The Market Analysis Tool in Map Business Online

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Geoffrey Ives

Annual subscribers to Map Business Online business mapping software will find a button along the master toolbar called Market Analysis. See the button image here:

This business data analysis tool helps map users conduct some basic comparative analysis on one or more imported or created data layers within Map Business Online. The market analysis tool is only available in the full year subscription and team editions.

There a five options for using the tool. We’ll start with the first option – Search data from multiple locations.

The Search Data Option

The user simply checks this option and clicks the next button. Here you will find a dialogue that enables selecting a dataset for analysis. The user can  choose to Plot a new dataset for analysis here if they have not imported a dataset yet.

Once selected, there are several options for searching user data:

  • The analysis may require a radius which defines the search target area.  A five-mile radius, for instances, can be set here. This lets the user search a Circle with a radius of five miles around each point in the data layer you choose. After setting a radius click next to choose the data layer to search.
  • Alternatively, just below the radius selection the user will notice a section that lets her choose to establish a radius based on a specific numeric column in imported data.  This comes in handy if you have a radius column in your data you might like to apply.

This first option in Map Business Online Market Analysis includes an option to draw a circle around up to 200 data points at once. Simply Check the box to apply the circle draw layer. The users has some fill, line, color and transparency options to consider here as well.

Find the Nearest

In the Map Business Online Market Analysis tool we refer to the nearest locations and points as Stores and Customers. Just remember this is simply a way to describe one stationary dataset and another dataset that’s could fluctuate.  Those datasets could just as easily represent hospitals and patients, bus depots and pick up locations, distributor branch locations and customer locations, or even bakeries and restaurant locations. The user applies their business model to the Map Business Online analysis tool.

Whatever data you’ve decided to analyze you’ll be able to select one and then the other dataset for comparative analysis. In this second dialog option the user can choose up to five stationary location addresses that are nearest to the user’s “customer” dataset. Feel free to change the name from Store to another name that suits your analysis.

Processed results will include distances to “Store” locations for each record.

Market Area Profile

The third Map Business Online Market Analysis option offers a market area profile. Once again, the user can choose two datasets to analyze. But now the user can include up to three columns in your data that display numeric values. Users can apply a count function, and total or average numeric values. Labeling options are listed as well.

Market area definition options are listed at the bottom which let the user choose between a simple nearest store option and defining a radius search area.

Summarizing Demographic Data

Keeping in mind that Map Business Online includes demographic data for building demographic maps, we’ve added a demographic summarization tool in this fourth option. Simply choose the data layer you’d like to append with demographic information. Then pick up to three demographic categories to add to the analysis. Your results will show demographic data appended to a spreadsheet for export out of Map Business Online.

Once again we’ve included area definition options and the ability to place circles around up to 200 locations at once.

Add Data From a Map Layer

The final option allows the user to select an Map Business Online geographic district layer like county or zip code and append data from district layers to imported data layers. For example, a user could add FIPS code numbers to a municipal data set they imported, or they could add Place Names (city names) to a zip code related sales territory mapping dataset.

Remember, we call this button Market Analysis because it tends to support all sorts of market analysis work.  It doesn’t mean that is the only place market analysis gets done in Map Business Online.  Many users use Map Business Online to conduct market analysis and never use the Market Analysis button. It is an advanced tool.

Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com

Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com (800) 425-9035, (207) 939-6866

MapPoint users – please consider www.MapBusinessOnline.com as your MapPoint Replacement.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra, or at the Salesforce.com AppExchange.

 

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My Perspective on Data Visualization

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Geoffrey Ives

Visualization as a business process could be viewed as the transformation of accepted business reality into a new perspective within your business reality.

In my family life, an example might be the gradual shift in the way an in-law parent views their daughter’s boyfriend; as he shows himself to be responsible, caring, and generally a positive influence on their precious little one’s life. Back in the day, when I first obtained a credit card, I shifted my future mother in-law’s perspective on me. I had transformed her visualization of her daughter’s future from lowly girlfriend of off-beat loafer, to someday-spouse of struggling lower-middle-class business clerk. Yeah me.

