This is such a juicy topic and something I’m super passionate about. Because what can be the best business model for an extrovert, can seem like absolute hell to an introvert.
We’re all different. We all have different personalities, but as introverts we need to protect our energy. That is most important because we get our energy from being in our own space. That’s how we recharge our batteries. When we’re alone. We’re doing our own thing. That’s how we come out of that feeling refreshed. We don’t get our energy from being around other people.
So it’s essential that we have a business model that absolutely works for that introvert within us.
The challenge with the one to one model
If you’re an introvert and you’ve chosen to work one on one with pet parents every single day, back to back, that’s likely leaving you feeling exhausted. Squeezing in as many appointments as you can throughout the day, that’s probably not going to work for you, if you want a sustainable business.
But for an extrovert this approach would be perfect. They’d come away feeling energized after doing that work all day.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t work with people one on one if that’s what lights you up. But in order to not come away from that feeling depleted every day, you’re going to need some clever thinking around your schedule and when you work with your people.
So for example, maybe Tuesday to Thursday are your client facing days. And maybe you have two or three sessions a day. That way you can have breaks in between to recharge and gather yourself, and days where you work on the business and do admin work.
But to ensure you’re bringing enough money in, you need to seriously consider your pricing to ensure you’re able to live the lifestyle you want. Because if you’re not charging enough for your services and you’ve reduced the number of sessions, then you’re not going to have enough money coming in.
So this is how you’re going to be able to allow yourself to work in a way that makes you happy, while also earning the money you want.
The joys of the one to many business model
There’s an alternative way to run your business which I’ve personally chosen to follow as a super introvert, and it fits perfectly with my personality and energy levels.
And this is when you start introducing things like passive and semi passive income. This is where you can scale your business infinitely. This is where your business can become truly limitless. It’s also where you can create an abundance of space in your life to recharge your introvert batteries, where you allow yourself to create that freedom that you need in your life as an introvert.
There are many ways you can create income passively in your business. And I do a variety of these in my business. Everything works together seamlessly to build my online ecosystem. And there might be something here you want to consider for yourself.
I’ve laid out just a few of those options for you here today.
Digital resources
These are resources, like an ebook that you create which sits on your website and people can buy at any time.
This should present a solution around a very specific problem, and is perfect for your ideal customer. Depending on how in depth the ebook is, they can grab it for something like £9 – £27.
When you have everything set up and ready to go, people can buy from you when you’re asleep, when you’re on holiday, when you’re out having lunch, or enjoying a nice meal with your partner. At any time, they can come onto your website, see your ebook and buy from you.
An ebook is one example of a digital resource. But it could also be a checklist, a guide, it could be a book in itself, templates, a calendar, a diary of some sort. Anything that is going to be super useful for your ideal customers. So think about what that could be.
And creating a digital resource doesn’t have to be difficult. You can easily create these things in Canva. Canva is a brilliant free design tool that you can use to create anything graphical. Then just get them up on your website and sell them. It really can be that easy.
I have a bunch of digital resources on my website. I have a whole shop page which people buy from every day. And you can absolutely do that too.
Online courses
This is where you can create specific video trainings and resources around a solution you provide. And you don’t have to be an expert either. You just have to share what you know through an online course.
This can work for you whether you’re a dog trainer, behaviourist, groomer, dog walker, pet sitter. The list goes on. I guarantee there will be a course idea within you.
You can create smaller online courses at a lower price point which helps your customer solve a small problem or just get them started. Or much larger courses that go into the hundreds of pounds and offer the A to Z guide on a particular topic. And they get all the bells and whistles within that.
So you really can do what you want in terms of how much you put into it. So don’t overcomplicate things if you’re procrastinating on creating yours right now. It can be straightforward.
And again, the brilliant thing about this is, you put them on your website, you create a sales page around it and people can just buy it at any point.
Online memberships
I do love this business model. This is where you can really start to bring in recurring revenue into your business. With this option people pay you every month for being inside your amazing membership.
A membership can include anything from a Facebook group where members get community support and can ask questions. You could have a training hub where you have video trainings and resources within that as well. You may have coaching calls where you come together on zoom once a week or maybe twice a month. Or regular guest experts that create content for you.
There are many different features you can include within your membership, but the important thing is to make the outcome super clear for your ideal customer. What problem is it going to help your people solve?
This is not about giving guarantees or making promises on the outcome you’ll provide. This is about helping them understand how this is actually going to help them, then using your copy and messaging to show how amazing your membership is.
Online group programs
This is generally a group service that operates over a set period of time. And again, it’s important that your program solves a very specific problem for your ideal customer.
It might run for six weeks, three months or six months. You run them as cohorts and bring a bunch of people in who all take the same journey at the same time.
You might have video trainings, you might offer live coaching and have a Facebook group as well. So it’s similar to a membership, but it’s more focussed where people are working through that program at the same time to achieve the same outcome.
You could do an in person group program, but there would be a limit on the amount of people you can serve. Online makes it more accessible to far more people. You can really scale that to hundreds of people at a time.
Affiliate sales
This is where you can become an affiliate for different businesses and earn a commission for recommending them to your audience or customers.
So for me, I have many different tools that I use in my business, and I’ve become an affiliate for them. When I recommend those tools to my audience and share my unique affiliate link with them, I then get paid a percentage of that sale if they sign up to it.
So right now I have a whole page on my website for ‘Tech I recommend’. People visiting can look through that list of tech and if they click on that and buy it, I’ll receive a small commission for that at no cost to them.
Another example of this is my dog blog GoneDogMad. Within the posts on my blog I recommend useful products that dog parents can buy. For example, I wrote a blog post around how to bathe a puppy, and within that I might mention products like shampoos. Because I’m an Amazon affiliate, I’ll share my unique links to those products. And regardless of whether they buy that product or anything else on Amazon, I receive commission for those purchases.
This is entirely passive and brings in sales every day. So think about what you could become an affiliate for that is really going to help your audience. It’s a great way to earn extra income on the side.
Ad sales
I wouldn’t really recommend this option unless you have a standalone blog. But it’s such a great way to bring in passive income.
On that dog blog I mentioned up there, I run ads. I’m part of an ad network called Ezoic. And it means that ads serve on my blog and I get paid every month for serving those ads.
It currently generates anywhere between £100 – £200 every month just for having these ads on my blog. This along with my affiliate sales are the ultimate in passive income for me right now because I literally don’t do a thing to earn that money. I haven’t done anything for that blog for over two years now, but it makes me money.
Obviously there was some work initially to set all of this up. And it’s something I do want to invest time in again to grow it further soon. Because it’s all based on traffic, the more visitors I bring to the blog, the more money I’ll make from those ads. So as soon as I can put my time and attention into that, I absolutely will.
I hope this has helped you consider which business model is best for you as an introvert. Because as you can see, there are a ton of options available to you. And it’s really about choosing a way that works for you and pleases that introvert within you. What we don’t want is to run a business that leaves you feeling drained all the time, exhausted and close to burnout. Your business should make you happy.
So do think about what might need to change in your business right now. And perhaps what you might want to introduce too. Have a good sit down with yourself and think about it. Dream up where you want to take things. That’s the first step.