Sports Related Niche?

14 replies
Hi Everyone,

Thanks for checking out this post. I wanted your opinion and thoughts on the possibility in making money online, specifically around the sports market. I have been a sports writer for my college for three full years, and have a good knowledge base with the industry.

But, I also custom football helmets, where I recondition them and sell them on EBay.

Overall, I am just looking for a way to make some money online while using my digital marketing knowledge. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
#niche #related #sports
  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    There are countless ways Andrew, especially if you feel passionate about this niche and have the sports writing background. And the helmets thing is cool to.

    The ways or limitless. Use the search bar to find a few and Google.

    But the *How* is even more important and the *why* is the most important. Why do you want to make money online? If that reason is as important to you as breathing, you will kill it. If it is pretty strong, you will do OK.

    Your skills are the real money maker, meaning, the ways/income streams matter little compared to the skills you develop thru: blogging, building a list, networking, etc.

    I'm partial to blogging as a way of helping folks, connecting with folks and developing my online skills. Terribly partial
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    • Profile picture of the author Andrew Chirico
      Hey Ryan,

      Thanks so much for the advice. It is greatly appreciated.
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  • Profile picture of the author spartan14
    Sport niche its a great niche as day by day people are intersted to improve their health body etc .If you can create content build a blog a youtube channel ,a fanpage etc and build a list .An email list its traffic at a push of a button
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    • Profile picture of the author Andrew Chirico
      How would you suggest that I build a list, specifically for email? Thanks Spartan14.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gambino
    I rarely recommend this but if you're passionate about sports and writing about it, I would start a sports blog. One example I would look at is ProFootballTalk, which was bought in some way by NBC Sports a couple years ago.

    It's simply a syndication of content already produced elsewhere with their spin on it. If you can add new posts multiple times a day, I would do that and get it Google News approved and sell advertising.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    As Ryan said, there are many ways to utilize your sports interest, from straight up news and commentary to fantasy/gambling to collecting memorabilia to...

    You have three years experience, and if you're as bright as you sound, the start of a really good rolodex.

    As for how you build a list, that depends somewhat on what direction you decide to take your business.

    The basic plan is to trade something of value (usually digital content) for an email address. Once on your list, you follow up with some sort of valuable content, including offers, on a regular basis.
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  • Profile picture of the author rhealy29
    Hey Andrew,

    Welcome! I'm not sure if you're familiar with Constant-Content at all, but it's a content site that allows you to write on spec and place articles into a huge library available to buyers at prices you choose.

    The site is not easy to get accepted into, but if you've got three years of college level journalism under your belt, I can't imagine you'd have the slightest trouble getting through the gates.

    I've done a couple of sports articles there in the past which sold relatively quickly. It's been a while but the last one that comes to mind was a 1000+ word op-ed piece comparing Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning. (I'm a Peyton man all the way for what it's worth.)

    It isn't glamorous, and it won't build any equity in anything for you, but if you're looking for some paid writing gigs online, it's definitely one relatively good option that can get the sales rolling.

    In the long-run, if you're looking to own the outlet you publish on, definitely start up your own site and get to work filling it with your best stuff. Your success will be based entirely on the content you put out into the world. Marketing savvy is important, but great material is the only thing that really, really matters. If you build that, they will come.

    As an anecdote, I used to own a blog that was dedicated to making fun of my hapless hometown hockey team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. One of the other blogs I regularly shared links with was called "Down Goes Brown", another blog with a similar mission but less bitter than mine! Whereas mine was more of a lark at the expense of some loveable losers, that blog was really well done, and really consistent, and eventually it was picked up by SportsNet, a major Canadian sports broadcaster owned by one of the biggest telecoms in the country.
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  • Profile picture of the author tasari
    Sport is a good niche... but don't go to general... get a specific one.
    And selling products as income will not be so easy, you need to competite big malls/shops... maybe become their affiliate to get a portion of it, of course less income...
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  • Profile picture of the author chrisniel
    Hey Andrew,

    It's great that you already have your niche ready.
    You can definitely make money in this niche.
    Go to Amazon and find products related to your niche.
    Then make a niche micro niche site on custom football helmets
    Rank for your main keyword and eventually over the time, you will rank for other keywords also.
    Don't stop working on it even if you achieved #1 position on Google for your main keyword.
    It's time to scale the business.
    Start expanding your micro niche site to next level by covering new thing around your primary niche with which you can make more money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Muffinman85
    Hi Andrew
    Reach out to your target market and find out what interests them.
    Get their attention creating informative blog posts.
    Sell your sports items to them!
    Stay consistent and disciplined!
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  • Profile picture of the author adamcrew
    Have fun with sports links
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  • Profile picture of the author adamcrew
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author OptedIn
      Originally Posted by adamcrew View Post

      Link removed.
      Reported as SPAM. Do I have to do everything, around here??? :-)
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      "He not busy being born, is busy dying." - Bob Dylan • "I vibe with the light-dark point. Heavy." - Words that Bob Dylan wishes he had written.

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  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    Originally Posted by Andrew Chirico View Post

    I am just looking for a way to make some money online while using my digital marketing knowledge.
    Andrew,

    Whenever I am asked about starting a new business, I always recommend that you focus on your audience first. These are the people that you will serve and who will pay you for your time and effort.

    It's important to set "boundaries" on who you're going to be gathering into your audience. You want all these people to have interest (and hopefully passion) for the topic. How do you ensure this? Go online and do some simple research about the problems, desires, and dreams of your audience. You want them to be like-minded so that what you talk with them about is of interest to every member you sign up as a subscriber to your web site. This will ensure that people will respond to your content, writing, and offers.

    Be sure to drill down into the market place. By that I mean, be very specific and specialize in one thing. "Sports", for instance, is way too broad with too many dissimilar interests. Even "football" is too broad. You specialize when everyone in audience is interested in the same thing. So, for instance, "Notre Dame football" would be a niche because all those people in that audience are going to have similar interests. Another "football" niche might be "college football rankings" - again, everyone will be interested in the same topic.

    Online business is all about meeting needs, solving problems, making dreams come true, and helping your audience in various desires they have. When you focus on your audience, they will pay you richly for helping them.

    I wish you the very best in your business dreams,

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author ezjob
    If you are into sports you can become an Amazon affiliate and promote an endless amount of sports products using your affiliate id.
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