Successful Blog

Quality over Quantity with Big Data

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dataBack when computers were still a new technology for businesses, there was a simple acronym going around: GIGO. Garbage in, garbage out.

Basically, if someone fed a computer system flawed or mixed up data, they probably wouldn’t like the result very much. That wisdom still holds true in the newer and fast-moving field of big data.

Big data is exciting.

Used well, it grants the ability to analyze customer trends and wants, customer interactions, lead generation, sales patterns and so much more.

The result? Better understanding of customers’ behavior and desires, a better overview of what is working well in a business, and an opportunity to hone everything from content to products for greater success.

But big data can also be overwhelming and in the rush to adopt it, businesses might find they have a lot data but not a lot of quality. Flawed, irrelevant or inaccurate big data won’t serve them as well as they hoped.

When it comes to big data quality: GIGO lives on.

Businesses can clean up their big data act and access better quality data by paying attention to five key areas:

1. Planning
When it comes to keeping garbage out of the big data stream, prevention is definitely better than cure. Businesses would do well to shun rushing at big data in favor of good solid planning. Before harvesting anything, it’s vital to know what the aim of it is. What business area is being looked at? Sales? Engagement on social media? The behavior of a certain demographic? Knowing exactly what data is needed and why will make it easier to plan out a big data strategy that is focused on collecting exactly what is needed.

2. Collection
Data can come from many different sources. The more sources, the more chance of unhelpful or irrelevant data getting in. Businesses can prevent problems at this stage by figuring out how their big data is to be collected. What are the sources? Who will collect the data from them and what will they do with it? Before including a data source in your overall plan, check out the quality of the data that you’re going to get from that source.

3. Checks
Rigorous and regular checks of data quality are vital in building up a defense against bad data. When it comes to analyzing big data, the lower the quality of data fed into any analytic tool, the less helpful the results will be. To that end, businesses need to set in place a system of checks and balances to make sure the data that goes into the system is of good quality. To make the most of big data, quality control of the incoming data needs to be standard.

4. Training
Sources and stats are important, but to really make the most of big data businesses need to remember the human touch. At some point in the data collection process, employees are going to be responsible for collecting, sending, or analyzing data. Human error can and will happen, and it can lower data quality. Businesses can reduce the risk with training and education and by fostering team work when it comes to their big data plan.

5. Collaboration
From the IT department to the person analyzing the data, to a customer service agent taking details to fill out a form, getting employees working together is good for big data. The more everyone understands about why it matters and what their part is, the better. The same is also true of technology and data channels – the more a business can match up their sources and standardize their data collection procedures, the better.

Big data is big news, no matter the business size. Good quality big data is where the really useful information lies.

For businesses looking to big data, quality really must come before quantity.

Photo credit: Forbes.com

About the Author: Tristan Anwyn is an author who writes on subjects as diverse as health, marketing, business, and SEO.

You Should be Using HTML5, and Here Are 7 Reasons Why

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By Teddy Hunt

Web development has gradually become easier over time. Gone are the days of messing around on Geocities and creating eye-sore websites. The best new thing in web development is HTML5. If you’re not using it, you’re really missing out. Here are a few reasons you should be using HTML5 (any code used in the text was changed to brackets to avoid formatting issues).

HTML code

Image via Flickr by Sebastian Fuss

Neater Code

If you’ve dealt with anything other than HTML5, you know exactly how messy code can get. With HTML5, though, you can create clear, descriptive semantic code. You’ll be able to easily separate function from style. Before, you’d have to use [div] for each individual block of content. HTML5 has [article], [header], [footer], and [nav] tags, as well as a few other ones that make it much more organized.

Mobile Support

You want your site to be accessible across all platforms, regardless of device, right? Then it’s time to adopt HTML5. HTML5 is fully supported by mobile browsers, so you won’t have any issues with people on mobile devices unable to see your content. With Flash support being officially off the radar for mobile support, HTML5 is the next best option. HTML5 will let your users view your content in full screen. You can also define width and zoom settings.

Full Audio and Video Support

Remember the pains of trying to embed a video or a piece of audio onto your site? It usually involved a lot of tags and troubleshooting when it inevitably wouldn’t work. You’d end up with code to embed a video that would sprawl across ten or more lines! Thanks to HTML5, those days are long gone.

HTML5 treats video and audio similar to image tags, using instead of anything else. You’ll probably need to add a bit of extra code to get the video working for older browsers that don’t support HTML5, but even then that’s only five or six lines of extra code. Now you can finally enhance your content without a ton of confusing code.

Location Support

Taking a step from mobile devices, HTML5 fully supports geolocation. This can help in many ways. For example, if the customer is trying to figure out how much they’ll pay for shipping to get an item shipped to them, it’ll skip the multiple menus asking for location that they’d have to sit through otherwise. HTML5 will utilize whatever it can to get a user’s location — your wireless network connection, the GPS on your phone, your IP address, etc. You can, of course, allow the user to disable this feature should they want to do so.

