The Winning Way

Today is Thursday March 11, 2010

Thought For The Day

Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.

-St. Francis de Sales

I Have Been Thinking

Chris Anderson, author of “The Long Tail,” hypothesizes that even though classic marketing assumes that 80% of sales come from 20% of your customers, chasing “the long tail” of customers not in that 20% can be a viable online strategy. That’s because online businesses are great at providing choice, something that physical brick-and-mortar stores can’t stock or inventory the same way since they are not virtual enterprises. But, is chasing the long tail still a good strategy in a recession where consumer demand is dropping drastically?

Why The Long Tail Creates Demand

Yes, it is a good idea to think about chasing the long tail. The reasons for that are twofold: Physical retailers are already reducing inventory and dropping choices and online retailers don’t have to stock or inventory a selection or choice in order to offer it. So, the same reason that makes it unthinkable for physical retailers makes it a great choice for online merchants. After all, demand may be slowing for the best sellers, but the long tail is not about best sellers; it’s about personal preference. When a consumer has a personal preference for a particular product or service, they will look to get that choice fulfilled regardless of the cost, even in a down economy. And, even if a retailer offers this choice in their physical stores, an online business is better suited to drop the price on it because they are not keeping their stock in physical inventory. They are doing “just-in-time” demand fulfillment.

Look Up Affiliates, Partners, and Order Fulfillment Services

In order to capitalize on this strategy, there is a bit more upfront market research. You want to locate affiliates, partners, and order fulfillment services that can help you market the long tail without necessarily having to create products yourself or ship them. That way, they can remain in other people’s physical inventory until you get an order and are ready to fulfill that order. If you line up a great team of suppliers who you can use to create a vast choice, then you will create demand where there was none because you are offering something in one place that few others are able to do offline. If you make it easy to search online, then you create the ability for the customer to service his/her own needs and to exactly specify their preferences.

Opportunity is never lost
It goes To Those Ready to Accept It!
Your Success is my Greatest Interest
CWinslow

Ice Breakers

A Unique Home

I took a real estate client to a handyman special. The place
was great, and we couldn’t understand why it was so cheap,
until we turned on the water main and water gushed from
the ceiling.

Dripping wet, my client put a positive spin on the showing:
“Nice house,” he said. “It’s even self-cleaning.”

 Tip

Write your own affiliate program ads. If all the other
affiliates use the same ads you do, that does not give you an
edge over your competition. Use a different ad to give yourself
an advantage over all the other affiliates.

Happy Designing