It’s January and you know what that means. Time to focus on your new year’s resolution(s). Perhaps you’ve resolved to hit the gym more often. Or you might be focused on another goal like quitting smoking. Whatever your resolution, we at Human Proof Designs wish you the best of luck. And, if this were a motivational blog we’d now launch into a lengthy Tony Robbins-like sermon.
But it’s not.
Instead, we’re all about niche sites. It’s our passion. And it’s an area where we’ve helped others to succeed too.
So, in the spirit of niche sites – let’s add that to your focus this New Year. We’ve already begun the discussion with our last post which highlighted Brad, a Human Proof success story. Now, going further, let’s look at a few niches where you can achieve comparable levels of success.
We’ll begin our discussion by looking at some of the best niches for 2016. These niches are either “hot” right now, or set to catch fire in the coming year.
2016 Specific Niches
At the top of this “best of 2016” list are niches related to upcoming events. Sports fans, for example, will recognize 2016 as an Olympic year. This year’s event, the Summer Olympics, will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Knowing this, you might choose to build a site around Olympics-related niches. Examples here include little-known Olympic sports and information on the 2016 games themselves. You could also build a niche site around Rio de Janeiro (the host city) or an aspect of Brazilian culture, as both will be receiving increased attention due to the games.
Another 2016 event that you could build a site around is the American presidential election. If you were to work in this niche, you might focus on a single candidate, election news, or another loosely-connected topic.
Don’t worry though, if you can’t find a good niche related to America’s Presidential race or the Olympics. These two events are not the only things happening in 2016. To find other event-based niches, think about what else is slated to take place in the year ahead. What upcoming events have you consistently heard about on the news? As you ask these questions and do the necessary research, you’re bound to uncover a “hot” niche.
All the same, beware of looking only at events as you seek out potential niches. For events are not the only “hot” niches in 2016. Other promising, non-event niches for the year ahead include drones and “smart drugs” (nootropics). Both of these niches can be considered “hot” because they are consistently featured in the media and have a strong base of hobbyists.
Drones, for example, are a favorite subject of the media when discussing international conflicts, American foreign policy, and “what’s next” in technology. Outside of the press, drones are also a favorite of remote control (RC) hobbyists. These hobbyists used to spend hundreds of dollars on their RC plane or helicopter “addiction”. With the advent of drones, they’re now spending comparable amounts of money on drone-related crafts, parts, and accessories.
As for nootropics, this niche has also been featured prominently in the media. Media attention on nootropics has focused on the basics of nootropics, the ethics of usage, and various startups in the niche. And, like drones, nootropics also have a strong hobbyist base. This base is used to spending money on self-improvement products and hacks. Now that nootropics are here, the hobbyists are spending the same money on smart drugs from companies like Nootrobox and Nootroo.
Go Evergreen
Beyond 2016-specific niches, you could also build a profitable site in an evergreen niche. Evergreen niches are interesting because they run counter to the kinds of cutting-edge niches we’ve been discussing. An evergreen niche like weight loss is not unique to 2016. The niche existed in 2015 and it will likely exist in 2017 too. Yet it is this predictability that makes weight loss and other evergreen niche so compelling. These kinds of niches are proven winners that never go out of style, in fact, most of our turnkey websites for sale are evergreen. After the 2016 presidential elections and the Rio Olympics, consumers will still demand evergreen niche information. Because of this timelessness, evergreen niches are definitely worth your consideration.
As you think about evergreen niches, be sure to consider the personal finance niche. This niche has a strong track record, apparent from the success of books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad and gurus like Suze Orman. For a niche site, potential topics in personal finance include investing strategies, ways to save money, and how to make money at home.
Another evergreen niche you should consider is dating. The strength of this niche is apparent from a little book called Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Ever heard of it? The book only sold fifty million copies and spent over one-hundred weeks on the bestseller lists. If that was before your time, you might be familiar with other successes in the dating niche like Neil Strauss’s book The Game and “The Art of Charm” blog. These success stories all point to the consistent demand for information on how to succeed at dating. Build a niche site and you can tap into this demand.
Then there’s self-improvement. This third niche should definitely be on your list of potential evergreen niches. The reason is that self-improvement has spawned bestselling books like Chicken Soup for the Soul and motivational legends like Zig Ziglar. The niche has also birthed sites like Lifehacker and countless inspirational YouTube videos. In all of these cases, people are hungry for information on how to improve their personal performance. You can satisfy their hunger with motivational messages, stories of successful individuals, and various productivity hacks.
Speaking of hunger, we’re hungry for feedback. Having spent this post giving you ideas on the best niches of 2016, we’d love to hear your own thoughts. Let us know (in the comments below), what you believe are 2016’s best niches and what you plan to focus on in the year ahead.