The Storage of Content

The way content is cached for later viewing is unique with HTML5. It’s sort of like the older cookies method, combined with cloud storage. The data will still be there even after the browser is closed. You don’t have to worry about deleting cookies. Storing data in the browser means you can cache data and load previous data, which will reduce overall load times.

Games!

Developing games for HTML5 is a breeze thanks to the [canvas] tag. It’ll be a lot easier to troubleshoot any issues you have thanks to HTML5’s way of displaying code. There are quite a few tutorials about how to develop games in HTML5, using examples that make use of CSS and jQuery.

Everything Supports It

HTML5 was designed with everyone in mind and it shows — it’s supported by Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and even Internet Explorer. Even though older browsers support it, some won’t be able to display certain aspects of HTML5. Fortunately, you can just add a Javascript shiv to allow those items to be displayed on older browsers.

When it comes to developing your website, there are a ton of directions you can go. HTML5 should be the first thing that you consider. Not only does it work across all desktop browsers, but most mobile browsers support it as well. Stop alienating your audience and clean up your code by adopting HTML5.

Have you seen an increase in traffic since using HTML5? Leave a comment and let us know!

Author’s Bio: Teddy Hunt is a freelance content writer with a focus on technology. When not behind a computer, Teddy spends the majority of his free time outdoors and resides in Tampa, Florida.

A Letter to the Community

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Dear Friends & Community,
This is coming to you in the wake of the news that there will not be a SOBCon this year.

It contains a suggestion for you to consider. We invite you to support it.

We were shocked, disappointed, and confused. We were concerned and understanding. Above all, we were thinking about Liz Strauss and wishing her all our love.

This meant it mattered to us. We also felt sure we weren’t the only ones feeling the blow. We reached out to each other and started sharing our feelings, thoughts, wishes — and eventually our plans.
That’s why we are contacting you here.

We want to do something — turn this experience to good use.
With the memory, experience, and results of what SOBCon meant to so many people, we have the ability to construct a new way forward. But we must be realistic. We are not talking about a replica or repetition of SOBCon. That would be impossible and not desirable.

It’s time for a fresh start — inspired by the past, building on the amazingly positive history.
We want to grow something that doesn’t yet have a name. We don’t even feel we have the authority to name it. But we do have the blessing of Liz Strauss – and that’s enough for us to go for it.

Will you join us in Chicago on June 27–29?
Can we attract you to an event that’ll be a mixture of work, fun, and adventure into the unknown?
It’ll be a one-off. There will never be another experience like this. We are strong enough to build on from SOBCon.

The core purpose…
is to work together for each other’s business — in a spirit of group-supported self-development. The purpose is to give each and every person phenomenal support, unmatched by the sort of support you get at any conventional conference.

There might be a better way of putting this. But, be sure of one thing please: we have the ability and will to achieve a life-changing result for each other.

In the longer run…
we don’t know where this will go. That’ll be part of the work we’ll do together in the room — in the bars and walks too.

There are many details and questions to be addressed.
Right now, all that matters is that you know something is going to happen.
Don’t worry about logistics. They’ll be sorted and communicated in good time.
Don’t worry about cost — this will be affordable (promise).

We’ve booked a place for 20 people: it’ll be close-knit. (If more of you want to be in the room, we’ll sort that out. There will be a waitlist.)

Be part of this please.
This is completely different from what you expected to happen. That’s life.

This is our life.

Say you’ll join us in Chicago on June 27–29 by contacting Jane Boyd whatever way suits you (by April 22).

— Jane Boyd, Paul O’Mahony, and Eric T. Strauss

Picking the Right Partners to Do Business With

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apartner
When it comes to the business world’s recipe for success, it takes hard work and great partners in order for your small business to thrive.

But, finding the right partners is sometimes a difficult task, especially if you don’t know where to start networking.

In order to make business connections that are fruitful and worthwhile, here are just a handful of tips for finding the right partners to do business with:

Get to Know the Potential Candidate or Candidates

Finding the right partner/s for your small business is all about forming a relationship and relationships take time. So, it’s important to take the necessary amount of time to get to know the person or persons you have in mind for your business partnership.

Sometimes choosing a business partner is as easy as picking someone you’ve already known for years.

But, if you’re trying to find a partner that you don’t have a previous relationship with, then it’s important not to push the partnership.

In other words, get to know the potential candidate in a natural way, like over coffee or lunch, so the relationship isn’t forced and nobody is pressured into the union.

Get on the Same Page

Although the phrase “on the same page” is used for many different situations, nowhere is the expression more appropriate than with business partnerships. From the business plan to the finances, business partners simply must be on the same page.

When it comes to finances, it doesn’t matter if you’re looking for one partner to help run your small business or multiple business partners to help your small business expand. A good example is – Picking the Right Partners: LessAccounting software.

In a partnership between WePay and LessAccounting, the two were able to team up; the latter is able to extend the former’s original invoicing tool, along with showcasing the capabilities that WePay’s API offers to service small business tools.

Make Sure Mindset and Skill Set Align

Among other important factors, there are two main things to look for in a potential partner for your small business: mindset and skill set.

If the person’s mindset doesn’t align with yours when it comes to the nature of the business, then chances are the relationship won’t work.

