing the entire social media strategy and presence.
Where to find online freelance work
When starting as a freelancer it can be hard to know where to find work. In general there are two ways; dedicated sites and networking.
Dedicated freelancer websites
There are a number of dedicated sites that freelancers can use to connect to clients. Many of those sites have client and freelancer profiles, a jobs board, inbuilt messaging system and escrow payments. They are good for people who don't mind the site taking a commission in return for handling most of the logistics.
Here's a few for you to check out.
Networking
The alternative is to find clients through networking. You can use platforms like Linked In, create your own site or use social media to advertise your services and reach out to potential clients. This requires you to handle all of the logistics, including obtaining payment once a job is completed.
Attracting clients and building a profile
Once you've chosen a site (or a few sites) to use, work on building a solid profile that attracts clients.
When you initially setup your profile make sure you fill out as many fields as possible. Having a complete profile often promotes it within the site's algorithm and helps to reassure potential clients that you're professional and available.
Many sites have some kind of review system where past clients can rate your performance. It looks good if you have largely positive reviews so you want to try and get as many as possible.
At first you may need to take a few low paying or random gigs, just to help build your profile. To give you an idea, these were my first 3 freelance jobs:
Shipment test reporter ($20 USD) - A company wanted to make sure their drop shipping supply chain worked for Australia so sent me a package of supplements and I had to review the shipping experience using a form.
Product tester ($10 USD) - A person who'd opened an Amazon store selling pet products wanted someone to test and honestly review a pet nail trimmer.
Australian localisation ($120 USD) - A German company selling "Murder Mystery Games" on Amazon had the game translated to English. They wanted an Australian to check the translation, as well as the themes, and provide suggestions for how they could make it more relatable to Australian consumers.
These jobs were random and only one was actually related to my skills, but they helped me build my profile. No long later I landed some of my best and longest lasting clients and that has helped me to afford life on a boat.
Summary
Sailing with no money is no fun but becoming a freelancer can stop that from happening. It's a viable way for people living on boats to earn money as they sail, answering the question many newbies ask - how to make money while sailing??
Not sure if freelancing is right for you? Check out 14 Ways YOU Can Earn Money on a Boat.
Great article! My partner and I want to get a boat and do the sailing thing but we're not into social media so didn't really want to go down the YouTube avenue. Thinking consulting or technical writing might be the way to go...