Thoughts on the Survival/Preparedness Market

Hi Guys,

I just started working in this niche and wanted to grasp everyone's marketing perspective and thoughts.

I am open to hearing anything and everything people have to say about this particular niche.

 

I don't have any personal experience with the niche, but I assume it's not a bad niche to be in. Any niche that appeals to our emotions is more likely to grab our attention as opposed to the one that doesn't. The thing with those types of niches is you should try to avoid the temptation to go overboard while using your promotional methods. "The life on the planet earth is about to end, so be prepared for whatever comes ahead!" may not really sit well with a whole slew of people.

Check out this article on this very subject: http://income.com/1351/an-entrepreneurs-guide-to-the-survival-preparedness-niche/

 

This market has to be the poster child for FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt) marketing. The interesting thing is that this market can be productive for many products and services that fit under its scope. I regularly see "new" products that are geared for this market...from can openers to boats to air filters, to canned food to warm clothing to puzzles and games to keep the kids occupied as the mushroom cloud dissipates over your shelter.

Given what is going on in the world right now, I imagine that this market is growing by leaps and bounds.

 

Sadly...I have to concur.
Nigel

 

its the ultimate niche because ultimately, everything is about survival, including what we are doing here.. he he he

 

I would start in this niche by keeping a very close eye on survivalist forums and press releases from companies in the niche. Start blogging about the coolest products hitting the market, make YouTube videos, and share your content in Facebook groups and forums filled with survivalists.

There is also a big crossover on those products into niches like backpackers, campers, hunters, hikers, etc...They love to have survival gear packed in their gear in case they run into trouble.

Focus on building a list while you do this. Imagine the power of having a couple thousand serious survivalists on a list that gets your affiliate links for the hottest new products released on Amazon or other sites...

 

This niche sounds like a good match for Pinterest, especially if you are doing product reviews. What has worked well for me is to put sample videos from my video training DVDs up on YouTube then pin those videos to Pinterest. The YouTube videos of course include links back to my sales pages for those products. You could do something similar, find a product to review, do a video review along with a text review, put that review and embedded YouTube video onto your blog, then pin that blog post to Pinterest. It should get you a lot of traffic.

 

I was thinking the same thing about Pinterest. ^^ Also, snapchat...photos disappearing after a certain amount of time. http://petapixel.com/2014/04/14/wor...ign-to-bring-awareness-to-endangered-animals/ Check out this one by world wildlife fund about endangered species. I'm sure you could come up with any number of scenarios that would fit into this niche perfectly...like disappearing food from grocery shelves, etc. Even if you were only going to sell food storage buckets or beans & rice, snapchat would be a great way to make a compelling visual argument in favour of your product.

 

You could try and "test" the market with reviews and opinions. Forums,big boards it's always a good place to start. Every new idea it's a possible good venture. Just don't expect to see miracles over night.

 

It's definitely a huge market - this is an awesome case study blog post and it is about a blog in the survival niche - http://www.digitalmarketer.com/6-million/

 

I have used a similar method to get traffic and this is great advice!! Videos are powerful, especially on a niche like this!

There are hundreds of article topics and video ideas I can think of for this niche and it is very easy to work with if you are interested in that kind of stuff. Like another poster mentioned, it will likely become even more profitable as more and more people become interested in the niche.