Truth 40. Wag the long tail

“The long tail” is a term coined by Wired magazine’s Chris Anderson to describe the niche strategy of businesses—primarily online businesses—that sell a large number of unique items in relatively small quantities. Think of Amazon.com. Sure, the online retailer profits by selling huge quantities of best sellers, such as the latest Harry Potter installment, to a mass audience. But the company also makes significant profits selling small volumes of much more obscure titles to the much larger group of non-Harry Potter customers. This latter group of products comprise the long tail.

The reason the long tail concept is most applicable to online businesses is that the concept is practically built for search. Why? ...

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