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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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The Long Tail summary
Chris Anderson
Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
22 mins
Brief summary
"The Long Tail" by Chris Anderson explores the power of niche markets and the democratization of culture and commerce through the internet, turning hits into a phenomenon of the past.
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The Long Tail
Summary of 10 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 10
In the world of online entertainment, a market of niche goods in small but steady demand rivals a market of hits.
There’s an established demand curve in any industry: the most-valued products generate the highest demand (the head of the curve) and the least-valued generate the smallest (the tail).
We’re inclined to think of bestselling books and blockbuster movies – goods at the head of the curve – as the prime sources of profit. But, in the present economy, businesses can thrive by offering a large selection of goods that appeal to many small groups of people.
In other words, nowadays businesses can succeed by using the strategy of the “long tail.”
The fact is, when it comes to total sales in an online market, a sufficient number of niche titles can compete with the best sellers.
For example, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos recognized the potential of the internet to offer an unprecedented selection of books. Amazon offers approximately five million books on its website, whereas the largest superstores can only carry around 175,000. In fact, Amazon’s statistics reveal that books that aren’t available in the average bookstore make up over 30 percent of the existing market.
Why?
In short, popularity is no longer necessary for profitability. In the online market, to sell a niche product is just as valuable as selling a “hit.”
Consider the online music-streaming service Rhapsody. It offers more than 4.5 million songs and each track – regardless of whether it’s one of their top 900,000 – gets streamed at least once per month. Since every track costs the same price and generates the same profit, it doesn’t matter to them whether 20,000 people buy the same track or whether each member purchases whatever tracks they like.
And, like Amazon, a huge number of Rhapsody’s total sales (45 percent) come from tracks that aren’t also sold in traditional offline retail – suggesting that there’s a demand for a bigger selection.
That’s the essence of the “long tail” concept: a huge number of relatively unpopular products can rival a small number of very popular ones.
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What is The Long Tail about?
The Long Tail challenges existing notions of the market and the entertainment industry by looking at the massive influence of the internet on the economy. Due to new modes of content creation and distribution, it can be more profitable to offer a large number and wide variety of products that appeal to niche consumer groups rather than one certain “hit,” e.g., a blockbuster or bestselling book.
Who should read The Long Tail?
- Anyone who deals with online sales
- Anyone interested in alternative economic theories
- Anyone working in the media or entertainment industries
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