I'm back with another Niche of the Week and this time I'm going after stop-smoking affiliate programs. I quit smoking at the start of this year and have been smoke-free for 9 months now. There have been one or two guilty ciggies during that time, but for the most part, I've been a good girl.
Being a former smoker, I know how difficult it is to stop smoking. I still haven't completely quit—while I have stopped smoking, I still get the urge to puff every once in a while. As someone who is still in the process of trying to stop smoking, I am interested in information on how I can stay off smoking, and as an affiliate marketer, I'm interested in learning how I can make money off it.
Hence, this week's niche: Stop-smoking affiliate programs.
Lighting Up: Smoking and Stop-Smoking Statistics
Let's look at the smoking industry and its counterpart, the stop-smoking enterprise. The Atlantic wrote in their May article that 19% of the US population smokes. That's around 44 million US adults, according to the CDC.
The CDC claims on their site that there are now more former smokers than current smokers. They further write that stopping smoking takes several attempts as smokers often relapse due to stress and other withdrawal symptoms. This means a smoker who is trying to quit will usually try at least one or two products to help him stop smoking.
With all this information, we can safely assume that there are more than 44 million American adults who are former smokers. These can be people who have quit, but they can also be people who are in the process of quitting and who will try several stop-smoking products and plans. Sounds like there's a huge demand in the stop-smoking niche.
Time to look at the keywords and really see how many are trying to kick the habit.
Stop-Smoking Keywords
I got on Traffic Travis and started my keyword research. The "stop smoking" keyword and its variations have high monthly global search figures. Unfortunately, these are highly competitive keywords as well. Take note of the medium-competition keywords like "the easy way to stop smoking," as well as some of the really good high-competition ones like "best way to stop smoking."
One thing I found while doing keyword research for stop-smoking affiliate programs is that it doesn't have many buyer-intent keywords. You can have a go at "buy stop smoking program" or "buy stop smoking eBook," but you will just get the same high-competition keywords. The best way to go about this is to refer to keywords that are specific to the product you'll be promoting instead.
For example, I came across a smoking affiliate program for electronic cigarettes. Some quick keyword research showed that the keyword and several of its variations have low to medium competition. I then thought of alternatives to smoking and used that, "alternative to smoking," and it has low to medium competition as well. The number of global monthly searches for the keyword "alternative to smoking" is not big, but targeting this keyword will give variety to my articles.
Stop-Smoking Affiliate Programs
I didn't go to ClickBank right away to look for stop-smoking affiliate programs. I went to Google first and looked for programs there. I came across QuitSmokingOnline and FreshStart. As it happens both programs are offered through ClickBank.
QuitSmokingOnline claims they've been around since 1998 and that you will get 50% commission from upsell products that cost between $30 and $80. That doesn't sound bad, but users are not likely to purchase an upsell right after getting a free product. That's a bit of a gray area.
FreshStart is another stop-smoking affiliate program available through ClickBank. This program offers affiliates 50–75% commission on each sale. Like QuitSmokingOnline, FreshStart provides eBooks and MP3s, but there's a difference in the methodology for sure, as FreshStart uses hypnotherapy to help users stop smoking.
Another stop-smoking program I found is ButtItOut. They have their own affiliate system so you sign up directly with them. They have their own online store where they sell various ButtItOut products. They also have anti-snoring medicine and enhancement creams. They offer 20% commission on all sales, and if you refer other affiliates, you get 5% on all sales made through those affiliates. They also provide affiliate support, as well banners to help affiliates promote their products.
MarketHealth mostly has skincare affiliate programs but they also have several stop-smoking affiliate programs like Nicocure, an electronic cigarette, and Miracet, a natural medication for relieving withdrawal systems. Both give 50% commission for each sale.
There are stop-smoking affiliate programs on ShareASale too, like Naturstopp, which offers 7% commission for each sale. There's Amazon as well, with books, gadgets, lozenges and patches to help anyone stop smoking.
Where and How: Promote Stop-Smoking Affiliate Programs
Forums and Blogs
People who are trying to get over something tend to form support groups, and that is exactly what led to the creation of WeQuit and ExperienceProject. These are help sites for people who are trying to kick the habit. You can participate in these forums and similar sites to build backlinks to your pages. Keep in mind that you need to abide by forum rules and that this is not just a link-building method. Build relationships and your site's reputation as well.
Where there are forums, there are blogs. Healthline lists the 13 best stop-smoking blogs of this year. You can check those out and participate on those blogs through helpful comments. Not all blogs allow comments, but that is no reason not to look at each site. Blogs can be a great source of information that you can use for content on your own site—just don't forget to credit them for the info!
Guest Posts
Active and positive participation in blogs usually results in a guest post, so it pays to build a good reputation amongst blogs in your niche. You can also look for stop-smoking sites and let the site owners or webmasters know you would like to write a guest post and share quality information with their readers.
Social Media
Again, people tend to form support groups when trying to accomplish goals. You can find such groups on social media sites like Facebook. These groups form your target market, so you need to join them and interact with them daily. Share inspirational and entertaining quotes about stopping smoking, or maybe new articles from your site that can help them pick the right course and quit smoking for good.
YouTube Reviews
You can promote your site by creating informational videos on the hazards of smoking, as well as videos reviewing stop-smoking products. You can then place a link to your site in the video.
Stop-Smoking Affiliate Programs: To Quit or Not to Quit?
There's definitely potential in this niche, but the main challenge here would be getting your pages to rank. As keyword research shows, there's high competition for the keywords you'd be targeting. You would need to be creative with the keywords and publish convincing articles and reviews that will convert. The stop-smoking affiliate programs offer good commissions, so the effort may well be worth it in the long run. Add to that the fact that you will truly help a lot of people along the way.
AffiloBlueprint has in-depth lessons on keyword research that can help you zone in on the best keywords. They certainly helped me with this week's niche!
I hope you liked this Niche of the Week. If you did, please share it on your favorite social networks through the share buttons below this post. Questions and comments are welcome! Just leave them below.
