Hey guys! Welcome to ShamaTV!
I got a question in the “Ask Shama” section not to long ago, and it said, “Hey, what do you think are some hot niches out there, or some hot areas in terms of business?”
Now, there’s a lot, and you really have to do your research to kind of figure out what’s hot, and what the audience wants because it depends just as much on the product as it does the audience.
I can honestly tell you two niches that are very hot, and are going to have a fabulous future for the next 5… 10…. 15 … or every 20 years to come.
First is the pet industry. All things Pets! The industry is just booming! We have a client kaninecuisine.com, and they’re fabulous! Every month they have record months. It’s just such a hot field, and if someone does it right… it’s not everybody’s cup of tea… but if you like pets, and you have something that can improve pets lives or whatever it may be, then that is a hot niche.
The second really hot niche is education. Anytime you can educate people- because learning is always hot, and will continue to be as the world changes and progresses- if you can educate people or assist their education efforts. One of the first companies I ever started was tutoring a private teaching company- and this is back in college- and I really enjoyed it, and it helped pay for my college! Definitely a hot field.
Education and the pet industry. So there you go, there’s the answer to your question.
April 3rd, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Makes me think I should be doing Pet Photography!!!
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
“Education” is a pretty broad answer – hardly a niche.
Perhaps you should consider looking at what educational topics represent the best niche opportunity?
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:50 pm
great tip Shama.. thank you
love the education niche
I think that fitness, dieting and the organic healthy foods are good niches too
what do you think about them???
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Hello Shama,
Thanks for the tip on the two hottest niches online.
I have 2 Websites and a Blog.
1. One is a retail women’s store that I’m working hard at promoting and where I’m selling clothing, handbags, shoes & accessories. It’s at: http://www.tamaraofnewyork.com.
2. Another site is exposing my new billing center at: http://www.thebillingandprofitrecoverygroup.com.
3. Then my blog is at: http://www.thebprgroup.com
Since you mentioned education as the second hottest online niche,I will use my blog to also focus on tips & updates about various aspects of billing and the various streams of income for medical providers and general business owners to tap into.
For the public at large, I’ll provide links to great articles & books from experts that deal with making and handling money as well as contributions from other bloggers that will join in the dialogue.
I’m curious to know what you think of my idea.
Also can you give me tips on how to properly market my three sites.
I’m a social networker at Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter.
Continue with your presence on “Ask Shama”. Good luck with it.
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:32 pm
So pet eduction should be really hot;-)
April 4th, 2009 at 11:46 am
2 niches:
Pet Industry
Education
2 great industries. But I agree with Jeremy above. For them to be a niche, they should be specific.
Thanks for the tips though!
April 6th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
The Dog Whisperer now has spin-offs on TV, so I think people are finding it valuable to know how to correct pet behavior problems. Also, catalogs to buy pet supplies proliferate. These days you can give your own shots (with a script from the vet) if you want to do that to save money. And I go online to look up pet issues.
Education is a given, or at least I think it is. But maybe I’m biased. Worked for universities for 20 some years. Really believe we are nowhere without education. But, I don’t like to see education providers rip people off.
April 6th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
And by the way, I like your delivery, Shama. Very natural.
April 8th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Jeremy, Sean, Bruce – Agreed guys. Think of these more as industries-but nonetheless hot industries online.
Ghada – That’s another good one. The fitness market is definitely a good industry but the problem tends to be that it is over saturated.
Maryse- A blog is a good idea. I would also consider doing more in terms of connecting with other bloggers. Retail and education for medical providers are 2 very different niches. I am sure there is room for both when well done. In terms of marketing, there are a million things you could do. Start with grabbing a free copy of my online marketing plan at http://clicktoclient.com and you can also look at The Zen of Social Media Marketing ebook if you are looking to do more in that sector. That can be found at http://ZenofSocialMedia.com
Cass: Great observations.
April 8th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Hey Shama and readers,
When I’m not helping Kali run DreamWorthyGifts.com or tweeting with @DreamWorthy’s followers on Twitter, my day-gig for the past 20-some years has been in corporate training and organizational performance improvement.
“Education” is definitely an industry, but there is a growing hot trend for online education/training, and it’s relatively easy to do a niche placement with that. Currently there are several MLM businesses playing off the “personal/professional development” angle of this, but imagine great online training offerings for:
* Training your dog (combines pets and education)
* Basic automotive maintenance
* Fine-tuning your PC to run faster
* Faux-painting techniques
* Making awesome brownies from scratch
You get the picture.
Keep the great thoughts coming, Shama. I find your advice to be rock solid and some of the most cogent and logical.
Mike Kunkle
COO & Chief Marketing Officer
DreamWorthy Gifts LLC
April 10th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
While not related to online niches, we just had a doggy cafe open here. You bring your pet inside and he is free to roam around and mingle with other pets while you sip on your espresso. I hear they are doing quite well. Tough to see what might do well online though – especially with the dot com boom Pets website that lost a fortune. Maybe just for marketing an upscale kennel (hotel).
April 10th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Hi Bruce,
That’s such a cute idea. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing. : ) I’d love to be able to take Snoopy inside a coffee shop with me.
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Interesting blog post. What would you say was the most important marketing factor?
April 24th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Hi John-
I’d say the most important factor in marketing is imagination. Video next week ; )