4 Ways to Start a Weed Business During the Legalization of Marijuana

No matter where you go, CBD and smoke shops tend to be all over the place. With sweeping legalization of marijuana and CBD now quickly going into affect across the country, right now might be a great time for you to focus your efforts on this global trillion dollar industry.

The good news is, there are plenty of ways to start or promote such a business without the need to actually grow or sell physical marijuana or CBD products.

With this in mind, today we will be highlighting three different ways you can start taking advantage of the situation at hand.

1 – Create a Marijuana Resource Guide for Those In Need

First thing first, with CBD, weed and marijuana benefits now getting more attention than ever before, more people are heading to Google and social media to see what they can find out — versus going to a local dispensary or doctor first.

This means there is a huge demand for high-quality marijuana and CBD resource sites.

A perfect example of this can be seen in this weed delivery services in Boston article. Not only does the site make it easy to find such delivery options in that specific city, but they also break down such services in different states across the country.

The benefit for having such a site, is that it provides value to an audience, while also being extremely useful for the businesses, brands and dispensaries that deliver such products — which ultimately leaves a lot of monetization options on the table for the site owner.

2 – Start a CBD and Dispensary Directory for Local Businesses

In addition to creating an online resource website or blog, another option is to open your own directory. In previous years, this would have likely been a huge pain to set up, but now with SaaS platforms in place, it’s easier said than done.

You can see a live working example of such a directory, at CBD Hemp Finder, which currently lists thousands of locations across the country for the buying of CBD and hemp related products — again, all without needing to sell anything on their own.

While there are many similar benefits to launching a CBD/weed directory in comparison to a resource site, there is also less manual work and writing on your part — as the ability is there for smoke shops, dispensaries and health stores to add their own listings and manage their content.

Once again, the real business model and value here is making the information and content easily accessible for those looking for it. And through the use of paid listings, upgrades, affiliate marketing and more, the sites are able to generate revenue in the process.

3 – Launch a Weed/CBD Advertising Agency

Another excellent way to make money in the business of marijuana without actually needing to grow or sell any of the product, is to cater to the needs of the many businesses and sellers already in it.

If you have a marketing background or an agency in place, the opportunities in setting one up strictly for those businesses can be use.

HempireSEO is a great example of a brand that was able to make the shift from a normal SEO agency, to branching off and focusing strictly on weed and CBD clients.

With more people now searching for such products and information online, the demand for ranking higher and attracting new audiences is also higher than ever.

So how can one start an SEO agency of their own focused specifically on this industry? Simple… if you know enough about how SEO works and have the necessary resource in place, launch a new site and brand and then perform the required outreach to gain new clients.

4 – Become an Authority and Expert within the Industry

The common theme across all of these methods being highlighted today, is the power of information and providing it to an audience that is greatly in need.

In the last example of how you can start a business or brand through the use of providing audiences with the most value possible, it’s all about becoming an authority and trusted brand within your niche.

Outside of Google, where are people going when they need information? It’s usually YouTube and social media — which is the perfect segue into our next examples of influencers changing the market.

What was once a banned topic, is now one of the hottest and fastest growing markets on YouTube today. With thousands of high traffic YouTube Cannabis Channels now in place, more will surely come in the future — however, those who have been putting in the time, work and effort to continually create content and grow their followings, are now the industry experts and influencers of today.

And when it comes to revenue options, it’s not just about YouTube video ads. Instead, these influencers are getting paid big bucks to create video content, work with sponsored placements, and sometimes even getting annual sponsorships and paid contracts for media placements and content outside of YouTube.

With Google being the largest search engine in the world and YouTube being the largest video search engine in the world, if you are doing any type of video content — this is simply a no brainer.

How to Make the Most Out of the Early Days of Legalization

With 2021 only getting started and new regulations coming into effect daily on the legal use of marijuana and CBD, the industry will only continue to grow day in and day out.

If you are currently on the sidelines and wondering how you can start making money in this industry, and terrified with the idea of being a grower or opening your own store location, these four ideas and working methods might be perfect for you.

As with all business opportunities, it’s important to not only research the industry beforehand, but to also have an action plan in place as well.

Be sure to skim through each of the listed ideas and opportunities and see which best fit your existing expertise and services in place. If you are already well versed in multiple areas of content creation and online marketing, you may way to implement each of these methods by starting your own agency.