"I love French wine, like I love the French language. I have sampled every language, French is my favorite. Fantastic language. Especially to curse with. Nom de dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard d'enculer ta mère. It's like wiping your arse with silk. I love it."
"Like wiping your @$$ with silk ..." LOL. I love the Merovingian character in The Matrix Reloaded. He looked so sophisticated while mouthing French cuss words. He made them sound so well-meaning and erudite that even though I don't like the French language, I wanted to learn French and speak it like he does.
I searched for courses online and found that there are plenty of French courses that can help me get started. Of course, when there are numerous products to answer the same need, there are most likely affiliate programs.
Raison et Comment: The Why and the How of Learning French
The French language is the official language of France and an official language of 28 other countries, such as Canada, Belgium and Switzerland. This language has about 110 million or so native speakers and about 190 million second-language speakers so I'm sure to have plenty of people to practice conversing with as I learn it.
But why learn French, or any foreign language for that matter? Is there a need for us to learn a new language? This Kaplan infographic helps answer such questions.
Now that we've answered the "Why," let's get to "How Many Want to Learn French?" I checked the "learn French" keyword in Traffic Travis and, given the numbers above, was not surprised that the keyword has a high global count and high competition.
There are some low- to medium-competition variations, but their global monthly search values are much lower compared to the high-competition ones.
I went to Ubersuggest to check which keyword variations I could use on my site. When you have high-competition keywords such as this niche does, it's important to look for keyword variations. Maybe we can also find a sub-niche, or a specific market to target, that would make it easier for us to promote our site.
Looking at the above keywords, I can target phrases like "how to learn French online" or "best way to learn French." There aren't many medium- or low-competition keywords to target, really, but the above global monthly searches also show that there is a strong demand for products that teach French.
The "Learn French" Affiliate Programs
There are plenty of courses, both online and offline, that teach French, so I was surprised to find that there are only two good ones in ClickBank: Rocket French and Audible French.
The Rocket French course is one of the several language courses offered by Rocket Languages. Their affiliate program is available through ClickBank so once you've signed up with ClickBank, it's just a matter of getting your affiliate link for a specific language course.
The commission they pay you is quite good, and you're not limited to any particular language, although it's best to promote only one specific language.
Audible French is another product I found in ClickBank. Their gravity is not as high as that of Rocket French, but they offer a pretty good 75% commission for each sale.
InnovativeLanguage.com
I stumbled upon FrenchPod101 in one of my searches for a good "learn French" program. Like Rocket French, FrenchPod101 is part of the bigger Innovative Language Learning site. You can sign up on their affiliate page, choose a specific language, and get a 25% commission for each sale.
FrenchToday.com
FrenchToday.com offers audio lessons and books on how to learn French. Their affiliate program is through the iDevAffiliate network. They pay 20–30% commission for each sale.
Another interesting "learn French" affiliate program I came across is Interactive-Audiotexts.com. They pay you 50% commission for distributing their "Easy-to-Learn French Phrases." Their affiliate program is through SWREG Affiliate.
There are plenty more affiliate programs within this niche, like Amazon, where you can purchase various books and audio books on learning French. So far, though, the highest-paying affiliate programs are Rocket French and Audible French.
Spreading the Love for French
With high-competition keywords such as the ones in this niche, it's important to have a sound marketing and link-building strategy. You need to visualize the site and see how you will promote it and who you will be promoting it too.
YouTube and Other Video Sites
There are plenty of videos online showing how to learn French. This doesn't mean that you need to overlook this particular method. In fact, as the saying goes, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Create a video review of one of the products you're promoting, or record a small presentation on the 5 surefire ways to memorize French words and increase one's vocabulary. Upload it on YouTube, Vimeo and similar sites, making sure that each video has either a link to your site, or your affiliate link.
Document Sharing
Most of the low- to medium-competition keywords in the "learn French" niche are information keywords like "how do I learn French?" or "how long to learn French." You can create articles on these keywords and share them on document-sharing sites like Scribd. You need to make sure at least one of your affiliate links, or a link back to your site, is on the document. Not only can you get traffic to your site, you're able build links through this strategy too.
Social Media Marketing
You've probably noticed by now that social media marketing is always included in my strategy. This is because social media sites have huge followings, and millions of users log in to sites like Facebook and Twitter daily. You can create a Facebook page for your site, and through it share interesting facts about France and the French language. You can have a "French Word of the Day," or you can share special promos on the French courses you're promoting.
"Learn French" Affiliate Programs: Bonjour ou Au Revoir?
High demand usually means high competition, and this is the case for the "learn French" niche. The commission you can earn off the "learn French" affiliate programs will more than make up for the effort. The key here is to plan your site and your link building even before you are done with the research. Will your site be like a personal blog where you share your love for the French language and your journey to become a fluent speaker? Or will it be an information site where users can get good information on learning the French language? After that, write down the link-building methods you will use. Your plan doesn't have to be specific, but it helps to have at least an idea of how you will go about everything so that you can get right to promoting the site once it's up.
I hope you like this week's niche! If you do, please share it on your favorite social media site using the buttons below. Don't be shy, either—let me know what you think. Leave your comments below! :)
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