The Internet is growing and business is booming. As the Baby Boomer population continues to age, they are also looking for more information about health, wellness, fitness and how to improve all three. In any economic period, this age group also has more disposable income. Their children have graduated college and they often have moved into a smaller home. Their accessible income has peaked.
And, at this point in their lives, people also are more interested in their health and wellness. How can they get rid of those pesky pounds that have traveled around with them for the last 10 years? How can they attract a new spouse? How can they make their skin look younger? How can they gain better control of their diabetes? How can they live without chemicals in their home? How can they stop taking some of their prescription medications by changing their lifestyle choices? How can they stop smoking before the smoking stops them?
Because people are asking questions, there continues to be a need for others who are willing to research and develop solutions and answers. Baby Boomers used to find computers hazardous or frightening but most are learning how to surf online, buy gifts and get answers to their questions. In fact, some of the newer notebooks manufactured using the Chrome operating systems are perfect for the over 50 crowd. Their advertising for children completely misses an entire population of mobile individuals who have learned to use a computer and who can slip this slim device into their purses and carrying bags.
This means that the healthcare industry is viable, growing and a very strong choice for online marketers. Health and wellness is one of three strong evergreen markets – health, relationships and money.
1. The media continues to cover new research that a healthy lifestyle will help decrease risk for illness and disease. When people are searching for information about living a healthy lifestyle, quitting smoking, fitness, exercise, or eating vegetarian they don’t visit the library anymore. Print media can often be out of date before the book hits the library shelves. People turn to the Internet.
2. When someone learns they have a heart condition, lupus, diabetes, arthritis or any of the other hundreds of other stress related health conditions they turn to the Internet for information. How to reduce their stress… yoga, exercise, meditation or the mind-body-spirit connection; you can be directly in their path.
3. The insurance industry is quickly taking a larger and larger chunk out of the pockets of employees and employers. The day of the $5.00 office co-pay and $500.00 deductible was gone decades ago. Today, say hello to the $5,000.00 family deductible and co-pay of $30.00 after you have met the deductible of the individual on the plan.
Do you understand the pages and pages of mumbo-jumbo served up to employees to describe what is and isn’t covered – when it is and isn’t – and who may or may not be in the network? You can be there to decrease office visits by providing information to keep people healthy or working with large corporations to provide health information to employees through the companies Intra-Net.
4. People with conditions love to talk with people who have the same conditions; or family members struggling with the same conditions. Forums and content sites are great resources for those niches. Now you have a forum of people with Celiac disease and you can easily pick their brains about the kind of information they want. Next, you provide it.
5. Individuals searching for health and wellness topics will be online until the Internet is replaced with mind-meld. Until that time, there is a place for you. The trick isn’t to be all things to all people but to develop a content site specifically for people seeking specific information.
The healthcare industry may be competitive but it is LARGE. There are niches that aren’t adequately covered and content that is pure garbage. You can be the light for people searching for information to improve their health, wellness and fitness.
This is the time to explore those niches and develop a healthy online business.
