Eben Pagan reveals the three mega-niches that dominate information product sales: health and fitness, dating and relationships, and money and business. He explains why these niches work based on human evolution and fundamental needs, then teaches how to narrow down within these niches using the Pareto Principle to focus on the 20% that generates 80% of results.
Big Mega Niches
Eben reveals that health and fitness, dating and relationships, and money and business account for the vast majority of successful information products. These niches work because they address fundamental human needs rooted in evolution: survival, reproduction, and self-actualization.
Rather than targeting an entire niche, focus on the 20% that generates 80% of the results. This approach makes your communication more targeted and helps prospects feel you're speaking directly to their specific needs and challenges.
Starting with one-on-one coaching at $100-200 per hour provides immediate income and serves as paid market research. True coaching helps people access solutions they already know rather than simply giving information, making it an ideal complement to building information products.
Most experts mistakenly start with advanced material, forgetting that 60-80% of any market consists of inexperienced people. Successful information products focus on basics, provide clear vocabulary, and include detailed action steps for newcomers.
“The big three mega niches, health and fitness, dating and relationships, money and business. These are the niches that have to do with the fundamentals of life. Survival, reproduction, self actualization, expression.”
— Eben Pagan▶ 0:32
The three mega-niches are health and fitness, dating and relationships, and money and business. These work because they address fundamental human needs related to survival, reproduction, and self-actualization.
“when you focus on only 20% of the niche that's getting you the 80% of the results, you actually do better because not only are you acting much more efficiently, but also when you're talking to those 20%, they feel like you're talking right to them”
— Eben Pagan▶ 2:45
Focus on the 20% of your niche that generates 80% of the results. This makes your communication more targeted and helps prospects feel like you're speaking directly to them.
“When in doubt, appeal to beginners...probably 60 to 80% of my customers have very little experience”
— Eben Pagan▶ 6:24
Always appeal to beginners when in doubt. 60-80% of customers in any niche have very little experience, regardless of topic complexity.
“several of the people I know who have built very, very successful information businesses starting out doing one on one coaching over the telephone for, you know, a $100 an hour, a $150 an hour, $200 an hour”
— Eben Pagan▶ 3:40
You can charge $100-200 per hour for telephone coaching. This provides immediate income while you build your information business and serves as paid market research.
“personal coaching is not about giving people information. It's actually about helping them access their own resources...Most people actually have the answers”
— Eben Pagan▶ 4:59
Coaching is about helping people access their own resources and solutions they already know, not giving them information. Most people have the answers but lack accountability or can't remember what worked.
“If you don't get your niche right, it's very hard to make up for it later with good marketing”
— Eben Pagan▶ 8:54
Eben emphasizes you must 'win beforehand' with proper niche selection because it's very hard to compensate for a poor niche choice later, no matter how good your marketing is.
A systematic approach to choosing profitable niches using multiple layered strategies
Start with the big three
Choose a subset within health and fitness, dating and relationships, or money and business because these address fundamental human needs
Apply the Pareto Principle
Focus on the 20% of your chosen niche that will generate 80% of your results by identifying the most motivated prospects with unique needs
Appeal to beginners
Target inexperienced customers who make up 60-80% of any market by providing basics, vocabulary terms, and detailed action steps
Layer your strategies
Combine niche testing, customer research, narrowing focus, problem-solving orientation, and beginner appeal to maximize success probability
Validate before marketing
Keep talking to prospective customers and fine-tuning until you identify a niche that's very likely to work before building landing pages or spending on advertising
The three mega-niches that dominate information product sales are health and fitness, dating and relationships, and money and business because they address fundamental human needs of survival, reproduction, and self-actualization
Eben states that 'people buy information products, ebooks, audio programs, training, coaching, advice on those topics most of all because that's how we evolved' and that only '10 or 20% of information products probably sell in other topics and special interests and hobbies'
Apply the Pareto Principle to niche selection by focusing on the 20% of your niche that generates 80% of the results, which makes your communication more focused and targeted
Eben cites Vilfredo Pareto's research showing '80% of the results in any system are coming from 20% of the inputs' with examples like '80% of the sales are probably being made by 20% of the salespeople' and '80 of the tomatoes were created by 20% of the plants'
Start coaching as a moonlighting job while building your information business because it provides immediate income at $100-200 per hour and serves as paid market research
Eben explains that 'several of the people I know who have built very, very successful information businesses starting out doing one on one coaching over the telephone for, you know, a $100 an hour, a $150 an hour, $200 an hour' and that 'You get to get paid to do all this research'
Coaching is about helping people access their own resources rather than giving them information, using questions to guide them to solutions they already know
Eben states that 'personal coaching is not about giving people information. It's actually about helping them access their own resources' and provides a script: 'what's your biggest challenge right now?...what have you tried that worked?...What do you think the next step is?'
