How can I expand into higher‑profit niches like recruitment agencies or real estate when I have no proof or track record in those niches?
Nick explains that expanding into a new niche doesn’t require proof or track record in that niche; what matters is demonstrating a concrete return on investment for any niche you’ve worked in. If you have ROI, people will assume you’re broadly capable, not just skilled in one area. He cites Maker School members who generated hundreds of millions in value with big corporations but lack AI automation case studies, emphasizing they should focus on the value they’ve already delivered. He dismisses the idea that you need hyperspecific case studies as BS, stating people care primarily about ROI, so that should be the focus. If you lack ROI and have a weak case study, you can tier‑list your offerings accordingly.
Don’t try to fully master a niche before you start—use outreach and sales calls to learn its internal processes, pain points, and sales cycle. You can gather only high‑level insights from ChatGPT or YouTube, but real understanding comes from actual conversations. Leverage your own background as social proof: if you’ve worked in B2B LED manufacturing, you can confidently offer AI‑powered lead‑generation, cold‑email, and automation services to similar product‑based businesses, citing specific results you’ve delivered. This approach should be one of the three niches you pursue.
My specific niche is building growth systems for B2B agencies (I now refer to them as companies on my website). While B2B companies is broad, I have such a high top‑of‑funnel that it doesn’t matter much how niched down I am—I could run a very general niche and still get people to fill out my audit because they like my content. That said, there’s nuance, but essentially I focus on growth systems for B2B agencies.
b2b agenciesgrowth systemsniche selectiontop of funnel
Niches that work in 2026 for AI and automation share three traits: you can digitally scrape decision makers, they are high ticket, and they have low compliance needs. For example, general contractors lack online listings, making them hard to scrape. A dog walker might charge $1,000/month, but an MSP can charge $1,000–$10,000/month. Landing one more MSP client can generate tens or hundreds of thousands over the engagement, whereas a dog walker yields far less. Marketing effort is similar for both, so target the high‑ticket clients for greater social proof. High‑compliance niches like finance, healthcare, or insurance are difficult because regulations change quickly with AI and beginners lack the expertise to handle PII, data anonymization, and warehousing. Beginners should focus on digitally scrapable, high‑ticket, low‑compliance industries. In those niches you can sell any front‑end offer—client acquisition—and succeed.
I understand wanting to work in a niche you have experience in, but I’ve succeeded in many niches where I had none. I look for high‑ROI opportunities and dive in using whatever means necessary. Following your heart doesn’t always lead to the highest ROI, so my strategy is simple: I test many niches based on intuition—knowing I’ll often be wrong—then I double down on the one that works. This might involve a month‑long test of sending cold emails with different offers to different groups, or simply getting as many deals as possible on a platform like Upwork to see which niche pays best. Once I see a winning niche, I focus on it.