The term 'long tail' has traditionally been confined to the field of statistics where it was used to describe the distribution of wealth within a system. However, in the October 2004 edition of Wired Magazine, writer Chris Anderson applied this term to a unique collection of modern business models. These business models based their corporate success on selling lower quantities of a larger selection of products. This formula, surprisingly, allowed online distributors to corner a unique niche in the market and they made a killing.
The Long Tail Business Model
The long tail business model is based on a unique business strategy; sell lower quantities of a lot of different hard to find items. For example, instead of selling 10,000 copies of two or three best selling videos, an online store can make more money by selling 10 copies of 10,000 harder to find videos. Companies such as Amazon have further improved their profit margin by coupling popular items with harder to find items. In doing this, they have been able to cash in on both business market advantages.
Amazon is the Best Example of The Long Tail in Action
As mentioned above, Amazon is one of the most successful examples of the long tail business model. Amazon was one of the first online companies to really perfect this marketing strategy. Today the site offers hard to find items like out of print books and collectibles, as well as in-demand items like newly released DVDs, bestselling books, popular clothing items and in-demand household items. Amazon also offers new textbooks and text book exchanges. Actually, at this point, there isn't much that you can't find or purchase via Amazon!
Developing a Business Using Long Tail Marketing Strategies
In order to develop a successful long tail business you first need to understand why they are successful. You can do this by studying successful long tail businesses like Amazon and Netflix, which is another prime example. Next you will want to figure out what merchandise you can offer that people will be interested in. For example, you can sell hard to find candies, you can sell hard to find auto parts, or perhaps you can sell hard to find toys. Take a look at your own passions and analyze whether or not there is enough of a business margin to perhaps invest in a business that follows your passions. Finally, you need to develop an online interface that will: attract a lot of traffic, be able to display your available items in an attractive manner, allow easy searches of your inventory, have the ability to handle online sales and be integrated into your inventory and bookkeeping systems.
Once You're Ready to Launch or Promote Your Business, You'll Need Business Cards Too
We too have pursued an aggressive long tail strategy within our business. We offer business cards in just about every business and personal niche we can think of! For those niches that we haven't discovered just yet, we offer customers the ability to request a customized, professionally designed business card from our Featured Artist Community. So, when you're ready to launch your new venture, come to us for your business cards.
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