Overseas Income By Providing Services For Expats

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Many of us who want to move overseas still need a way to make money.  Finding a traditional job in a country where you don’t speak the native language is difficult.  Maybe you’re like me, and you don’t want to leave one boring cubicle just to end up in another one, thousands of miles away.  So I’m going to cover some non-traditional ways that expats I know are using to earn money while living overseas.

Earn money by helping new expats get settled

One of the first expats I met who was making money overseas was someone who helped other expats find apartments and get their utilities connected.  If you move to a country with a different language from your home country, you’ll find that getting settled can be very frustrating.  Many expats are willing to pay a fee for someone who speaks their language, and knows who to navigate the local rules and regulations.

This isn’t something you’ll be able to do as soon as you arrive, but you can start to prepare for this right away.  Write down the procedure for everything that you have to do to move in to your new home.  Whenever you go to sign up for a utility, write down the address, the hours they’re open, what levels of service are available, how much of a deposit you need to leave, what the fees are, etc.  Remember, even if you only get a standard version of Internet service (for example), someone else may want to get a different level, so it will help if you know all the rates.

If someone comes out to do an installation, make notes about that process.  If there were any problems, write down what they were and how you got them resolved.  Get the phone numbers to call if there are any service issues later.

What you want to do is create a set of checklists, so you can be certain you do everything properly for your clients, once you start to get some.  In order to get some experience here, offer to go along and help other new expats when they sign up for their new services.  They’ll probably like the company and any little bits of advice you can offer them (even if it’s just which bus to take to go to the phone company’s office).

Of course, you’re eventually going to need to speak the local language well, and it will take you a while to learn what you need to know to be able to charge people for your services.  However, don’t think that you need to be an expert and know absolutely everything.  You can still be very helpful if you’ve been through the process a few times.

Depending on where you’re located, it may be very helpful if you have a car.  If not, make sure you either charge enough to cover taxis and buses, or have the client pay for all of them.

How to charge to this service

You can charge for either your time, or a flat fee.  A flat fee is nice for clients who just want everything taken care of at once.

If you’re charging hourly, it’s probably best to get paid after each day you help your new clients.  You don’t want to worry about helping out someone for several days, and then they don’t pay you.  If you’re charging a flat fee, I suggest you get at least half up-front.

How to find business

Participate in Internet forums where future expats discuss moving to your new country.  Don’t be pushy about selling your service, and answer questions that potential expats ask.  People will see that you’re helpful, and start to trust you.

It will also help if you have your own website or blog.  You can set one up for free in several places.  However, if you want to look more professional, you can have your own website for under $100 a year.  Write some articles on the website telling people about your new country.  Add pictures of the tourist attractions, tell stories about the local markets, and give people a feel of how it will be living there.  Then let people know you can help them get settled in the country, and how much you charge.  If you’re active in a forum, add a link to your website in your signature (if the forum has them).

Summary

If you want to earn money overseas by helping new expats get settled, it will take a bit of time to get started.  You’ll also need to speak the local language well.  This works best if you’re moving somewhere expats are just starting to look at.  There are already plenty of people in Panama and Costa Rica who can do this, but you probably won’t have as much competition in “up-and-coming” expat destinations, like Colombia or Paraguay.  This can be a nice way to do some occasional work and supplement your pension or Social Security check.