If you haven't been reading Chris Anderson's blog, The Long Tail you should start today. In it, he's expanding on an idea that appeared in the October issue of Wired in which he pointed out the enormous opportunities for businesses that can present offerings that go beyond "hits."
Chris' ideas have lots of interesting implications. One is especially interesting for me, as a principal of a small firm. Because we're small, we don't have to "sell hits." That is, we don't have to provide "mainstream consulting services" to fill a pipeline that will provide billable hours for a large group of junior consultants. Instead, we can focus on what we believe are innovative approaches and appeal to the smaller group of prospects who are looking for something different.
So, we appeal to a niche by operating in the tail, which provides us enough business to keep us active and happy. But a little growth wouldn't hurt, either.
Now, if only there were an Amazon.consulting out there to offer the "deep catalogue" in consulting services...
We might even settle for being put out through interlibrary loan!
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