Ah, the thrill of being a twenty-something. But it is true, my mother in-law began to love me after that slight adjustment in her visualization of who I was. The shift occurred because she received new data (my credit was improving) and viewed my prospects against a new background, that of a mediocre business person – a step up from “The Dud.”

In business, business data visualization can have similar impact. The way we view our business, or the businesses we work for, impacts our ability to make effective decisions. And let’s face it, decision making is what drives business – up, down or sideways. A viable business that chooses to not grow may adequately maintain its position in a market for many years. However, experience indicates, that deciding to simply retain the status-quo in a market may lead directly to a death spiral in the face of real competition. Grow, change or die, is the reigning intonation. And growth entails making effective and forward thinking decisions in a timely fashion.

Consider all of the businesses impacted by Google or Amazon.com. I’ve been downsized several times by Google’s decisions to give away services I happened to be selling. I hate when that happens.

I’ve also personally purchased a large ticket item through Amazon – a $2,500 Hammond portable stage organ – that had been drastically price reduced, way below any other reseller. I once worked for a business that sold to Amazon. Amazon blatantly ignored our published reseller price structures, straining relationships with our longstanding business partners. And today I notice local grocery stores in rural Maine preparing to compete with Amazon auto-reorders on basic items like toilet paper and washing machine soap.

Competing with or selling to giant companies like Google or Amazon bring genuine challenges for businesses. These challenges require forward thinking strategies and news ways of doing business; perhaps new ways of visualizing your business.

Business map visualizations are one way to bring fresh perspectives to your business strategies and planning. Using the Hammond Organ example above; Hammond could create a national map view of the stage organ business that displays several critical layers of business data by address.

In this map the background map layer would be national because Amazon’s reach is ubiquitous. The business data would be located by address detail to exposes the most accurate depiction of business realities and any trends that might be pertinent to the analysis. Hammond sales people might want to know, what should the Hammond organ distribution network look like in an Amazon.com dominated world?

One thing Amazon does not have yet are show rooms. Show rooms are a real differentiating factor for other resellers. I would consider viewing several of the below map layers against a USA background map:
• All stage piano retailers nationwide with showrooms
• All competing organ resellers nationwide – for a full picture
• All organ customers for the past five years
• All Hammond competitor store locations with showrooms
• Census higher-level median income by county
Perhaps the goal here would be to establish store locations in areas where Amazon dominates? Or maybe the way to go about improving distribution is to avoid those Amazon dominated areas and push retail client inquiries to showrooms that have the best chance of achieving results outside the Amazon network? Business mapping visualizations help provide answers to questions like these.

Viewing these business data layers as color coded symbols on a map will reveal where sales are occurring and through which sales channels they most often occur. By including a competitive layer on the map, we should find evidence of areas where Hammond showrooms might drive better results. Change or die, right?

Visualization processes like this can serve as a guide to help define and inform decision-making within any business. Business maps expose real trends and can imply solutions to difficult business challenges. Business maps provide a viewing platform that can become a catalyst for the better decision-making.

Data visualizations and business maps are applied in slightly different ways by each organization. A consumer sales organization will include Census demographics in their analysis. A B2B sales team might rather see business listings as a background layer. Large retailers like five-mile radius analysis while retail maintenance agencies prefer to expose route corridors that can impact travel efficiencies. Many distribution organizations view ship-to, ship-from, and drop-ship locations across national maps showing cities, which helps them find ways to improve profitability, balance inventories and speed up deliveries. Non-profits like to import donor lists and segment them for campaign management. Your business will have its own perspective on visualization through business mapping software.

The visualization of your business will be defined by your particular need. Don’t limit the possible views, explore whatever location data layers you have access to. Your only limit is the number of layers per map – avoid a cluttered map. Too much data on one map will overwhelm its purpose. Napoleon never requested restaurant listings on his maps. He wanted terrain, roads and rivers – his requested map layers served his specific purposes. Sometime solving additional problems requires creating a new map.

