Get Your Share Of The Swine Flu Traffic/"Niche"

I know there are a lot of people who see cashing in on this as just business but I personally find it offensive.

It already annoys me how over-hyped this stuff is and how there's so much scare-mongering going on in the press to make people worry about it.

Having naive IMers jump on board thinking of it just as a niche to be exploited and actually adding to the general mass of scare-mongering crap already going on just irritates me.

Are people really that desperate for ways to make money that they need to jump on this type of bandwagon and help generate fear in people in order to try and squeeze a few dollars out them while they're in an emotional state?

I don't really care what other people promote and I'm not offended by anyone promoting the swine flu niche.

I do kind of see Andy's point though - it has been overhyped in the media and can cause people to panic with excess anxiety for no reason - maybe you aren't panicking but some poor mother with 3 young kids could be going into a panic attack over it. Maybe adding to that by putting more stuff about it out on the internet is simply causing more unnecessary fear.

Having said that, it seems like it will be a hot topic for a very short time and I'd personally rather spend my time building content or marketing something that was going to make me money for more than a week. (maybe that is because I don't use PPC?)

Lee

i think its ok to write about issues that are currently "hot".if people see it as an opportunity to make profit, then they should go for it. as long as they dont make things worst, then it should be ok. everyone has his own opinion on things.. and have the right to be heard.

Another little niche people can look into.

With all the media hype surrounding swine flu, people are becoming even more stressed (even after the media hyped global warming, economic situation, etc etc etc). Therefore there would be a market out there to sell anti-stress pills too!

As we can see, whether or not to promote something like Swine Flu is a debatable issue and I believe it comes down to your own personal and business ethics.

Andy, along with others in other threads, are simply raising the question, 'Is this right?" The important thing is for all these issues is that you at the very least ask yourself the question.

Many folk will blindly jump on the bandwagon with the sole focus of making money without stopping to ask the question, 'is this right?' Whether you do or don't is your affair but whatever decision you make will be shaped by your own beliefs and values and you will be judged by them.

Peter

Thanks Jay for your kind words.

As the person Jay was speaking about, let me give you some background here.

The report was highly researched and written. It wasn't sold saying, I'm going to be doing this, so buy it in advance. Once it was completed it was done.

We have zero affiliate links in the report.

Rob researched the subject and has tried to remove the hype so people can get the facts.

People want the facts, and they are trying to get through all the hype and hysteria and know how is this going to affect me.

Shoot us if you like, for putting those facts together in a way people can read and understand in one place.

People die from the flu (not saying swine flu but flu) every year and there are reasons for it, and people need to understand the reasons and then also take any relevant action.

Sorry, but for those who say we are cashing in, so are those who promote celebrities when they go through a crisis, what about all the health niches including diet where people die daily. Obesity is one of the major reasons why people die, and if anything is manmade it is that. People eat far more than they should, yet how many people are selling to those people?

All niches can be wiped out because marketers are using them to sell when people are in crisis.

Swine flu is current, and if our report helps put 1 person's mind at rest it has done its job.

I agree with Bev.

There's nothing wrong with cashing in on this flu outbreak crisis: as long as the facts you give are indeed true.

Do not mislead or misguide or misinform, and whatever you sell will just be providing good solid knowledge to your customers. Or if you are selling face masks..then good preventive equipment.

Why not?

Fair enough.

Just in case anyone is interested in how this virus got started, there are some interesting articles on it.

You can find one here: Swine Flu Created in Lab as Bio-Weapon? - World - Javno

Andy

Andy,

Now you are creating hype! I don't believe it is man made for a second.

Andy

"I think that it should be left to 'experts' and not marketers."

Out of interest would you say the same for other health related niches - e.g. weightloss, anxiety and acne?

Andy

While I seriously doubt that this swine flu virus is man-made, the scare and hype are definitely man-made.

For instance, according to WHO, in 2007 197,000 people died from measles, mostly young children.

Where is the news coverage on THAT "pandemic"?

Not often I don't agree with you Andy, (in fact this is probably the first time I ever have)

I'm building a blog around the swine flu (and I have a wso where I'm selling articles etc that I've either written myself or had researched and written for me).

As a nurse I think it's important the facts about this flu are given to the public without hysteria, drama or inaccuracies. As someone involved in the IM niche, I'm also of the opinion that if I can make a few dollars out of associated affiliated links on my blog etc then that's cool. (and why not).

Personally I think the whole thing is over hyped. (Time may prove me wrong, I hope not). But the whole subject does rather take the focus from the miserable way the government is running the country in the UK (at least). I bet old Gordy Brown is rubbing his hands in glee that he is off the front page for once.

It does make you wonder whether the whole thing is being deliberately hyped up so as to give our governments a reprieve:rolleyes:

Kim

I believe in a few months or so, the hype is going to die down. The media is over hyping the problem and because of it, it creates a great moment for bloggers, however, once again, once the hype dies down, what else are you going to do?

I get sick and tired of so called marketers whinging
and whining about people having the audacity to
use their time and their skills to get accurate and
timely information into the market place.

Profit is not a dirty word.

If we don't make a profit there's nothing to re-invest
back into research and development. If we don't make
a profit we don't have the cash to pay our suppliers.

The swine flu pandemic is in the news. The job of the
entrepreneur is to take advantage of opportunites not
to take advantage of people.

As I said on my blog, this niche market is no different to
any other niche market. What you do about any opportunity
is between you and your conscience and not for others to
judge.

If you have the appropriate skill, knowledge and experience
to create accurate information that helps your customer
then you have the right to sell that information.

Let's face it, there are a lot of smokers still qualified to
sell give up smoking products and there are lots of fat
people who are qualified to sell diet products.


