Is this niche profitable in English speaking populations?

[zsolt]

Hello Warriors,

A while back I opened a topic about niche selection, mainly complaining about how every profitable niche seems to be saturated already. The thread generated lots of replies, and almost all of them pointing out that the presence of competitors in any market is a good sign, meaning there's actually money to be made in that niche.

Also, there was a fellow who said that I am in a lucky position as I live in a niche and I should take advantage of it. What he meant was that living in Hungary puts me in a position where I could have a first-mover advantage possibly in several various niches. At the time I did not give much consideration to his thoughts, but I've been doing some research lately in the Hungarian cyberspace.

The results are quite surprising, to say the least. Looks like I do live in a niche. Either that, or the interests, needs and problems of the Hungarian people are very different from the English speaking population of the world.
Yes, some of the niches have well-established competitors, like the dating niche or the make-money niche to some extent. But in other niches where I expected more competition I have found none or very little. These are the self-development, health, psychological well-being, etc.

This surprised me as for one, my country has one of the worst statistics in connection with physical and mental health, and for two, self-help and psychology books seem to be quite popular and in demand. And yet, all this does not reflect in the online world.
There are sites about these topics, but these are mainly run by enthusiasts and hobbists.

So, I guess I shall ask two questions of you:

1. Are topics of like psychology, self-help, stress management, mental well-being are popular in your countries? Would you say people search for this stuff online and are willing to pay for information?

2. Do you think it's a good idea for me to start an online biz in this psychology-self-help field (mind you, I am a psychologist by profession)? The lack of competition should be a warning, yet other factors clearly indicate that people seek out help and information in this area. Could it be that the lack of competition is just a sign of the Hungarian cyberspace not being as commercialized and well developed as the "English web"? Online trends and inventions tend to arrive a few years late to Hungary. For example, blogging is still in its pre-commercial phase in Hungary with only a few companies taking advantage of this web 2.0 technology. Could this delay be the cause of "empty" niches?
Could I be a successful first mover?

Well, turned out to be more than just two questions, but I guess you know what I am trying to get at.
Any thoughts, insights, suggestions are very much appriciated.

Zsolt

[The Wanderer]

Zsolt-- psychology and self-help are definitely popular niches in the US-- and yes, I think it would be an excellent area to get into. I've spent quite a bit of time in Central Europe and agree that the trends usually arrive with a year or two's delay there. Especially as a psychologist I think you're in a perfect position to be a 'first mover'. That said, be prepared to hang in there. As a first mover, you'll spend a lot of time building momentum and educating others about the value of what you have to offer.

Best of luck!

[zsolt]

Hi, thanks for your thoughts. It's so interesting for me to see how "our web" is still different from "your web". Some niches that are crowded there are almost empty here. Yet, I feel the same as you, psychological well-being should be in demand in Hungary too. We're a stressful nation unfortunately.

I did some research in Google Keywords Tool and found that there are more searchesa for the term "wordpress" than for terms like "health", "stress", or "depression". One would think it should be the other way around. This could be a sign of not much of a demand for health and related products, however intuition tell me this should not be the case. Lack of heavy search engine traffic for me indicates that people are simply not used to go online to find information about this field. They just buy books or magazines or seek out the help of professionals offline.
Being a first mover definetely has its advantages but also means hard work as you have the lay down the foundations by yourself from scratch.

Now if only I could build an authority blog in this field I might just make it...

[Dontrell Lyons]

Yes I agree! Personal Development is a Billion Dollar Industry, most of the self-help gurus have been cashing in through published books, these days you can create an ebook and have instant publisher status!

This is coming from a personal development fanatic!

[zsolt]

Thanks Dontrell. People buy lots of printed books about personal development and wellbeing. So, the market exists, just noone really implemented the solution online. Which I find kind of suprising, but that how it is.

[Jared Alberghini]

Originally Posted by zsolt

Thanks Dontrell. People buy lots of printed books about personal development and wellbeing. So, the market exists, just noone really implemented the solution online. Which I find kind of suprising, but that how it is.

Ummm... I would beg to differ, there are tens of thousands, if not millions of 'gurus' who have implemented this exact solution online, selling personal development products online... it is definitely a 'hot niche' with big competition...

If in your country/market there is no competition, well, I would get on the bandwagon awful quickly and take advantage of the open market with no competition, because this is a hot niche to get into...

- Jared

[Ben-Jones]

I would also say it is a highly searched for niche.

I would also imagine there would be a lot of hungry buyers out there as well

[zsolt]

Originally Posted by webdesignhq

Ummm... I would beg to differ, there are tens of thousands, if not millions of 'gurus' who have implemented this exact solution online, selling personal development products online... it is definitely a 'hot niche' with big competition...

You are right. I forgot to add that what I wrote I meant specifically for Hungary.
I know a lot of people are selling e-products on self-help and there is a great demand for them. However, over here you can only get good old-fashioned paper books on the topic. So I might make it, if I make a move now.

[zsolt]

Originally Posted by Ben-Jones

I would also say it is a highly searched for niche.

Not in Hungary. According to Google not that many people search for it. If they want info on personal development they just walk into the nearest bookstore and buy a book on the topic.
I wonder if they can be trained to go online to find this kind of information?

[Dixiebelle]

Hi Zsolt: Here's a thought. You apparently speak very good English. Why don't you find a good Wordpress tutorial online, translate it into your own language, sell it in your country so that more people can learn to blog.

If you can get a large community of bloggers going, you will soon learn what they are most interested in. Then you can build websites, and sell products, or ebooks, to satisfy their needs.

If I could speak your language, I would be on it today.

You also said that people in your country search for niches that are not search for in this country. What do they search for most?

Dixie