Summertime, and the livin’ is easy

Posted on: 3:21pm, 2010 June (Thursday 24th) By: Tim Waddington

Now that summer has truly arrived, there are plenty of reasons to be cheerful:  There’s the plethora of sporting events for us to enjoy, from the World Cup, to the Cricket season and the usual staple events of Wimbledon, Royal Ascot and The British Grand Prix. Longer days and lighter evenings allow greater opportunities for midweek socialising or playing sport. Most will be looking forward to a summer holiday at some point, with a couple of weeks of relaxing sun, sea and sand. And finally, most parents will enjoy taking their children off on numerous day trips and excursions. However, if you’re an affiliate, a network or a client Affiliate Manager, there are also plenty of reasons not to be cheerful. Aside from the current economic climate, the hot weather means that people are far less likely to be sitting indoors and buying things online. If you’re like me and my friends, the next few months will be full of trips to music festivals, sporting events, Stag (or Hen) Do’s, summer holidays, Weddings and barbecues. We’ve already allocated a not insubstantial amount of money towards event tickets, accommodation, presents and travel and there’s also the small matter of ‘refreshment’ budget for each of the events that we’re planning to attend.

All of this means that we’ll be spending far less time and far less money online on usual purchases like clothes, DVDs, games etc that you’d expect at other times of the year. This all amounts to an unhappy period of the year for all involved in the industry. It can of course be argued that the Travel boom in January has already been very kind to them, and many will also updated their summer wardrobes online in the Spring from which they can benefit, however it’s still galling every June to see statistics and graphs and charts all starting to point downward as the sun comes out. I used to work at a network where it was joked that we wished for rain every weekend, such is the extent of the situation.

However, the industrious and innovative amongst us can still very much capitalise on social trends. Social media has allowed us all to feel far more involved and wrapped into a community than we ever have before, so it’s far easier for cultural and social phenomena to be carried virally around the web, rather than just round the water cooler as in previous years. Affiliates and merchants alike, who are savvy and move quickly can capitalise on these sensations, and now more than ever is the time, as the World Cup moves into the knockout stages and society collectively goes a little bit giddy. Here are a few great examples of entrepreneurial types cashing in on the latest niche fads and fashions:

No world cup before this one has had such a huge talking point about something happening off the pitch.  ‘Vuvuzela’ has been the word on everybody’s lips.  A quick look at Google trends shows how much interest in this musical instrument has picked up.

Whilst vuvuzelas have mainly been prevalent in South Africa, and are available from street vendors, someone has correctly predicted that sales in the UK would rocket.  With the help of Amazon’s affiliate programme they’ve put together this simple yet effective site: http://www.ukvuvuzela.co.uk/

Many older children are already off school on study leave and post exams, and all the younger ones will soon be joining them. With a good summer weather forecast predicted, and many families potentially feeling the economic pinch, there are opportunities for affiliates to generate sales through sites like  http://www.paddlingpoolsuk.co.uk/ It’s now possible to buy a far wider range of splashpools and paddling pools far more cheaply than when I was growing up, and with a range of merchants such as I Want One Of Those and Prezzybox offering them for sale, it’s a great little niche to be in for the right domain owner.

With Festival season kicking off last week at the Isle of Wight, and Glastonbury getting into full swing, sites like http://festivaltents.org.uk/ should be doing a roaring trade. Many people who go to festivals look for cheap, small and possibly throwaway tents such is the environment in which they’re pitched, and affiliate sites which are built in the comparison style are a great place for people to find what they want.

These are just a tiny sample of the sort of niches which can help combat the usual summer drop in sales and commissions. It would be great to see any other examples you’ve seen.

Thanks,

Tim

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