Book Marketing, Author Publicity, Branding

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Top 5 Reasons Niche Marketing Is More Important Than Ever

Today's guest post is courtesy of Jim Miller.  Jim also writes his own blog at http://aftertheinkdries.wordpress.com


If you’re satisfied with your book’s progress up to this point in its life, then you might not need to read any further. If you’ve been frustrated with your book sales, it might be because you’ve never seen the importance of niche marketing. I hear from authors all the time who believe that their book will sell if only X number of bookstores carried it.

The boxes of returned books I have in my office tell me otherwise.

Top 5 Reasons Niche Marketing Is More Important Than Ever

5) RETAIL STORES ARE STRUGGLING – Borders just announced a freeze on ordering new books. They are struggling financially, and that has forced them to make a move that makes them less competitive, which almost guarantees they will struggle even more. Barnes & Noble has been looking for a buyer off and on for the past year. The leaders at both stores have flirted with each other about a merger, which would mean more stores closing. These are the two largest bookstore chains in America! 

4) MORE BOOKS ARE SOLD ON AMAZON.COM THAN ANYWHERE ELSE – Think about why you buy a book on Amazon: because you heard about it somewhere else. Without a known name and reputation and without word-of-mouth, few people will buy your book on Amazon. Niche marketing is the only way to build your name and reputation and begin the ripples of word-of-mouth.

3) THE MORE EVENTS YOU HAVE, THE MORE AMMO YOU GIVE ME – Publishers have the greatest pull with bookstores, and with them scaling back and closing, all publishers are scrambling to figure out how to reach the masses. When you have an event for me to promote, the media are more likely to care. When that event is more about helping people than promoting your book, people are even more likely to care, and they are more likely to promote your book. And you get more sales. As a publisher, we believe in your message and in the work we’ve both done to package it. But readers don’t listen to publishers. They listen to other people who they perceive as able to help them.

2) NICHE MARKETING IS FUN! – Your book may have a wide appeal, but there is always a narrower niche that is looking for your book even if they don’t realize it yet. These are the people who are just like you. They love your stories, they laugh at your jokes, and once they get to know you, they will become your fans and evangelists. It is indeed hard to break the ice, but once you do, you will have a blast being around the people in your niche.

1) NICHE MARKETING IS THE ONLY THING YOU AS AN AUTHOR CAN CONTROL – You can’t control bookstores. You can’t control what people you’ve never met will buy. You can, however, control your efforts. The more you do, the more you expose people to your book and message. This is not about you; it’s about your message. Your book is the only thing in the world that contains your message, and you are the one to whom your message was given!
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