Happy Thanksgiving!

Here is to a safe fun-filled Thanksgiving with friends and family.

Enjoy and make sure to leave room for dessert.

Droid Toys -New Fx Camera Application

I have the Retro Camera and just added the Fx Camera application. I took the same photo a few different ways. The symetrical picture is without one of the kids because he moved so it isn’t that advanced so don’t be confuled. I think the pictures all very cool and help make interesting posts.

Most of the applications make the Droid more fun and it is easy to test them and dump the ones that seem useless.

I think the Andy Warhor, Warholorizer is funny. If he knew how easy it could be to create his art he would have had more time to just be weird.

Of Course Jon Has Something to Say – Selling Myself Short

The Wilkins Automotive Community posted this article and I had no idea what it refers to. As with everything else in my life, I research, and then think, and then write.

 

I am not sure how the show Top Gear alluded me for all these years. I think there might be two things that I have come to realize are just keeping me from enjoying good programming.

Fact 1:

Not all reality shows are for everyone and people can be black and white about the genre. I don’t bake cakes and if I did I bet you know what I would watch. I do not spend time on the Jersey Shore anymore but did when I was younger. I never saw the same people the way the show represents the area but that I because I was 15 the last time I was there and it was a very short visit. My point is that we are an “all in” society. If someone makes a show about housewives of wheresawhocares then someone else makes one about the housewives of whocareslesstonson. If there is a show about an event that happens or a situation comedy about who knows what, you can be sure another network will come up with something similar.

Ok without rambling more, I watch very few reality shows and don’t really care for the concept except in a few cases. This is why Fact 1 is not valid and I should have given the show a chance. I love cars, speed, cool videos, and music. This preconception is gone, now for Fact 2

Fact 2:

I need to preface this fact with a likeness to children’s irrational fears. Kids get scared of things that they do not know anything about and for some reason have already decided that it is not ok, bad, or flat out horrifying. Rowen does not like anything in a mascot type costume, he hates the Chik-fil-a cow with a passion. My brother dressed up as a dog for the Wilkins Automotive Petathon and it was bad; even worse when he took off the head and said, “it’s just me Rowen”. Getting back on track, I equate an English accent with inebriation. It is silly I know so I tend to avoid any British humor. Dumb really since The Office is based on the British sitcom and I love that show. I have met a fair amount of British folks in my life and have nothing but good things to say. One of them is Chris Roberts, who I would never want to think I have a lack of respect for his home land. Click the link on his name to see why.

I need to get over it because the old excuse, “I don’t get British humor” isn’t cutting it anymore. A lot of television in this country is based on adaptations of their humor.

New paragraph because I went and did some research. I googled “I don’t get British humor” for kicks and found this article that serendipitously showed up at the top of the list. It is kind of long so make sure you have some time and you will see that the differences are not really in the humor. The article states that we look at life different from the British, which in turns affects our comedic preferences. They use a lot of irony and we don’t… Read the article to learn more.

The bottom line is that Black & White is out and I am going to give Top Gear a shot!

I am waiting for a phone call and I heard some stats – Parking Lot Chat

Studies show that hearing half of a conversation is terribly annoying. Others studies agree and add a bit of rage into the mix. Well that makes sense because some people fly into a rage over parking spaces. Ok, quick side story,

When I was in Baltimore, there was a story about a police officer who was killed over a parking space. I don’t know about everyone else’s home city, not the burb you grew up in, the city, and I am sure if you read my stuff you know mine is Charm City, or Baltimore to the Educated person. No offense to those that grew up in a city, I would have liked that I think. Anyway, the incident was in Canton in my brother’s old neighborhood. A cop killed when hit with a cement block over a parking space. Really? Well just ask Ray Lewis, Baltimore is rough.

It isn’t about their rage sometimes

I did not go inside yet because I am expecting a call. If I take the phone call inside it will be rude. There are people who do this all the time and I find myself kind of annoyed. I most of the time cannot help but listen and was told as a child to” stay at this table Jon” and usually had some Needs Improvement on my report card for talking in class. I know it is annoying so I try to avoid enraging others. It is our duty not to poke the bear so let’s try our best.

Is a fight about having to get into a fight because you would rather be right when it doesn’t matter? A parking space and ideals created a widowed mother and whatever happens to the jackass that killed the cop. It is our duty to survive through making smart moves, not always standing our ground, and most of the time it is the little stuff that gets us the cement block to the head.

Does it translate?

How different is listening to the conversations at work when you hear the” Halfalouge”? I would guess maybe even worse. When you hear someone in public, it is usually a stranger and you can imagine the other end of the conversation to be anything. Some dude is talking to his wife and you think he is talking to his accountant. You can make up anything, maybe even a smurf on the other end of the phone. Here is my theory and in one minute I will look it up and link an article below the one about Halfalouges.

