Best semi-passive income streams for sensitive & introvert entrepreneurs
For the longest time, I’ve wanted to be financially independent. I think a lot of people have that dream.
I don’t necessarily want to completely retire, but would love to get to a point where I have enough money to cover all my expenses (+ some for travel and buying more courses haha). To have the ultimate choice on how to spend my time and how and when to work.
I’ve found that one of the best, balanced ways to have this financial security is by having multiple income streams, ideally passive or semi-passive income streams.
Before we dive into all things passive incomes, side hustles, and income streams, there’s something (possibly controversial) that I want you to know, an important thing I think you should know about money:
MONEY ISN’T EVIL.
Money isn’t innately evil, it’s people that can act evil and misuse money.
I want to make sure you hear this because a lot of people - especially women and especially highly sensitive people (HSP) who are caring and want to make a difference in the world - may get the message from their bosses, friends, and family, and society as a whole that they should just be happy they get to help people and money doesn’t matter and actually you are wrong for wanting it if you want to help others.
But money does matter. Because that’s what we as a society decided we need to exchange for many of our needs and wants - for food, shelter, support, and even happiness to some extent.
I love money, but not necessarily because I love to keep it always for myself.
I love money because it allows me to save up for incredible experiences, it allows me to purchase a product, course, or service, it allows me to buy interesting ingredients to try out a completely new recipe, and it allows me to give it away freely to a person in need or treat my friends to a nice dinner every time I’m pulled to.
Whew, a bit of a tangent here but I really want you to know that it’s okay to want money.
And it’s even better to be able to do things to be responsible for money - to be able to donate, tithe, give it away to help another, budget it, save it, and spend it on things that are important to you.
To change the world, sometimes you have to have a bit of money and/or influence.
To support businesses you love and to donate money and resources to causes, charities, and communities you believe in, you first need that money.
And the world needs kind-hearted, sensitive people with more money and influence.
A great way to grow your business income is by receiving money from various sources. When you diversify where your income comes from, you don’t need to rely on one specific source to support yourself and your business growth.
I’ve spent some time, had a lot of fun, AND made plenty of mistakes trying to diversify my income these past few years.
In this post, I’ll go more into:
What makes for a good income stream?
My favorite income streams right now
The benefits and dangers of passive income
How to keep all your income streams organized to reduce overwhelm (+ make tax time a bit easier)
What makes an income stream “good” for a sensitive person?
Even if the income stream doesn’t take up a lot of your time and isn’t your main career/business/source of income, it’s still beneficial if you enjoy and find purpose in your side hustles.
An ideal stream allows you to remain aligned with your values, as well as your available time, strengths and weaknesses, and level of confidence (although I highly recommend stepping bit by bit outside of your comfort zone).
For me, it also allows me to be:
authentic and creative
in integrity
heart-centered
genuinely helpful to others
striving to do my best work without a lot of overwhelming “hustle”
There are many many more side hustle options out there to make more money, but the best ones I’ve listed here involve some level of passive income generation. Passive income is a dream for many people, but cultivating passive income in an area you’re passionate about is crucial for HSPs as we strive to balance our need for purpose with our equally great need for downtime.
The best income streams are often not get-rich-quick types of endeavors, but instead, sources you can gradually build up as you improve your skills and influence.
My favorite income streams right now
These income streams are great for someone to start without any experience because they don’t need much if any money to get started, they are flexible, and they allow you to work in ways that are productive and aligned with you.
Another cool thing to note, many of these side hustles can be started even before you have a website or blog or social media presence! AND you’ll be able to steadily grow them and often continue to be successful as you integrate them into your online presence.
#5 E-commerce
Not just for drop shipping either, the possibilities are endless to share with others your talents and gifts. I’ve dabbled in e-commerce for fun, but haven’t devoted a lot of time to these income streams. I don’t know exactly how much time or effort these take to make your main or substantial source of income, but I do love them as another income stream to add to your business. Here are a few platforms and product ideas to get you started:
Etsy: Selling digital products like artwork, spreadsheets, journals, planners, templates, or print-on-demand products
Redbubble or similar creative platform: If you have original artwork, it’s easy to upload a digital copy of it here for people to purchase shirts, mugs, journals, etc. with your artwork on it. I think it's pretty cool. Something you may not know about me - I love to paint! I don’t sell my original paintings at the moment, but I have uploaded my drawings, paintings, and designs to Redbubble.
Amazon or similar selling marketplace: There are plenty of resources out there on how to get started with selling on Amazon. I would strongly suggest building slowly and NOT putting any or a lot of money into this out front. Like with print on demand with Etsy, you can use similar services to sell on Amazon. If you’re a writer, you could self-publish books or audiobooks on Amazon as well.
#4 Creating and selling courses
Can be VERY lucrative if you sell to your own audience from your website or social media, but you could also create a course on a learning platform like Udemy or Skillshare without a large audience.
#3 Pinterest + affiliate marketing
I go into more detail and provide Pinterest pin templates in my free book: Start Your Blog Business Without Overwhelm and in my upcoming programs (keep an eye on your email!) but here are some of the basics:
Choose a niche and sign up for a Pinterest account (or a social media platform of your choice)
Choose product(s) that you already know and love in that niche
Find out if they have and sign up for their affiliate program
Create and share Pinterest pins to advertise for that product
#2 Copywriting & copyediting
While NOT necessarily passive/semi-passive ways to make money, copywriting and copyediting often can be a lot more lucrative than ghostwriting and content writing, Copywriting often involves using marketing knowledge rather than just an ability to write well and inform others. Even if you don't have formal writing and/or marketing training or education, I believe that you can use your sensitivity and empathy to your advantage in this case. You can start without formal training, but if you want to learn more, I recommend the course I’ve completed myself to successfully get into copywriting: CCA (check out my review article here). Resources like Fiverr, Upwork, Contently, Contenta, and Freelancer are good places to quickly find people actively looking to hire copywriters. I haven’t personally used all of these platforms, though, so please do your own research!
