My name is Sharon, and I am a normal Australian married mum of three. What isn’t so normal is that I was able to build an online business that enabled us to become digital nomads.
My passion is travel, and I do it as much as possible, having visited 98 countries. I started travel blogging in 2005, but I would have told you you were crazy if you had said I would ever make money from it – let alone big money!
I also loved reading about travel which is when I first started hearing the term “digital nomad“. I realised many families were able to make an online income while on the road. If they could do it, why can’t we?
I decided in late 2013 that I was going to make an online income. I started Digital Nomad Wannabe at this time so I could track my journey and keep myself accountable. At the time, there weren’t blogs that showed people right from the start when they made $0 to when they were successful.
I quickly realised that becoming an expert in SEO and affiliate marketing was the best way to succeed. Since I wanted more time and a better quality of life, I wanted a business that could earn money when I slept and that’s what SEO + affiliate marketing could give me.
I have lived, breathed and eaten SEO since then!
This was reaffirmed when I quit work in mid 2014. At the end of 2014, we left Australia indefinitely so that both my husband, J, and I could work full time on building up an online business and earning enough money to give us the freedom and flexibility that we craved. Above all else, we hoped for more quality family time – and we have achieved that!
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We not only had a fabulous 13 months splitting our time between travelling and living in Penang, but we returned home to Australia with an online business that literally changed our lives.
Before starting this adventure, I worked in IT and then as a high school teacher. I have a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from University of Tasmania and a Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary Teaching) from Monash University among other qualifications. I was definitely already a maths and programming geek so SEO always appealed to me.
Combined with my teaching knowledge, I am perfectly placed to help explain the world of SEO and blogging monetisation to you. I have presented at many conferences about SEO and blogging monetisation such as multiple Tbex (Travel Blog Exchange) conferences, Problogger Event and Travel Blog Summit.
I hope that by sharing our journey here that I can show you just how possible it is to go from dreaming of working online to making it happen and help you make it happen too.
We are lucky enough to have three gorgeous kids. They are all at school now which is a big factor in why we decided to keep living in Australia for now.
Us in Mauritius
I focus on helping others have the same success with blogging as I have.
I want to emphasise that my income comes from travel blogging and niche sites. Unlike most other bloggers in this space, I do not make my money from telling others how to make money. What I write about here works and not just in a theoretical sense.
I only write about topics which I have mastered and that earn me money.
I’m constantly working on my craft on old and new sites which I created in my quest to build an online business (the most recent case study site is here, my latest site to start taking off is about Germany here and my newest site where I’m trying out a completely different niche is Simply Soraya Skincare here). I’m always sharing what I learn here. My latest case study on building up my newest site is being shared in the DNW Facebook group – learn how to build a money making site in here!
I also have a podcast, Make Money Blogging with Digital Nomad Wannabe, that you can find here.
Join us here as we detail our journey and help you earn more money online. We would love your feedback, advice and tips along the way. You can read all our old income reports here.