This little company has become famous within its demographic with a “Burning Hot” Niche site that presents especially unique product demonstrations via YouTube videos. Warning: Don’t try this at home.
This begins a new series highlighting interesting Niche Market sites featuring fun Online Business ideas.
In appreciation of our Aussie buddies who hang out around here, I thought it would be fun to kick-off our series with one of my favourite Niche Market sites, The Hippy Seed Company, home of the Worlds Hottest Chili Peppers.
If you ever suspected that some of our favourite Aussies might be just a little bit Koo Koo, watching the owner of this site eat peppers twice as hot as what’s listed in the Guinness Book of World Records should dispel all doubt.
This little company, based in Ettalong N.S.W. Australia, grows all their own crops, and then harvests the seeds for sale. And they make incredible sauces, as well.
Although there are a lot of places around the Internet where you can order peppers, seeds, and live plants, only one place on the planet will demonstrate them on camera for your dining and entertainment pleasure.
Neil is famous around Chili circles for his numerous YouTube videos where, in one mouthful, he chews, swallows, and then critiques what can only be classified as a Peppers of Mass Destruction.
But his videos come with this stern warning:
Do Not Try This At Home.
I am a Professional and Fully Qualified Idiot.
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And just in case you think he may be faking it, anyone who has experience with these Peppers will sit dumbfounded that he is able to eat them at all 
Quite frankly, it’s fun to watch as Neil squirms, chokes, hiccups, and drools. His glasses literally steam up as he drips buckets of sweat and tries to explain in words what he is experiencing—as if that was actually necessary.
Grab the popcorn, but hide the kids. As you may very well expect, some of what comes out of his mouth is R-Rated.
Niche Market Site Analysis
There are many places to buy seeds on the Internet, and many are huge companies with large inventories. But few companies carry the Super Hots. In a world where most consider the very mild Jalapeño to be plenty hot enough, the Hippy Seed Company obviously caters to a small niche of Super Crazies.
- But why seeds?
Seeds are much easier to ship, and live plants are difficult and expensive to transport, and near impossible with a world-wide customer base.
- Neil’s Customer Service is outstanding—and he is always highly recommended within the Chili Circles. Most orders include a little unexpected surprise of some sort. Sometimes a dried sample or a generous seed count.
- The Catalog encompasses every pepper you would expect, categorized by Type/Origin, with pretty pictures and interesting descriptions.
- The videos are the main attraction, of course, and easily differentiate this company from the herd. Although hosted on YouTube, they are embedded right there along side the Product Description and picture of each pepper being sold.
- The YouTube channel shows 1,599,585 views of Neil’s videos, and he has 3,429 subscribers. There may be more Chili Heads out there then one would first imagine.
- As you would expect, Neil is a well-known figure in the Hot Pepper Forum where he hangs out, and being a member there is a fast track if you want to contact him.
- Order Entry is a weakness here. Although PayPal is utilized, there is no Order Entry form you can fill out, so customers must instead log in to their own PayPal Account and place their order through the PayPal screen, using the email address provided as the Payment Destination. Most people with PayPal accounts have never done this before, so it could be confusing or intimidating for some. On the other hand, customers who really want this product are surely quite confused already, and probably not easily intimidated
- This site is set up as an Authority site, in contrast to a Gateway. For the difference, see Niche Market Websites: Gateway or Authority?
We all repeatedly hear that to be successful in Niche Marketing you must be unique in some way. The Hippy Seed Company fulfills that requirement in spades. They also know how to capitalize on that uniqueness by being a permanent fixture in the Forum where you will undoubtedly find their customer base.
- Do YOU have a Niche Market site?
- Are YOU using Video to Demonstrate your Product?
- Do you know of an interesting Niche Market site you would like to see profiled here?
- What’s YOUR Online Business Idea?
Be sure to leave me a Comment below, and tell me all about it.
Hi Rick
I must declare though I am one of the Aussies who hang out here; I do NOT like chilis. Will I now be banned lol
Well, I must say he has a unique brand so can’t argue with that one
I’m still working on mine and I can say with confidence it will definitely smell sweeter. Hopefully be as successful too 
And as you are the umpteenth person to mention video this week, guess I will eventually have to embrace it; Aussie accent and all.
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia@lavenderoils recently posted..Collaboration- the new buzz word
Apparently you didn’t read that contract. Just don’t let Neil hear you say that
The thing that strikes me about Niche Markets is the more creative ones tend to be owned by people selling their own product. Affiliate sites are very often put together quickly so the Affiliate can move on to the next Niche.
Now allow me to back up a bit.
Even if a person’s product isn’t manufactured by the site owner personally, having an online store where you fulfill the orders yourself requires much more commitment than putting up a site with a few articles, getting some backlinks, and then having the product owner do all the fulfillment. There can easily be more commitment to that, as some would very strenuously argue. But you see what I mean.
When you own a Niche Site with products you product or handle yourself requires a lot more commitment, so I have observed a lot more loving care go into them.
Having said that, I have a few affiliate sites that I have put a lot of work into, and continue to work on improving. My goal is to have them be just as good as any Niche site out there.
