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Long Tail: 101

I have only begun to wrap my brain around the concept of "long tail" as it applies to real estate searches. I begin to get an inkling of the concept when our oldest son calls me into his room to hear some exotic and esoteric music he has downloaded and added to his massive i-tune list . These are musicians who have never made anybody's top 40 list, but have someway fluted and drummed their way into our home.

Wired Magazine recently discussed the long tail concept and warns: Forget squeezing millions from a few megahits at the top of the charts. The future of entertainment is in the millions of niche markets at the shallow end of the bitstream....

Carry the long tail phenomenon over to books, and you will see an equally interesting phenomenon. From the Wired article:

The average Barnes & Noble carries 130,000 titles. Yet more than half of Amazon's book sales come from outside its top 130,000 titles. Consider the implication: If the Amazon statistics are any guide, the market for books that are not even sold in the average bookstore is larger than the market for those that are (see "Anatomy of the Long Tail"). In other words, the potential book market may be twice as big as it appears to be, if only we can get over the economics of scarcity. Venture capitalist and former music industry consultant Kevin Laws puts it this way: "The biggest money is in the smallest sales."

This may be even more relevant in real estate. We real estate professionals keep reminding each other that

Real estate is local

...and it has a very long tail. The Realtor.com and Yahoo Real Estate sites may be the 800 pound gorillas in the field, but there are thousands of other gorillas with very long and local tails that are bred in blogging, spread by spiders and thrown onto the worldwide web. Keep talking about "rimless shower doors" in that Carlsbad, CA home, the "storybook playhouse" in Kettering, Ohio and that "quaint haunted house" in Bangor, Maine.

Rest assured, you will be found.

Posted by Roberta Murphy - Carlsbad Real Estate North County San Diego Realtor on 09/25/2006 11:45 PM

Comments (24)

long tail, realtorcom, yahoo real estate, amazon, wired magazine, rimless shower doors

24 Comments on Long Tail: 101

SEP

2006

Roberta, very good thought. that is why the lead companies mining the internet are having a hard time in a true sense. Have you done that with your website.

Eric: I have a longer tail than any of the lead companies and tell them so when they call!

SEP

2006

I noticed you had an AA site. I have been trying to make my very local. I am still working on www.ericbouler.com and think I have www.neworleanscondos.net getting closer to where I want it. its a lot of work but it pays if you like that. eric

It is relavent in real estate. I have changed most of my key words and tags on my web site because of the long tail. If you check Minnesota in AR you will notice that the agents cover large geographic areas. I keep my focus on St. paul and individual neighborhoods. Persons using google to search find me when they put in certain search terms. I am getting the kind of business I want in the area I want. One photo album on my st. paul real estate blog is getting a ton of hits and sttracting buyers that are all looking for housing in the same area. It really cool.

Great post and some great information to think about!

Very good post, Roberta. It's definitely worth reviewing our websites to capitalize on that.

For a long time when lead companies have called about all the leads they could send us, we've replied, we don't WANT all those leads - we want very specific leads.

Cute Phrase "Long Tail"and a good commentary and analysis. I guess I look at it a bit differently although I don't disagree with what you have presented. It is all local but I would add the following. It is also your overall stratagy. Is it the classic Ameican Business Model that looks to the next quarter and its end of year report? Or is it the longer Eastern Philosophy which looks 10 - 15 or further years down the road. Planning for the residual business that repeats in a predictable cycle and provides consistent word of mouth referrals. Incorporating the long view with our technological toys will give us not just long tails but the "legs" to carry us forward in a successful business model that the 800 pound gorilla fails to achieve due to it's detached nature.

Very interesting post! Definately something to think about, especailly in our market where you have such a diverse range of product and clients...

How fun, I had commented on someone else's blog last night and asked a question about what a long tail was......and voila, here is the answer! May we all find the perfect niche and have a very long tail!

May our tails grow long! Great blog! Ines

"The Lovely Roberta"

Nope...It was late when I read it...Had to "get my brain around it". Like I said...Excellent Blog. I Like it. Kum La Ka Lakka has a "long tale"...What is Kum La Ka Lakka...a "long tail"! ROAR will be next...Maybe...Could be...Perhaps?

by "The Lovely Wife"...Kum La Ka Lakka...ROAR.

Great post, Roberta, and lots to ponder as we look to the future, plan our strategies (both short term and long) and decide how to best target market our services.

Great post, proper planning is everything in this business

Roberta,

What an excellent write up of the concept of being local! I think I could even steal your blog to explain the advantages to Kelli. She thinks I blog way too much and that it is a huge waste of time.

Michael

weee...i got a gooseberry

Great post Roberta, the long tail is a great way to build a sites rank up the right way. It's also much more encouraging to see that you are making progress with a site while you work your way up to the competetive keywords.

Also the long tail matches, are much more well-targeted visitors. Conversion rates are WAY higher with long tail hits.

Whoa, I still can't spell pomengranate right the first time.....

SEP

2006

Great post! I am a niche real estate investor and I've never thought about my long tail or anything like it. Thanks for that I've got some pondering to do. If I can ever help you let me know.

Keenan

Thank you, Keenan. If we can ever assist you with San Diego real estate investment research, please feel free to call or email.

OCT

2006

I liked the information presented. Very enlightening, but local business is local and websites are a poor substitute for troops on the ground.

OCT

2006

David: I think this is an example of a long-tail blog. LOL! The internet and our interconnectedness never cease to amaze...

Troops on the ground, very soon, will be the new and novel approach to real estate marketing. When everybody is finally online, I will start knocking on doors. Imagine the surprise!