TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
1. Who are the baby boomers?
The growth of an unstoppable market When did it happen? Cultural identity of a world changing generation
2. What are the baby boomer trends?
Unparalleled economic demand Boomers start and destroy markets Keeping up with the boomer’s trends
3. Where are the boomers spending their money?
What age are they now? What would their main priority be? Where will they start looking for solutions?
4. Health and Wellness in the Network Marketing Industry
A cost effective business model Feeding the hunger What kind of products are in the market?
5. Network Marketing Trends and Phases
Network Marketing trends – pots and pans, supplements, water, air
6. Building your own product awareness
Focus on solving their problems, not selling your product Positioning yourself as an information expert Building the relationship with your customers
7. How to identify the latest trends and cash in
Identify your niche market Choosing the right company that manufactures the products
Be very clear where you are heading
Introduction
Dear Readers,
Ever thought of making money in an industry with a HUGE market demand, UNPARALLELED growth potential and MASSIVE income possibilities?
How would you like to position yourself strategically and tap into one of the largest trends in the history of mankind?
Look no further. This book will reveal to you how the HEALTH and WELLNESS industry holds the key to any budding entrepreneur on how to cash in on a rising trend.
Now, think back:
What trends were the hottest at their time?
• The Microwave • The VCR • The Computers and the Internet
What next?
Imagine if you were there and you started it. Or what if Bill Gates was to form Microsoft in the beginning and was looking for shareholders and investors, what would you be doing?
Would you be telling your grandchildren how you cashed in and made a fortune? Or would you tell them how missed it and how OTHER PEOPLE are making theirs?
In this book you will learn all about how
• Baby-boomers in America changed the markets in the world forever • What are the current uptrends and downtrends yesterday, today and tomorrow • What a multi-billion dollar demand will look like in a few years time • How network marketing companies are cashing in on the wave • How YOU or Anyone can tap into this market and make a fortune!
Read on to unlock the secret…
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CHAPTER 1
Who are the baby-boomers?
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The growth of an unstoppable market
This is the definition of the baby boomers from Wikipedia.
A Baby boomer is someone who was born during a period of increased birth rates, or Baby boom, and the term is particularly applied to those born during the post-World War II period of increased birth rates. In the United States, the term is iconic and more properly capitalized as Baby Boomers.
These people are significant in the formation of a new economy of supply in demand. Never in the history of man, has the baby boomers generation sparked such a massive market gap to be filled.
We all heard of first mover’s advantage, where the pioneer of a new market has considerable advantages. If successful, his market dominance gives him a considerable advantage compared to the others who come in later and try to differentiate themselves either on price or service rather than innovation. Furthermore, market dominance allows one to set the barriers of entry or the standard of quality.
Back to the example of Bill Gates:
If you were to own a large portion of Microsoft shares during its inception, where would you be today? Of course not all of us will be able to proudly proclaim that I was there when it started. Most people didn’t identify the trend and come in when it is too late!
The same would also apply to big name companies like Yahoo! and Google.
It is no point trying to get into a saturated market. There will be too much barriers of entries and competitive forces in the market. What we need to do is identify the needs of the market BEFORE it saturates or even better, before it starts.
We can set the trend instead of following one!
The baby boomers are the main key to this role because of their buying power as well as their sheer numbers. Large numbers will be the key because the first movers, who position themselves strategically, will sell product after
product to a hungry market and have his or her financial position secured for decades.
In the next chapter, we will explore where these baby boomers come from and how to anticipate their demands from a historical perspective.
When did it happen?
The baby boomers applied to people who are born after 2nd World War II and before the Vietnam War, thus possibly comprising more than one generation.
Most people speculate that year will be around 1946 to 1964 but the exact year is hard to determine because it might vary from place to place.
These boomers within that time frame is significant to predicting the market demand and the timing as well.
We are estimating that there are about 76 million American children born between 1945 and 1964. Boomers account for about 39 percent of Americans over the age of 18 and 29 percent of the total population. They will single handedly determine tomorrow’s hottest products which means they can start and destroy trends.
For example, the baby boomers are also responsible for starting and ending the housing boom.
When the boomers were all grown up, they needed houses to live in. Developments went into full swing.
