| Photo by Constantin Shimonenko on Unsplash |
Are you looking to monetize your hobby or passion for crafts, or all things handmade, but isn't sure to which types of customers you wish to appeal?
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Well, have you ever thought about selling handmade items to Sports Fans and gamers, professional and casual alike?
Why Serve the Niche of Sports and Games?
There's no denying the fact that sports fans take up a huge percentage of the world population. Consider the following:
- There are a million sports fans across the United States alone, from those who are religiously following an NFL team to being avid tennis fans or watching every Formula One Grand Prix.
- You may wish to cater not only to sports fans, but to those who participate in sports as a recreational activity.
- There are moms or dads who encourage their kids to participate in little league or minor league teams, like soccer and baseball.
- There are freelance writers and beat reporters who cover games for minor blogs or regional newspapers.
Gaming statistics
During recent years the industry of gaming and eSports have gained a tremendous boost in popularity.
| Photo by Kamil S on Unsplash |
Aside from pro gamers, there are recreational players or casual gamers, who only play as a hobby or to pass the time.
Another group of gaming enthusiasts combine their passion for writing and video games and become video game writers, or come up with guides for players to succeed in specific video games.
As a crafter, these relevant statistics prove that sports and games can be a huge and varied niche. You may never know how many people might end up appreciating and buying your handmade products.
Here's a list of possible items to help you get started:
Bookmarks
You can turn sports jerseys into bookmarks by using cardstock and colored paper in a specific team's colors.
You can use craft punches and turn circles into basketball or tennis balls, or a baseball, and glue them onto a strip of cardstock. Add a cutout of a baseball bat, catcher's mitt, baseball cap, etc.
Posters/Postcards
Posters remain to be a much coveted merchandise. You can launch your own line of collectibles by drawing caricatures of famous athletes using poster paint and poster paper. You can even set higher prices for your posters by making some of them limited edition.
For gamers, you can recreate scenes in popular video games in your posters. Making sports- and game-themed postcards is another way to entice potential customers.
Greeting cards
Greeting cards can be some of the easiest, and cheapest, paper crafts to make and sell. Like bookmarks, you can create cards shaped like sports jerseys, and add a cutout of a football, tennis ball, baseball or basketball.
You can make 3D and pop-up cards and incorporate essential elements of popular video games, like Super Mario, Maplestory, Roblox, and Minecraft.
Gift tags
Customers who love giving presents to their friends and relatives who are sports fans and gamers will appreciate sports-themed gift tags.
Stickers
There are sports fans who travel to other places just to catch a championship or other important games or match. Why not create waterproof stickers for laptop computers or luggage?
Sets of sports-themed stickers for notebooks and journals can be cost-effective to make, yet has the potential to sell like hotcakes.
Familiarize yourself with the most popular teams and think about how you can incorporate their designs in your stickers. Keep a sketchpad for ideas of your own original designs.
Pillow cases
Fabric or cloth with a sports team's logo, or caricatures of athletes, is widely being sold.
If you're handy with a sewing machine, you can make pillow or throw pillow cases, and other items like napkins, curtains, letter holder, pot holder, or bedsheets.
Crocheted keychains or bag tags
Keychains and bag tags have always been popular items, so they're really easy to sell. You can crochet a miniature basketball or football.
