12 of the most profitable course niches for an online business

Why start an online business, where you share your knowledge, skills, experience and passion, by creating and selling online courses or other digital products? Maybe you dream of having more freedom and flexibility in your life? You may have a family that you want to be able to adjust your times around. Or perhaps you finally want to be able to invest more of your time in something that feels meaningful and enjoyable? Whether you're ready to quit your 9-5 or want to work less and add multiple streams of income by being your own boss in a home-based online business, an online course can be a great way to make a living.

No matter what skills and talents you want to share, there’s likely an audience that’s eager to learn them. But it’s wise to put some thought into the niche you’ll want to choose. The greater the demand, the more profitable your online business will be.

Let’s look at some profitable markets where there is a good demand. The four markets that never fail to make profits are health, wealth, relationships, and hobby. Markets are broken down into segments that have multiple niches, which in turn can be broken down into micro niches. The micro niches are what you would aim for.

Health & Wellness
Heath, wellness, and fitness are large and steady-growing markets, and are perfectly suited to teach online. Health and fitness is a steady growing segment of the $4.2 trillion global wellness economy 2017. The wellness economy grew by 12.8% over 2015. There are five main areas of health and wellness: physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual.

The health & wellness segment offers endless opportunities to niche down and help people improve their lives. Niches could be weight loss, nutrition, gut health, healthy eating, mindfulness, stress management, skin care, or essential oils. An example of niching down could be a course or program about how to lose weight after pregnancy.

Fitness
All sorts of sports and exercise programs are included in this niche. Here you could really niche down to what could make a perfect fit for an online course, such as home workouts, yoga, Pilates, senior fitness, and hiking. Niching it down further to suit your ideal customer could be home workouts for busy moms.

Related Reading: 10 Steps to Take Your Idea to an Online Business 

Personal finance
Helping people manage their finances is another large and profitable market. The five areas of personal finance include savings, investing, protecting, spending and income. People will always need advice and guidance in ways to manage and grow their money. Online courses could be teaching about bookkeeping, tax preparation, budget and business ventures. An example of niching down could be how to make a budget for families.

Relationships
Our relationships are important to us, and people will always need guidance at different stages in life. There is a wide range of areas in this niche that could provide great online course topics, from fertility, baby sleep, parenting, home-schooling, dating, better relationships for couples, boundary setting, blended families, how to navigate menopause etc. A micro niche could be baby sleep training.

Food & Beverage
The many popular cooking and baking programs, show that food is a hot topic and people have a desire to master this life skill themselves. Examples of online courses could be meal planning, sourdough baking, plant-based cooking, Italian cooking, French cooking, Indian cooking, Paleo cooking, microbrewery, or cooking for beginners. Niching down further and pairing an online course with one's skill, passion and heritage could be cooking Italian food like an Italian.

Self-Improvement
As part of the health and wellness market, the demand for self-improvement is growing significantly. People want to learn and grow in different ways to reach their full potential, personally and professionally. The five areas of personal development are: mental, social, spiritual, emotional, physical. Examples of topics in this area could be emotional intelligence, self-esteem, personal growth, build new habits, communication skills, digital skills, organizational skills, career development, time management, public speaking, conflict management and goal setting. A micro niche could be time management for small businesses.

Languages
The demand to learn a new language or to get better at a foreign language continues to grow. As a language teacher, you can teach online and have courses for different levels. Some may need to master grammar for work, others need help expanding their vocabulary to make their holidays more enjoyable. A micro niche could be Spanish for business.

Arts & Crafts
Online art courses are popular and is a growing niche. There are many micro niches you could offer. You don’t have to have a formal training to teach art, but talent and knowledge in the subject. In art, the different techniques are niches in themselves, such as painting in oil, acrylic, and watercolour. Other topics could be sketching, illustration, calligraphy.

Courses in crafts could be sewing, knitting, furniture restoration, scrapbooking, or digital art. A micro niche could be abstract painting in acrylic or sustainable sewing by altering your existing wardrobe.

Home Decor
Our homes mean a lot to us, and the global pandemic perhaps made us realize not only how important it is to utilize them in the best way but also that they can provide wellbeing with the right design. This niche covers anything from interior design, colour schemes, feng shui, tiny space design, lighting, house plants etc. A course topic could be home styling for selling homes more easily.

Lifestyle
All our beloved hobbies are included in this niche, so it's both a popular and large niche. There are many who would want to learn anything from guitar playing, photography, grow organically, sew clothes, train dogs, care for pets, to various DIY projects, the list is long, and this niche provides a lot of creative freedom. Organic farming for beginners could be one micro niche.

Writing
Writing is a valuable skill and a much-loved hobby, providing a verity of online course niches. The five types of writing include narrative writing or storytelling, descriptive writing, persuasive writing, expository writing, and creative writing. If this is your forte, you could perhaps teach grammar to students, creative writing, fiction, poetry, script writing, or perhaps teach aspiring authors the foundations of writing a book and pitch their work to publications. A possible micro niche could be how to write a content for small businesses.

Online marketing
If you have digital marketing knowledge, you could have a large audience eager to learn from you. Many small businesses consist of solopreneurs that need help with their marketing knowledge. Topics could include marketing strategy, branding, website, content strategy, and social media. Having a strong foundation is important when starting a business and since many only teach part of the puzzle, my own niche is to provide an overview of the entire online process and help new course creators with a step-by-step strategy that provides clarity, structure, and support as they start their online business.

If you have an idea for an online course, be sure to research if there is a demand for the services you are going to offer. Niche down and be as specific as you can. Don't forget the important aspect of who you yourself would like to help and have as participants. 

Related reading: 5 Tips to Define Your Ideal Customer as a Small Business Owner

 

I hope you found this article was helpful if you’re in the process of starting your online business!

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