Does the cubical environment also create the same feelings? Is it possibly worse since you are familiar with the people you work with and might even be fighting for the same client or promotion? Hell, you might even be trying to make lunch plans with a coworker without another one knowing.

Some reading material with lots of links…

This is the first article mentioned. The situation of Halfalouges

Well that didn’t take long. NPR has a post called, That Annoying Thing You Do. Click on the title to see the information on cubicles and one-sided conversations.

New Section just for fun… The coolest vehicle in the parking lot and why

Two reasons this is the coolest vehicle in the lot

• It is burnt sienna
• The model is Colorado

 

Ok, now I have to make a call.

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

Evidence Based Entrepreneurship, De Constructing Colorado – Golden, The Silver Bullet – Issue 2

 

First things first, Golden, Colorado is home to an american original that has been and continues to be a favorite of many.

With that being said, lets take a closer look at Golden, Colorado. I have included a few maps that show the boundaries of the city of Golden as well as the zip codes that are associated with Golden. This is important because if you plan to start a business within the boundaries of the city map,you will be dealing with the City of Golden. For the most part areas outside the city, inside Jefferson County and not within another city, you deal with the county. Remember this is Colorado so the landscape is beautiful and confusing. The second and third maps are the zip code boundaries of what the post office refers to as Golden. Everything will make less sense soon so don’t worry.

Golden has a vision and that is great when planning the economic future of a city.

When you hit their website it is not hard to find this:

The fact that they have the program tells you why it is worth looking at as a place to start a business. The odds are in the favor of the savvy business person when you live in a state ranked 4th in starting a new business and 4th in running a business. Sounds like easy into the market and easy when established, with the variable of IF factor, of course. A good business person in a bad area can make it work and the same is true for the flip side of that coin. That is of course IF you try to have a successful business because we all know that sustainability is the key and running a clean, lean, mean, efficient business is often a good way to survive.

The other reason I found important to Golden is their involvement in Economic Gardening. Take a look at my last post for some information about the Economic Gardening Program.

Golden has a 7.5 ratio of Accredited Investors to New Businesses in the past 12 Months

Good ratio when the state is at 2.2. Golden looks good, has a nice economic base with a successful brewery and a nice College with a good reputation. The only thing I found to be a little hard to nail down at first and just like all other areas, the post office is not the best place to rely on exact borders and city designations. The chart and maps  below show Golden, what is considered Golden for mailing purposes, populations, and business counts well as the numbers for the zip codes and what they are actually made up of as far as cities.

Clear as mud right? Take a look at the maps below for some clarification. There is a good amount of work involved in actually learning about an area and depending on your business, different areas will yield different experiences. A wise, very tall man once said (or maybe said 1,000 times) “There is no bad place to start a business”. The only time I disagree with that is when it is user error. It is bad to start somewhere without finding out more about the area. Just saying that you want to have a business in Denver doesn’t mean it is the best choice for the type of business, cost of operations, pool of talent and so on.

Enjoy some maps detailing Golden and what is called Golden

The Black Border Shows the City of Golden City Limits

If you are living here in Colorado, chances are you drive in the mountains and there sure is a lot of space with those big rock formations and trees and woods and so on. Some of the space is federal land and other is state land and other land is owned by cities. Just Northwest of Golden in the mountains is a tiny town named Baltimore. It is a ghost town and in my mind I see a ghost Ray Lewis. Check this out… Baltimore, Colorado

The map below represents zip code 80403, which is considered Golden. Look at how big and far that zip codes goes and compare the numbers on the chart above. There are more people in this zip code than in Golden and this is only one of the zip codes. See the chart below the map for a reality check on the actual cities included in 80403.

Zip Code 80403 - Very Big and 14% is actually the City of Golden

Below is 80401, which is the other zip code associated with Golden. There are actually two others, one dedicated to the government and one that is all P.O. Boxes. Remember that we will want to explore that P.O.Box thing in the future. As you can see below, this zip code is a lot larger than the city limits of Golden.

Zip Code 80401 - Population 38,580

That main road makes a great place for a storefront and a lot of charming businesses inside the city limits of Golden. Those zip codes are big though and obviously everything that the post office states is Golden is not really Golden now is it. Especially just about anything south of I-70. Well there are 4,723 businesses in that zip code according to a reputable data source and that zip code is made up of the following cities:

That is all so far about Golden and I am sure you will see more. The plan is to take away some guess-work, busy work, and come up with ideas that as an entrepreneur, might not be at the top of your mind. It is good to know what to do and just as good to know what not to do. There is a lot of real estate in Colorado and we want to be sure you are happy with where you plan to place your stake in the ground.

Next up, my neighborhood… Englewood, I mean Centennial, well I am not sure… I better pick it apart and then tell you.