Viability of non-MMO niche

That's an option for down the road...but as of today, it's just strictly a site for a local business which means virtually no traffic which is why my first step (I think) would be to post tons of relevant content to build up traffic.

Did you even read the original post? They operate a gardening business in their local area... Offline. Selling banner space on their business' website would be diverting traffic away from their own business, and straight to their competition.

I think you should have started building a list from the start. While your main source of traffic is most likely local customers, getting them on an email list means you can send them a wide range of information to get them Coming Back to your business.

Email marketing isn't just about getting affiliate sales. You can send your local customers information like; Weekly/Monthly Deals, Printable Coupons, and any information that may help them improve their gardening.

If the offer would benefit your local customers, or any other visitors your website has, it could be as profitable as any other email campaign. Digital products are just like physical products, except you don't have to worry about storage space.

When you have a local customer come into your business and ask questions, you would point them to solutions. It's the same thing with affiliate products. If the information, service, or tool would benefit your 'customers', your endorsement and explanations are what will have people pulling out their credit cards.

Disclaimer: I am not in the gardening niche. The following are just observations.

It sounds like you already have a great setup to take advantage of with your gardening business. I would definitely set up a list and possibly a blog on either on your company site or a sibling site.

The geographic location also does not seem to be much of problem in my mind. It's a niche market you can cater to. It may not be bad to start off serving just this geographic area and branch out later once you prove you can make money in the gardening niche online. If do want to go after a bigger market (at some point you probably will) I would focus more on things that all gardeners may have in common like setting up a green house and information about gardening in one, properly caring for your plants in terms of placement, light exposure, nutrient supply, etc. When you do get to a geographic specific topic like soil content, make a chart or multiple blog posts breaking down various soil types and how to best take advantage of each. I don't know how you feel about aquapoics, but that is a field of gardening that seemed to have some interest that I think is less dependent on location. Also composting is a big area you can take advantage of since it let's you generate the type of soil you need by augmenting your compost bin with various nutrients you can buy online or at your local store.

This seems like a good place to talk about monetization. You could try to go the as space route like banner ads, but unless you have some massive traffic, I think that leaves a lot on the table. I would focus more on info products and affiliated physical products. Seeds, soil, nutrient additives, etc. are all products that you can sell to your readers via Amazon's affiliate program or other gardening affiliate programs.

You also have lots of info products you can play with. Just a quick search on clickbank yields some pretty good results:
~ represents approximations.

- Landscaping (~$18.00/Sale): Landscaping Ideas & Landscape Designs
- Grape Vine Growing Guide (~$32.00/Sale): Grow Perfect Grapes
- Aquaponics (~$24.00/Sale): How To Build Your Own Aquaponics System
- Mushroom Growing Guide (~$21.00/Sale): Mushroom Growing 4 You

The list goes on. You can even work on putting one of your own together that targets a specific area of gardening you and others are really into.

A website that I would consider even more niche than your idea is Betta Fish Care. Adam Short set up a website called bettafishcenter.com which is a minisite that revolves around caring for betta fish. He sells an info product and multiple physical products and makes several thousand a month with that site alone if I remember correctly. (He outlines all of the details in his Niche Profit Classroom course. Link is in the sidebar of my blog in my signature if your interested.)

Point being I think this market could be great online especially if you are passionate about it.

- MrJman006

Yeah that can be a little bit of a barrier to overcome. If you did your own version of an info product, you could even sell it instore and that would make a difference I'm sure. Otherwise branching out online is a good bet.

There are plenty of products out there teaching Amazon stores. The one I mentioned, Adam Short's Niche Profit Classroom touches on that. There are other courses of course too you just have to look either on google or heck even a well placed search here on the WF can yield good results.

- MrJman006

Is it viable? Oh heck yes. In fact, I am going to show you two examples pretty close to your niche where both owners are making very good money. One is directly gardening, the other is about juicing. These owners both made it the old fashioned IM way, creating a product.

Open

It is a $400 course on home and organic gardening.

Home - The Green Goddess Life

This girl just did a $70,000 product launch. I would be willing to bet you, you can find a niche and profit from it...

And, since you already have a built in audience, why not create an only course they can watch on their iPads while they are gardening. And, being in Canada, even while it has its own ecosystem, there are always a need for people to understand cold weather gardening, or four season gardening...

If you wan to make money, then build your own product and sell it.