How to Sell Organic Products Online

Hey there Sea Changers and welcome back to my series of posts outlining ways and means to create yourself an online business as we discuss how to sell organic products online. To be honest, this is a subject I had not thought of much in terms of an online business until my wife started changing our diet to include more organic foods. I of course started doing some research and I absolutely believe that there is a market here.

And what I also didn't realize is that organic products expands way past just food and into some other extremely popular niches as well – so without further delay and carry on, let's check it all out…

How do we get started?

As usual before we get into things, it is always worthwhile making sure that there is actually a market for organic products in regards to selling it online. As I mentioned above, I learned that you can account for organic products in not only just food base items but other popular online markets as well such as cosmetics and clothing just to name a few.

That said, I would hate to convince anybody to start their own online business around organics and have it fall away due to the fact that no one likes to purchase these types of products online. So as usual, let's see what people are searching for:

What are people looking for?

To start let's just confirm our market numbers:

1. Number of monthly searches

As we are looking to see if there is an interest in organic products online, let's start by checking for purchase related searches. You will need to find yourself a good keyword tool (I use Jaaxy) and enter in the keywords that best describe your market. In this case, we will start with the basics:

Hmmm – not as high as I expected – however we can start to see some of the variations that we may want to explore. So let's break it down a little:

That's better… The numbers are good here and again we can see just how wide the range of options are for our online business such as delivery, supplements and even though you can't see it on the graphic below, organic pet food searches are also popular.

Just to finish up, let's just look at the cosmetics side of things:

I am happy with that as well. And although the numbers above are not as large as some other niches, there is certainly enough there to tell me that if you are knowledgeable on this subject then there is definitely enough there to get in now and build your business as interest in the subject grows.

2. Search Trends

Another important aspect of online sales and niche selection is to check that interest is maintained over time. To gain an insight into this let's check out how the searches for a few of our organics products options are trending online.

Ok, so we can see that interest has been maintained fairly well over the past few years with across each market. There are no real spikes meaning it is a good niche to work with year round.

All in all, I really see a good opportunity here.

What is our niche?

Ok, now the fun part begins – In the statistics and screen dumps above, we can already see some of the interest in different niches within the organic products market. The decision you have now is to determine whether you wish to create your online business covering this in general or concentrate on a specific area or sub niche. There are a good number of different areas you could explore here – some examples include:

• General organic products
• Organic food
• Organic clothing
• Organic makeup
• Organic perfumes
• Organic CBD products
• Organic furniture
• Organic pet food
• Organic wine

And that is just a few off the top of my head – all of which can be marketed from the point of view of the writer, or simply as a means of supplying information to those looking to purchase. I tend to think that a few of the above areas could be incorporated into the one site however as you start to think about this, the question to ask yourself is whether the content you are covering is too large to cover effectively.

The risk here is that if you start with a niche that is too broad, you may not be able to cover everything to the level required or to become authority on the subject – which you will need to be if you are going to convince people to purchase from you and not their local store. Don't forget, you can always add a new section to your site as you grow as well.

As you work through narrowing your targeted niche, consider the following:

• Are you able to solve a problem – Most people undertake searches on the internet to solve a problem – see next section.
• Is it a subject that you have an interest, or knowledge in– I am guessing that you are in this post as you know about, or have an interest in organic products or chemical free living. If not, maybe consider another market as to be honest, you might struggle to produce solid content if you don't know much about it or have no interest in learning. Trust me, people will know immediately if your information is not up to scratch or even worse, can put their organic lifestyle at risk.

Let's investigate this a little further by discussing the problem solving elements of niche selection.

What problem are we solving?

If this is a niche that you are interested in, you may already know what it is that you are trying to sell. If not, then maybe start to look at it from the perspective of solving problems. This, added to your area of interest is a great way to work out exactly what you think you might like to base your online business upon.

Your goal here is to determine just what problem/s you are trying to solve for your readers. This maybe one problem that spans your site or differ for each post that you write. For example, if you have chosen organic cosmetics or your niche, then problems might be:

• Matching products to use– They want to know what type of organic foundation would be best for use on a daily basis.
• Which to buy – There are a number of organic lipsticks on the market – but which are best?

In these cases, people would be searching for those topics based on having a problem and needing a solution. Your site would outline and review the best options for them.

Alternatively, say your site is about growing organic vegetables then you could look into the following:

• Planting procedures
• Natural fertilizers and pesticides
• What can't you use?
• How do you ensure that chemicals are not introduced?
• Sustainable harvesting
• Sustainable packaging
• Eco-friendly processes and so on

Note: You do not need to identify every possible problem that your readers may have straight away. In many cases, the more you write, the more ‘problems’ will present themselves so initially you really just want to make sure that there are some that may need solving as we have found here.

How are you going to convince them to buy?

