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Content Creator Tools

For Content Creators, Remote Income / by

Do you plan on monetizing your daily adventures when you embark on nomad life? That’s one of the first questions we ask people looking to start full time travel because it’s a lot harder than most people think. I spent hours/days/months figuring out how to make quality content to pitch myself to brands. Now that I’m finally making an income, I’m excited to share the content creator tools that made the biggest difference in transforming my hobby blog into an income-earning content creation company. 

Before we start... Part of monetizing your lifestyle is by working as an affiliate for products you love and use daily. You will find some affiliate links throughout this post, meaning I could get a small percentage of any purchases you make at absolutely no cost to you. In fact, we only join affiliate programs that give you discounts! Make sure you take advantage of these by snagging the coupon codes and free trials below. ALLLL right, let’s get into it!

The best part about honing in your content creation craft is that by practicing on your own business, you can learn the skills necessary to land other nomad jobs to create multiple sustainable streams of income.

What software is best for content creation?

Our favorite content creator tools are accessible from mobile and desktop devices, offer cloud storage, and are easy to use on the go. Most of our content comes from our daily adventures, so being able to work from anywhere is key. Here are our favorite software solutions for content creators:

1. Canva (the best of content creator tools)

If you don’t already have Canva, you need to get it… like yesterday. This content creator tool is a powerhouse for any small business owner. We use Canva to design everything – YouTube thumbnails, graphics on videos, invoices, presentations, social posts, digital products, bio links, and more.

We started with the basic Canva account, but Canva Pro is 100% worth it (I wish I made the switch earlier). Our favorite Pro features are:

  • Background remover for any image (it’s how I create the YouTube thumbnails and product images on our site)
  • Resize so you can optimize all your posts across channels
  • WAYYY more design elements than in the free version – I end up using Pro elements about 60% of the time
  • Transparent PNGs (that’s how I add graphics to YouTube and other overlay designs) – this combined with the background remover feature makes it so easy to incorporate any image you want for any purpose
  • Scheduling social media posts – I used to pay for 3 different scheduling content creator tools; I ditched all 3 and now solely use Canva as my scheduler 

I honestly could do an entire post about how much I love Canva, but I’ll end it here with a 30-day free trial of Canva Pro. You won’t regret it!

I’m no graphic design expert, but the differences between these two Pinterest images speak for themselves

2. Bluehost 

As a content creator, you should have two websites when you get started: a portfolio for freelance work and your own website to build your business. We chose Bluehost as our hosting service because it’s affordable yet allows for growth and monetization. 

You’ll want to have a wordrpess.org site if you’re looking to monetize a blog or website moving forward. AND trust me when I say it is a total pain to transition from a different type of site to wordpress.org once you get serious. Just do it now and learn the basics. Bluehost is the best way to get started and offers a lot of training/helpful advice for launching your new site.

Bluehost is our host for both this blog and my freelance portfolio. They have very different looks, but it works for both easily! Get started with Bluehost today for only $2.95/mo (normally $8.99).

As an added bonus, here’s a great video by The Freedom Strategy on the importance of wordpress.org and why you should start there instead of with wordpress.com.

3. Google Workspace

As a content creator, Google will be a part of your life. It’s inevitable. Google Workspace makes it so easy to keep everything in one space and truly embrace the platform. You can make professional emails, get better data, create blogs, and manage your content all with Google Workspace.

Some of our favorite ways to use Google Workspace:

  • Store our downloadables for easy distribution in Google Drive (like our Job Search Resource Guide)
  • Create draft blogs and hyperlinks in Google Docs
  • Keep track of brand contracts, collaborations, and pitches in Google Docs
  • Have easy access to important and shareable URLs in Google Sheets
    • We keep all our URLs in one spreadsheet so we can easily share them on social media when needed. Here’s the template of the Google Sheets we created.
  • Organize edited photos and easily upload them to our blog with Google Photos
  • Sync our calendar with 3rd party integrations like Calendly, Facebook Appointments, and more
  • Boost my professional image with real a email address (taylor@weroamawayfromhome.com instead of weroamawayfromhometaylor@gmail.com) 
  • Easily work between Windows and Apple devices without syncing and formatting issues
Our downloadables are easily distributed and downloaded by using Google Workspace

Get 10% off the starter plan with code U6EF4YGECWE9KCL and 10% off the standard plan with code U6NEF3GPMLVYYGL. We only need the starter plan still, but we will upgrade to standard as soon as we max out our storage! 

4. Email Marketing Service

Out of all the content creator tools, an email service is often overlooked when you’re just starting out. Building your email list and developing that loyal audience is key to being successful in your own business. 

Plenty of email services offer a free plan to start and charge as your audience grows. The idea is that by the time you’re charged, you should be making more through your email list than you are paying for the service. 

I personally use Mailchimp because it’s where I started and I’m familiar with it, but I can’t say that it’s the best. Other popular options include ConvertKit, Constant Contact, drip, and HubSpot.

Unlike other services, email marketing services are actually pretty easy to change as you grow and find services that better suit your needs. You simply export your list as a CSV and import into the new service. You’ll need to redo any automations that you have, but it’s likely you’ll only switch services if the newer one will save you time and make it easier for you to accomplish your goals.

Mailchimp does make it easy to create landing pages like the one pictured if you’re new to web development and design

5. Adobe’s Rush and Lightroom

Again, the best content creator tools can be done on the go – mobile or desktop. We use Adobe Rush to edit all our YouTube videos and Lightroom to edit photos for socials. 

Here’s what it looks like before and after editing Lightroom on iOS. You can get this app for free, and I highly recommend doing so as you’re starting out! PS check out our Cambria blog – this is from the San Simeon hike!

I attempted to use iMovie to edit our YouTubes to try to save money, but that lasted a solid 2 days of minimal progress and added loads of frustration. If you want to add layers to videos, Rush is the best mobile app for editing long-form videos. As you start to hone in your craft, Premiere Pro on desktop will be the next progression.

Here’s what it looks like to edit on the Rush mobile app for iOS. Once I’m done, I can save the video to the cloud and delete the file from my phone to free up storage. PS this is from our Colorado to New Mexico drive YouTube!

Adobe has different plans that you can add together to make the best software solution for your needs. Just beware: if you purchase an annual plan and decide to cancel early, they will charge a fee for early termination. So, only get what you need when you need it and definitely take advantage of free trials.

What equipment do you need to become a content creator?

The best thing about being a content creator is that you don’t need that much to get started. If you’re on a tight budget, you can keep your gadgets to a minimum by doing everything from your phone. Most new smartphones today have everything you need to become an excellent content creator.

Here is the content creation equipment we use regularly (the links are to the products we actually use, but you can find a lot of brands that work just as well or even better):

Mike setting up our tall tripod. It’s compact and easily fits in our hiking bag!
The result! This is one of our favorite hikes in Oregon – Silver Falls State Park

My phone is the most necessary of the content creation tools. I have a fancy $900 camera with all the extensions, but the truth is I don’t use it! When I first started to actually make income for our content, all I used was my iPhone and this $9 ring light/tripod. 

The best part about being a content creator is you can do it from anywhere. It truly opens up the possibilities to any type of work and entrepreneurship. Without these content creator tools, I can guarantee you that I would still be struggling to monetize our lifestyle. 

If you are looking to monetize a blog, I highly recommend this course. It’s what we took to get started, and it made the world of difference.

For more remote income tips, subscribe here!

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