How to Make a Living While Living in an RV

Almost everybody has a dream of traveling around in an RV, but the reality of the need to earn money from a steady job sets in before we can get that dream

of the ground. Well, I’m here to help your dreams come tru, because I have a few sure-fire ways to earn money while on the road.

So, how do you make a living while living in an RV? Most of the job opportunities available will be online on your computer. If you have an internet connection, you can find jobs in things such as:

• a free lance blogger
• start your own blog
• sign up for Amazon Associates
• a virtual assistant
• a non-fiction eBook writer
• invest your money in a portfolio
• sell photos or be a free lance photographer

Now I’m going to go into each job one at a time and fully explain what I mean and how you can earn a living from each one.

Free Lance Blogger

A lot of blogs are constantly asking for writers willing to ghost write on their blogs. Blogs need a lot of articles in order to get enough traffic, but it takes a lot of time and effort to make a good article.

Most bloggers don’t have enough time to write as many articles as they need, so they will hire other writers to write articles under their name. This is called ghostwriting. The actual writers are pretending to be the creator of the blog when they write.

This means that you won’t be getting public credit for each of your articles, but you will be getting paid. Bloggers hiring ghostwriters will pay anywhere from $20 to $50 dollars per article. This depends on how long the article is, how well it is written, and the content it is written on.

To find a hiring blogger, simply go to a blog that you either really like or you know a lot about, and go to the “contact me” section of the blog. There, you can email or call the author and see if they need your help.

On a lot of blogs, there is also a link that advertises the need for ghostwriters. Click on the link, and you’re on your way to making some cash. Because so many bloggers need content writers for their websites, you really have a shot at making a living at it, just as long as you’re a good writer.

You might get lucky and get hired by a blogger that is looking for long-term writers. This is great because they usually let you write under your own name, so you get public credit for your work.

If you do good work, you might attract other potential employers, and start moving up and making the big bucks.

Even if you are still ghostwriting, if you are hired by somebody looking for a long-term writer, you at least have a stable job.

Start Your Own Blog

If writing for somebody else doesn’t sound at all appealing to you, then good news, I have a better offer for you. The kinds of people who want to live full time in an RV typically aren’t the kind that are happy to work under someone anyway. Being your won employer is a great feeling of freedom.

So instead of writing for somebody else on their blog, why don’t you just start your own blog?

Starting your own blog is definitely not an easy task, and it’s not a sure fire way to earn a living, because you’re going to be relying on the traffic of people you’ve probably never met and never will.

However, blogs are a great way to earn some passive income, especially if you are a good writer, have a lot of time on your hands, and have something in mind that you’re really passionate about. Below is a very brief outline of the process.

• Answer the question: “How can I share helpful information?” This will help you chose the idea for your website, whether it be a DIY, business, lifestyle blog, or review site.
• Create a WordPress site. This will cost you about $100, but WordPress is a good forum that builds easy, navigable websites. You can find a free forum to help you build your site, but WordPress carries some weight online. It’ll help you look more professional. 
• Make your site helpful. This seems like a no-brainer, but it is immensely important. The very beginning of your website will be the most important time of its life. Match your articles to the keywords that people will be searching. This will ensure that you are providing the content that people actually want.
• Make the site look lived in. You want people to feel like your site is useful and important because you have traffic. You want comments and links to different websites. Build a social media profile for your website to steer traffic to where you want it. If your site is brand new, you might ask family and friends to comment, share, and like your articles.
• Stop returning traffic to senders. People rarely comment on articles, so if all you have at the bottom of your article is a “leave a comment” button, your traffic is just going to hit the back button and move on. They probably won’t visit again. However, if you have a few additional article suggestions at the bottom of your article, you can get them to navigate deeper into the website. Almost like click bait!
• Open the floodgates. To get more and more traffic, you’re going to have to continue posting. Post something every night before you go to bed. And your content is going to have to be really good. Keep your social media active. Create some low-cost product to go along with your site. Consider doing something like a podcast to advertise your site. And be patient.
• Be friendly. People like to subscribe to real people. That’s why YouTube is so big. You feel like you are subscribing to the person you see on screen. So reply to every comment, email, and post. Let your traffic know that you are a real person who cares about them.
• Develop a publishing schedule. You can’t expect to run a successful website if you only work on it 45 minutes a day. Work out a schedule where you have time to write quality content. Also build in time to record videos and podcasts, and to reply to comments.
• Monetize your website. Create products to go along with your site. These can be video tutorials, books, advertising, or affiliate marketing. You can sign up for Amazon Associates, which I will talk more on further along in the article. The main idea is that you advertise for Amazon and then you can a percent of the sale of the product.

There you have it. Nine steps to build a website that can provide you with passive income, even on the road.

There is a blog called What Mommy Does, and this is what the income per month looks like, following all of these steps:

Activity	Monthly Income
Affiliates	$3,683
Advertising	$3,200
Sponsored Posts	$1,186
eBook	$957
Total	$9,026

A few things I would like to emphasize is the importance of picking a topic that you are passionate about and that you know you can get some traffic on, and diligence. Keep at it, and keep working. You’ll see it pay off.

