The Long Tail

Perhaps the single most celebrated book in the world of web entrepreneurship. Needed to read for Thompson's Media & Culture Seminar. Only too happy.

Bibliographic Deets
(Originally 2006 by Hyperion)
 * Anderson, Chris. The (Longer) Long Tail. 2009. Random House Business Books. London.

Overview

 * Traditional marketing focused on the "hits" ignoring things that only sold ocassionally. But with storage/marketing costs becoming insanely low online, it makes sense to expand stock, and consumers respond by buying from all rather than just the "head" of content offered. And that's good for a more diverse culture and more diverse profits.

Content

 * "The Mass of niches has always existed, but as the cost of reaching it falls- consumers finding niche products, and niche products finding consumers - it's suddenly becoming a cultural and economic force to be reckoned with" (6)


 * 80/20 Rule -> "20 percent of products account for 80 percent of sales (and usually 100 percent of the profits)" (7)


 * Looking at the Long Tail "the true shape of demand in our culture, unfiltered by the economics of scarcity" (9)


 * "by necessity, the economics of traditional, hit-driven retail limit choice." but "When you can dramatically lower the costs of connecting supply and demand, it changes not just the numbers, but the entire nature of the market" (26)

Short History of the Long Tail

 * Sears -> Catalog & Warehouse
 * Supermarket (King Kullen in Queens)
 * Amazon

Forces of the Long Tail

 * 1) In most markets, more niche goods than hits
 * 2) Cost of reaching niches is falling dramatically -> so more can be offered
 * 3) As offerings expand filtering becomes essential to help consumers (even while preserving access to choice) -> also send ppl "down" the tail
 * 4) Demand curve flattens
 * 5) Niche market can then rival "hits" market
 * 6) New consumption curve emerges

Other

 * Amateur -> "we're starting to shift from being passive consumers to active producers. And we're doing it for the love of it (the word amateur derives from the Latin Amator "lover" from amare "to love")" (63)


 * Massive wikipedia section (of course) -> "Brittanica's biggest errors are of omission, not commission" -> aka it simply doesn't cover enough (69)


 * As a whole, Wikipedia's better because it
 * 1) heals itself
 * 2) covers far more
 * 3) responds and updates and expands quickly
 * But on any individual level it can be dodgy (70)


 * Chapter 12 all about YouTube

Nine Rules of Success

 * 1) Move inventory in ... or way out
 * 2) Let customers do the work (aka Crowdsource)
 * 3) One distribution doesn't fit all
 * 4) One product doesn't fit all
 * 5) One price doesn't fit all
 * 6) Share Information (e.g. give buying information that as a company you collect)
 * 7) Trust the market to do your job (let the market help you choose what you sell and how)
 * 8) Understand the power of free ( free & premium offerings, or free services with priced upgrades as new ideas for business)

Read At Cambridge