The Long Tail Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
The Long Tail Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
The Long Tail is one of those “ahh haa” books. The insights that Anderson developed as editor in chief of Web 2.0 magazine have become the guiding force for many companies today. Many company executives have read the book so many times that the author’s insights have become an integral part – consciously or subconsciously – of their strategic thinking.
To understand the impact of the long tail you only have to look at Google, Amazon and NetFlix to mention a few firms.
While there are – and will always be – smash hit content and products that fill store shelves and theaters, consumers now have more options. Today’s web economy offers a seemingly infinite inventory to choose from. NetFlix certainly carries all of the current movie hits and sends them to customers by the thousands every day. At the same time they have an inventory of more than 70,000 relatively obscure titles that appeal to a very narrow segment of consumers. They can find their “brand” of entertainment and enjoy it without spending hours, days or even months searching for that one rare copy.
Rhapsody, iTunes, ArtistServer and other online music outlets give consumers – young and old – a global selection of music that suits their taste. , ArtistServer, ArtistServer
And the intelligent software that all of these firms use also uses the consumer’s requests to present content and products that share common points thus giving consumers even more opportunities…to buy.
Anderson shows how organizations and their communications people can gain invaluable insight into their customers’ and partners’ wants and needs to develop new products/solutions and relationships.
Does Anderson forecast the disappearance of mass produced products/services?
No but he does a very thoughtful analysis of how important niche markets can be for firms. In many instances the firms that focus on niches will most certainly sell smaller volumes of product but they will do it more profitably and they will do it with greater customer loyalty.
Anderson developed what he calls the 98 Percent Rule. This means that 98 percent of the products/services available online will be sold at least once. While he developed the concept/theory at the early stages of the second generation of the Internet, many have found that his projections are not always valid.
Only time will prove or disprove Anderson’s thesis. But despite this and the fact that the book suffers from considerable repetition, it is valuable to communications people – and management at large – who must increasingly reach customers on a 1:1 basis.
While Anderson focuses most of his coverage in the book on media and entertainment companies, it is interesting to note that firms like Wal-Mart, Macy’s and Nordstrom’s have developed their own versions of the long tail.
These companies carry the most popular products in their stores but have an online “inventory” of products that is often 4-5 times larger. Many customers seldom step foot in the brick and mortar store yet they “visit” the store regularly to find new and unique items. More importantly…they buy!
Anderson’s book – despite his redundancies – gives you a new understanding of niche marketing and niche customer relations. We no longer have three TV networks. We have an almost unlimited number of choices over the air and across the Internet. In a growing number of instances, firms have taken advantage of this phenomenon to develop their own on-line shows and educational/informational events.
Your company doesn’t need to each 100 million prospective customers. What it needs to do is reach one million of the right customers – business and consumer. It needs to reach them in a consistent manner with the correct product, service and information. Anderson gives you the background, guidance and tools you need to know how to reach these customers and build a strong relationship with this niche market.
The Long Tail is more than just a business book…it is the way you will reach and communicate with customers in the 21st century!
##########
The Long Tail Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
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In the technology industry – especially in the Web 2.0 world – few people don’t know – and use – the phrase the long tail. Unfortunately, the majority of the users haven’t spent much time understanding the thinking and the impact of the new economics.
The Long Tail is one of those “ahh haa” books. The insights that Anderson developed as editor in chief of Web 2.0 magazine have become the guiding force for many companies today. Many company executives have read the book so many times that the author’s insights have become an integral part – consciously or subconsciously – of their strategic thinking.
To understand the impact of the long tail you only have to look at Google, Amazon and NetFlix to mention a few firms.
While there are – and will always be – smash hit content and products that fill store shelves and theaters, consumers now have more options. Today’s web economy offers a seemingly infinite inventory to choose from. NetFlix certainly carries all of the current movie hits and sends them to customers by the thousands every day. At the same time they have an inventory of more than 70,000 relatively obscure titles that appeal to a very narrow segment of consumers. They can find their “brand” of entertainment and enjoy it without spending hours, days or even months searching for that one rare copy.
Rhapsody, iTunes, ArtistServer and other online music outlets give consumers – young and old – a global selection of music that suits their taste. , ArtistServer, ArtistServer
And the intelligent software that all of these firms use also uses the consumer’s requests to present content and products that share common points thus giving consumers even more opportunities…to buy.
Anderson shows how organizations and their communications people can gain invaluable insight into their customers’ and partners’ wants and needs to develop new products/solutions and relationships.
Does Anderson forecast the disappearance of mass produced products/services?
No but he does a very thoughtful analysis of how important niche markets can be for firms. In many instances the firms that focus on niches will most certainly sell smaller volumes of product but they will do it more profitably and they will do it with greater customer loyalty.
Anderson developed what he calls the 98 Percent Rule. This means that 98 percent of the products/services available online will be sold at least once. While he developed the concept/theory at the early stages of the second generation of the Internet, many have found that his projections are not always valid.
Only time will prove or disprove Anderson’s thesis. But despite this and the fact that the book suffers from considerable repetition, it is valuable to communications people – and management at large – who must increasingly reach customers on a 1:1 basis.
While Anderson focuses most of his coverage in the book on media and entertainment companies, it is interesting to note that firms like Wal-Mart, Macy’s and Nordstrom’s have developed their own versions of the long tail.
These companies carry the most popular products in their stores but have an online “inventory” of products that is often 4-5 times larger. Many customers seldom step foot in the brick and mortar store yet they “visit” the store regularly to find new and unique items. More importantly…they buy!
Anderson’s book – despite his redundancies – gives you a new understanding of niche marketing and niche customer relations. We no longer have three TV networks. We have an almost unlimited number of choices over the air and across the Internet. In a growing number of instances, firms have taken advantage of this phenomenon to develop their own on-line shows and educational/informational events.
Your company doesn’t need to each 100 million prospective customers. What it needs to do is reach one million of the right customers – business and consumer. It needs to reach them in a consistent manner with the correct product, service and information. Anderson gives you the background, guidance and tools you need to know how to reach these customers and build a strong relationship with this niche market.
The Long Tail is more than just a business book…it is the way you will reach and communicate with customers in the 21st century!
##########
The Long Tail Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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