opportunities in slow living as an antitrend

From: gregisenberg
This article explores the concept of antitrends and specifically focuses on the opportunities presented by the “slow living” movement as a significant antitrend in today’s fast-paced world.

The Power of Antitrends

While much discussion in the startup world revolves around identifying and capitalizing on emerging trends, there is significant, often overlooked, potential in antitrends. Building a startup around an antitrend can be less competitive and offers a strong defensible position, or “moat” [00:01:44].

An antitrend can be understood as a movement or preference that goes against a dominant, mainstream trend [00:01:07]. For instance, if the prevailing trend is towards artificial intelligence (AI) integration everywhere, an “AI-free” offering could be a powerful antitrend, potentially tapping into significant unmet demand [00:01:13]. A study even suggests that mentioning AI in product descriptions can lower consumer purchase intent, especially in B2C markets [00:02:13].

Identifying Antitrends

Identifying antitrends often involves:

Real-world observation: Noticing behaviors or preferences that diverge from the norm [00:01:54].
Analyzing trends and doing the opposite: Using trend analysis tools to pinpoint what’s popular and then considering its antithesis [00:03:42].

Case Study: Slow Living as an Antitrend

The concept of “slow living” exemplifies a compelling antitrend. It stands in direct opposition to “hustle culture,” which promotes constant work, early mornings, and pushing limits [00:04:16]. Slow living, instead, emphasizes rest, disconnecting from phones, engaging in self-care, and connecting with community [00:05:33].

Tools for Exploring Slow Living

To research and understand the potential of slow living, various tools can be utilized:

Pinterest Trends: This platform is valuable for identifying trending topics and their related sub-trends [00:03:00]. For “slow living,” Pinterest Trends reveals related concepts like “minimalist living rooms” and “cozy bedroom” [00:04:58]. While Pinterest Trends only shows data for one year, it’s excellent for discovering related ideas [00:04:53].
Google Trends (with Glimpse Extension): Google Trends provides a longer historical view of search interest [00:07:34]. For “slow living,” it shows progressive, sustainable growth over the last five years globally [00:07:42]. The Glimpse Chrome extension supercharges Google Trends by adding features like related trends and social media activity breakdown [00:08:49]. It shows that “slow living” is particularly active on Instagram [00:09:57], but also highlights opportunities on platforms like Twitter or LinkedIn where competition might be lower [00:10:15]. Key questions frequently searched include “What is slow living?” and “How to practice slow living?” [00:08:21], providing insight into audience needs.
Cloe (AI Tool): This tool can be prompted to identify top creators and websites in specific niches, such as “slow sustainable living” [00:13:35]. This provides a list of competitors and influencers to analyze further.
Ahrefs: Once potential competitors are identified, tools like Ahrefs can be used for competitive research, assessing website traffic, backlinks, top pages, and organic competition [00:15:29]. The Keyword Explorer feature helps gauge the difficulty of ranking for certain terms and reveals related questions, such as “What is slow living?” [00:16:27]. It can also show geographical search interest, like “Indonesia” being a top search volume for “slow living” [00:16:50].
ViewStats: For analyzing YouTube creators, ViewStats (Mr. Beast’s tool) can assess channel growth, subscriber trends, and viewer engagement, particularly focusing on long-form video views which indicate higher trust [00:17:22]. This helps understand who is successfully engaging the “slow living” audience.