Content writing is also a great way to earn some extra income. Even though it might not be as lucrative, the flexibility is ideal. I’ve had clients that expect 1-2 articles per month, giving me the flexibility of deciding when I actually write the articles. It’s nice to have the flexibily to work and produce when you have the time and energy to do so without the added pressure of fast-paced due dates.
#1 Blogging - of course:)
Blogging can be combined with any (or all!) of these other income streams for maximum impact. This is my #1 pick, not because it will be the most lucrative income stream as soon as you launch, but because it’s something that you can start and grow as quickly or slowly as you want and need to. You can go at your own pace and build an aligned business you’re passionate about. I personally love it because it’s something I would do for free. I do this for the love of thinking and creation. Building a website can take a while to set up and to start making money, but I teach you how to do it as quickly as possible while keeping your integrity and not falling into burnout in my book: Start Your Blog Business Without Overwhelm.
No “get rich quick” here, just get rich by building a website and processes that work in your favor and are aligned with your values and goals.
BONUS option
Maybe a “boring” one, but strongly consider a high-interest bank account, investment account, and/or any 401k/403b and IRA options you have access to. These really can make a difference! I have my investing on autopilot with Acorns (get $5 to invest when you sign up with my link) and I made an extra $1000 last year from my high-interest savings account alone (although of course this can vary greatly based on your interest rate).
If you can, investing and saving are crucial aspects of growing your money exponentially.
3 downsides of passive income
Passive income can be an effective way to support yourself and grow your business as well as create more abundance from what you already have. But a few things to know before jumping right in:
There’s no such thing as fully passive income. The best/most lucrative income streams are hardly passive right away and often require a lot of work upfront as well as ongoing maintenance and updating. There aren’t any get-rich-quick options out there. And even when you do put in the hard work and create something that people may want to buy, those people need to have some way of knowing about it. Want more tips and guidance on marketing without using social media? I highly recommend this workshop from Leonie Dawson.
It can be VERY tempting to try and build all of these income streams at once, especially if you’re desperately trying to quit or move on from your 9-5 job. I know firsthand how easy it is to get distracted by all the possibilities and ideas you might have. But it might benefit you from focusing on what you WANT the main part of your business to look like and spend most of your creativity, time, and energy to set that up first before starting any adjunct income streams.
And something to consider if it resonates with you - don’t do or start something that you know don’t want to keep doing. Not because it won’t help you make money, but because it might take up your time and energy that you could be spending on things you enjoy and with people you love.
You can absolutely have multiple income streams that aren’t necessarily “passive” as well, especially if you have a skill or talent you could provide on a freelance basis. What skills and interests do you currently have? I bet there are people who could benefit from that expertise and passion.
How to keep it all organized
One thing that can be overwhelming is keeping track of all these different income streams, I would not be able to manage or remember half of the things I should unless I have it in writing. Some of the ways I stay organized are by using:
Trello and/or Notion: I currently use Trello to keep my content creation calendar and ALL my ideas organized (check out my free Trello template) and Notion for project management and in-depth organization of specific projects (I recommend Notion templates by Chloeforbesk and MuchelleB).
Physical planner and to-do lists: For my monthly/weekly/daily schedule, I prefer using a physical planner. I want to produce less waste and physical clutter, so I’ve tried to use completely digital planners in the past but just can’t quite get in the flow of using them. So instead, I use a reusable physical planner: I love Rocketbook planners for physical (yet erasable and reusable) scheduling. I create my own templates with Rocketbook by drawing with permanent marker and then using erasable pens to fill in my schedule and reuse them as needed. Keep an eye out for my digital and physical planner templates soon!
There’s something about a physical to-do list that is so satisfying to me. Instead of using Post-its, my favorite way to write my to-do lists is to reuse envelopes from any mail I receive. Simple, basic, effective. Rocketbook just came out with reusable post-it notes in Spring 2024, I haven’t used them yet, but so excited to try them out!
Google Sheets/Docs/etc to organize:
My business budget and income: spreadsheet on Google Sheets (see my free business budget template here to budget and track payments and income) AND
My affiliate programs and links: I use an affiliate tracker spreadsheet to keep all the website, personalized links, and payment info in one place. I don’t have a template of mine to share with you because I used a great one from Leonie Dawson - available when you get her annual subscription to her Brilliant Biz and Life Academy or some of her other courses.
I hope this post gave you some ideas about what is possible and within reach for you. Let me know if there are other income streams you’re loving right now!
For an even more in-depth look into money mindset, affiliate marketing, and balancing multiple income streams on around 10 hours of work or less a week like I do, I HIGHLY recommend resources by my teacher Leonie. She has plenty of free resources as well as shockingly affordable courses (from writing a book in 40 days to creating and selling your course in 40 days). I’ve purchased a few different courses from her in the past and am currently enjoying her annual subscription which includes access to ALL of her courses for a year. I’m in learning heaven!
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Additional disclaimer: I’m not a certified financial professional. The information in this post and on this website is for educational purposes only. Please consult with your own financial or tax planner/preparer.
Related Posts:
Reaching Your Money Goals with a New Blog
Side Hustles for Introverts: The Freelance Hustle’s blog post with even more great ideas