The Long Tail changed my life. I read it while on vacation and can't stop thinking and talking about its implications.

All the small stuff amounts to a lot more business than the big stuff.

• More non-hits songs are sold on iTunes than big hits
• More people buy non-best selling books than best selling ones
• More people register for small events than big ones

It is such a gi-normous shift from the world of pop that I grew up in... Casey Kasem's Americas top 10, Happy Days, and The Detroit News... all  overshadowed now by niche bands, hundreds of cable channels, and the internet. Love it!

Power to the little guys!

It's fascinating to think about what's changed:
1. Easier for more people to create music, books, movies, software and events because of technology.
2. Easier for people to get an audience for their content on the internet (Google, blogs, email, MySpace)
3. Easier to distribute content - no shelf space or massive distribution deals needed  (Amazon, iTunes, YouTube).

So what does all this mean??
Businesses that focus on the small volume things/guys/products/events will thrive. Some of my friends are enjoying abundance in this new-world model...
StickerGiant sells all the little stickers that you could ever find on a bumper
ShipCompliant provides software that niche wineries have dreamed of having
Wufoo makes it easy for any size organization to create online forms of any kind
PaySimple automating recurring billing and payment processing for any size organization.

And of course, my favorite...
RegOnline makes it easier for the 1.5 million smaller-sized meetings and events to manage their registrations. ;-)