Always appeal to beginners when in doubt because 60-80% of customers in any niche have very little experience, regardless of the topic complexity
Eben shares from his experience across multiple niches: 'probably 60 to 80% of my customers have very little experience' and 'probably 80 or so percent or 90% of the niches that I've launched, I keep a big part of it focused on the newbies'
Layer multiple niche selection strategies together - niche testing, customer research, narrowing focus, problem-solving orientation, mega-niche selection, and beginner appeal - to dramatically increase success probability
Eben explains that 'as you layer one on top of another on top of another, you dramatically increase your probability of success. If you leave any of them out...you lower your chances of success'
Win beforehand with proper niche selection because it's very hard to make up for a poor niche choice later with good marketing
Eben emphasizes 'If you don't get your niche right, it's very hard to make up for it later with good marketing' and advises to 'Keep fine tuning your niche until you identify a niche that's very likely to work'
The three mega-niches that dominate information product sales are health and fitness, dating and relationships, and money and business because they address fundamental human needs of survival, reproduction, and self-actualization
▶ 0:32Apply the Pareto Principle to niche selection by focusing on the 20% of your niche that generates 80% of the results, which makes your communication more focused and targeted
▶ 2:10Start coaching as a moonlighting job while building your information business because it provides immediate income at $100-200 per hour and serves as paid market research
▶ 3:40Coaching is about helping people access their own resources rather than giving them information, using questions to guide them to solutions they already know
▶ 4:59Always appeal to beginners when in doubt because 60-80% of customers in any niche have very little experience, regardless of the topic complexity
▶ 6:24Layer multiple niche selection strategies together - niche testing, customer research, narrowing focus, problem-solving orientation, mega-niche selection, and beginner appeal - to dramatically increase success probability
▶ 8:07Win beforehand with proper niche selection because it's very hard to make up for a poor niche choice later with good marketing
▶ 8:54Claim: “Coaching means giving people information and advice based on your expertise”
Reframe: Coaching is about helping people access their own resources and solutions they already know but can't implement
Claim: “Start with advanced material to demonstrate expertise when launching an information product”
Reframe: Always appeal to beginners first because 60-80% of any market consists of inexperienced people
“The big three mega niches, health and fitness, dating and relationships, money and business. These are the niches that have to do with the fundamentals of life. Survival, reproduction, self actualization, expression.”
“If you don't get your niche right, it's very hard to make up for it later with good marketing.”
“Most people actually have the answers. They just can't get themselves to do it.”
Never Give Advice Before Doing This Step FIRST
Discover the surprising question that transforms coaching sessions and gets clients to take immediate action.
Using “Risk Reversal” to Get More Clients & Become A Better Coach
The counterintuitive guarantee strategy that gets coaches more clients while forcing them to deliver better results.
How to Inspire INSTANT Action From Others
The simple two-step formula that gets people to take action immediately instead of just consuming more information.
Powerful Communication Strategies
Learn how to increase the perceived value of your information products by 10x to 100x through refined communication strategies that make customers feel like your content was created specifically for them.
Persuade People Using Incentives
Discover the hidden psychology behind all human decisions and how to align incentives for powerful persuasion.
Understanding Prospective Customer
The sales technique that gets prospects to open up about their deepest fears and buying triggers—completely changing how you approach one-on-one presentations.
Coaching Strategies
Business Frameworks
Common Mistakes
You can increase perceived value by 10x to 100x by refining your communication and learning skills to frame everything as having much more value.
Some books sell for $10 while others sell for $1,000 - the difference is in how value is communicated, not the information itself.
Adopt the mindset that you're teaching one person alone, not a group - talk to individuals who are experiencing your content by themselves from their perspective.
When someone says 'hi, all of you out there,' an individual listener thinks 'I'm not all of you out there, I'm an individual' and the connection breaks.
Always help clients identify what they want to create, achieve, and avoid before offering any advice or teaching
Eben Pagan uses this as his first step in every coaching session, whether consulting, coaching, or mentoring, asking clients to share their goals and what they want to avoid
Check if clients already know what they need to do before providing solutions, then work on implementation rather than giving the 'Easy Button'
This methodology leads to the most growth and change according to Eben's coaching experience, as it ensures clients do their best before receiving direct help
