No one needs Self Develpment?!

Well, in the most cases nobody cares that there is motivation required to succeed.

Buyer things he'll buy and that's all he has to do and seller couldn't care less what will happen after he gets the money - unless there's a refund, of course.

I suspect that the original research might have been shining the spotlight on the wrong corner.

One of the characteristics you need to succeed not only as a network marketer but in any kind of business is the ability to appear confident and expert in what you're doing. I write self help and motivational stuff - I've done it for decades (long before the internet!), and there IS clearly a market. Ask Tony Robbins - he has no trouble attracting business people. But he comes over as a person with TOTAL certainty about his ability to improve their BUSINESS.

Now, to improve your business, you have to improve yourself. How many goal setting bits of kit, (software, articles, books etc) are out there? How about customer satisfaction? That's a big issue and I bet there's a lot of searching for that because satisfied customers spend more money and spread the word about you.

To satisfy your customers, you have to have better interpersonal skills, good work/life balance ... all personal development based issues.

But you won't sell that directly to business folk - that's not what they're looking for because their focus is on improving their business, not themselves. The point is, they go hand in hand. One will follow the other as naturally as night follows day.

As for the 90% who want something for nothing, I disagree. I think it's more like 98%. And I say, "Hurrah!" Because the 2 to 10 percent who are willing to put in a bit extra is still an enormous niche for the rest of us, and secondly because it means that it doesn't take much effort to stand head and shoulders above the masses in any field you choose.

Which brings me full circle. Have just a tiny bit more congruity, certainty or expertise than your nearest neighbour, (or appear to), and you'll win every game you choose to play. And if you're winning, (as a lot of IM marketers are), why would you look at the stuff the also-rans are checking out?

Joe Vitale is a great marketer, (on and offline), and he's made millions out of personal development stuff, (and he's very open about his own journey which has been a tough one). But his market isn't internet marketers.

The message is: look for the KIND of help each niche is asking for. But regardless of how it's dressed up, everyone needs more positive attitude, better time management, a sense of self worth and personal success, the need to be liked and loved, and of course, more income.

I think personal development is out there for IMers. But they don't ask for it by name, and those who sell it to them wouldn't dream of calling it that.