Niche Pursuits Podcast: Find Your Next "Niche" Business Idea!

Craig Hewitt shares how he turned a WordPress plugin with roughly 20,000 installs into Castos, a podcast hosting SaaS generating over $1 million in revenue. He explains why website traffic has dropped by about 50% while free trials have increased, and how comparison pages and free tools now drive higher-intent visitors.
 
Craig also breaks down how AI powers Castos' marketing, development, and roughly half of its customer support. Plus, he explains why his six-person team spends about 20% of its time building AI systems and experimenting with new workflows.
 
 
Sponsor: Quiet Light
Get a free, confidential valuation at https://quietlight.com/!
 
 
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter
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Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper
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Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative
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Links & Resources
Check out Castos: https://castos.com/
Learn more about Craig's work: https://craighewitt.com/
Watch Rogue Startups: https://roguestartups.com/
Craig's YouTube account: https://www.youtube.com/@thecraighewitt
 
 
- You can learn more about me and get additional website tips at: https://www.nichepursuits.com
- You can learn about optimizing your site with internal links using a WordPress Plugin I created right here: https://www.linkwhisper.com
 
Thanks for watching and please consider subscribing to the main Niche Pursuits YouTube channel by clicking here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/youtube

Veronica Llorca-Smith shares how she built a six-figure business around multiple connected income streams, including Substack, courses, workshops, coaching, books, and public speaking. She breaks down how her 14,000-subscriber community generates about $25,000 annually and how corporate speaking can bring in $15,000 to $20,000 during busy months.
Veronica also explains why roughly 80% of her course sales happen during the first month and how she repurposes newsletter content into paid products. Plus, she shares what she learned from low book sales, landing a Penguin deal, and turning one area of expertise into several offers.
 
 
Sponsor: Quiet Light
Get a free, confidential valuation at https://quietlight.com/!
 
 
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative
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Links & Resources
Check out The Lemon Tree Mindset (Substack): https://veronicallorcasmith.substack.com
Connect with Veronica on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronicallorcasmith/
Get Veronica's free Substack video tutorial: https://verollorcasmith.gumroad.com/l/substackhomepage/pg8w660
 
 
- You can learn more about me and get additional website tips at: https://www.nichepursuits.com
- You can learn about optimizing your site with internal links using a WordPress Plugin I created right here: https://www.linkwhisper.com
 
Thanks for watching and please consider subscribing to the main Niche Pursuits YouTube channel by clicking here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/youtube

At just 21, Maddox Schmidlkofer has already grown a gaming website to $1,000 a day and sold it for $120,000, after several earlier projects failed to take off. Now he's building Tallow, a consumer app generating less than $2,000 per month as he works toward a $4,000 monthly revenue goal.
 
Maddox shares why he now spends roughly 80% of his time on marketing, how short-form content fueled his previous success, and what makes growing an app so different. He also explains why he has set an October 31 deadline to decide how much longer to pursue Tallow.
 
 
Sponsor: Quiet Light Get a free, confidential valuation at https://quietlight.com/!
 
 
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
Links & Resources
Learn more about Maddox's projects: https://maddoxschmidlkofer.com/
Check out Tallow: https://tallow.app/
 
 
- You can learn more about me and get additional website tips at: https://www.nichepursuits.com
- You can learn about optimizing your site with internal links using a WordPress Plugin I created right here: https://www.linkwhisper.com
 
Thanks for watching and please consider subscribing to the main Niche Pursuits YouTube channel by clicking here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/youtube

Jason Zigelbaum has grown Zigpoll into a one-person SaaS generating about $142,000 in MRR, or roughly $1.7 million in annualized revenue. In this episode, he shares how 90% of the business comes through the Shopify App Store and why reviews, churn reduction, onboarding, and customer feedback have driven much of its growth.
 
Jason also explains how he uses AI across product development, marketing, design, and data analysis while still handling customer support himself. We also discuss pricing, annual plans, moving upmarket, and his plans to take Zigpoll from $2 million toward $4 million in annual revenue.
 
 
Sponsor: Quiet Light
Get a free, confidential valuation at https://quietlight.com/!
 
 
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
Links & Resources
Learn more about Zigpoll: https://www.zigpoll.com/
Install Zigpoll: https://apps.shopify.com/zigpoll
Connect With Jason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-zigelbaum 
 
 
- You can learn more about me and get additional website tips at: https://www.nichepursuits.com
- You can learn about optimizing your site with internal links using a WordPress Plugin I created right here: https://www.linkwhisper.com
 
Thanks for watching and please consider subscribing to the main Niche Pursuits YouTube channel by clicking here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/youtube

In this episode, Jared Bauman talks with Besmir Bregasi, founder of ZeroRank, about what is driving LLM citations in 2026 and why Reddit, X, YouTube, and fresh off-site mentions matter so much. Besmir shares ZeroRank data on user-generated content, local AI visibility, and the on-site factors that still support citation potential.
He also explains how ZeroRank's first version was built in three months, grew past 1,000 customers through AppSumo, and reached mid-six figures in ARR. They also discuss AppSumo economics, recurring revenue, referrals, affiliates, and ZeroRank's next growth phase.
 
 
Sponsor: Quiet Light Get a free, confidential valuation at https://quietlight.com/!
 
 
Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
Links & Resources
Check out ZeroRank: https://zerorank.ai/
Learn more about LanderLab: https://landerlab.io/
 
 
- You can learn more about me and get additional website tips at: https://www.nichepursuits.com
- You can learn about optimizing your site with internal links using a WordPress Plugin I created right here: https://www.linkwhisper.com
 
Thanks for watching and please consider subscribing to the main Niche Pursuits YouTube channel by clicking here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/youtube