Bigger Responsibility for Health Niche Bloggers Here's Why

byMozMary

16.8K followers

Updated 5 years ago

If I'd fallen for a domain name scam today it may have cost me $1000 on a domain name I didn't need, it hits my wallet. If I fall for a diet or advice that wrecks my health all because you wanted a quick commission, then I lose more than my money and shame on you. I've been telling you about high commission affiliate programs in the health niche so I've an even bigger responsibility to remind you of the things I say each time along with that:

1. Do not link bomb your audience with a bunch of health events, know what you are promoting
   
2. Guide them and help them navigate the good from the bad material to make informed choices, thinking you like what you hear is not making an informed choice* i.e you'll have to do proper research, read original sources, walk the talk, and I'll show you some resources on this later...
   

Aiming for a win win situation: Earn your money providing value responsibly

-YOU have to KNOW your niche material you are promoting

OR

At the very least BE HONEST about not knowing it and go on that journey with your audience.

- Woot Woot this is great buy it now <---do you stand by what you are selling?

'This is great, woot woot, come and get it now, that is an old salesy strategy, but I'd question in the health niche in particular, do you even know what you are selling? And how it will influence people, the potential harm it could do?

You are being offered big money commissions to sell someone's advice, basically you are being paid to pass on advice, do you really think you've no responsibilty there?

What Jeff Walker says about the Health Niche

Health and finance, don't advise people there unless you know those areas.

I'd go further because in the age of digital marketing one type of marketer can dominate a niche or space, so as a blogger make sure you research beyond what is ranking #1 in google and appreciate that selling someone's advice equates to giving advice too, partners in crime.

Examples - Questions for you and your audience / influence

1. Are you afraid to eat a carrot, apple, oats, grains, potatoes, meat, eggs, fish...
2. Are you afraid to even to take 3 meals in a day
3. Are you substituting with foods that can cause you trouble down the road
4. Are you loading up on fat at the wrong age in life and are you aware their are arguments against it that need answers and debate
5. Has someone told you coffee with fat in it is a nutritious breakfast while others say coffee is bad for you, are you aware of the history of healing in that regard?
6. Are you telling people they have to take 90g of protein a day
7. Are you telling people they have to take 20g of protein a day and quoting the exact same research as the people quote for 90g - that happened with speakers this week.
8. Are you selling people expensive things that they could get either very inexpensively or from natural foods, because we have that this week too with Dr. Chris Shade, Dr. Jay Davidson at the female hormone summit, and other summits.
9. Are you seriously in the health niche selling a detox when you don't know what it is or have even tried it, will you really get them to spend $500 or $1800 when they can get it for $50, are you even aware what's out there or are the $29.50 commissions I dangled in front of you enough - because I'm saying that's not how to get them, and it's not enough.
10. Are you pushing Bioidentical Hormones that men and women really may not need?

Crazy Summit Stuff You Really Should Know

1. A speaker said this week at the Female Hormones Summit that if a person does the ketogenic diet wrong they can screw their thryoid - unless people count their calories bad things can happen, she was actually pro keto and missed the point that a lot of people out there will inevitably get it wrong.
2. Last week at the Regain Your Brain the biggest piece of advice was the Bredesen protocol 'a supplement heavy protocol that you can never deviate from and involves keto and intermittent fasting and exertion', however not only have I seen better results got without this protocol, without the keto diet and without intermittent fasting, I also saw the research being misquoted, and downright irresponsible advice being given on exercise to seniors - so there's a big difference between showing people the event and info and discussing it and earning your big fat commission - if this were your job would you be mindless?
3. This week at the Female Hormone summit I'm seeing comments where women report 'the progesterone cream worked for a time and now it doesn't', that's a very predictable outcome. And that poor woman had a bunch of bad stuff going on after all her efforts to follow the David Jockers' advice you'd have been pushing on her unless you can bring something to the table to show her better ways of doing things, or where they will find those.
4. Are you aware one of the speakers at this week's hormone summit is giving people advice that they must take hormones as a preventative, that is a fearmongering card that often gets played whether it's cancer or alzheimer's - many practitioners disagree with that. If you want to discuss the topic fine, but pushing a one sided view to a vulnerable audience is irresponsible in the digital age of marketing when it's so easy to rank and brainwash.
5. Does a carrot, a piece of sweet potato and a small handful of berries sound like pigging out to you? Because that is what David Jockers's pregnant wife 'allowed herself' in her third trimester when she was eating for two and 'took a break' from ketosis

...that's a snack to a normal healthy person and if you are going to line your pockets making money off summits then be aware of what you are doing to people by celebrating celebrity doctors without asking deeper questions on them and the latest trends and fads. Are you aware there are older healing protocols and diets like the Mediterranean Diet, Gerson Therapy -which encourage huge amounts of foods and juices including snacking on vegetables to allow the healing body to repair!

Spam is a No No, Sales are a Know Know!

Know your niche, and know the product you are promoting, let's expand on that familiar WA saying:

• Spam is No No
• Sales are a Know Know

So in so far as I bring you some high commission affiliate goodies in the health niche, I also will be reminding you it's still about money with integrity and responsibility. And when I say take part in the conversation out there, a conversation is precisely that, please have something to say rather than look at me I'm selling this.

Mary

ps Update: someone commented that it should be left up to doctors but please bear in mind the advice we are getting paid to pass on is not 'medical' advice or intended as a replacement for a doctor. It is wellness education, and we all have access to those resources as much as any doctor. In a way I'm saying yes bloggers, hold higher standards than any one doctor pushing his own one view out there, because it's the doctorpreneurs who are the wellness edcuators now. And one reason these doctors are discussing wellness is because they had to fix their own health outside of medications, the regular health system does not work for most chronic illness, lifestyle and nutrition does. But if lifestyle and food are medicine, as the saying goes, then navigating that wisely in this day and age is all the more important. And with the amount of commercial interest in that who do you trust to do it - bloggers are needed in this space!