So get that new perspective, visualize your business data against a map using business mapping software. And keep on doing it. Decision making is a constant requirement for all business owners and managers. Make that new perspective on your business happen.

Turn to business maps for competitive analysis, expansion planning, market analysis, optimized route generation, sales territory mapping, and new applications that I may be unaware of. Look at things differently; your business survival may depend on it.
And your mother in-law may be very impressed as well. Eventually. Or maybe not.

Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com

Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com (800) 425-9035, (207) 939-6866

MapPoint users – please consider www.MapBusinessOnline.com as your MapPoint Replacement.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra, or at the Salesforce.com AppExchange.

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Exporting Data from Map Business Online

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Geoffrey Ives

One common reason people use business mapping software is to segment and collect business data into exportable results based on geographic or spatial queries.  This business data might be demographic data included in the mapping software, or imported customer data from your Salesforce or Act! CRM.

I remember when I first heard the term spatial queries. I was intimidated. The term ‘Spatial’ has a mysterious and out-there sound to it. I wondered, “Was this something you need to be high to do?” I wasn’t prepared for a return to my college years.

Geoff with Tide 01-1978

No reason to revisit college.

The reality is that a spatial query is simply a search result based on an area or shape you’ve defined on a map. For example, let’s assume you’ve mapped customer locations using an imported dataset. If you create a radius search anywhere on that map and collect all of the data points impacted by that circle, those results are a spatial query.

Put more simply, draw a shape on a map. Collect every point you can find in that shape. Those points are a spatial query result.

Business mapping software offers geographic searches and spatial queries so that users can export those search results for use outside of the business mapping application. Map Business Online users use spatial searches to accomplish many tasks including:

  • Creating marketing campaigns
  • Creating donor lists
  • Developing optimized route stops
  • To manage store locations for retail mapping
  • To explore all of the Walmart locations in an area
  • To track all advertising for a given product in a list of periodicals for an area
  • Creating a list of voters for a door-to-door political polls, collected on foot
  • Defining a list of potential clients in an area

I could go on and on.

Export from a Map Object

In Map Business Online once a map object (circle, polygon or drive time) is placed on the map the user will notice a mini-toolbar within or near that shape on the map. Click the Summarize Button to conduct a spatial search of that object for export. Summary

Once clicked, the summarize button launches a Select Data Columns window. In the drop down you can select from a list of imported data, or demographic data for your search. The columns of your data targets will be listed on the left.  Use the blue arrows in between the left and right panel to move the data columns you want from the left to the right panel.

Once you are satisfied with the collected data in the right panel, click Next.  Now you will see a list of your search results.  To Export this list click Export to File. The file will export as a CSV file which can be easily imported into Excel and other applications.

Export Data from a Territory or Area of Interest

Map Business Online users create areas of interest or territories by selecting groups of zip codes, counties or states (city limits, Census tracts and MSA’s work too) and saving them as named territories. Once saved and selected into the Data Window Map Business Online users can append their specified area of interest with data – Demographic data, imported data, calculated data, and other public data included in Map Business Online.

When in that Territory view in the Data Window, a user may export the related data layers using the Data Window Export Button located in the far right of the Data Window Tool bar.  Act! and Salesforce.com CRM Map Business Online integrations allow direct export to campaigns in Act! or Salesforce.com.  Read about Map Business Online and CRM applications here: Business Mapping & CRM

Other Data Sharing Tools

Wise old nerdy map geeks like to say, “Maps are for sharing” and “data wants to be free.” Map Business Online furthers these GIS mantras in part, by allow users to share interactive web maps (MapShare).  With each shared map URL, designated map viewing audiences of non-subscribers will have access to a data window view of your shared map and data. Based on your permission controls, they may be able to search and export data as well. You decide.

As expected, Map Business Online also enables basic image file sharing and large format PDF and print capabilities.

