Hemp. Retail Partner?

[PR Wales]

Here's the thing. 2 years ago I set up a very 'niche' website.

At first glance everyone 'gasps', wondering how such a site can even be on the web. Which is fine with me. :p

In reality its just another news site, which actually does nothing naughty.

But due to the niche, (it reports illicit drug news predominantly, built 2 years ago when the government announced the forthcoming reclassification of cannabis in the UK), its garnered a massive following, and as it also publish's to Google news in its own right, (officially the first drug news website to become a google news source in the world), basically I'm able to pull the strings as it were, so if I want to have a publicity drive, the platform is there for me to do it.

To give an example of this, around 10 days ago I published a press release to google news, which according to google analytics, brought in 11,000 unique's in one day, just under 5000 the next, and as it got hammered by all the social networks, (Stumble, Reddit, Current, Digg, Facebook etc), its still rumbling along today. Its had a total of 50,000+ views to date. On just a single story.

Ordinarily the site attracts between 1000 and 1200 visits every day. But that can be built upon easily with some motivation, which truth be known I'm lacking currently.

I'm yet to truly make anything from it. And have gotten to the stage where it takes up so much of my time with little or no ROI that I'm thinking of closing it down, unless I can come up with some way of monetising the traffic potential.

Being a member of this forum, with all the enterprising people who are also members got me to thinking how there could be some room for a person or two who would like to take advantage of the traffic this site can generate.

With all the news industrial hemp generates (for instance), there are a multitude of hemp products in production which are not only becoming hugely popular, they also have the secret 'X' factor which triggers the impulse buyer into action.

By buying hemp products, the buyer can feel like he or she is personally saving the world, just by making this purchase and for an idea of just how large the hemp market is becoming check out 'Yaoh' which is a forward thinking company in Bristol who realised early on hemp was a viable market to get into. There are many more I could point out.

Indeed Canada has turned industrial hemp products into a multi-million dollar business model which is just screaming to be emulated elsewhere. Names such as 'Manitoba Harvest' spring to mind.

So I would be interested in hearing (if you feel so inclined) how you would set about monetising such a site, and if you're interested in perhaps putting an online shop on the domain if this is your market, I think it would be great to talk.

The website is truly at the top of its genre, and left to my own devices I can pretty much guarantee the traffic will come.

But for me to spend time away from the content creation, taking care of a sales platform, means I don't get the 100% immersal a writer needs to come up with a constant supply of fresh material. A truly important aspect to consider if you yourself are contemplating a content rich news or media website.

So the website is very well established. The people will come. Now, I just need to have something for them to contemplate buying when they get there.

Any ideas? Interested in some sort of tie in? Like to talk?

Ian

[dsigner]

Hemp is one of the world's oldest products. It just keeps reinventing itself. Hemp clothing (now alongside bamboo) is the way to go for planet saving. And hemp oil is fantastic for person saving - best vegetarian source of Omega 6. There are established suppliers out there who should be interested in a new outlet but I have been out of this market for a couple of years. Definitely interested in talking but not sure what the structure is yet.

[katej]

How fascinating!

I've seen a whole range of products made from hemp as it's such a sustainable crop, I've even seen something on our local news about it being used for house building so the potential is there certainly especially with the amount of traffic you create too.

A few ideas could include affiliate marketing, banner advertising-approach companies like Sativa bags, the hemp shop, hemp garden etc who would probably jump at the chance to advertise on the site.

Do keep us up to date with your progress!!!!

[PR Wales]

I have accounts with sativa bags, as well as a few more I could mention.

The problem is I simply don't have the time to build and service a sales website, whilst spending hours a day writing.

As for advertising? You would be surprised at how little advertising goes on in this genre.

One of the leading publications in the world is 'Cannabis Culture', created in Canada, published by Marc Emery, and even they are closing down their publishing due to lack of advertising revenues.

Sad but true. Thanks for your interest. :)

Ian

[wood1e2]

Why not pay someone to develop an online shop? If it has that potential, you could spend a little less time writing, then reep the benefits a few months/year down the line and just write knowing you are gettting revenue in.

[LowcostPR]

I've had some PR experience in the hemp market, and as you say, there is a big feeling of "saving the world" when buying hemp products, so this is always a marvellous sales point.

There's also the health benefit of hempseed, full of goodness (I'm not going to go into detail, as there are too many to mention). Shame that, as you say, it is under-advertised. This, I think, is because there aren't too many companies in the market.

FYI, "Cannabis Culture" are closing down the ink version but I don't think that this is to do with advertising revenues. Their American rivals, "High Times", are still printing well. I suspect that CC are closing down due to the impending "personal matters" of the three main proprietors in the next few months. Shame, Marc is a nice guy when you get to know him. Most other "big names" in this line of work, like Ed Rosenthal and Dennis Peron, are very nice people as well (especially Dennis, one of the nicest people I've met).

Anywhoo, back on topic, If you are getting a lot of traffic then it may be a good idea to sell advertising space. Marketing the site will be a bit simpler as there are fewer competitors, and the competitors that are there (like UKCIA, EDIT, UK420 etc) seem to advertise each other, so I'm sure that they will be willing to help you.

I do wish you the best of luck with this. If you do need some help with this, then give me a shout and I can try and put you in touch with some useful people.

[dsigner]

Yes there is a problem with advertising hemp products. I used to sell hemp oil and it was really hard work. Many people refused to believe that there was no cannabis in the oil and thought that I was trying to trick them into something illegal. Maybe what you have to do is get some of the great and the good to give you copy saying how they use hemp products.

[LowcostPR]

And there are quite a few famous people who do use hemp products, like Darryl Hannah, Woody Allen, Jennifer Aniston to name a few.