Now that we know our niche (or are at least working on it) and have an idea of the types of problems that we want to solve, there is one last thing to consider which is the online purchase behaviour of your targeted audience.
Your sales/post pitches not only need to match the needs and problems that your site visitors are looking to solve, but also target them specifically as well. Some examples include:

1. Those that are new to the world of organic products will want to know exactly what it is needed and why. Families however might want the same information, but may be looking at some options a little gentler on the back pocket.
2. The hard core organic/toxin free lifestyle advocate will need specs and details such as what is in the products, where they have been sourced from and why – they will dissect your reviews with a fine toothed comb.

At the end of the day, even though we do have purchaser behaviour on our side, to be successful in selling organic products online, consider the following:

• Solve problems without purchase – That's right – write your posts in a way that actually makes it easier for people to do their research and buy elsewhere – by doing this, you are solving problems and helping readers out. If they trust you, they will be more likely to return next time and buy from you then – especially if you follow up with posts on similar or compatible products or accessories that might interest them!
• Provide the intangibles – One major disadvantage when it comes to selling anything online is that we can't really know what the products look, feel, smell and taste like. And this is especially important when it comes to organic products – after all, we can't always taste or test the products first and words such as ‘natural' or ‘toxin free' can mean different things to different people. Your posts will need to cover this information in a manner that puts minds at ease and explains some of the intangibles.
• Know your audience – As we discussed earlier, one mistake many make here is to target the product and not necessarily the buyer. This is especially important when dealing with a budget minded audience. Expensive doesn't always mean nicer or better tasting. Make sure you do your research on the buying behaviours of those you are targeting before writing your posts.

Tip: Still not sure? Have a look and see what others are doing. It might just help you with some ideas.

How do we sell organic products online?

And now we come to probably the most important aspect of this whole online selling caper in that we need to consider how we are going to sell the products that we have decided to promote. Depending on the product, there are a number of methods you can use to do this. Let's explore them below:

Affiliate programs

Affiliate programs are setup directly by companies or marketplace platforms (Amazon, Ebay etc.) that allow you to join and then refer traffic to them via customised affiliate links. In short, this means that you will write about organic products and then refer your readers to a link where they will purchase directly from the vendors. The vendors then pay you a commission for the sale.

Affiliate programs are especially good for those selling organic products online as you can move seamlessly through changes to standards and seasonal produce without needing to sell out of previous stock first. This way you can promote/review the latest items and then refer your readers to the vendor to manage the sale without you having to hold inventory or organise shipping.

Finding affiliate programs is generally not a difficult task either. To locate them, you would normally just type “Affiliate: organic products” into your preferred search engine:

So, as you can see, there are plenty of options in regards to affiliate programs for organic product related niches. As you search through them all, you can check it all out and find programs that:

• Relate to your niche/problems that you are solving.
• Have quality products – your brand can be severely damaged if you promote poor quality or unsafe products.
• Have solid payment and customer service arrangements.
• Pay decent commissions.
• Have good testimonials covering commission payouts and quality of product.
• Whether they have high ticket items you can promote on the side.

In most cases, you will need to apply for the program before you are allowed to promote their products – don’t take this step lightly or you will be rejected. Affiliate programs will generally want to know:

• Your website name.
• Traffic levels.
• Why you want to join – (“so I can make money by selling your organic lipstick” is unfortunately not generally a good enough answer).
• How you plan to promote their products.

One thing to be aware of here I guess is to keep in mind the issues we discussed earlier in regards to organic products online. You need to make sure that the programs you choose can be trusted, resonate with your readers and that they are comfortable that they have recourse if something goes wrong. That said, some marketplace programs such as Amazon and EBay can give you access to these types of products and as they are more trusted, then they maybe worth a look for sure.

Dropshipping

Dropshipping is something that may be of advantage to you in this niche if you are looking to play with pricing on your products. This process is similar to affiliate marketing in that you are generally promoting the products of others without the need to actually hold any inventory. With affiliate marketing, you are paid a commission on whatever price the vendor sets but do not manage any customer service, sales processes or post sales requirements. The main difference with dropshipping is that you perform the following (there are a number of variations to this but this is the guist of it):

• Strike a relationship with a wholesaler.
• Promote the product for whatever price you see fit – often via a marketplace site such as Shopify, Amazon or Ebay.
• Manage the sales processes and customer service.
• Send the final order and payment to the wholesaler for packaging and shipping.

The money that you make is effectively the difference between whatever you managed to sell the product for and the wholesale price that you owe the vendor. The other advantages of dropshipping over affiliate marketing is that:

• You own the customer list – which is another means of building an effective email list.
• You control the cost of the product and hence the profit margins.
• You can control when you put things on ‘sale', group them in packages or increase the price for high demand items.

The disadvantages however are the extra workload in handling payment and any ongoing customer service requirements.

To find dropshipping suppliers online, you can enter searches such as “dropshipping: organic products” into your favourite search engine:

Note: These results will usually be based on your geographical location.