By subscribing to Map Business Online you will be visualizing your business in brand new ways, sharing your maps and data layers for internal and external projects. Your business world has just entered a new dimension.  At the sign post, up ahead – You’ve entered the business mapping world.

Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com

Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com (800) 425-9035, (207) 939-6866

MapPoint users – please consider www.MapBusinessOnline.com as your MapPoint Replacement.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra, or at the Salesforce.com AppExchange.

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The Top Ten Questions About Map Business Online

Posted on June 29, 2016 by Geoffrey Ives

People come to use for business mapping software from all walks of life and with a variety of backgrounds, some technical, some not so much. It’s our job to answer their questions and get them business mapping quickly. Here’s a list of the top ten technical calls and email subjects we address:

My Sales Territory Doesn’t Include Point Zip Codes – That’s right. Territories are based on geographies – zip code areas with physical boundaries. The USPS zip code list includes more than 5,000 point zip codes for places like military installations, hospitals, sky scrapers, assisted living centers and any building with the word Trump on it. If you import an address that includes a point zip code it will always place accurately on the Map Business Online map(unless the zip code itself is wrong.)  And any sales or numeric data associated with a point zip codes included in datasets and geolocated in Map Business Online will be included in any aggregations in your analysis. We’ve even included an up-to-date list of all postal codes (boundary and point), that identifies the zip types: https://www.mapbusinessonline.com/Support.aspx/Article/plot_pre-loaded_data_on_map

Read more here: Blog

I Can’t Get Sales Territory Labels to Display – Simply hold down the Control Key on your keyboard and double click a territory area. Viola!

My Map & Data Box is Gone – Look at the entire map rectangle on your screen. Look to the far left of that map rectangle. In the exact middle of the left hand vertical border you will find a light blue arrow tab. Click it!  Viola! again.

Where’s My Map Legend – Go to the Map & Data Box. Click the Edit Gear along that short Map & Data tool bar. Look to the bottom and click Edit legend and then make sure to check the Show Map Legend box.  That makes it display.

My Mother In-law Doesn’t Like Me. What do I do? – Get a job. And stop rolling your eyes every time she complains.

My Base Map Disappeared – Sometimes users import more than twelve datasets. This can make the map behave in weird ways – like a disappearing background map. We recommend consolidating datasets whenever possible – especially for like data records. Delete a few datasets and things will be as normal.  I’ve seen customers plot points manually through the address bar, save one point as a dataset and then another as a dataset.  We recommend you either add these point to one dataset or import a dataset of records from a spreadsheet.

I Can’t Access Premium Layers – You need a full year subscription to access Census Tracts, Zip 3’s, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, City Limits and other premium layers.

I Can’t Import More than 1,000 Records – The FREE trial lets you import up to 1,000 location records to the map. You need a full year subscription to import up to 100,000 location records per map or the 90-day subscription to import up to 5,000 records.

Where is the Undo Button? – This is your lucky day.  We have two undo/redo buttons. Look for the reversing Blue Arrows above the master tool bar to the right of the Address Bar. That’s good for undoing operations on the map like territory set-up or radius search. For navigation undo-ing, use that similar reversing Blue Arrows on the Navigation/Zoom tool in the upper right corner of the application.

I saw my daughter’s picture on Tinder. What do I do? – Wash your eyes out with soap and water, then consider joining a monastery in southern France.

I can’t find my saved map! – Start a new map by clicking the Create New Map button, then click on the Open Save Map folder icon. This opens up your Map Library.  You’re Welcome!

Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com

Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com (800) 425-9035, (207) 939-6866

MapPoint users – please consider www.MapBusinessOnline.com as your MapPoint Replacement.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra, or at the Salesforce.com AppExchange.

 

 

 

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For Salesforce.com Users Considering Business Mapping

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Geoffrey Ives

Making the commitment to join the Salesforce.com community as an integration partner is not a step to be taken lightly. The Salesforce community is huge. And Salesforce.com users expect high quality business software applications. Salesforce mapping for business would entail the same high expectations.

