A Word of Caution as You Venture Down the Long Tail

The Long Tail is rich in data and knowledge. A little wisdom applied to that knowledge may be useful. As the old expression goes, forewarned is forearmed.

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A click on an eBook link may get you a short succinct review of that book. On the other hand, it may get you a hard sell that goes on and on, with pie-in-the-sky promises of how great it is. When you are presented with a hard sell, look for value in the sell itself. Search on some of the terms. You may learn more from the searching than you would learn from the eBook.

For example, I received a long hard-sell email recently that extolled the virtues of a health product. I searched on a variety of the terms found in the email and discovered that I could buy locally the same product that was being offered through mail order. However, the local product was about one fourth the cost of the mail order product.

Another example. For as long as I can remember, I’ve heard of offers that will tell you how to turn a hundred dollars into a million. Some are better than others, but an example of the worst is to send them your money and get a short note back saying, essentially, “Take a hundred dollars, invest it at 5% and wait 150 years.” Buyer beware; if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

On the other hand, you may find a gem among the stones. I’ve found a number of ebooks that did provide value, some of them provided far more than I expected. Look for the gems, and learn from the stones.

Are you finding any gems or applying wisdom to get value from the stones? Tell us about it - leave a comment.