One of the challenges of marketing a book about building networks for social impact is that its topic doesn’t fall neatly into a familiar niche.
Amazon categorizes our book as ” Nonprofit Organizations & Charities ,” which it sort of is and isn’t. When our publisher asked which conferences we might speak at we said there weren’t any that brought together network-building professionals. Yes, a funders conference might consider having a workshop on the topic, or a conference on some issue of the day (poverty, education), might want a workshop on how networks can be used. But network building itself–forget it. Only a few foundations–Packard and Barr, most prominently–have invested resources in developing knowledge and capacity for the emerging network-building field. Many others have funded networks, but only to get something done, not to boost the practice of network building.
To help figure out our marketing niche, I keep an eye on which books Amazon says our book’s buyers have also bought. Early on, this information was confusing: a book about wild animals. But more recently, things have settled into a more likely pattern. Books our customers bought include:
- The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures
- Reinventing Organizations
- Leading from the Emerging Future
- Moments of Impact: How to Design Strategic Conversations that Accelerate Change
- The Networked Nonprofit
- The Collapse of Western Civilization (a staple on any list)
Change. Reinvention. Strategy. Emergence. You might conclude from this list of affinities that Amazon’s data analysis is spot on. There really is a reader niche! Even one of the two non-book items that appeared–a Post-It self-stick easel pad–makes some sense. But what about the other non-book item? It’s Amy’s Organic Lentil Vegetable Low Salt Soup, 14.5 Ounce Cans (Pack of 6).
Food–now that would be a great market niche to tap!