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Best - Most Profitable - Local Niche(s)

by PDLaughlin
11 replies
Hey Warriors,

Wanted to get some feedback on some of the more profitable niches that you are working with right now.

For example, professional service providers - like financial planners, attorneys, CPA's etc - definitely have more money to spend but are a little more difficult to work with than a Service Company like a roofer, plumber, locksmith, etc.

I know this may be a difficult question to answer because we're all offering different services but any input of what you're seeing currently would be greatly appreciated and something I think we could all benefit from.

Thanks!
Drew
#local #niches #profitable
  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    Originally Posted by PDLaughlin View Post

    Hey Warriors,

    Wanted to get some feedback on some of the more profitable niches that you are working with right now.

    For example, professional service providers - like financial planners, attorneys, CPA's etc - definitely have more money to spend but are a little more difficult to work with than a Service Company like a roofer, plumber, locksmith, etc.

    I know this may be a difficult question to answer because we're all offering different services but any input of what you're seeing currently would be greatly appreciated and something I think we could all benefit from.

    Thanks!
    Drew
    Roofers are some of my favorites, and they typically do spend more money than attorneys, CPA's and such. CPA's are one of my least favorite to target, not quite as low on the totem pole as real estate agents but they're down there. They seem to never have any money to spend.

    I have a pretty good list of niches to target but I'm not going to share it here.

    General advice would be to avoid the ones everybody else is trying to target...forget lawyers, dentists, chiropractors, doctors, etc. Go for the less obvious ones. Stay away from the businesses that depend on volume instead of higher end sales.
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    • Profile picture of the author ggumby
      I think you run into issues with CPAs because they don't really understand anything to do with internet marketing, leads, scaling, etc and have no interest in learning nor paying someone to do it for them.

      Your average CPA has enough business that he/she doesn't need to "buy" leads, nor rent websites, or anything like that.

      I've worked in a few firms now, and most local firms have a $0 advertising budget. As in they don't spend a dime on advertising...

      I've been able to get 3-4 leads a week from my local area from basic SEO and ranking towards the top of the search engines as the competition is horrendous.

      If you're looking to target CPA firms, I would look toward firms that are larger in nature. They might even have a marketing professional on staff (who I can guarantee won't understand much of anything related to the IM world).

      Gabe the CPA
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      • Profile picture of the author PDLaughlin
        Originally Posted by ggumby View Post

        I think you run into issues with CPAs because they don't really understand anything to do with internet marketing, leads, scaling, etc and have no interest in learning nor paying someone to do it for them.

        Your average CPA has enough business that he/she doesn't need to "buy" leads, nor rent websites, or anything like that.

        I've worked in a few firms now, and most local firms have a $0 advertising budget. As in they don't spend a dime on advertising...

        I've been able to get 3-4 leads a week from my local area from basic SEO and ranking towards the top of the search engines as the competition is horrendous.

        If you're looking to target CPA firms, I would look toward firms that are larger in nature. They might even have a marketing professional on staff (who I can guarantee won't understand much of anything related to the IM world).

        Gabe the CPA
        Thanks for the input Gabe. It's interesting feedback.
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    • Profile picture of the author PDLaughlin
      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      Roofers are some of my favorites, and they typically do spend more money than attorneys, CPA's and such. CPA's are one of my least favorite to target, not quite as low on the totem pole as real estate agents but they're down there. They seem to never have any money to spend.

      I have a pretty good list of niches to target but I'm not going to share it here.

      General advice would be to avoid the ones everybody else is trying to target...forget lawyers, dentists, chiropractors, doctors, etc. Go for the less obvious ones. Stay away from the businesses that depend on volume instead of higher end sales.
      Thanks for the feedback. I definitely agree that real estate is way down on the totem pole. I've had some success with CPA's actually. And many PI attorneys are looking for any advantage they can get. They spend money. Other attorneys can be a challenge.

      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      Stay away from the businesses that depend on volume instead of higher end sales.
      Excellent stuff! I agree 100%.
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  • Profile picture of the author Peter Lessard
    Have to agree with IAmNameLess
    Funny is all the ones you mentioned are pretty much generally profit broke.
    They have cash flow but their yearly take home sucks.
    Makes one love being an internet marketer even more after you get to peak into their financials ;-)
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    • Profile picture of the author PDLaughlin
      Originally Posted by Peter Lessard View Post

      Have to agree with IAmNameLess
      Funny is all the ones you mentioned are pretty much generally profit broke.
      They have cash flow but their yearly take home sucks.
      Makes one love being an internet marketer even more after you get to peak into their financials ;-)
      Thanks for the feedback Peter.