From here you can search through and find programs that:

• Offer dropshipping services – Not all product suppliers offer dropshipping as a service – this may just mean that you need to organise the shipping yourself after it is delivered to you.
• Have experience and are helpful – If they are not helpful and/or appear inexperienced then you can expect the same when you are trying to process sales.
• Have acceptable fees – most dropshipping wholesalers will charge a small fee for the dropshipping service – just make sure it is not so high that it eats into your profit margins.
• Provide fast shipping – One disadvantage with dropshipping when dealing with vendors is that the customer is yours, not theirs hence sometimes shipping priorities are not where they should be – make sure shipping times are acceptable.
• Have quality products – as with affiliate marketing, don't sell rubbish.
• Have a good name – do your research and see what others are saying about them.

Sell your own

If any of the first two options above are not your cup of organic tea, maybe you could try sourcing and selling your own products. This process is especially popular with those selling smaller products (preserved food, supplements, cosmetics and such) or could be a potentially great market if you wanted to become a purveyor of fine organic foods etc. Here you actually purchase your product from a vendor or wholesaler, add your own label and then on-sell them via your website or platforms such as Amazon or Shopify.

This process requires higher setup costs as you will need to purchase your products, create and affix your labels and manage orders and shipment. Some wholesalers/vendors however will affix the labels that you send them and then manage the packaging and shipment for you (see dropshipping above). This will cost you less to set up but obviously you will make less on the sale once they take their processing fee.

Again, to find out where to acquire your product, do a search for “supplier: organic xxx” – the example below is for organic lipstick:

Note: These results will usually be based on your geographical location so you may at times need to sort through a few pages.

From here you will need to follow the same processes as with affiliate and dropshipping programs in determining whether they are a good fit for your business plans including:

• Relate to your niche/problems that you are solving.
• Have solid delivery and customer service arrangements.
• Have good testimonials covering service and quality of product.

Alternatively, keep your eye out in your local area for markets or food carnivals. These are a great way to find and purchase your products at good prices – you never know, you might even find a solid supplier for future sales as well.
Tip: This method can be very effective in driving online traffic and sales via the implementation of more traditional sales methods such as kiosks and market stalls etc. As people get to know you, they can purchase from you there and then be directed to your website for future sales.

Other methods

If none of the above really gets you excited then maybe it is time to think outside the square a little. Here are some other ideas that I have seen around the traps:

1. Demonstrations on YouTube – become an expert in all things organics such as making, growing, cooking, cleaning and so on and link your sales to YouTube advertising etc.
2. Teach people about the organic lifestyle such as making chemical free cleaners etc.
3. Hold tastings at markets – this will drive sales to your preferred recipes and/or mixes.
4. Make stuff – If you are on the handy side, then make your own stuff such as organically sourced furniture, food, clothing, cleaners and so on…

The sky really is the limit – think about how you might be able to corner a much-needed niche in this arena and you could definitely set up a great business.

What do we need to do?

Once we have all of the above sorted, or at the very least a plan in place, we need to choose and setup the media that we intend to use to sell our product. This can include:

Build a website

If you are looking to build your online business as an affiliate marketer, dropshipper or supplier, then chances are you will most probably need a website. Websites allow you to solve problems via blog posts and videos that people can view in order to identify the solutions that they need.

Usually, this process is fairly straight forward in that you build your website, write posts (on the differences between certain types of organic health supplements for example), then provide links so that your readers can view/purchase the relevant materials from your links.

Promote on Social Media

When it comes to organic products, Social media is definitely one area that people come to to discuss them. It has the power to reach thousands and allows you to target specific segments if you choose the correct platform. In terms of organic lifestyle products online, a good platform to start with is FaceBook where you can discuss things with your audience such as organic products available, how they are being made and so on.

However, if you are looking to set yourself up as an expert within the niche, then Instagram and YouTube will be your go to here – some even use these platforms without a website. These are great for visuals such as pictures and/or videos showing you discussing, making and using organic products etc. And if you are able to build a following you may even get noticed and be paid gazillions to review organic brands within your videos – this takes time, but it does happen…

Join like-minded groups

Anther great tool when it comes to selling products online are social groups. By getting involved with these groups you can really get a great understanding as to what its members are struggling with, what information they seek and what products they are looking to buy. Below is an example of organic gardening related FaceBook groups:

Note: Many of these groups will not allow you to spruike or promote your sites directly, however if you can interact and demonstrate your knowledge then people will ask you directly for the information. At the very least, as above, it is a great way to get ideas and insight into what people in this area really want to know about and what they are buying online.

Conclusion

And there it is – How to sell organic products online. I hope it has been helpful and as usual, please do not hesitate to comment below if you have any questions, need some advice or have any experiences to share.

Do you want further assistance with any of the above or need help to build your own organic, chemical free or sustainable lifestyle related website?

Are you looking for a comprehensive training platform that can give you step by step training, 24/7 support, tools to develop and host your very own website, ongoing assistance with SEO and social media and access to some of the best affiliate marketing minds on the planet, then click on the following link to read more about Wealthy Affiliate.

Until next time

Have fun

Paul

Note: If you make a purchase from this page, there is a very good chance that I make a commission from it – these commissions do not increase your sale price. This may include sales made via Wealthy Affiliate or Amazon.