I think video has its place, but not all situations get much bang for using it. Neil get tremendous bang because his are highly entertaining, while doing a masterful job of demonstrating the product.
On the other hand, I have seen Text slide show Vids that put me to sleep almost immediately. The only way I would push the Buy Button would be if my face hit the keyboard.
We’ll be talking a lot about Niche Marketing in the weeks and months to come
I agree Rick about having to be interesting to hold people’s attention with videos.
Looking forward to the next instalment
I so don’t like listening to the sound of my own voice, think I would put people to sleep too lol
I agree about the committment. It is much more work for me selling physical products I need to wrap and go post myself; than the affiliate programs I hope to do.
If I had the finances and was many years younger I would love to have an all things lavender shop. So this is the next best thing
Learning heaps and trying to figure how to implement it all in my tiny part of the blogosphere.
Patricia Perth Australia
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dr. Ron Capps and Patricia Millman. Rick LaPoint said: NEW SERIES – Niche Market Profile: The Hippy Seed Company | Internet Marketing http://bit.ly/hc86l3 [...]
Rick,
Now I know those Aussies are crazy.:) Of course Patricia is the exception.
This was a great look at a niche site. From the product, service, marketing to the purchase. I like the fact that he over delivers by sending something extra.
I have not done video personally but my sister has and it is very effective.
Sheila Atwood recently posted..Finally! The Year Of The Rabbit
As you may know, I have been designated the Honourary Aussie, so I’m going to assume, then, that my daffiness is only honourary as well
I think that good Niche sites have a lot to teach us, and can inspire some great creative thinking. I have a few more sites lined up, and will continue adding to the series until I run out of interesting sites to analyze.
Of course, then it will be up to us to add to the list
Thanks for stopping by, and for the thumbs up on the first of our series.
Thanks Sheila I so am not one of the crazies lol But I do appreciate the unique Aussie sense of humour
And Rick why do you think you are dubbed an honourary Aussie….of course it is to do with your wit and you get Alex’ jokes!!! Now that is VERY worrying if you are not an Aussie
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia@lavenderoils recently posted..Collaboration- the new buzz word
“Now that is VERY worrying if you are not an Aussie
”
As Homer Simpson would say, “Yes, I’m scared too…”
Hahahahahaha that is HILARIOUS!
Mate – where do you find these things?!?
What a nutbag! Cracks me up…..
Few tips within this crazy example though – thanks for profiling and sharing.
Btw -maybe its just me and I am an idiot, but I click on your Blog or ‘Daily Juice’ and it is no longer your blog??!
The latest posts are at home instead?
Makes no sense – just think you are losin potential readers this way (or maybe I am the only idiot that does not click home to see the latest posts?!)
Glad you like it
Actually, I was thinking of you, and could easily believe you would do something similar yourself. But maybe you’re not really as crazy as I had come to believe. Hmmmm.
Nah!
Actually the number of views of his videos demonstrate that the madness pays off.
As far as my blog, my site here has two blogs. You made a good point about possible confusion, so I altered the Menu to try to clarify things somewhat.
Thanks for your feedback
actually, funny you say man – because a few years back me and the boys were camping on the beach and my brother brought out a bottle of Vodka that had been infused with chilli for the past 12 months.
We drank the (hottest effing) vodka in history, and then with the out of the way proceeded to do the following:
Crush the chilli up and snort it, squeeze it in my eye, and then swallow the remains whole.
I actually remember losing feeling to the right side of my face for a few hours, but by the time I woke up in a rock pool 4km down the beach I was feeling fine!
Had crabs – but the kind that skittle off first light, not the other kind
Ever hear the phrase, “Too much information?”
Never a dull moment Down Under
[...] more on Niche Market [...]
Hi Rick, Patricia, Sheila, Alex,
Every body is talking about niche sites these days, which kind of make me interested in the topic.
Rick, I really like this article as it sheds new light upon what I use to think are niche sites: namely, sites with spun PLR articles that are full of Adsense and other ads.
This site is also a niche site, but with personality. Having check this it reminds me of another site the heart of America where they are trying Asian foods. The way they describe their experience of the Asian foods they’ve tried are fun to read because of their different culture and acquired taste from Asians. I just wonder how the Asians and Mexicans would find those videos because those chilli would not taste as hot to them.
Nice to always learn from you.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan recently posted..How to Get the Maximum out of Facebook Comments Plugin
It was never really my intention to have a blog. Now I have two within the same site. OY
I have always seen niche sites as authority sites, as my friends and I have always sold our own products. And those sites tended to be our only ones, they all had personality.
The type you are referring to have always been a “back button pusher” for me. If a niche site looks like there is no love there, why should I stay?
But that’s just me. I try to make all my sites have personality, even if they are simply affiliate sites.
Thanks for stopping by
Hi Rick,
Just notice that you have your laptop store in there. Thumb up to you.
While you all thinking of niche site, I am thinking to start a new SEO blog.. I must be out of mind. Hehe.
Rose recently posted..Leonardo Da Vinci and His Famous Painting “Mona Lisa”
Before I started this site, I was building niche sites.
