Hi qpet:
Thanks for the great question!
I've done some looking around for you, and it appears that the total
self-help market (excluding diets) sits at around $2.5 - $3.5 billion.
The following sites back this figure up:
"Newsweek" on Self-Help and "Next Age"
URL: http://www.cesnur.org/testi/NextAge_newsweek.htm
Quote: "Books are just one avenue to a brand-new you. From seminars to
CDs to "personal coaching," the self-improvement industry rakes in
$2.48 billion a year, according to the research firm Marketdata
Enterprises, which predicts double-digit annual growth through 2003."
Note: The predicted growth rate brings up the figure for today.
Invisible Lit - Tripe Soup for the Soul
URL: http://www.bookforum.net/archive/sum_02/dery.html
Quote: "The growing popularity of audio books has transformed
self-help into a $2.48 billion a year industry..."
Are You A Self Help Junkie?
URL: http://www.business-dynamics.com/resource_library/Business_Resources/432.html
Quote: "North Americans spend an annual $2.8 billion-plus on books and
over $600 million on tapes in our collective search for
self-improvement and business success. We devour some 2,000 new titles
a year, pack ourselves into a wide variety of motivational seminars
and spend our commuting time listening to tapes seeking the formulas
that will propel us to success and happiness. According to an article
in The Wall Street Journal, sales of self-help books grew by 28% last
year alone—twice as fast as the overall publishing industry!"
Note: Add it up and you get well over $3 billion.
Acting for Real: MUCH More than 'Self-Help'
URL: http://www.lifestand.com/information.asp
Quote: "Self-help is big these days. According to a recent Newsweek
article, the sale of books alone in this area garners $563 million a
year, and the entire self-improvement industry (not counting diets)
pulls in $2.48 billion."
Note: Again, these figures are a few years old.
There are also websites out there that put the figure much higher -
but none of them seem to be backed up by any concrete research (as the
above sites are). I'll list a couple of them for your consideration.
A matter of faith
URL: http://www.rickross.com/reference/general/general459.html
Quote: "By 2000, Americans were spending more than $5.7 billion a year
on everything from self-help books and speeches to "total immersion
experiences," a.k.a. seminars."
The Journey: Mountain of a journey: Rainier climb is mother of all
self-help challenges
URL: http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/78034
"'You can do it': Selling a better self; Books, coaches, seminars add
up to $5.7 billion market of advice"
Umagic bottles expert advice
URL: http://www.redherring.com/industries/2000/0113/vc-umagic.html
Quote: "That's a prospect that's likely to thrill both the
self-proclaimed experts and celebrities appearing on the site, as well
as people who purchase an estimated $160 billion in personal advice
products, such as books, tapes, seminars, and consultations. It'll be
anybody's guess whether technology can replace humans in the self-help
department, at least until Umagic launches its Web site in March."
Note: This ones way out there!!!
I hope that this information has been of help in your search.
If you need any clarification of the information I have provided,
please ask using the Clarification feature and provide me with
additional details as to what you are looking for. As well, please
allow me to provide you with clarification(s) *before* you rate this
answer.
Thank you.
websearcher-ga
Search Strategy (on Google):
"self help" billion books tapes
"self help" billion books tapes 2002 |
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