Which Side Hustles Can I Do Without Talking to Anyone?
You want something on the side, and you have already ruled some things out: calls, a camera, selling to people on the phone. The lists you find give you eighteen or twenty-two names at a time.
By the end of this guide, you will know who three kinds of side hustle still have you writing to, and what each one asks you to make first. You will also have four questions to put to the next one you find.
We do guided affiliation. We make the videos, captions included, and people post them from their phones.
It is one of the three kinds compared below, on the same questions as the others. Other ways of doing this exist, and they are not wrong for being different.
What "without talking" means on the pages you are reading
Two of the guides that list these side hustles define it the same way: no conversation in real time. No calls, no meetings, no live video. Writing stays allowed, by email or in a chat, at your own pace.
So without talking does not mean without anyone. On those pages, there is still someone on the other end, in writing.
What separates two side hustles with no calls is not whether you write. It is who you write to.
If what you want is nobody at all on the other end, surveys and small online tasks answer that better than anything below. The three kinds compared here are the ones where you still write to someone, and the question is who.
Four questions to put to any side hustle
These come first, and each kind of side hustle below answers them in the same order.
- Do you have to speak, on a call, in a voice note or on video?
- Who do you have to write to, and about what?
- Do you have to film yourself?
- What do you have to make before anything happens?
Three kinds of side hustle where you still write to someone
1. Working for clients, in writing
This covers writing, proofreading, translation and design, as the guide that lists them describes each one.
Do you have to speak? No call is needed for any of the four. The guide describes the contact with clients as written: email, messages, comments in a document.
Who do you write to? Clients. The request arrives in writing, and so do the questions and the comments on what you send.
Do you have to film yourself? You do not.
What do you make first? The work itself, each time a client asks for it.
What it asks of you in return. Someone is waiting on the other end, usually with a date. The writing back and forth is part of the work, not something around it.
2. Selling your designs through a print-on-demand platform
Here, you upload designs, and a platform prints and ships what people order.
Do you have to speak? No call is needed.
Who do you write to? In principle, nobody. The guide that lists it states the exception plainly: a buyer, when there is a problem with an order.
Do you have to film yourself? You do not.
What do you make first? The designs, before anything sells.
What it asks of you in return. The making comes first, and nothing tells you in advance which design will sell.
3. Guided affiliation
Do you have to speak? No call is needed. Everything happens in writing.
Who do you write to? A named manager and coaches, who train you and support you along the way. You can reply to comments under your posts if you want to. It is not required.
Do you have to film yourself? You create nothing and film nothing.
What do you make first? Nothing. We make the videos, captions included. We create an account with you, step by step, and set up the profile, the bio and your own tracked link.
What it asks of you in return. Posting, regularly, about 15 minutes a day. We assign the videos and the account, so you choose neither.
The model is explained step by step in our guide to guided affiliation.
The three kinds of side hustle compared on the four questions
| Speak | Write to | Film yourself | Make first | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Working for clients, in writing | No call | Clients, about the work | No | The work, each time |
| Print-on-demand designs | No call | A buyer, if an order goes wrong | No | The designs |
| Guided affiliation | No call | A manager and coaches | You film nothing | Nothing |
All three work without calls. What separates them is who is waiting for your message, and what you make before anything happens.
For a wider list of things you can start from a phone, see our ranking of the easiest side hustles to start from your phone.
Four questions to ask before you choose a side hustle
Put them to any side hustle, as it is described to you.
- Do I have to speak, on a call, in a voice note or on video?
- Who will I write to, and about what?
- Do I have to film myself?
- What do I have to make before anything happens?
A side hustle that does not answer the second question is not free of contact. It simply does not say who with.