If you’re an introvert, then you know how frustrating it can be to be forced to work in an environment that goes against your personality. You may dread the small talk with co-workers, group meetings, and stressful customer interactions. All of which are aspects of a day job that introverts may not enjoy.
You want to start a side hustle and earn a side income. But let’s be honest, as an introvert, the last thing you want to do after a long day of work is to join another group meeting. Luckily, there’s a ton of legitimate side hustles for introverts. They are well suited for introverts and they do not have extensive prerequisites. Many of them do not require face-to-face communication with clients. In fact, some of these gigs don’t even require you to leave the house!
These side hustle could be very lucrative as well. It’s a great way to supplement your current income, but if you are successful these side hustle ideas have the potential become your full-time job. Imagine having the freedom to work on your own terms. Imagine having a productive work day without the pointless conversation at the water cooler. Pretty neat right?
Continue reading to find out some of our favorite side hustles for introverts.
1. Design T-Shirts
Do you have an idea for a cool t-shirt? Let’s bring those designs to life and make money off of that. If you are creative, this is the side hustle for you. It would be awesome if your uncle happened to own a screen print shop, but this is by no means a requirement. Nowadays, you can outsource the print work. All you need is the creativity to come up with the designs.
You can create awesome vector graphics with Adobe Illustrator. If you don’t want to pay for an vector graphics software, Inkscape is a great open-source alternative. To create a vintage look to your t-shirt design or do any photo editing, you’d want to get Adobe Photoshop. If you don’t want to pay for a photo editing software, once again, there is an option for you. GIMP is a free and open-source graphics editor. If you want to learn how to use these softwares, there’s an abundance of resources on YouTube.
Once your designs are ready, choose a company to print for you. If you want to concentrate on designing t-shirts, Teespring may be the option for you. They will handle the marketing, production, fulfillment and customer service. All you need to do is to upload your designs to their website.
2. Freelance Writing
If you love to write, then it makes perfect sense for you to pursue freelance writing. The opportunities in writing are plentiful. Many online magazines and publications, SEO marketing firms, and online businesses, need content to post on their websites.
Businesses are always looking for freelance writers and the opportunity is present for both entry-level and experienced writers. For example, you could write articles and submit them to a website. Go to the publications’ website and look for a “submissions” or “contributors” link in the footer of the website. If it is not present, click the “contact us” link and message them.
You can also join a freelancing website and offer a certain writing service. Popular platforms such as Upwork, iWriter, and Fiverr have an abundance of customers regularly looking for writers. The ceiling is extremely high since freelance writing has such a wide range of possibilities. They’re all up to you! Dive in and figure out what path you want to take.
3. Blogging
Blogging is great if you are a writer, and you are willing to do this for the long haul. Unlike freelance writing, you will not be paid immediately. However, the advantage of blogging is that you have more freedom and earning potential.
First, you have the freedom to choose the topic of your niche, the platform of your blog, and everything else in between. You should choose a topic that you are an expert on, or you want to explore in depth. Based on the niche, register a suitable domain name. Domain names can be registered through Godaddy, Namecheap, and many other domian name registrars. Next, choose the platform. WordPress is by far the most popular publishing platform. WordPress is very powerful and customizable, but it does have a higher learning curve compared to all-in-one platforms such as Squarespace and Wix.
Second, the earning potential of a blog is uncapped. If you are able to publish quality content and grow your audience, there are various ways to monetize your blog. For example, you can place “pay per click” advertisement on your blog by signing up for Google Adsense. You can also place affiliate links to your blogs by joining affiliate programs such as Amazon Associates Program. Affiliate networks such as Commission Junction can be a great place to find affiliate products to promote. Some blog owners found great success by launching their own product such as ebooks and online courses.
4. Shopify Store
Not ready to greet hundreds of customers every day? A Shopify store will allow even an introvert to be a successful shop owner. The most interaction you will get with these customers are emails. In fact, if transactions go smoothly, all you will see from these customers are their payments made online. Build a store and list your products. If you already have a product or service to sell, great. If not, find a supplier to source your products. You can order products in bulk and ship them out as you get orders. However, if you are not able to invest in large inventories or want to minimize risk, you can dropship products to your customers. With dropshipping, when a customer purchases a product from your store, you simply place the same order to the supplier. The supplier will ship the order directly to the customers. Therefore, you never physically stock or ship the products. Some well-known dropshipping supplier directories are Worldwide Brands, Salehoo, and Doba.
5. eBay Reselling
Reselling has been one of the easiest ways to make a side income since the internet was created. It’s as simple as it sounds. You buy an item for a certain price and resell it later for a profit. If you are looking for things to sell, start with the unwanted items in your own house. Next, go find other people unwanted items at garage sales. Saturdays mornings are the best for garage sales.
