Evidence Based Entrepreneurship – De Constructing the US 36 Corridor

There are a few cities on the list that have a great ratio of Accredited Investors to new businesses in the past 12 months, and a number of factors to these numbers. This is the first in a two-part post that will give readers an understanding of the space between Denver and Boulder and help layout who is in charge of what and a general lay of the land. 

Click the Picture to open a PDF with Live Links

I found this little video about FasTracks on the RTD website and it sure seems like a good idea for shuffling people to and from work, entertainment, and other various travel needs. There is a green element as well since we all know it is more eco-friendly to all pile into one vehicle than it is to drive separately like the fellows in Swingers.

All I am saying is that public transportation is in theory a good thing and many times in practice as well. The New York subway system is a beloved public transportation icon that everyone should experience at some point of their life. The Washington DC subway system is also pretty cool and the two experiences are night and day. Baltimore put in a Lightrail and some say it put elements of the city into the county creating bad juju.

We are in Colorado, a kinder gentler place than the east coast and public transportation is pretty cool out here. It has taken some time to catch up to other cities and in 2017 it looks like we should be where they were some time ago. Progress is progress though and I think the new guy in charge of the state is in it for the people and will hopefully keep Colorado the envy of the nation. That might be a little extreme but I think if you live here for a while, you know what I mean. If you have only lived in Colorado I urge you to try somewhere else to gain the appreciation that us transplants have for the state. 

A lot of Maps for A lot of Cities:

Broomfield – Getting Some Park and Rides and Bus Terminals

Lafayette – Too Far East from the Main Routes

Louisville – US 36 and MaCaslin will Get a Station

Bigger City and Smaller Town not Originally Included

Westminster – Westminster Center and Church Ranch Stations

Superior (really, that’s like calling your town “Better than You”) – Table Mesa Station



Stay Tuned…

There is more to come on these cities, I thought you might want to watch the videos and see the pictures first. You can draw whatever conclusions you’d like about starting businesses in this area and hopefully I have given you some research tools. It will be interesting to see how the RTD affects Economic Development in these areas. Boulder has always been a hot spot for technology in Colorado and the surrounding cities seem to be doing their part to help the state grow. The next post will include more in-depth information about these areas.

How Do You Like to See Your Data? – Parking Lot Chat

Are you a spreadsheeter, mapper, or grapher?

These days it doesn’t really matter, if you know what you are looking for. When data is in a good clean consistent format there are numberous possibilites of what you can learn. I just finished putting together some fairly simple analytics based on basic information that hopefully wows the audience. Unfortunately for the client, they would have to decode the data and possibly misunderstand how the data translates into information because they are not database marketers, they are the client that sells things or provides or services something etc.

I Like Spreadsheets…

And other visual formats but the spreadsheet is my friend. If the data is in Excel or a csv, ansi, or txt format, I can manipulate it while verifying that nothing is out of the quality control world. I have mentioned Pivot Tables and vLookups and other various Excel functions. Even when working with sophisticated programs like Salesforce, Excel is a big part of the reporting and both are useful and perform different tasks. Since Excel is able to read straight data, it is up to the user to make the magic and depending on the user, the magic is very cool.

On the Job

I worked for a database marketing agency for a few years and learned a great deal of valuable tricks, tactics, and shortcuts that create a more efficient use of time. The company has mail processors and they do a great job and it is important to verify, reverify, and confirm, when it comes to data, and even then there are errors that fall within a small margin that just have to be accepted. My point is that the processors never use Excel and don’t care to. I really do not want to process files and the nice thing is I like to audit them and find that issues.

Bringing it Back Home

Whether it is in graph, spreadsheet, map, video, or pictures, you know when something looks incorrect. If you look at data the way you look at or learn something that is more interesting to you it will increase your ability to work more effectively. I took data from a third party vendor and provided it to my contact with straight numbers, spreadsheets, and maps. I will follow up with what they like best.

I am Thinking a Joint Venture – Parking Lot Chat

The two should get together. If not a flat out purchase of the name so the drug reps to ride around in car with both names on the side then an addition to Johnson Controls’ revenue stream through the delivery of male enhancing drugs.

what about you?
Think about who would benefit from collaboration with your company. Everyone has skills and some of those skills need focus in order to be at their best. You do what you do and I do what I do, that way we all do our best and work together.

If you can find a fit like the pictures above, branding will be simple.

Today is the First Day of the Rest of Your Data – Parking Lot Chat

 

It is imortant to realize the power of your data. It is not  the amount of imformation you collect, it is the quality that makes the difference. Do you want 1,000 leads to cold call or 100 that know your image, brand, and reputation.

Finding the right audience is tougher than defining it and one must come before the other. That whole cart and horse or tail and dog saying you refernce (maybe not you but I am sure you have heard it somewhere) is true.

What is the right order? – my thoughts
- Review you data and clean it for consistency
- Analyze and find trends and nuggets of information with value
- Evaluate the current assumptions about customers and adjust if needed
- Market with multiple vehicles cost effectively
- Test
- Rinse Repeat

How Often?
It is a good idea to keep your data clean for mailing and analysis. If you are planning Direct Mail the USPS require that file must be run through NCOA, presorted and all that jazz in order to qualify for postal discounts. This brings up a good point for cost effectively mailing by taking advantage of solutions and being creative. You can save almost half on postage using discounts offered for consistent and organized data. The answer is quarterly by the way. NCOA is valid for 90 days so if you are mailing the hand is almost forced.

So I Already Did It Right?
Yes and no. If you uploaded the mail file back into your database and track response, maintain a suppression file and use that file for future mailing, you are doing great. The beauty is how many birds the clean consistent data stone can kill; discounts, accurate analysis, transportability, and just a nice fresh feeling.

Challenge
This is not really a challenge it is a review of sorts. Take a piece of paper, even a paperless offices has paper. Have a pen handy and as soon as you get to a point were looking something up goes wrong, write it down. Think about your most important information and think about how easy it is to obtain.

Have fun…

The Week is Underway – How’s it Going So Far?

I am going to keep checking throughout the week

Parking Lot Chat

I am on my way to the RVC to chat about a campaign for the upcoming Angel Capital Summit and realized that I have a few minutes to kill. The funny thing is that I do not want to set everything up and get comfortable coffe shop because I am just waiting for 11:00 and I am early. I really like my Droid 2 so I am using it for my newest fleeting thought – Parking Lot Chat

Rules of the chat:
- Must be in a NON MOVING vehicle

Reason for the chat:
- No real reason, just something to read and write

Who is involved:
- I have no idea. I just thought of this 10 minutes ago

Well there you have it. Parking Lot Chat.

It is a beautiful sunny yet cool day in Denver. There is a lot going on and a number of projects to complete. It is nice to be able to sit here and blog about what is going on.

I would like anyone reading this to know that JWconsulting is looking to find some clients with data that is under utilized or abandoned. We want to review that data FREE and let you or your clients know how valuable that data is once it is translated into information.

I figure if clothes, music, entertainment, etc. Is going back to the 80s, why not Database Marketing as well. Our goal is to show the value of your data and how it will enable your company to thrive if maintained correctly. There are simple ways to collect data, enhance records, and maintain a strong marketing database. Housing data in a monster size data warehouse is not necessarily the only answer. Most of those solutions are self services and costly when you need some consulting work.

Bring it Back to Earth – Database Marketing is marketing with the assistance and intelligence of well organized, complete, and segmentable data. It does not require a particular software, operator, or office type. As long as you can create .csv or .txt files, you can plug them into something bigger.

Anyone want to chat about this? I welcome comments and would appreciate feedback so hit me with it…

Oh, I better go to my meeting