Long Tail the Secret for Lawyer Success

In response to a tweet of mine that niches enable lawyers to expand their markets, geographically, long time legal innovator and legal tech company founder, Richard Granat, responded that yes, the long tail works for law firms in a digital economy.

The long tail?

Pretty simple concept, in hindsight, explained by author and entrepreneur, Chris Anderson, in a piece in Wired Magazine and which expanded on in his book by the same title.

With the advent of the net, people and businesses were no longer constrained by the physical world. We were digital.

In the physical word, only items of greater demand could successfully be brought to market.

Think of a country music artist whose music only attracted a small audience. When Walmart sold music, they could only carry the cassette tapes that sold in the hundreds of thousands.

A small number of artists’ recordings in high demand on the beginning of the curve. There was no long tail of the curve with low demand because the market didn’t merit the expense to produce and distribute.

Today, that country recording artist could have a small audience and prosper long down the curve – because of digital.

Same with a lawyer doing IP for heart implant valves out of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

A small market, but in a digital, versus physical, world, they can reach that nationwide or worldwide market. Operating way down the tail in a way that they could never have done so before.

And what’s the Long Tail look like?