Oh, relationships.

They can be great – until they aren’t.

You know what I mean.

Regardless of if they are the things your dreams are made of – or your nightmares – they tend to keep you up at night. Don’t they?

Think about early on in a romantic relationship. Thoughts of that special person consume every fiber of your being.

It is hard to think of anything else.

You worry about doing or saying the wrong thing, and it can be all-consuming.

And what about when relationships go south?

Then they seem to take up even more time. Stressful nights dreading the conversations left open-ended. Or the things you didn’t say. Or the things you know you have to say, but can’t.

Our lives are full of relationships, and pretty much all of them are complicated.

Which is why relationships are something people will spend money on.

When it comes to relationship fears, not everyone is the same.

And, no matter how much we may not want it to be so, the way people approach relationships (and the things that keep them up at night) tend to segment out by gender.

It’s in our DNA.

So, let’s start with women.

Women wake up in the middle of the night super unhappy with either…

One: Fear of finding a significant other. Many women are afraid of the threat of being alone forever. When looking for a partner, women ask “Am I worthwhile/loveable?” She will tend to focus on herself, and say things like, “Clearly no one will love me because I’m too fat…” or “What’s wrong with me?”

Two: Their current significant other. They may ask themselves questions like, “Am I going to be with this a-hole for the rest of my life?” or, “What am I going to do? How do I get out of this?”

Three: The kids, and what will happen to them if they leave a bad relationship. Women will tell you that this concern is the first one, but it’s not.

Men typically compartmentalize better than women, so they are willing to put up with a bad relationship for much longer.

However, men still have fears when it comes to relationships.

The big difference between men and women is, if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he doesn’t have as much angst about ending it.

That isn’t really the way men think about their relationships (in fact, an average of only 30% of divorces are initiated by the man).

Once they are in a relationship, they are more willing to put up with the less-than-perfect scenario than women are.

Men are more likely to turn to external influences than looking internally.

They will be all bravado and pretend like they don’t care, but often they are longing for a partner just as much as women are.

Regardless of the influence or how they get there, everyone has concerns about some relationship or another.

So, if you offer a product or service that can help get people out of that place of fear, you are likely offering something people will be willing to pay for. While I focused on romantic relationships in this post, remember that relationships come in many forms – friends, family, co-workers… and people need help in all of them. How is your business helping people get results in their relationships? Tell us in the comments! Next week, I will go into detail on the next area people will spend money on – time.

Until then… stay passionate!