The job market is an ever-changing landscape, which means candidates need to be adaptable and willing to develop new skills. The year 2020, thought to be representative of vision, has instead been a year of enormous change for virtually every person on this planet. Now more than ever, the wisdom is choosing a digitally nomadic lifestyle is apparent. As others scramble to find remote work, digital nomads have long been ahead of the curve, well-prepared for the forced adaptation the pandemic has brought upon the 9-5 crowd. Having said that, even remote travellers can add a few new tricks to their repertoire, so here are the top 5 most needed skills for digital nomads in 2020:

1) Copywriting / Writing

What do Lil Dicky, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hugh Hefner, Kurt Vonnegut, and John Hughes have in common? They were copywriters before each rose to prominence in their respective paths. 

For non-techies, copywriting is a great avenue into tech and other tough-to-get-in industries. This particular style of writing is defined as the occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copy is written content intended to raise brand awareness and provoke an action from a targeted group of people. 

A copywriter helps to create catalogs, billboards, sales letters, newspaper and magazine advertisements, jingles, brochures, taglines, whitepapers, scripts for radio or television spots, social media posts, or other marketing materials. 

2) Web Design & Development 

If you know how to design and develop websites, you have an eternally employable skill and can do your own thing at that point. Every company needs an online presence and a website is most people’s first impression of a business these days. 

The other option is that you could design your own website and connect it with as many of the skill sets on this list as you possess. Write your own copy, capture photo and video, leverage social media, and then sell something off of it and sell it hard. 

3) Photography, Video, and Visual Editing

Develop your photography, video, and visual editing skills and you’ll be an extremely valuable asset either to a company or your own brands. YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google — a fact businesses and individuals are keenly aware and view as clear proof that video is taking over the world. 

Beyond video, the world is also becoming more visually-driven. If you take a glance at how advertising has evolved over the decades, you’ll notice that ads have become less and less text heavy and more imagistic. 

4) Social Media Marketing, Google Ads

Social media influencers can make a full-time living from the comfort of their home (more likely a posh resort) or anywhere on earth — and for good reason. While it can come off as vapid to some, the ability for influencers to cause others to take action when it comes to brands and purchasing is a proven thing by now.

Because social media is so profitable if done correctly, you may not need a website, but if you also understand how to run ads online, that’s a powerful combo. Besides search engine optimization (SEO) and in a connected way, writing great content, it’s difficult to do anything organically on the internet. It favors a pay-to-play approach, so if you are going to pay, you might as well do it the right way.

5) Dropshipping

Dropshipping is the reason why Shopify has skyrocketed in popularity. Dropshipping allows site owners to market and promote products that other companies can create and/or ship. All the digital nomad has to do is built out the proper sales funnel and then set it up so that the customer information and data goes to the business with the physical products.