Steve Gillon has suggested in his analysis is this:
The one thing that sets the baby boomers apart from other generational groups is the fact that "almost from the time they were conceived, Boomers were dissected, analyzed, and pitched to by modern marketers, who reinforced a sense of generational distinctiveness.
With such massive market potential and buying power, we can use history to predict and teach us what the latest trend is because of these baby boomers.
The Cultural Identity of a world changing generation
The baby boomers were the first generation of Earth to be raised on Pop culture and television.
The culture at that time is more hedonistic as compared to the past.
Music that drove their parents crazy became their purpose in life. This explains the phenomenal fame of legends like Elvis and The Beatles (Who incidentally till today, remains more popular than most one-hit wonder pop groups or modern icons)
Big names like Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin defined the voice of that generation.
In other words, they set the standard to what is ‘hot’ and what is not!
The boomers were living in an age where Music seemed to have a more influential power compared to weapons of mass destruction. In the past, people would think you were crazy if you worn torn clothing or upside-down garments. People at that time were not as hard up as today if they were to miss the latest movie or driving the hottest car in town.
In other words, buying power and market demand were not as trend sensitive in the past compared as today.
If I were to target the boomer market, what would I be focusing on? Cosmetics and beauty seem to be making a fortune today. A slimming ad would cost tens of thousands of dollars and newspapers and magazines publish this on a DAILY basis.
Gyms and fitness equipment are also a hot market. You wouldn’t imagine someone in the 19th century invent something like a gym. The people there would be too busy plowing fields or working in a factory (and they would get all the exercise they need). The boomers have a relative easier life and are able to focus more on those pleasures above.
So where does it health and wellness industry come in?
In the next Chapter, we will analyze the trends of these baby boomers and examine their buying power in the health and wellness market.
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CHAPTER 2
What are the Baby Boomer Trends?
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Unparalleled Economic Demand
At the turn of the 21st century, there are approximately 78 million baby boomers in the U.S. alone.
They will fall into their peak earning years. Their age would be roughly 37 to 55 years old. This will be the age where they have made it big in life, bought everything they needed and are focusing their expenses on the next big thing.
People who positioned themselves well in the market during the 80’s are living off their wealth earned for the rest of their lives. They became millionaires during that phase. Especially at that time, a million dollars would be huge money.
People who positioned themselves well during the 90’s are billionaires today! They are the people who cashed in on PCs and the Internet Revolution. Those baby boomers needed new gadgets, cars and toys to play with.
The baby boomers have also spent massive amounts of money and are willing to spend even more in the future.
Statistics shown that baby boomers make up about 5 trillion dollars of a 10 trillion dollar U.S. economy. The 78 million baby boomers in U.S. alone only make up about 30% of the U.S. population and but amount up to 50% of the gross national product.
The rest of the population of the world however has more than ONE BILLION baby boomers. What do you think one billion rich, restless baby boomers would want to spend their money on next?
Just take a look around you.
Newspapers, television, radios are advertising products day after day. The advertisers are very clear of the spending power of these people and through these sources you will be able to predict.
Boomers Start and Destroy Markets
Most people who want to profit big from selling anything must focus on an expanding, growing market.
When the boomers were born, there was a huge demand for baby food, baby powder, cribs and a lot of other books on parenting. Companies that were positioned well at that time grew rich. Companies like Gerber, sold two billion jars of baby food by the year 1955!
When the boomers we growing up, Mattel made a fortune selling Barbie dolls! The trend was so strong that children (girls) were grouped into those that played with Barbie dolls and those that didn’t!
How about the Ford Mustang? Remember that time?
During the 1970’s, it was the biggest real estate boom of all time. Why? Because one billion baby boomers were looking for a home to stay in. Home developers were cashing in. But they didn’t anticipate a big problem 15 years later.
When enough houses were built and the boomers didn’t need anymore houses, the industry started to slow down and developers everywhere were losing money and going bankrupt. The developers didn’t realize that the number of home buyers was staring to dry up.
Eventually, the extra houses caused a surplus in the economy. And that caused the demand to go down. The entire real estate industry was starting to go down the drain because houses that were priced at the ‘normal’ rate to cover the cost of building it, suddenly plummeted and they couldn’t recuperate their loss.