      I guess my purpose of this thread was to have people list the profitable niches they're working in. Thought it would be helpful to anyone who crossed this thread.

      Hopefully that makes sense.
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    • Profile picture of the author ggumby
      Originally Posted by Peter Lessard View Post

      Have to agree with IAmNameLess
      Funny is all the ones you mentioned are pretty much generally profit broke.
      They have cash flow but their yearly take home sucks.
      Makes one love being an internet marketer even more after you get to peak into their financials ;-)
      I would agree that many lawyers and chiropractors fit in your description above.

      But you must not know many veteran financial planners or partners at CPA firms (or they just don't give you the time of day because they aren't hurting for work). Not that it matters, but i would guarantee the average or median earnings of a seasoned financial professional far surpasses the median earnings of a seasoned internet marketer...

      Just my two cents.
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      • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
        Originally Posted by ggumby View Post

        Not that it matters, but i would guarantee the average or median earnings of a seasoned financial professional far surpasses the median earnings of a seasoned internet marketer...

        Just my two cents.
        I think that depends on how we define "seasoned" internet marketers.... some people treat those making a dollar a day like gods. You're probably right though.
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        • Profile picture of the author ggumby
          Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

          I think that depends on how we define "seasoned" internet marketers.... some people treat those making a dollar a day like gods. You're probably right though.
          I would agree. The top is definitely higher for internet marketers compared to the local "financial planner" or CPA. Even as a partner at a large national firm, many CPAs don't eclipse a million a year in net earnings. Financial planners can do well in excess of that, but I do realize large registered investment advisers, hedge funds, and investment bankers were not being described above.

          But outliers will always exist. They are the exception, not the rule.

          Probably a case of the "safer route" vs the go for broke route. Many go broke, but a few hit home runs...
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          • Profile picture of the author DABK
            Business brokers
            people who board up store windows

            It's not so much about the niche, though, as it is about the owner(s) understanding business set up... In my area, most accountants are lousy for this, don't have a website that works, or a website, and don't want one. But they're people who have a job not business owners. They don't think growth.
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  • Profile picture of the author ggumby
    Pd,

    I'll list some niches and other ideas that I see working with business owners on a daily basis:

    1. Don't target any business where the owner is still doing the work. From word of mouth alone, a service provider who does good work should be able to get himself out of the field if he works in an unsaturated trade. Again, problem being that most guys working out of their truck either don't have the desire or the skills to actually run a legit business. They are craftsmen, not businessmen.

    2. Some businesses/trades/professionals are overcrowded. From my experience, most chiropractors don't make any profit at all if you account for a reasonable wage for themselves for hours worked. Same for many lawyers. Law schools and chiropractic schools (whatever those are) have completely destroyed their own professions by flooding the market with an oversupply of labor. There will obviously be outliers in every profession, but as a general rule, those two suck in terms of actual profitability.

    3. Look for financial planners who've been in the game a while. In the broker/dealer world, they churn through the new hires pretty quickly. If the guy/gal has lasted at least 5 years, there is a good chance they've built up a recurring book of business (they make money on commissions and on AUM fees). I would be weary of this group, though, as the SEO space is extremely crowded (look at what most of these guys are paying per click to get a good idea) and many financial planners are just another breed of used car salesmen (just my opinion.

    4. As I mentioned before, I actually think the CPA niche is a good one to target. I would look for firms with at least 5+ partners though. I would be interested in hearing more of your feedback on how you've done in this niche as you've mentioned above that you've had some success with CPAs.

    5. Trades that are more profitable than people think: roofing, water damage/restoration, electrical contractors (look for ones that primarily do commercial work, much larger dollar figure per job), small manufacturing facilities (most people don't target these), niche contractors (focus on kitchen remodels, bathrooms, additions, etc).

    That is it for now. I agree with iAm, though, most of the highly saturated niches (dental comes to mind) get sales calls, pitches, DM, and cold email all day long. The open rate would be less than 1% in my estimation...
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