Digital Marketers: What do you find challenging about working remotely?

Hello Travel Massivers! I am Lindsay and I am a self-taught Digital Marketer living on the road traveling full-time. I always want to connect with other Digital Marketers and what advice we can share. It's very important we network and connect.

What do you find challenging about working remotely?

Please share your response and let me know! I would love to connect :)

Self-discipline is the biggest remote working challenge. Time becomes a mood-driven reality, resulting in less appealing tasks being easily postponed. I’ve been working remotely for 14 years and have had to establish routines to get things done.

As a digital nomad with no fixed abode, I relocate often and rarely sleep past sunrise. After breakfast (usually coffee and biscuits), my first daily task is accomplished by tidying my bed and living space before taking an hour of physical exercise (being dragged on a leash attached to Jaxx, my Siberian Husky companion - he even has his own website - jaxxhusky.co.za).

Attending to emails and social media posts is the next morning task, followed by at least 2-3 hours working on paid assignments (clearly, I don’t have enough of them). After an hour lunch break (usually a peanut butter sandwich swallowed with the days 5th cup of coffee), I spend the afternoon engaged in social interaction (like responding to this post) or maintaining websites that I manage.

Evening tasks vary depending on where I’ve laid my hat (and Jaxx’s leash). Right now, I’m on a farm where my board and lodging is bartered against cooking evening meals for the family and staff (being a chef and past guesthouse owner has advantages). Today is a public holiday in South Africa (voting day) - keeping track of days of the week is another remote working challenge.

By 19h30 the barter tasks are done and I spend the hours before midnight engaging with entrepreneurs that I mentor (most have day jobs, so evenings are best for them).

In summary, one has to be self-disciplined and establish set routines to work remotely, but it sure does beat wasting hours stuck in traffic while commuting to a physical office.

We’ve always been a remote team at Travel Massive but we have had some stints at co-working spaces in NYC (the old VoyagerHQ) and in Berlin. I gotta say I miss those days of going into an office to work with colleagues in-person! We got so much stuff done, could point at screens (no need to screenshot stuff), and go for coffees or drinks.

In a “digital marketing” context (which is broad, I take it to mean “getting people to click on stuff”) the hardest thing for me working remotely has been getting in a creative mindset. For example, writing newsletters or some copy, I have to be in the right mood. Somehow being around other people made this easier, but in the remote environment I find that I need a walk, or exercise, and some good music to get the creativity started.

I’d also agree with Han’s comments about networking - this is really important for marketers! Learning about new trends and other things is one of the benefits of in-person events.

I think it’s very isolating. I’m a team of 1 who works from home. I miss human interaction which is why I love attending events so much!

One of the biggest challenges for me, having worked in agencies for so long prior to working freelance and remotely, is having folks nearby for a quick brainstorm, gut check, etc. Especially as I was building my career, it was so beneficial to have people nearby to help get an idea off the ground quickly.

Perhaps less obvious, but I also struggle sometimes with the likely perception of my lifestyle. When my clients are trapped under a foot of snow, and I'm calling in from somewhere warm, what must they think?

We recently moved to the High Country in Victoria Australia, so pretty remote, and my wife and I both work in travel, so has been interesting making the adjustments to full time WFH for both of us. We are loving the move though and living here!

I just spent 3 days with 2 team members at a travel event in Spain and it was so nice to be in person and talk that way vs. over Zoom.

As a digital marketer, one of the key challenges of working remotely, especially while on the go or during travel, is maintaining seamless communication and collaboration with the team, particularly when coordinating large campaigns. The lack of face-to-face interactions can sometimes cause delays in feedback. Additionally, ensuring high-quality work can be difficult due to potential issues with connectivity and time zone differences.

A big plus of working for yourself and being able to work remotely is the freedom that comes with it, as well as the flexibility. However, I have often found it challenging to be as disciplined as I'd like and often wonder if my lack of in-person connection during the working day will eventually impact my interpersonal relationships, on a personal and professional level.

My love for travel and creating content has also been somewhat difficult at times to juggle efficiently while running my marketing business as both requires time and resources which have started to feel stretched.