Amazon Associates

If you have an up and running website, I would recommend that you sign up for Amazon Associates. Amazon Associates is an affiliate marketing forum. You can sign up, pick from millions of products, and include the links in your site.

When people click on the links and then buy a product from Amazon, you will get a percent of the profit. The percentages range from around 4% to 10%. Things like electronics are typically closer to 4%.

The brilliant thing is, as long as somebody clicks on your link and then buys any kind of product at all from Amazon, you still get a commission. Even if the link was for a swimsuit, but the person who clicked on the link ended up buying a kiddie pool instead, you still get a percentage of that sale. So stock up on some links.

A Virtual Assistant

There is a huge growing market for online employees. Most people don’t want to be stuck at a desk for eight hours a day. I never met anybody who said that they want to be a pencil pusher when they grow up. There is, however, a huge need for pencil pushers in our society.

Well, the best of both worlds is a virtual assistant. You can work online as a secretary for a few hours a day and never meet the person face to face.

Applying for these jobs can actually be pretty simple. You can even post on your Facebook page and ask if anybody is in need of a secretary for around $10 an hour.

Your schedule can be really flexible, and as long as you have internet connection, you can do your job wherever and whenever you want. Just as long as you do what your boss says.

Non-Fiction eBook Writer

eBooks are a really great way to get your content out to anybody. You can a bigger pool of customers if you publish online than if you publish a hard copy. Despite my love for books, I cannot deny that carrying around thick books in my suitcase takes up the room I was trying to save for my daughter’s stuffed bear that she has to take with her on every trip (I’ve tried leaving it behind, and honestly, it’s less painful to just save some space to pack it).

eBooks are easy to buy (and usually cheap), can be carried everywhere, and anybody can search for them from the comfort of their couch (we all know there are some weird people that hand out in the public library that we would rather avoid). So publishing your book on eBook is a pretty effective way to earn some money.

I say non-fiction because non-fiction is a fairly small niche in the book world. Fiction is pretty hard to publish and then make popular.

There are just so many fiction writers and books that you’ll just be a small fish in a big pond. However, with non-fiction, you can be a big fish.

Your books don’t even have to be that long. I wrote a few eBooks, and some of them were only about 50 pages long. Just as long as your books are well-written and accurate, you’ll find people who want to buy it.

Pick a topic that relates to your website. This way you can direct traffic to your website and continue earning some passive income that way.

Invest

Investing is a way to have your money work for you. Start young, that way, when you are older, retired, and likely in a place where you can actually afford to go traveling around in an RV, you have a large portfolio.

Now, I’m not suggesting that you go and become a floor trader, because I certainly do not want you to get a heart attack in that high-stress environment.

Just invest maybe $100 a month into your portfolio and it’ll grow over the years until you can sell some shares and reap the rewards.

Keep your portfolio diverse. If you invest everything into the oil business, for example, and then it fails, you’ll have nothing else to help you keep earning money. 

Photography

There are a few ways that you can earn money as a photographer. You can either work as a freelance photographer (there is a lot of “freelancing” going around in this article), start your own business, or sell your photos to stock photo companies.

Obviously, to succeed in any one of these endeavors, you’re going to have to be a really good photographer. And I mean, exceptional.

Freelance photographers are typically what you see in mothers. They will do photo shoots on the side of their every day mom duties to earn a little money. That is a hard way to make a living. A few photoshoots now and then aren’t going to bring in a lot of money.

However, if you are good at taking pictures, you can certainly schedule graduation photo shoots, weddings, parties, dance photos, and other events.

Really, the only freelance photographers who make it big are the ones you see on Google when you cast something from your phone to your TV. You can, however, use social media like Instagram to showcase your work and advertise.

If you start your own business, you’re going to have a problem getting it off the ground, especially if you are traveling around in an RV all the time. However, if you can figure out how to make that work, then that is definitely a great idea!

The best way I can think of to earn money as a photographer is by selling your pictures to stock photo companies. Stock photo companies will buy your photos, put them on their website, and then charge companies to put those photos on advertisements or billboards. 

You’ll only early about $1 per photo per month. However, if you submit 100 photos, you’d be making $100 a month. 

Research the kinds of photos that are used most often by companies in order to increase the chances that your picture will be bought. You also need to be really good at photography for your pictures to be bought.

Other Options

Of course, there are other ways to earn a living while on the road. You could be a traveling band or a traveling nurse. You could lug maintenance equipment around and fix sinks or trim lawns. You could even be a freelance consultant.

I just made a list of things that just about everybody can do, especially if they practice. Because being a traveling nurse definitely takes some skills that I do not have the patience of schooling for.

Of course, you’re going to have to make sure that you are living as cheaply as possible. For fun, go on hikes. Buy in bulk and ration. Camp in free places. Don’t buy a lot of “stuff” that will clutter up your RV.

Don’t go into town all the time, but instead consolidate your trip. Be debt free. That sort of thing.

For more information on how to make a living while living in an RV, watch my video titled How I Earn a Living in My RV. I go over a lot

of what I went over in this article, but I embellish and explain a lot more. There are also some additional options I include.

Related Questions

How much does it cost to live in an RV? It costs about $400 a month to live in an RV. That’s about $13 a month. That might be cheaper rent than an apartment, but the average RV also costs from $40,000 to the mid $100,00 upfront.