Niches That Do Well In A Recession

Hi Warriors,

I saw a few comments recently about choosing niches and although we've covered this a ton of times in the past, with the economic climate being what it is right now I wanted to share some thoughts on how that might focus your thinking when looking for niches.

The way I approach research at times like this is to look at it like we look at other things in life - like how to beat your upcoming opponent in a sport.

So when I was considering this issue for myself my initial thought was - What niches did well last time there was a recession, since there's a good chance if they're still around they're probably more able to do well during this one.


If you're familiar with Maslow's hierarchy of needs, then you'll know that the basic things like shelter, food and clothing are pretty important to people regardless of most other defining things in life.

For people that are buying homes, they're researching them much more and wanting a lot more information, so if you can tap in to that you can still make money in that niche. (also people that are selling are working hard at making the house look great and get the best price, so there is a DIY niche but it's smaller and more hungry than usual)

There were some generic things that came up like:

*Household items*

People always need things for their homes. They may not be buying or selling houses so much but they're still living in them and many people 'comfort shop' household items because they're easy to justify ("the TV is for all of us dear").


*Food and drink*

Everyone needs food and drink so there's ALWAYS going to be a market for it. You might be wondering how to make money in this niche, but I found quite a few nice opportunities when I dug deep. If you're into writing review sites this can be a nice niche, the same goes for offline business directories.

(this includes things like dieting because people use the incentive to save money as a reason to stick to a diet where they may not have in the past)


*Smoking*

Or rather, stopping smoking.

When money gets tight - smokers start thinking about stopping.

This opens up a host of opportunities for products on hynosis and similar.


*Accessories*

Although people don't spend so much on new gadgets and toys, they tend to replace that with buying accessories for the things they have.

So with iPhones and iPods, Wiis, PS3, Mobile phones - there are a ton of nice sub-niches in the long tail that you can do well with.


*News*

When people are feeling bad about the economy and things in general, they also tend to thrive on gossip and news about things that would normally not be important.

If you're able to tap into hot news stories and come up with relevant and interesting (read controversial) information you can do really well monetising that traffic with Adsense and CPA offers, or even merchandise related to the subject (gifts, books, movies etc..)

This may sound negative but people also worry more about things and my research indicated that they tend to buy more home and personal security related things too.


*Cars*

I know this one sounds wrong, but the auto industry is in crisis right now and although the dealers are not interested in selling to people with poor credit (the default rates are too risky for them now), they LOVE to sell to people with money and will do a lot more to get those customers.

If you're into CPA offers, this can be a good time.


*Second hand buying*

Sites like Ebay and Craigslist do well because people who need money are selling things at very cheap prices, and people who don't have much but want to buy turn to these sites to find bargains. If you're in that process somewhere you can make money.



There are many more but I don't want to spoil all of your fun.

So I'll leave you with this one:


*Careers*

Jobs are tight and many people are getting layed off, but some industries are growing. These include Health Care, Energy, Education, Utilities, International Business, Food, Pharmaceuticals among others.

Here's some data I found on specific jobs.


Job - Growth - Why.

Financial adviser - 41% - As boomers retire, they'll need financial hand-holding.


Software program manager - 29% - Someone has to prevent complex systems from going kerflooey.


Database administrator - 29% - See above. It's good to be a computer nerd.


Physical therapist - 27% - The baby boomers' backs and knees aren't getting any younger.


Physician assistant - 27% - Managed-care companies love PAs: They're cheaper than docs.


Environmental specialist - 25% - Ever heard of global warming?
You may still think it's not related to sunspots, but that's another thread for another day


Hydrologist - 24% - Water is in short supply. People get thirsty. Enough said.


College professor - 23% - It's Econ 101: Demand for schooling is growing.


Certified public accountant - 18% - Thank complex tax codes and audit-hungry regulators.


Teacher - 12% - Try to get fired from this union job. Just try.


I hope my miandering thoughts on this are useful to someone.

Andy