Self-Improvement Market Now A $9.6 Billion Industry

Aug. 6, 2007 - PRLog -- Americans are consuming approximately $9.6 Billion in “Self Improvement” or “Personal Development” products and services each year, according to one market survey, and that number continues to grow in the wake of recent endorsements of movies like “The Secret” by Oprah Winfrey and others.  “The rapid growth in the market has lead to an explosion of new products and services in the last few months,” says Jeffrey Kurtz, a partner in http://117FreeSelfHelpGifts.com, a website which offers free self help products from hundreds of partners in the industry, “and people are completely overwhelmed by it.”

According to Mr. Kurtz, the goods available to consumers include books, electronic books (or E-Books), CDs, DVDs, teleconferences and webinars, and are offered not only by well-known “gurus” like Deepak Chopra, Brian Tracy, and Suze Orman, but also by entrepreneurs and small businesses trying to cash in the popular trend.

The problem, says Mr. Kurtz, is that there are so many products available, especially online, that it’s difficult for the average consumer to know where to start.  “That’s why we created http://117FreeSelfHelpGifts.com – it gives people an opportunity to download free products from many different partners, so they can sample various self-help approaches and decide what works for them, before they spend money on products that will just sit on their shelves, collecting dust.”

The industry got a big boost recently when Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, and Larry King all featured the movie “The Secret,” an interview-style documentary which focuses on the “Law of Attraction.”  According to Mr. Kurtz, the Law of Attraction is a “universal law,” much like the Law of Gravity, which dictates that “like attracts like.” In other words, what one thinks about and feels on a daily basis will determine the types of experiences one has in life. “If you’re constantly thinking and feeling negatively, you will ‘attract’ negative things into your life.  So, for instance, if you believe you are a victim, you’ll probably stay a victim.  But if you believe you are successful, your chances of becoming truly successful increase exponentially,” says Mr. Kurtz

“While we’ve seen many products that capitalize on the success of “The Secret” and the Law of Attraction, there’s other stuff out there too- products on weight loss, financial security, minimizing debt, health concerns and healing – you name it.  We can’t promise that everything will help everybody, but if just a few people improve their lives by downloading some of these free products, then we’re happy.”

http://117FreeSelfHelpGifts.com provides free downloads of self-improvement products from hundreds of businesses, and is available now through August 24th, 2007.

Website: www.117SelfHelpGifts.com