SPQ 004: Should I Focus on One Book Niche at a Time?

Should I Focus on One Book Niche at a Time?

Some independent authors publish in multiple niches, while others focus on just one topic. In this episode, find out which strategy Steve recommends.

The Question…

Mia from SkinBrushingDetox.com asks,

“Do you think people should just focus on one niche? How many niches should you focus on? How about people with a lot of different interests?”

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “It’s seven times harder to get a new customer than market to an existing one. “]

Steve’s Answer…

Steve says he made the mistake of focusing on multiple niches early in his publishing career. Had he focused on one niche and built one audience, he could have been more successful.

Focusing on just one niche makes it easier to convince people to buy books. It’s seven times harder to get a new customer than market to an existing one, so you want your customers to check out all of your books. This is hard to do if you’re dabbling in multiple niches.

Building an audience is also a lot of hard work. You need to:

  • Create a lead magnet (a free report given to people to sign up for your email list)
  • Do free promotions on Amazon, manage your email list
  • Promote your books via blogging, podcasts, YouTube videos, and other channels.

It is very difficult to do this for several book niches.

Resource Links

SpeakPipe: Submit a question to the Self-Publishing Questions podcast

6 thoughts on “SPQ 004: Should I Focus on One Book Niche at a Time?”

  1. Steve,

    Totally agree that as authors – especially new authors like me – we are better served by focusing on one niche.

    Like many people though I have a wide variety of interests that I want to explore eventually.

    One way I have started combining different niches/interests is taking ideas from one and applying them to another. The old saying is if all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail. I don’t want everything I do to follow the same format. So what I like to do is cross pollinate.

    For instance I fell in love with Crossfit last year and love the short, intense workouts. I also recently read Josh Waitzkin’s The Art of Learning (highly recommended for anyone looking for insightful thoughts on the journey to excellence in any field). Combining the two I got to thinking how short bursts followed by rest is so much more productive than a long, drawn out march in getting stuff done.

    I don’t know exactly how I will fit that into my productivity book, but it did give me a different way to look at the problem.

    Off to episode 005!

    George

    Reply
    • Like that approach. I think with Amazon, it pays to pick a “broad” topic and then drill down with each book. Sounds like you’re doing something very similar with the productivity book.

      Reply
    • Like that approach. I think with Amazon, it pays to pick a “broad”
      topic and then drill down with each book. Sounds like you’re doing
      something very similar with the productivity book.

      Reply
    • George, I love how you apply the term “cross-pollinate!” In my own personal reading as an adult, I have NEVER read a single book on a single topic to completion before moving on to another! Instead, I pick several books — always including scriptures — and then rotate through them a chapter at a time, from book to book. I try to always have at least 3 books going. One would be AMAZED at the number of different connections that are made when studying in this manner. Things missed in previous readings (I tend to re-read some books every few years or so) become salient and vastly more meaningful. The thought of applying such insights to writing is beyond exciting! Thanks for the insight! PS: I am not a big fan of hammers, either! 😉

      Reply
  2. Thanks, I had the same question. To George’s point, sometimes the best ideas can come from combining two disparate subjects. The habits category is awesome for this since it is narrow and yet still very broad to explore. Creative people are, by nature, interested in many things! 🙂

    Reply
  3. Brilliant podcast Steve. I’m new to your work and must say the organic value you add is very refreshing!

    I’ve only so far come across gurus with shiny heads telling me how I can make $5k in four days by giving someone in the Philippines $100 (with the honourble exception of Dewan Bayney).

    I’ve determined to write my own books as I have a very clear and defined skill set in my professional life that is Sales. The only way I can determine to build a brand of any repute and a solid, long term, multi chanelled business is to be real and myself.

    Reply

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