Similarly, if the candidate doesn’t have the skills necessary to get the job done, then problems will also arise.

Don’t settle for one or the other. Your business partner’s mindset and skill set must align with yours in order for the partnership to spell success for your business.

Look for Someone Who is Devoted

Finding the right partner takes more than just finding a person capable of bringing something more to table, it involves finding someone with the utmost devotion to the job at hand. Besides, you don’t want to take the time to track down a business partner only to discover that person lacks in the devotion department.

If you don’t want to feel like you’re running your small business alone, then you need to make sure your partner has all the time in the world to devote to your business too.

This means someone who is passionate and doesn’t have a lot of potential distractions in their life, like young children or financial issues.

By keeping in mind the pointers above, your next partnership will be a match made in business heaven.

As a business owner, have you partnered with others in the past? If so, how has the relationship turned out?

Photo credit: asiapacfinance.com

About the Author: Adam Groff is a freelance writer and creator of content. He writes on a variety of topics including personal health and home improvement.

Get a Grip on Visual Content

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By Lisa D. Jenkins

The saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words” is cliche for a reason.

It’s no secret that images receive more engagement on Facebook than their text only counterparts. The growth of audiences on Pinterest and Instagram, even Tumblr, supports the notion that at our core, we humans are a visual bunch.

And now there’s a whole lot of talk going around about visual content and its rapidly increasing influence online.

So, what exactly is this visual content all the cool kids are talking about? Let’s agree to set jargon aside and not make this harder than it has to be. We’re talking about images; photos, videos and graphics. Visual content uses all types of imagery to communicate and support your messaging clearly and quickly. As a delivery medium, visual content is perfectly suited to social media because it’s easily consumed and shared.

Lowe’s uses Vine shorts like this one to give helpful life hacks to their customers who then share the hack and extend Lowe’s reach and visibility.

From video to photos and infographics to animated GIFs, marketers are using visual content to their advantage in pursuit of goals such as establishing market authority, gaining share of voice, driving higher CTR’s and contributing to the bottom line.

One of the most attractive things about adding visual content into your online, digital and/or social marketing strategies is that you can include not only brand generated content but user generated content as well. With some forethought, your content creators get a break, and your fans get a nod from a brand they’re passionate about.

This collection of #sharelove images from Starbucks fans generated over 26k Likes, 200 Comments and 600 Shares – that’s a lot of news feed visibility, and we all know how hard that is to come by these days.

Starbucks visuals

If you want to learn more about what’s out there and how you can apply it to your own marketing activities, come back here every other Tuesday. I’ll share some examples of visual content from brands, give you some ideas for implementation and execution, and throw in a helpful tool or two to get you started.

What do you most want to learn?

For today, I’m just going to say thanks for dropping in and leave you with this infographic from On.com that explains how we got here.

The Growth of the Visual Web - On.com
Author’s Bio: Lisa D. Jenkins is a Public Relations professional specializing in Social and Digital Communications for businesses. She has over a decade of experience and work most often with destination organizations or businesses in the travel and tourism industry in the Pacific Northwest. Connect with her on Google+

A SOBCon Ending

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A Letter to the SOBCon Community

Anyone who has been around me in these past few months knows how much I have been looking forward to SOBCon this year. A fabulous and hard-working team of volunteers stepped up to help make our SOBCon goals real. A most impressive group of speakers committed to start the conversations that would drive the mastermind team discussions. I was thrilled and humbled to be planning such a big deal.

With the initial ticket sales and the enthusiastic response on social networks, it seemed that SOBCon LEVERAGE had real traction. Not only were so many returning, but folks who had been hearing about SOBCon for years were buying tickets too!

Then SOBCon faced a crucial challenge, we had not had to overcome before. We were hit hard by sponsor-partnerships that didn’t materialize. Despite a deep commitment to “make it happen through sheer force of belief and a will to serve,” we couldn’t find new sponsor-partners on short notice to replace what we lost.

Suddenly the momentum of a great start to ticket sales and social network buzz, wasn’t enough to make a SOBCon experience that you love. An experience that

  • is focused on the audience and giving time to meet and discuss how the great ideas they’re hearing can be custom-fit to their business
  • allows every voice in the room to add value,
  • is more than exchanging business cards, that gives the chance to sit with, work with, and learn from every person in the room.
  • is single-strand content plan that brings the latest questions and answers in serving customers and growing a business.
  • is fabulous food, great venues for conversation, and the best wifi.

because every event experience should be worth far more than the cost of getting there and packed with ideas and relationships that keep delivering for years after the event. The SOBCon community is unforgettably supportive and, as we all know, filled with lifelong friends. But, as much as it is a labor both love and business, I need to be realistic. I can’t pursue an endeavor that puts my business and personal life seriously at risk.

Unfortunately, this year hasn’t generated enough resources to do that. Despite the great planning and the support of so many, I sadly must report that SOBCon 2014 won’t happen.

If you are one of the great folks who purchased a ticket or reserved a seat, I’ll contact you next week about refunds.

In truth and trust and with so much gratitude,
Liz