The Long Tail
Would I recommend the Long Tail?
Imagine you wanted a song. Just one song, not the entire CD. Or DVD. How could you get the song? Your answer would be simple. You’d go to a site like iTunes and download the song, right? And the Long Tail digs deep into this single song download phenomenon. And starts to unravel how most products can have a shelf life of forever.
Forever?
Yes, forever! 
Understanding this simple concept of ‘forever’ is what will make your business realise just how your revenues can be linked to this ‘forever’ concept too. And how a lack of understanding, can cause you to lose revenue (and customers). Yes, forever!
Overall stickiness:
I’d rate it as a four-sticky book. And it gets that slightly lower rating, not because of the concept (which is superb, by the way). But more so, because of the application-factor (see below). Over time, however, we may see the ‘Long Tail’ change software and the way we work–at which point, I’ll be glad to revise this review.
Application:
It’s a three-sticky on application. And that’s not because the book itself lacks ideas, but it’s kinda hard for a small business owner to wrap their heads around how to apply the concepts effectively. The concepts are simply: Put everything up there that you have to sell. And then help me find it.
Which is a great idea, but requires a fair bit of back-end programming and most certainly the ability to do a mini-Amazon.com or mini-iTunes.com. With many of the bigger sites, the client already knows a bit about what they’re looking for. It’s much easier to get to Amazon.com looking for a book or a DVD. It’s much harder getting to an anonymous site, and then knowing what to look for. So yeah, I’d be looking for a sequel that gives me examples of application.
Ideas:
Despite the application being a little hard to wrap your database around 
, the book scores a perfect five-sticky on ideas. There’s a good reason why. The ideas are progressive. You quickly see how certain formats are going the way of the dinosaur (CD Sales have plummeted like, forever). And why these formats aren’t working. But more importantly, the book also gives you an insight into how you can take new technology (e.g. Facebook, mySpace etc.) and still muck up big time. The Long Tail delves deep into distribution (and why it works/and why it doesn’t). It looks at how democratisation of tools of production and distribution changes all the rules we know so well.
But most importantly, it explores markets without end. And it does so, with solid data and tons of style.
Style:
Talking about style…well, here we go. Chris Anderson slides you through several new concepts quite effortlessly. The style of writing is simple, and if anything slows you down at all, it’s the realisation of what you’re going to have to do to live in a world where several ‘Long Tails’ extend forever. Your business brain is going to hit quite a few speed bumps, but it’s not for want of style. I read this book thrice (maybe four times) and each time it just flowed from page to page.
My Biggest Insight
Well, that’s kinda hard to say, because this book has a lot of ‘emerging technology and consequent customer behaviour’ stuff. But what really took me by surprise, was the concept of the 80:20 Rule. And how the 80 and the 20 don’t have to add up at all. I know it sounds obvious, but you do get taken aback when you learn that 80:10 works just as well as 80:35 or 80:20 for that matter.
Some of the powerful concepts in this book (and how you start applying them today): (Note: The links go to similar-kinda Psychotactics articles.I’ll add more links as I write more articles.)
Introductory concepts:
1) The ‘Internet-Only’ Generation: How do you market to a generation that won’t watch TV?
2) The 98% Rule: How tiny, tiny, tiny niches sell via the digital medium at least once.
3) How Geography Matters in distribution (And why it may not matter any more).
4) Markets without end? Is there such a concept?
5) How Long Tails exist everywhere: And the rise and fall of ‘hits’.
6) Is Choice good or is it bad? I’m saying it’s bad. Chris says it’s good. (Read my version: The Curse of Choice)
7) The Three Forces: Why the world of supply and demand is changing.
Why ‘My Chemical Romance’ succeeded, but Bonnie McKae failed in an almost identical environment (and despite the best of stats and data).
9) Why Context is King. And how filters work for or against you.
Where To Get This Book (Nope, this ain’t an affiliate link)
At Amazon.com : ‘The Long Tail’
- Author: Chris Anderson
- Hardcover: 238 pages
- Publisher: Hyperion (July 11, 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1401302378
- ISBN-13: 978-1401302375
Another website you’ll find useful to understand customer psychology:
www.psychotactics.com
Comments(13) 
You might want to check out our “Long Tail” mobile company. http://mynumo.com enables any independent artist to sell mobile ringtones, wallpapers, and videos.
