Last time we asked how you feel about Sora and the future of AI videos.
While a majority (44%) feel optimistic about it, a few of you think it’ll be the worst thing that could happen to mankind, with riots and protests to follow.
Yikes. But also, anyone lowkey wants to see Sora generate that movie?
I'm not sure about actual riots, but I could see a wave of people defiantly taking back their own creativity, which can’t be replaced by AI yet. And — you guessed it — we're going to unpack the opportunities in that space.
- Cyan
In today's email…
How to cash in on the boom of human creativity
A TikTok video that launched a candy store into virality
What we’re surfin’, from Monopoly to Reddit’s IPO
Dive in!
🎯 NAIL YOUR TARGET MARKET
To upgrade your product, first dig into your customers and competitors. Use this DIY market research kit to conduct surveys, focus groups, SWOT analysis, and more.
🚀 WHERE TO BUILD NEXT
Looks like we’re in for a human creativity boom
Sure, you can now whip up an exhibition-worthy image in seconds, but a potential surprising effect of the AI-art surge? Rising demand for human creative outlets.
My colleague Ben (currently helming The Hustle) predicted that amid the AI boom, people will find comfort in anything that feels innately *human*, from paper goods, book clubs, to hand-crafted gifts.
I think he's onto something.
There’s good money in it, too: The global handicrafts market reached ~$788B in 2023, and is forecast to grow to $2T+ by 2032.
Here are two niches you can capitalize on to ride this human creativity wave:
1. Bookbinding
Not just the hobby of a certain charming bookwormpsycho killer… Bookbinding videos rack up millions of views on TikTok and YouTube.
Source: Google Trends, six months rolling average
You can release limited-edition, one-of-a-kind bookbinding kits each quarter. Kit assembly requires minimal work (it’s just a collection of papers, glue, threads, and clamps), and the math of it ain’t half shabby:
Harness just a smidge (1%) of the ~33k+ quarterly US Google searches for “book binding” (~330 kits)
To justify the price, you’ll need to tell a compelling story, and hire a freelance designer to give your kits that polished look. Consider using literary references and themes to upgrade your kits.
Or bring a social element to the art, and host in-person workshops that teach folks bookbinding so they can take away a gift-worthy book at the end. We’ve written about how to make repairing an experience — the tactics are transferable.
Your audience might also respond to any of these related growing niches:
A map of the subreddits related to r/bookbinding. Source: Related Subreddits
2. Woodworking
Money may just grow on trees… Woodworking activities are going wild: r/woodworking has 5m+ subscribers, and r/pyrography (the art of burning illustrations into wood) has doubled in members in the past 15 months.
Source: Subreddit Stats
For advanced crafts like this, entrepreneurs could focus on guides and content.
Unsure of which wood to work with? Hundreds of Redditors are too. Info sites like The Wood Database get 485k visits/month, per Similarweb; you could create one specifically for carving and pyrography.
You can also start a newsletter, blog, or podcast. Don’t underestimate the power of community in these small crafting niches: Spin Off, a publication dedicated to spinners of yarn, has newsletter subscription packages for $39.99-$199.99/year and 92k+ site visits/month.
Since woodworking and pyrography require some advanced skills, you can build and deliver kits with the basics already done, allowing less experienced consumers to easily partake.
🔎 OUR LATEST OBSESSIONS
Launch your product to a crowd of 32m on TikTok
Candeeze is a small husband-and-wife D2C brand that sells freeze-dried candy online.
They ran a unique launch strategy on TikTok, and their most-viewed video got:
32m+ views
3.5m+ likes
54.8k+ shares
It also gained them 280k followers in seven days.
There are many reasons why their launch was so successful and gained the attention of millions. Let’s dissect the viral founder video that kicked off their entire account.
Source: TikTok
Elements that made the video go viral...
Right off the bat, it tells a concise story that retains the viewer’s attention while including elements that make them want to keep watching:
The opening frame is clear and relates to a topic people usually like to support (small business).
The second frame of the founders’ wedding stops the scroll for viewers. The owners having been recently married kicks that support to a higher level in the emotional response part of the brain (limbic system).
Then they bring people behind the scenes and show how the candy is made, introducing an interesting element — the freeze dryer.
Source: TikTok
In the process, they continued stacking viral elements to their video, which appealed to multiple senses for the viewers, and drove them to follow — or better, convert.
Keep reading to learn what these elements are, and other tactics they used to get 1m+ views on over 50% of their videos (The highest? 40.8m).
