27A- Reading Reflection No. 3- The Long Tail

The Long Tail

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general argument in this book is that selling items and products can been completely revolutionized recently and needs to be looked at in a different way than it used to. The internet has changed this industry so drastically that it is undeniable that businesses need to work differently and make different strategic business decisions. The internet allows everyone to have a voice, it creates a different way to make people see your product first (being the first to come up on google instead of on the first shelf), and it eliminates significant barriers to entry for people who want to start businesses and create content. Additionally, there is a larger variety of items able to be sold online because of drop shipping and lack of restrictions based on the physical size of a store. On top of this, psychographic information on customers is easier than ever to find. Ultimately, because of all of this, the primary argument is that the days of having one, extremely popular, high selling product is over. Businesses that sell a variety of niche items will ultimately do better when combining the income from all of their products. 

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

This book continued to increase my perspective and understanding on what kind of thinking and decision making goes into starting a business that is profitable. This supplements everything we have been taught about critical thinking and analysis for how to come up with a business, position it, and structure it in a way that will be profitable, scalable and lasting over time. 

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I would have students do a research project, trying to find sales metrics and revenue information from public companies that both sell only one product that is popular and that sell a large variety of products. 

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

There is a part of the book that discusses the 80/20 principle which was a very big surprise. The basic understanding of this principle is as follows. If you have an exam coming up, 20% of the information you study will get you an 80% on the exam almost always. This is the case with other things as well. This can be seen in businesses that sell a variety of products and so on, however like exams, if you dont study 100% of the material, or sell 100% of the items that could do well, you will not see the results from that smaller percentage.