I keep telling anyone who will listen, including myself, that I’m NOT a blogger
My focus here is all aspects of selling and marketing by using the Internet as a major tool for any type of business.
As always, thank you for coming by to comment
Hi Rick,
I remember that you are not a blogger (also me) and I have explained clearly on your post “Are You a Prisoner of Your Blog?” for my reason to use blog. However, I have read too common info regarding on-page SEO on several places, some even miss the most important point which make me think should I start or not.
Another reason I may start new blog is because of the backlink reason. And I can also ask you to do beautiful writing for me sometimes.
Rose recently posted..Leonardo Da Vinci and His Famous Painting “Mona Lisa”
LOL, I’m always blogging about not blogging.
My point of view has always been that if you have a website for the purpose of selling a product then your content should exist for the purpose of selling the product. The model many are using is more like a newspaper, where they want to attract people to their content with hopes they will buy something from the ads on the sidebar.
The Niche sites I will be highlighting exist for the purpose of selling a product or service, and the content is part of the sales presentation.
In the case here, the videos are entertaining, yet they are designed to entice crazy chili heads — and there are a lot of them out there — to desperately want the hottest peppers in the world. Maybe its macho, maybe it’s the desire to have something rare… who knows.
A blog is wonderful, providing you truly understand why you are doing it, and consistently gear your activities toward that end result.
Rick,
I have to wonder how it is that you know so much about the The Hippy Seed Company. Are you one of their customers?
I had a website for a niche market about 6 or 7 years ago before video had really caught on. At the time, I was driving traffic through print and PPC advertising. Our problem was that it was a very small niche for a very new product/service. So, we were building awareness at the same time. The combination of building awareness and the fact that it was such a small market led us to put the entire project on a “shelf”. Had YouTube been nearly as popular, maybe things would have been different.
Sherryl Perry recently posted..How Google Analytics Introduced Me to Social Media Today
I gave Neil a heads up and he emailed me more information, which I checked out.
A small niche with a new product is a tough combination.
My software product was created early in the Daytrading craze so I was able to capitalize on a huge, growing fad. I had the only product of it’s kind about a subject everyone wanted to learn about. There were books, seminars, gurus, etc about Fibonacci stock market formulas but I was the only one with a product to make it easy. Plus it had cutting edge methods built in that went beyond what the gurus were teaching — which meant I was a guru, not simply a marketer.
To market the product, all I had to do was to show it to experienced traders, and they “got” it immediately. Word spread word-of-mouth.
It was the perfect storm. Now I need to figure out how to make lightening strike twice
When I hear how millions of people believe they can make a living blogging, I just shake my head. Millions of people thought they could get rich Daytrading, but in both cases have no comprehension of what really goes into it.
It always boils down to having something unique enough to elicit the spontaneous “WOW” so that word spreads on its own. You have to get the fire started, of course.
But all that is food for more articles, and really beyond the scope of a comment
You are hilarious! That was fun to read and informative too! Like the way you laid everything on the table about what a niche site really is. Rock on . . . .
Hi Martha,
I’m glad I was successful with this article — what you just articulated was my goal exactly.
There are a lot of interesting things to read around the site. Welcome
This is amazing! I’ve been looking for some really great quality seeds to grow, because mild chilis just don’t cut it for me. I miss real salsa!
I also love their marketing methods. I have a niche site, and the customer base is quite dedicated, so I’m building up my blog so far. I’ve been thinking about video, so I’m going to take a look and see how they do things!
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Ah, I didn’t realize you were a Chilihead
Hippy Seed is a fun place to visit. But you will walk away, haunted by the phrase, “…the back ah mah throat!”
I should have a page where everyone can post the link to their Niche site for all to see. Unless, of course, everyone is afraid to show other Marketers their secrets
Thanks for your input!
Haha, oh gosh, I’ve watched videos demonstrating people’s painful reactions to certain things, and I gotta admit I don’t like watching them. But some people do, so I guess it works!
I have some niche sites, but I haven’t been using video just yet to help market them. I am however using video for my current blog as kind of a fun thing to do.
The videos for this particular niche site are really “shocking” I guess you could say, which is great for differentiaion. I won’t be ordering any of these chili peppers, unfortunately. I’m a wimp when it comes to spicy food!
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I don’t think video works well in every case. My thoughts are that video should be reserved for ideas that cannot be conveyed any other way. A video of PowerPoint bullets just isn’t worth the effort.
For the videos on this site, chili heads really want to see him do this, so he understand his market well. Actually, now many non-marketers have made their own videos as a result. It’s become kind of a macho initiation ritual. You can’t just tell people you ate your first super hot, you have to film and post it as proof.
Although video is supposed to be the big wave in marketing, a prospect must be interested enough in the first place to invest the time to watch it. Once the sales copy has them interested, having a product demonstration along side would be great.
Not everyone is will automatically click simply because it’s a video, although just as many would probably rather watch than read.
Just my thoughts…
Just a fine example of how new innovations on the framework of current tradition and technology can lead you upto. We all knew about youtube and how to grow crops, but see , they combined it , got famous and rich too.
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It is just another fine example of how a properly executed “niche” plan with a simple innovation can bring you success.
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