Not ready to negotiate a good price at garage sales like Gary? Don’t worry. There’s an abundance of other sources. You can hunt for used inventory at Goodwill. However, don’t limit yourself to used inventory. Many big box retail stores such as Walmart will have products available at deep discounts during sales. For clothing and accessory items, Ross and Marshalls can be a great place to start your inventory hunt. Some of these items will have enough margin left for a healthy profit on eBay.
6. Photography
If you’re interested in photography or at the very least own a camera, you could make it a perfect side hustle within a certain amount of time. In fact, the camera on your phone is sufficient in many cases. Don’t sweat it, if you’re not confident in your ability for photography, there are a ton of tutorials online on how you can properly learn it.
You could take pictures of local musicians, local baby photos, landscape photography, street photography, and much more. All of which you can charge for, and as you get better, the more you can charge. Here’s a list of companies that will help you earn money from your photography:
- 500PX
- SmugMug
- Shutterstock
- iStock
- FOAP
- Snapwire
If you enjoy photography, consider shooting videos with a drone too. That’s a new market that didn’t exist until recently.
7. Online Surveys
Not a lot of people know this, but there are a ton of online surveys for people to take and make money. All you have to do is answer a few questions and you make money! It’s really as simple as that. There are many websites, but here’s a list of some of companies that offer paid surveys:
- MindSwarms
- SurveySavvy
- SavvyConnect
- PineCone Research
- MySurvey
- Global Test Market
8. Podcasting
People who aren’t introverts might think of introverts as people who like to be alone. This isn’t always the case. If you have a close friend, I’m sure you have a certain topic that you both relate to.
This topic can be anything from film to food to video games. Pick out what you want to talk about and start a podcast. Podcasting is extremely enjoyable especially when it’s done with people you enjoy talking to. Once you figure out what you want to talk about, and who you want to podcast with, grab the mic and get it started. You’ll be shocked at how fast you’ll develop an audience.
9. Youtube Channel
Now I know what you’re thinking, why would an introvert be good for YouTube? The truth is, there’s a ton of content on YouTube. A lot of those content creators are introverts themselves. They work their own hours, upload what they want, and don’t have to talk to anyone but a camera. Doesn’t that sound like the dream gig for an introvert?
Come up with a specific niche that you’re into and research on how to get started on YouTube. For example, maybe you’re into photography or video games. Determine what kind of content you want to create and get to work.
If you are too shy for the camera, remember that video content does not always have a face on it. There are lots of successful YouTube channels that focuses on digital animation and other content that does not include a person’s face.
10. Rent Out a Spare Bedroom
If you’re fortunate enough to have some extra space in your house or a guest house in your backyard, you can always rent out that extra room. You can either do this by having someone move in or by renting it out like a hotel room.
There are a ton of apps and websites you can use to go about doing this, the most popular being Airbnb. This will allow you to earn a decent amount of money every time someone comes to stay at your spare bedroom.
I know what you’re thinking, and don’t worry, usually the people who are going to rent out your spare room won’t want to talk to you either. Think about it, how often do customers at a hotel want to have conversations with the workers?
11. Walk Dogs
Yes, you can make side cash by simply walking dogs. Since it’s the modern-day, there are a plethora of apps and services you can use online to do this. All of which are extremely easy to use, and don’t require a ton of one-on-one interaction. One of the most popular dog walking app is Rover. They claim that you can earn up to $1000 per month as a dog walker.
If you love dogs then this should be your dream side gig. You walk some dogs and make some money. Sounds pretty great!
12. RideShare Driver
By now, we’ve all heard of Uber and Lyft. What you might not know is how great of a job they can be for introverts. In movies, taxi drivers are often portrayed as chatty personalities. However, drivers are not hired for their punch lines. In reality, a courteous driver that is able to drive safely is what the customer wants.
Keep the car clean, get a phone mount for navigating hands-free, and get a phone charger so you never run out of battery. If you don’t think you are able to hold a good conversation with all of the customers, have a plan for music. Ask if the riders have a station request or if they’d like to play music from their phone.
13. Food and Grocery Delivery
If you don’t want to drive people, then try food or grocery delivery. It’s not as socially demanding as driving customers. Download an app, accept the gig, and do what the app tells you. Simply get the groceries or food and drop it off to the person who ordered it. The people who order are usually very friendly and often tip! The job can be very relaxing since you’d be alone for most of it. Just you, the order, and your car. Here are some food delivery companies to consider driving for:
- UberEATS
- DoorDash
- Postmates
- Caviar
- GrubHub
- Conclusion
Hopefully, you were able to determine which side hustle for is best for you. All of these gigs have the potential to make some serious side income. This is something that should be kept in mind if they do not go as planned right away. Some gigs require more effort and time to succeed, but they all have great potential. Enjoy the process and don’t be discouraged.
While we live in an largely extroverted world, being an introvert can be advantageous in many ways. It is simply a matter of recognizing the strengths and acting upon it.
Try one of these side gigs, and who knows, one day your side hustle might become your main hustle!
