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Ecommerce Future
"The long tail" is a phrase that has been buzzed into our consciousness by Chris Anderson, executive editor of WIRED magazine.
His book, The Long Tail, is an "impact book" -- the most important book in years. Read it.
If you understand The Long Tail (and you must -- this is why The Long Tail is the only "must-read" recommendation I have ever made), you understand the future of small business, how you fit in, and how to capitalize upon it.
So... understand it. Profoundly. If you skip this book, you do yourself and your small business a disservice. The capsule summary...
In the physical world, there isn't enough shelf space "to carry everything for everyone." As a result, the industrial business era has been mostly about a small number of mass-produced-and-sold products, the "head of the long tail" (red part of the graph).
The digital era turns the tables on traditional thinking about supply and demand. We are moving into the (yellow) long tail of the curve. That is the world of infinite niches.
As a small business person, it is your world. You both live in it and you market to it. The Long Tail describes the "three driving forces" that you must understand to master it...
#1) Tools Of Production Hardware and software put product creation into the hands of everyone. For example, camcorders enable millions of budding Tarentinos. Software empowers people to share their knowledge in the form of Web sites and blogs. The result? An exponential explosion in niche products.
Before you invest your precious gold or valuable time to build a cart, or website, you should know the new theory of economics that has shaped the Internet Commerce Revolution.
Listen to this interview with Chris Anderson, author of the book The Long Tail, and discover why it's crucial for every small business person to grasp this concept.
Read or listen