Reconsidering the Self-Help Niche: A Springboard to Success

When most people think of the Self-Help market, they get an image of products and services related to spirituality, relationships, sex, stress reduction, happiness, and health – all of them pretty much oriented toward women.

If your thinking about this niche goes no further than that, you’re missing out on a huge section of an immensely lucrative market … lucrative for companies selling Self-Help products and for copywriters who write for them.

A Multi-BILLION-Dollar Industry

Just how lucrative is this market? The American Self-Help Clearinghouse lists more than 1,000 Self-Help groups worldwide. Amazon.com carries more than 20,000 Self-Help titles. And according to MarketResearch.com, Americans spend a staggering $8.5 BILLION a year on Self-Help products.

You can be a part of this multi-billion-dollar industry … even if spirituality, relationships, and other subjects commonly associated with Self-Help products don’t exactly excite you.

The Self-Help market goes way beyond that.

Extending Into MULTIPLE Areas of Your Prospect’s Life … and Yours

One thing that makes the Self-Help market so enticing (and easy) for copywriters is that it covers so many topics. For example:

• accelerated learning
• parenting
• sports and recreation
• creativity
• ending habits and addictions
• weight loss
• body image
• pain relief
• travel
• home and garden
• shopping
• and dozens of others

There’s something for everybody here … including you. And, as you can see, Self-Help products aren’t just for women. Here’s what publishing giant Rodale Books says about one of its Self-Help magazines:

“Rodale’s new upscale magazine for men … offers hands-on advice on finance, fitness, fatherhood and relationships as well as the latest cultural news, style trends and product reviews for affluent, accomplished men.”

A Great Starting Place for Your Career

You might be thinking that a market as lucrative as the Self-Help niche must be highly competitive and difficult for copywriters to break into. But the exact opposite is true.

Many of the highest-paid copywriters specialize in writing for things like financial newsletters, health care newsletters, and nutritional supplements. So it’s tough for beginners to get assignments in those niches.

But because few of the more-experienced copywriters have chosen to focus on the Self-Help market, that leaves lots of room for new copywriters to step in, prove their skills, and establish themselves in a lucrative career.

It happened for AWAI graduate Catherine Cairns … who is now one of Self-Help giant Nightingale-Conant’s top freelancer copywriters.

And It’s Fun

To make this an even more exciting niche, writing for the Self-Help market is fun.

The clients are excited about helping their customers. They believe passionately in the benefits of what they offer. And they really value good copy – and good copywriters.

The products you write about – books, reports, videos, CDs, tapes – are fun to read, watch, or listen to.

So if you haven’t considered writing for the Self-Help market – maybe because you thought it was too “New Age-y” for you – give it a second look. There are thousands of potential clients out there who need you.

And, guaranteed, once you get started in this market niche, you’ll not only have taken a significant step forward in your career, you’ll also have the personal satisfaction of knowing that you’re helping to make lots of people’s lives better.