This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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What are the most profitable niches for teaching? Some topics for niches are much more profitable than others. Today's caller is wondering if we can kind of cut to the chase and just give him a list, which is funny, but you know, fair enough. So we talk on the show all the time. You can make money all sorts of ways.
You may be aware of that from listening to this podcast from our very first week, more than 3,300 episodes ago, when we looked at a guy in England earning thousands of dollars in passive income from publishing a blog about fish tanks to people selling all sorts of odd or unusual services. There really is something for everyone. And that's one of my favorite things about making the show is coming across all sorts of different stories. But that said, some topics or niches, niche if you prefer, some topics are much more profitable than others. So today's caller is like, hey, just give me the list.
All right, look, you know, I respect the hustle. All right, I respect the directness. So I'm gonna give it a try. Detailed question coming up. I'm gonna give a detailed specific answer.
Stay tuned. [Music]
Hi, Chris, this is Tucker. And I've been listening to your show for a couple of years. You've mentioned that some topics are more profitable than others, like personal finance, for example. Do you have a list of topics like these?
Also, what do profitable topics have in common? Knowing in advance would be helpful as I'm trying to decide on my next project. Thanks and looking forward to hearing your thoughts about this. [Music]
All right, all right, as I said, I respect the direct question. So I will have some maybe addendums and disclosures and, you know, et cetera, some commentary, but let's just do the list first.
Historically profitable categories. And this is updated for 2026, of course, but also they're kind of evergreen. Number one, personal finance. So anything to do with saving, investing, debt, credit, repair, I mean, it's a topic all about money. So it's not surprising that it is profitable.
There are lots of partners that you can monetize that kind of teaching niche, whether you're doing courses or affiliate income or advertising or something else, personal finance. Number two, health and fitness. Also evergreen, but, you know, people spend a lot of money, especially weight loss, longevity, strength. These are topics, niches that, again, are highly monetizable. What else?
Relationships and dating for the same reasons, right? People want self-improvement. You might notice that's kind of a bigger category that all of these topics fit into so far. So relationships and dating, but also high intensity hobbies with expensive gear. So if you think about a hobby or a sport where people have to spend money to participate in it, like I'm a runner and, you know, people can build businesses around running, but running is also like a pretty inexpensive sport.
You know, like if I don't want to spend any money to go out and run every day, I don't have to. But if I am into photography or cycling or some kind of home studio setup or golf, you know, like these kinds of hobbies or activities, like you have to spend money to participate in them. So hobbies with expensive gear, tech skills is another one, coding, AI tools, data science, and so on. And then last but not least, real estate, which I know can be kind of boring. You're like, I listened to Cytos School to hear things.
I don't hear otherwise, but you know, people are interested in real estate. So again, in terms of teaching, teaching about investing, buying, selling, renovating, flipping, et cetera, there's a big market for it. So what do these things have in common? Okay, why are these profitable topics? Because this is actually a more interesting question, I think it might lead you to discover something that's different and is less saturated, perhaps.
I think these topics work because people have urgent problems. They have measurable outcomes and a willingness to spend, like either money or attention to improve their situation. They will watch a lot of YouTube videos. They will buy the golf gear or the photography gear that's gonna help them, you know, have a better outcome or product, et cetera. They have a high desire or a high pain points.
The more somebody feels a problem, like stress about debt, anxiety about dating and relationships or career changes, the more motivated they are to take action. So it's the pain and also the desire. So same desire about like, I really wanna learn tech skills or I want abs for summer, you know, like all of these things are high desires or high pain points. Also a big market, a big market of actively searching people. And then maybe products or services people already buy.
Like when there is an ecosystem, books, courses, apps, so on, it's easier to fit in. You don't have to invent an entirely new business model. I think that is a big mistake a lot of people make when they're starting their first side hustle. They're like, I need to make something that has never been done before or enter a market in which there are no competitors. Big mistake, you know, most likely if you do that, you're gonna have to spend a ton of time educating people.
And there might be a very good reason why there are not products in that market. Whereas for existing markets with products that are already out there, just shows that there's a willingness to spend. So I think it's important to think about those things, not just kind of jump into any one of those items or categories that I named. Think about, is there a real problem? People are actively trying to solve.
Can I offer a transformation that they can feel or measure? And am I willing to spend a lot of time inside this topic? I think that is the path. Like those are the things you wanna think about when you think about what are the most profitable niches for teaching. All right, I hope that is helpful.
I hope it's helpful, not just to our caller, but somebody else out there as well. Listen, we have a lot of people who are trying to start side hustles in the field of education, starting a course or YouTube channel or something else. And this is a business model that does not go away. Like it evolves, it changes, there are always new platforms, mediums, et cetera. But it's something that I think a lot of people still can find success in, even for your first side hustle.
I'll leave you with that today, but of course we'll talk about it more in other ways as the year goes on. Be sure you're subscribed for free daily episodes. Free, always free, wherever you get your shows. That's it for now, my name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.
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From the Onward Project.