Enjoy,
Bill
Hi Sean!
Thumbs up! It’s very easy to read, and hits the book subject head on!
This review gave me two important points:
1. A CLEAR and CONCISE idea of the main ideas in the book, in a style that’s very easy to read.
2. Really makes me want to read the book. (This is no small feat. I’ve read many reviews of this book that were way too complicated and didn’t leave me wanting for more)
This review sticks!!!
Sean,
I really like this new sticky review system you’ve created. Very creative but even more importantly, very readable and engaging.
Love the photo of the stickies in the book and also like the mind mapping on the paper bag visual.
Also really like the section where you disagree with the author and have the link to your article conveying your opinion.
All in all a refreshing revamp of the stodgy old book review format.
Well done!
Michael D. Walker
http://www.ThorneSmith.net
Hi Sean,
I recommend you visit http://www.hittail.com/
You can set it up to give you a nice report of
long tail ‘keywords’ your site can focus on.
-IB
dear sean,
regarding ‘choices’… i feel both of you are right, and both of you are talking of two different things.
i think, what chris meant by providing choice is having as many things as possible, available for people – at different places, maybe, for people who are ’searching’.
and from what i gather about the choice you mention, it is about NOT bundling many choices together – for people who are not in the ’searching’ phase, but people who are in the deciding phase.
meaning, give as many choices as possible, which donot seem connected, for people who are searching for something. and, help them make a decision by giving them very few choices, which seem similar and connected.
the first choice is like ‘this, and this, and this is available’. the second is, ‘you can have this, or this’
am i making sense?
i would love to know your take on this.
Yes, you’re right, but how do you know if they’re in the ’searching’ or ‘deciding’ phase? Because I may be at the supermarket, ‘not searching’, but then instantly ‘decide.’
Chris’ concept works amazingly well, when you already have made up your mind (and that’s what you’re referring to). So if I want a specific book on Amazon.com, then having the ability to track down that book is very important. And that’s what the ‘Long Tail’ is all about. The ability to track down that elusive book, that elusive tune, that elusive girl you knew in university
The word we should be using here is not ‘choice’ but ’stock’. So I can access endless ’stock’ and make a pre-determined choice, or even a spur of the moment choice. But endless choice mostly confuses people. Endless choice causes you to wonder if you missed out somehow. And yes, it also takes an enormous time to decide.
So somehow, I’m getting the feeling it’s a factor of syntax here. And not about ‘choice.’
[...] Note Taking – As you listen to a lecture or read a book you can very quickly create notes using a Mind Map. You can use large branches for chapters or key points, with detail added from them. A whole book can be summarized on one page and it is remarkable how well you can recall the information later with only the map as a guide. This method is used by Sean D’Souza for his book reviews, an example of which can be found here for his review of The Long Tail. [...]
Great review and I think you’ve hit the nail on the head… it’s engaging as a concept, difficult to pin down when you’re looking to apply it to your own business.
Also, I found people want to know more about how relevant it was outside of the information industry. And I didn’t have a convincing answer ready for them, evan after I’d just finished reading it.
perfect.
i couldn’t, and couldn’t have… put it better.
A darker font would make it more readable – like you have in this email reply! – and a slightly larger font works well, as well.
I think the stickies on the book is clever.
I am just fascinated by the paper bag mental map; I can see that being used in the “your images” section of AMAZON.com’s book reviews.
This is just a masterful way to clear out the mental clutter.
[...] primo tentativo, accartoccio il foglio e butto tutto dopo qualche minuto. Qui lo usano per prendere appunti durante la lettura di un libro (per farne recensioni): potrebbe avere senso. Naturalmente le usano per prendere appunti durante [...]
[...] is used by Sean D’Souza for his book reviews, an example of which can be found here for his review of The Long Tail. LifeHacker did an excellent piece on using Mind Maps for taking notes at [...]
Hittail.com is great for tracking long tail search terms and building unique content around each term.