Creating a map with multiple pins (or map points) is easy. Usually, those pins represent addresses, addresses where people live, or businesses with a facility. A pin on an address can be placed manually by dropping a point on the business map, one point at a time. But that is a slow process for locating many pins. The best or fastest way to create a multiple-pin map using business mapping software is to start with a spreadsheet of all your address locations. Such datasets are sometimes called location intelligence.
For MapBusinessOnline, location intelligence datasets are usually customer lists. But they could also be patient lists, donor lists, or all the people you plan on inviting to a college reunion after the COVID-19 Pandemic has passed.
Read More About Multiple Pin Maps!
How Do I Create a Map with Multiple Pins?
- Create an Excel spreadsheet that lists your address locations broken out into separate columns by Name, Address, City, State, and Zip code. Read more about preparing a Map for business mapping here.
- Ensure your column headings are labeled: Address, ZIP code, etc.
- Click the Import or Plot button in the mapping application. An import wizard will open up that will walk you through the process.
- Please pay attention to the mapping dialogue to confirm address columns are located where they should be (match your dataset’s ZIP code with the application’s ZIP code etc.)
- Adjust labeling options to your liking
- Click the Plot button in the lower left to place your points on the map
Here’s a video that shows how to Create a Map with Multiple Pins.
Once your data is imported into the business mapping application, you should see pins or buttons on the map representing your addresses. You may now adjust the symbol selection to your liking. You can also change the symbol size, shape, and color to match your map objectives better.
Incremental Point Placement
MapBusinessOnline has two ways to place a point on the map manually
- In the upper left-hand corner of the map (above the tool bar), use the blank white Address Box to key in the address of your proposed pin location. This way, format the address with commas: Address, City, State, ZIP Code. Click the Binoculars icon to the right of the address box, and viola – you’ve made your point!
- An alternative approach – On the master toolbar, click the dropdown on the draw tools – usually, the draw tools display an ABC icon. Select the bottom option of the dropdown list: “Location.” Move your cursor to your location on the map and Click the map to place the point.
Callouts or labels are also configurable. When placing individual points on the map, click the label to edit the location name. Be sure to consider naming your data point’s data layer because you are creating a data layer or adding to a data layer every time you add a new point.
In MapBusinessOnline, a user may adjust the pin symbol, color, and size in the Data Window view or by Editing the Data Layer in the Map & Data control box. Read more about Map and Data here. Also, read more about editing data in MapBusinessOnline.
Import Your Own Symbols
MapBusinessOnline provides an entire library of MapPoint symbols, but you can also import your own symbols to the map. These imported symbols should be small Jpeg files. Sometimes, you may find a whole set of symbols specific to your industry so ask around. Maybe the plastic dog toy industry has symbols? Who knows? Read more about MapBusinessOnline symbol import here.
Creating a basic multiple pin point map is a great place to start for your first business map. Many MapBusinessOnline users begin their mapping work similarly – importing a spreadsheet of location points and viewing their business on a map. Importing symbols is a popular feature of online mapping tools. Save that first map using the Save Map button on the left of the Master Toolbar. It’s a good idea to save it as a template for future map work.
Add to your work by importing business listings or creating sales territory maps. Business listings are now available through MapBusinessOnline. Click the Yellow Pages icon in the middle of the master toolbar. Listings do cost money – $0.15 each. But there’s a credit balance for free listings with each subscription so that you can try them.
Read more about putting business listing pins on your business map here.
Why Bother Creating a Multiple Pin Map?
First-time business map users usually place address points on a map to visualize their customer, donor, patient, or vendor lists. Seeing their constituents spread out across an accurate map of the USA or Canada is an illuminating experience.
Longtime business map users view their business address lists for the same reasons. Visualizing clients or patients on a map never gets old. These visualizations reveal patterns in our work that often reveal business intelligence.
Business mapping – pins on a map – are simple, fun, and something humans have been doing for years.
Picture the Caveman named Terkoz giving directions in the dirt with his toe. “To find Grog, head toward the rising sun and pass the giant rock in the field here. When you get to the river here, face the tallest mountain and walk in that direction until you see the wicked huge, dead pine tree with my initials scratched in it (CT), roughly here where my toe is. Then start screaming for Grog. If Grog doesn’t answer in the time it takes for the Loon to call, run as fast as you can to this safe cave here. Grog is Saber Tooth Tiger dinner. You should be fine.”
Be sure to download MapBusinessOnline’s free Map App. The Map App download provides a set of apps that let you launch MapBusinessOnline without using a Web Browser. There are a few utility apps for troubleshooting and, best of all, a Map Viewer so that non-subscribers can access shared maps for free. Read more about the Map App free Map Viewer here.
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Discover why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com for their business mapping software and advanced sales territory mapping solution. The best replacement for Microsoft MapPoint happens to be the most affordable.
To access MapBusinessOnline, please register and download the Map App from the website – https://www.mapbusinessonline.com/App-Download.aspx.
After installing the Map App, the MapBusinessOnline launch button will be in the Windows Start Menu or Mac Application folder. Find the MapBusinessOnline folder in the Start Menu scrollbar. Click the folder’s dropdown arrow and choose the MapBusinessOnline option.
The Map App includes the Map Viewer app for free non-subscriber map sharing.
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Contact: Geoffrey Ives at geoffives@spatialteq.com or Jason Henderson at jhenderson@spatialteq.com.