John

the swine flu niche will be dead and gone in under a month.It was media hype and nothing more. It will go away just like SARS,bird flu, rain forest desruction,acid rain,starving people in etheopia and every other story over played by the media.

Business and personal morality are two completely seperate things. If a concept offends your personal moral values, then by all means do not be involved in it.

However, if you believe that your personal moral choices should be the yardstick by which everyone else's business decisions should be judged, I say *pffft* to that kind of fascist thinking.

Think porn is evil? Don't promote it. I'm against 95% of all "IM niche" products, as I find them to be, in my opinion, useless recycled garbage designed soley to make a buck off n00bs. For that reason alone, that personal moral ethos, I don't re-sell IM stuff or make my own. My choice only, if you find value in IM products, then great, promote away.

I personally see absolutely nothing wrong with mining the "swine flu niche". I already have a good health site which fits it nicely with the current interest in the subject, and have begun seeing conversions for products having to do with immunity, colds, viruses, and so forth.

My visitors are happy, my bank account is happy, and I don't see a problem.

Andy, I think we know each other well enough to say things without it being personal

This is what I see here. You are talking about marketers, and to one level I would agree with you. Let me explain.

I'm not a brilliant researcher, I can research enough to create a product which is good information, but there are certain topics I would never, ever get into because like you I'm not qualified to tell what is true and what isn't. I would say you are the same, you can research to a level but not in all topics to the level needed to give the best information.

Rob however is a top researcher. If you saw the amount of information he went through you would be surprised.

That I believe is the difference, the report has been research to get through all the muddy waters to give people the facts.

Rob wrote the report as a researcher, not a marketer. If I had written it, then the level of information would have been totally different.

Is the information in it controversial, yes, because Rob is honest and says "This is a problem, or we don't have all the facts about that"

People are concerned, as has already been said, one thing that is different about this flu is that the age of people who have died is different from the age of people who die from the normal flu.

People are doing what you are doing, trying to work through all the information trying to make sense of it, and can't because there is so much they are left with a bad headache, trying to go through it all.

This is why people need to have the information in one place, so they can take the necessary steps to keep safe. A researcher is the type of person who can work through these difficult subjects.

There are subjects that we don't write on, and that is our choice, but to say that nobody should make money from them because of choices we make is being arrogant.

I have no problem with people who make the decision not to promote certain niches, I have no problem with people who do promote certain niches. That is a personal choice.

Marketers are making big money in the diet niche, and yet very few are qualified to promote or write in this niche. Yet, this is one of the biggest killers, and one that is totally manmade. Is it wrong to be in the diet niche or should marketers avoid anything in the health niche?

I think personally, that people should make the choice of what they promote, and if people don't like that niche then no big deal.

I have seen people here cashing on news items all the time, are they wrong?

Maybe, but it isn't about the niche, but the motive behind it.

I'm working with someone who wanted to enter a health niche (not flu) and he went into that niche because of media attention about that health problem. He researched it, and discovered that very few, if any were taking it from the direction he wanted to go. He wants to make money, but he wants to educate a certain group of people about that medical problem. And that I believe is the difference, it is knowing the whole picture.

If someone asked me to JV with them in a niche I don't work in then I would politely say no, no judgment, but a plain sorry I don't work in that niche.

Andy, yes I do believe that 100% if people have a problem selling anything, then they should get out of IM.

Why? Because they will be forever trying to analyse and justify whether they should sell anything.

Even giving information away is encouraging people to start a business in something a person doesn't believe in.

A business by definition is something that makes a profit. Giving away everything doesn't make a business, try putting a business on your Tax Return where you have zero income for years and years with expenses, and you will find the Revenue investigating you because they won't believe you are being honest about your income. Show zero for income and expenses and they will tell you, to quit messing them around because you don't have a business.

There are times to give things away, but a business is about getting an income. It is about selling, whether that is a product or a service it is still selling.

Anyone, regardless of the niches or type of business has no right to call themselves a business if they never sell anything.

With the recession, people are looking for ways to earn an income, and most people coming into IM now don't have an income from a job that is secure, or their income isn't enough to pay the bills, they need a second income.

So yes, I do believe there is a conflict of interests if people can't sell or won't sell for whatever reason, then they have no right to remain in business. Now, I'm not saying IM only here, or any niche. But take a shop on the High Street, would they remain in business long if all they did was give things away? Maybe if they had a lot of money to support it, but how long would that money last?

It isn't about the need to earn money or not, it is about the reality of running a business. Either you run a business and sell, or you don't and then you quit. As I say look at it from the Revenue's point of view and see if you have a business. That will answer a lot of the questions you have.

I know if you came to me as an accountant, I would say exactly the same thing. If you asked me to prepare your accounts and there was no income, I would be asking why, what are you doing, do you plan to continue doing the same thing in the next few years? If you say yes, then I would say you have no business and should let the Revenue know that your business has ceased.

Hope that makes sense.

There is so much fear-mongering going on about this flu it's stupendous. You want to capitalize on people's fears...wow..go for it. It's freedom of choice, after all.

Imho, the responsible thing to do is to tell people to turn off the ****ing news and spread the word that NOONE should be afraid. That natural cures exist in nature all around us, and that all we have to do is choose to shop for all the anti-viral good foods that are far far better for us then ANY chemical concoction.

Anti-viral foods such as: garlic, onions, fresh berries, sprouts, sage, rosemary, thyme...all anti-viral and better for you then Tamiflu.

The secret to keeping healthy and surviving any flu pandemic is quite simply to eat healthy and practice good hygiene :ie wash your hands regularily!

And that is information that shouldn't have a price. I am a person who wouldn't and couldn't charge any money to save someone's life.