Is this a good example of a niche

Hi Ricky, I know so little about basketball I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer, but it sounds like one, to me; yes. Maybe it's even one that has some more specific, more precisely targeted sub-niches, too, but yes - it's a niche. Maybe a too-broad, not-specific-enough one, but a niche.

The "without much investment" part relates to your own business plans and proposed marketing methods only: it has nothing at all to do with any intrinsic qualities of the niche itself. If a niche is "profitable" then it can be profitable either with or without investment, depending on how you go about it: there are always ways of substituting "work" for "money" when you promote things.

Other people will doubtless add other ways of determining potential profitability (and there are many), but I'll offer one, to set the ball rolling ... take a look through the AdWords ads displayed on Google for what you think are likely to be the niche's "moderately competitive keywords". If there's a large number of different AdWords ads for it, and especially if the same ads are running over a significant time-period, then it's profitable: people don't continue to spend money on buying traffic if there's no profit in the niche. (You can also look at their sites and see what's being sold, and how, and so on - it can be very instructive).

it's a very specific targeted niche so yes it is good one

there's always people looking for ways to improve basketball skills just like tennis, football, bowling, etc.

A quick search over at Clickbank shows this:
https://accounts.clickbank.com/mkplS...rds=basketball



That means that there definitely is a market. There are products for that market and there are sales.

Yes it is. I have specifically searched for that for my kids at one time.

I'd be looking to refine the 'basketball skills' niche down even further.

For example: shooting skills; passing skills; dribbling skills.

There's so much information you can pack into those topics.

And there are a ton of products out there that you could be an affiliate for in each of those sub-niches

To me I would consider that a broader niche and use it for the main niche idea for an authority niche site, from there I would look for sub niches such as different types of skills. Once I've broken down the sub niches which I would use as my categories I would then look for sub-sub niches like help with shooting the perfect basket, how to rebound, running drills, how to shoot a three pointer, etc. etc. It's all about being able to sell to different markets within a market so that you will always have something within the basketball niche to market!

Good luck out there buddy and stay focused.

To find out whether a niche is profitable I usually check to see whether there are products selling on clickbank and amazon.com, and then also look at magazines.com to see if there are any specific magazines on offer. These will all show whether people are spending money in the niche.

I would say absolutely!

I am a youth baseball coach (not basketball) and I can tell you that the parents of the kids I coach spend hundreds or thousands yearly on improving their kids skill level.

From personal coaching, having the best equipment, and expensive training gear, parents are forking it out and happy to do it.

According to Sports Business Daily, more than 26 million kids over the age of 6 played basketball in 2008. I know that is 5 years ago, but I can assure that number has risen. --> Basketball still tops in youth participation - SportsBusiness Daily | SportsBusiness Journal | SportsBusiness Daily Global

Youth sports is much more competitive now than when I was a kid and if a parent is not spending money on improving their kids' skills, then that parent is seen as irresponsible in the eyes of other parents and coaches. In fact, we encourage our players to get as much individual training as possible as our "team time" is very limited and one-on-one training in a team setting is just not feasible.

As far as sub-niches, I think some ideas presented here are correct. Every basketball player (below the pro level) is going to have some weakness in their game. But the one area EVERY player will want to improve is quickness. Even the fastest player in the league will want to be even quicker. Focus on that sub-niche to bring the widest demographic into your funnel. Then, market the other sub-niches to those customers. Those sub-niches being dribbling better, jumping higher, better defensive play etc. If they are happy with your quickness product, they will gladly buy the other products as well and eventually that $2,500 full coaching clinic...airfare not included.

It is niche

But if you ask me whether it's a lucrative niche, i'd probably say No.

If you are new to IM you can start in some broad niches and later target small niches

ProTip: getting Michael Jordan to endorse your product will increase sales substantially!

It is a sub niche in the sport category.