Not every online venture is an ideal way for introverts to make money online. For example, coaching can be done online but some introverts do not want to do live interaction.
Freelance work is another way to make money online but that involves having clients which (as an introvert), I do not particularly want to deal with.
If you are seeking a way to make money online that doesn’t require:
- talking to anyone
- shipping anything
- being on social media all the time
You’ll likely enjoy the online business that I do. I create digital information products in the form of PDF files and sell them online.
It is a low-maintenance, quiet business, ideal for introverts.
How Can Selling PDFs Be Introvert-Friendly?
Let’s do a bit of online business comparison based on some other methods I’ve tried in the past to better explain how selling PDFs is one of the most introvert-friendly online businesses.
Over the years, I have sought out online business models that would be ideal for introverts.
Commission Model
The first being the commission-based model as an affiliate. I would recommend other people’s products in exchange for a commission for every sale I referred.
It worked out well but there are some downsides:
- You have no say over the product
- Commissions are paid 30 – 45 days after a sale
After awhile, I became tired of recommending other people’s products. At one point, one of the product creators I was an affiliate of changed their product several times within the span of a year.
I couldn’t keep up with changing my marketing with each iteration. It was then that I had to take a break from it all.
So even though being an affiliate had advantages like not having to create a product or dealing with customer service, it became draining for me.
Print-On-Demand T-Shirt Business
Another online business that was fun in its own way was selling print-on-demand t-shirts.
I binged t-shirt design tutorials on YouTube and begain designing my own shirts.
Before I knew it, I had opened my own Shopify store and started running paid ads to my store.
I made several sales but I had to turn off the ads because I was spending way more than I was making in sales.
Besides that, I had to keep up with creating new designs each week and there was the customer service portion that I wasn’t a fan of.
Fortunately, I had only run into one customer issue when a shirt wasn’t printed correctly.
Below is one of the shirts I designed:
The POD business was not as introvert-friendly as I would have liked it to be.
Selling PDF Files
Out of everything I’ve tried, nothing is as low-maintenance and still enjoyable as selling digital information products.
You can create your own product by typing up what you know and saving it as a PDF.
There is nothing to ship, no inventory to keep, and order fulfillment is automated.
And, unlike other online business models, you can create and sell your PDF for free.
What Kind of Info Sells?
Your digital info product doesn’t have to be ground breaking.
If you have figured something out that used to confuse you, there are probably a lot of people who would pay for your knowledge and experience.
Here are some examples to get your ideas flowing:
- Meal prepping for busy parents
- Long-distance relationship tips
- Budget travel hacks guide
- Declutter your home in 30-days
- A guide for moving to [city/country]
I’ve seen a person who is into their fitness create an ebook about what they eat on a daily basis and sell it from their social media profile.
The best topic will be one that you enjoy most and will find fun in teaching others how you’ve accomplished whatever it is you do.
Your first product may not be a winner but that’s the cool thing about selling PDFs–you can create them fairly quickly and test another product.
Here is a screen capture for a sale of one of my ebooks that I sell:
I created that product in one weekend (I was highly motivated) and it made its first sales the following week after running some paid ads to it.
If you have some info that can help other people out, you can sell it in the form of a PDF.
Customer Service is Super Low-Maintenance
Unlike when I ran a print-on-demand t-shirt business, I don’t have to have any actual back-and-forth conversations with my customers.
Let’s say someone asks for a refund. Maybe my ebook wasn’t what they expected or for whatever reason.
All I have to do is issue the refund and send a quick reply email that it was processed.
That’s it.
I rarely have any customer communication except for some folks that may reply to one of my emails with a quick question.
Those emails are actually enjoyable because I like helping people out so that they can launch their own PDF business.
In terms of customer service, it’s really low-maintenance. You won’t be spending hours out of your day dedicated to that.
Digital info products are simple and as long as you deliver on value, most people will not have any issues.
What to Do Next?
I’ve shared why I enjoy this business model so much. I believe it is one of the most introvert-friendly online businesses around.
It’s peaceful, fun, and low-cost to start (you can even start for free!)
You can be as creative as you want and you can expand your product line as big as you want.
There are no limits. The only obstacle is self-doubt and procrastination.
Take the first step, then another, and another until you’ve made your first sale.
Then you’ll realize (like I did) that you should’ve started sooner.
Create your first PDF quickly with my free kickstart guide.