Trying to build a list in the marijuana niche

by djs13
9 replies
Having a marijuana related site, I can't advertise on traditional mediums. A lot of ad networks won't take me and the "niche" ones don't look that impressive.

I'm working on an SEO strategy but this takes time. I really would like to buy small quantities of traffic for this niche but I can't seem to find a legit site. I paid a marijuana "blog" $50 for a display ad but didn't receive any opt-ins. So I'm not sure where to go from here.
#build #list #marijuana #niche
  • Profile picture of the author Sharpay
    Social media -- duh. Talk to stoners on reddit (/r/trees, baby), twitter, facebook & tumblr.
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  • Profile picture of the author LeonardoAlvarez
    Instagram, Facebook Groups, YouTube and Reddit, all free traffic and highly targeted if done right.

    Good Luck!
    Leonardo.
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    • Profile picture of the author djs13
      I'm really looking for something that could be paid traffic. Social media would require me to spend a lot more time than I can with my job. And I can't advertise on those social media channels
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      • Profile picture of the author arrival7
        Maybe you should focus your marketing on the States that has already legalized marijuana. Colorado, Washington. and others. Look for web forums based in those states talking about marijuana, look for groups located on the web in those states. You can also look for other advertising mediums that others are using. I think if you watch those states that has legalize marijuana you will find other opportunities that you never knew about. . Worth a try.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sharpay
    How much time do you have to dedicate?

    Takes 30 minutes to schedule auto tweets out a month. Same with any other social platform.

    If it's your first time, takes maybe an hour to setup a bot that automatically likes and retweets/reblogs/etc. peoples stuff if you wanna go more "black hat"

    30m a month doesn't seem impossible to me.
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    • Profile picture of the author chaotic squid
      Originally Posted by Sharpay View Post

      How much time do you have to dedicate?

      Takes 30 minutes to schedule auto tweets out a month. Same with any other social platform.

      If it's your first time, takes maybe an hour to setup a bot that automatically likes and retweets/reblogs/etc. peoples stuff if you wanna go more "black hat"

      30m a month doesn't seem impossible to me.
      If you're spending 30 mins scheduling an entire month of tweets then you're doing it wrong, very wrong. Social media is, well...social. It's not a contest of how little time you can get by with.

      You need to put out meaningful content, engage in conversations, direct message the right people (with meaningful messages), do video responses, and become part of the community. To do this right does take a lot of time since you basically need to make a name for yourself in the niche and become a trusted leader in the community.

      I understand the difficulty with the niche. I once ran a tobacco related site and had trouble with advertising too. I was able to get some traffic from SEO but it was a slow process. Looking back, I probably should have put more time into establishing my place in the community (Reddit, Facebook, Forums, YouTube, etc...) where I could get more organic traffic.

      One suggestion is to guest blog on a few of those related sites. A display ad won't do much, but if you can write a few high quality articles on related sites, you might get some good traffic.

      Another suggestion is to advertise in trade journals/magazines targeted towards that niche. High Times is the big one, might be some smaller ones too.

      Just have to be a bit more creative. Good Luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author John Zoro
    Interesting thread.

    Would these tactics work with a gambling/betting email list?
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  • Profile picture of the author jakob09
    You should definitely use Tumblr. Marijuana is huge on Tumblr.
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  • Profile picture of the author rayden78
    Do you have a blog? If yes, write an informative post on marijuana and then use the blog post to promote via outbrain or other content distribution services. It's a good way to get traffic. PPC costs are almost the same as Google ads though in these sites.
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