This important thing to consider. Historically, markets that disappeared from the face of the earth can be estimated from the shrinking demand. People had to work twice as hard to earn the same amount of pay.
Therefore, it would be suicidal to market something to baby boomers when they have outgrown the age where the demand would be there.
Change is inevitable. If you are not growing and remain stagnant, then chances are you are either shrinking or atrophying because everyone is moving one step ahead and you appear relatively behind everyone else.
Keeping up with the boomer’s trends
If I were to position myself as a market leader, what products or services would I focus on?
Remember the microwave?
Why was the microwave such a hit? Simple cooking and reheating. Baby boomers don’t have time to cook at home. Most of them were double income couples with or without any kids.
The VCR was also very popular because busy people worked 8-12 hours a day and couldn’t stay at home to watch their favorite shows. Those shows that were showing on their working time or when they are doing over time, can be viewed when they get home. The VCR was an ingenious invention.
Today however, it would be suicidal to focus 100 percent on VCRs due to the fact that most media are recorded on digital format (CDs, DVDs and computers)
Remember a time when organs were a popular musical instruments? Now the trend is shifting towards electronic keyboards. Pianos still remained popular because the trend is evergreen.
Since we are not focusing on evergreen markets, we would have to follow trends that come and go.
Furthermore, the boomers are well educated and (compared to the past) more impatient people. They want everything instant, fast and NOW (especially with the power of the Internet). They get bored easily are not willing to stick to the same thing long enough.
If you don’t have a new exciting product that will grab their attention within the first 4 seconds of contact, you have just lost a customer.
In the next chapter, we will go more in depth and focus on what are their needs in the present and on what products we can sell to the boomers.
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CHAPTER 3
Where are the Boomers Spending Their Money?
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What Age are they in Now?
The baby boomers are born between the years 1946-1964. In the year 2007, their age would fall within the range of 43 to 61.
It is safe to say that boomers in this range are well established in life, bought all their houses, cars, utilities, books and investment policies.
In other words money is not a problem for them.
They have worked hard during the boom and they would continue to do so since they have established careers. They will not be able to retire from their jobs or businesses so easily due to their commitments to their families.
It is also interesting to note that most baby boomers are so busy working, that many would not have devoted time to exercise, take good care of their body and find time to lead a well balanced life.
Health care and insurance are more in demand and it is very alarming.
Alternatives would need to be considered or else the entire U.S. economy will need to budget more to this category. There might not be enough medical care in the future to tend to the declining health of 78 million baby boomers.
Doctors, insurance agencies and many professionals are cashing in on this health problem.
The boomers are living in a stressful age where for the first time in history, they are working longer for less pay.
Here is an alarming fact:
Every 8 seconds, someone in the U.S. turns 54 years old for the next 18 years!
What next?
In the next chapter, we will discuss the next big trend.
Where Would Their Main Priority Be?
If I had everything money can buy, what would be my next desire? Most probably the things money cannot buy!
Perhaps it is too far fetched to think money can buy everything in life. But it certainly is the trend now that more and more people, than ever are spending more and more money on gym membership, facials, slimming, beauty treatment and maybe even breast enlargement!
It is the age where people celebrate the fact that beauty can be ‘bought’.
If I had everything but I am old, I guess my next goal would be to slow down my aging or in other words, anti-aging.
You see, 78 million baby boomers don’t want to grow old. They want to live longer and healthier so they can spend their hard earned wealth on fun and excitement!
At their peak earning years, buying whatever they want is not a problem.
In the year 2002, there was already 200 million U.S. Dollars spent every year in the wellness industry alone.
At that time, Paul Zane Pilzer has predicted that by the year 2010, it is going to increase up to ONE TRILLION DOLLARS. That is practically more than 2 billion spent on wellness every day!
Today, there is already 500 million U.S. Dollars spent on wellness and the trend is still increasing. This is also exponential growth to consider.
Remember the discussion above about a growing and expanding market? If I want to cash in big, I would focus on marketing products that will help them slow the effects of aging, preserving their youth, give them more energy (either to work more or play better) and maintain their good looks.
We are really looking at ‘business at the speed of thought’ here.
