Business maps are for business analysis, sales planning, and even for legal records. Modern business plans and market analysis are supplemented with location-based analysis in the form of a business map. MapBusinessOnline’s data window makes such analysis both possible and easy to achieve. Read more about MapBusinessOnline analysis views here.
Sales planning is a widespread application of MapBusinessOnline. The tool offers optimized routing tools to plan sales trips and visualize customers. For MapBusinessOnline sales professionals, the sky is the limit because the tool provides excellent sales territory management and market analysis tools. In addition to analysis, MapBusinessOnline also serves as a great company goals and objectives communication tool. I highly encourage sales pros to present to their peers using MapBusinessOnline as a live business mapping presentation tool. Business maps provide clear and concise map visualizations of company sales efforts.
I’ve also mentioned before how helpful business mapping software is for franchise sales organizations. ‘Maps sell franchises!’ is the cry and credo of franchise map geeks everywhere. (There are a few.) Franchise officers can compile digital business map representations of a franchise territory to sell the franchise and document the opportunity as legitimate.
Franchise territory maps record a protected area of interest for the franchisee. These maps also provide demographic and sales proof of market viability. The entire map analysis, including the map visualization, is printed and filed with records of the franchise sale for future reference. These printed maps or map image records are easy using MapBusinessOnline.
Baseline Market Analysis Map Documenting Existing Markets
Map Image Files
The most straightforward map image to generate is a Map Image file in Jpeg or PNG file format. Such image files are created by clicking the Export Image button, four buttons from the right on the Master Toolbar.
The Export Image button will take an image snapshot of a user’s map as saved in MapBusinessOnline. The resulting image will not include the Master Toolbar, Map & Data, or the Navigation Scroll Bar. The image will include a Map Legend if one is associated with the map.
When considering producing a map image, the map creator should optimize their map to support their map project’s purpose. Read more about map visualization optimization here.
Map Image Files can be saved as either PNG files or Jpeg files. PNG files are used for PowerPoint presentations. Jpegs are a better option for emailing map files because they are smaller files.
Going Old School – Printing Maps
Click the Print Button on the Master Toolbar to print an 8-1/2 x 11-page map view on your desktop printer. Make sure your printer settings are set to landscape orientation – which is the natural perspective for map printouts. Your map screen is literally a landscape view. Literally.
You can also print to larger plotter printers. This brings us to saving map files as large format PDF files.
Large Format PDF Files
The two lower options on the Print Button dialogue are for saving a map view as a large format PDF. I wrote about this process in detail in this article on PDF map files.
Here is a shortlist of things to keep in mind when saving large format map PDF files in MapBusinessOnline.
- Be patient. This functionality is advanced and is more of an art than a science
- Try both the ‘customer printout’ and the ‘select a draw tool’ options. I find the draw tool approach works best for my saved map views
- Try over zooming into your map. These PDF files are huge and are designed to grab a lot of map detail. Over zooming often better defines your focused map view
- PDF map generation takes a lot of time to process. If the result isn’t what you want, delete the file, adjust a few settings, and try again
- Be sure to adjust the dialogue’s paper size options, zoom levels, and map orientation
- PDF files of your map in MapBusinessOnline will place a legend on the map for you. The map legend is movable, before you save your PDF. Movable map legend in a PDF view is a new feature
Large format printing and PDF file saving is an advanced feature. Take your time and approach it from a Zen perspective.
The Snipping Tool
Microsoft Windows machines have a convenient Snipping Tool for capturing images. I’m not a Mac guy, but I understand similar tools exist in the Mac world.
The Snipping tool takes a snapshot of your computer screen within the bounds of the rectangle you select. For MapBusinessOnline maps, this is a convenient way to take a picture of your map with the Data Window open to a specific data view.
You can maximize your map view by closing a few of the tools on your map screen:
- Click the Tiny Down Arrow about the Master Toolbar, just above the Map Layers button. This hides and opens the Master Toolbar
- You can minimize the Navigation Scroll Bar in the upper right corner of the application by clicking the Up arrow closed
- Map and Data can be put away for a while by clicking the tiny X Button in the upper right-hand corner. Open Map and Data up again by clicking the Arrow button on the far left of your screen – right in the middle of the left-side panel
Now the Snipping Tool can be focused on the map subject at hand. Proceed with your rectangle placement and save the map view. Snipping images are usually Jpegs.
The map creator documents a geographic view of a sales transaction, a business operation, or a business status by creating map image files. These snapshots provide a frozen image of reality tied to a point in time. They are a record of how things were, a reference for review if necessary. And, unfortunately, sometimes those reviews are necessary.
_______________________________________________
Find out 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 then 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.
Please read customer reviews and review us at Capterra, or g2crowd
Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com or Jason Henderson jhenderson@spatialteq.com