For Map Business Online Map Business Online it made perfect sense to join the largest CRM community because we knew our sales territory mapping tools were second to none in our price range. I mean that –  if you review all the less than $1000 mapping applications you will not find a slicker sales territory mapping software.

The demise of Microsoft’s MapPoint software played into our decision too. Map Business Online developers spent years making sure we provided a more advanced feature list than MapPoint. Territory alignment was just the icing on the cake. And just as soon as we started to really out due MapPoint, they folded up shop.

But there are additional reasons why Salesforce.com business mapping customers may want to consider Map Business Online before choosing from some of the more legacy mapping add-ons currently listed on the AppExchange.

Location Record Import Allowance – Make sure the business mapping tool you choose allows you to import a significant number of total data points. Avoid daily import limits; you shouldn’t have to tolerate those restrictions. If your company uses lots of data, buy a business mapping software with a large enough import allowance level, or go full on GIS. If you need to view hundreds of thousands of records against a map you should probably be using GIS tools.

Map Point Labeling – Label positioning and graphic display quality are important elements of any business map.  Map Business Online provides a variety of labeling options including compact options; clock-face placement; font, box, text color and size controls.  Turn all the labels on if you want or turn on just a few. Make it easy and obvious for your map audience to understand your map intent.

Easy Map Legend Editing – The map legend or key explains categories, shading, and data layers to your audience. If you can’t quickly edit that map legend and easily, move on. The map legend should instantly communicate your map intent with your map audience. Otherwise, your entire map project is a failure.

Database Management – Whether your creating areas of interest for market analysis or sales territories, you need to be able to easily assign demographic data, geographic data, postal data, and your own imported data to that analysis. Our simple data management tool attached to each map area lets you grab data layers with just a couple of mouse clicks. Where I grew up that’s called, “Wicked easy.” Maintaining data layers in a business map should be easy. So if your mapping application takes up hours of how-to research or requires an in-house genius to run it, dump it.

Sales Territory Mapping – As mentioned above, nobody does it better than Map Business Online. Import a preassigned spreadsheet of zip codes to rep territories, or counties to territory names and watch those shaded areas automatically populate. Lasso groups of zips, counties or cities for territory creation. Easily append demographic, geographic, and imported data layers to your territory analysis. Automatically highlight areas of overlap. Have territories always been a huge challenge in your organizations?  Not anymore. And guess who’s the hero? You are.

Demographic Mapping – US Census demographic data is embedded in Map Business Online for thematic mapping or for market analysis of specific areas. You can access and add population, ethnicity, race, income, housing, rental, education, and employment data to your analysis. And best of all the data is exportable for use outside the application. Easy and affordable demographic mapping for your sales team.

Sharing and Collaborative Editing –  Maps are for sharing. With Map Business Online you can share interactive, view-only web maps with non-subscribers at no charge.  Your viewers will be able to query, export, route and navigate; but they can’t edit your maps.  Great for call centers, or client maps. You can also use Map Business Online to set up team collaborative map editing (full subscriptions required for this). Put your best minds to work geographically to solve cross departmental problems.

A Sales Map

A Sales Map

So, salesforce.com decision makers, do your research. Apply business mapping software in your sales organization. Just remember, the easy affordable solution may be the new guy – Map Business Online.

Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com

Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com (800) 425-9035, (207) 939-6866

MapPoint users – please consider www.MapBusinessOnline.com as your MapPoint Replacement.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra, or at the Salesforce.com AppExchange.

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The Map & Data Box – An Instructional Blog

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Geoffrey Ives

When new business map users of MapBusinessOnline first open up the application, they notice a light gray box off to the left called Map & Data (M&D).  You’ll see that Map & Data shows a list of Map Layers with checkboxes.  Map & Data is a critically important tool to MapBusinessOnline users. Map & Data allows MapBusinessOnline users to do the following:

  • Turn off and on the various data and map layers you plan to use in your business map. Check on and off your imported business datasets or included administrative districts, and even your background map
  • Control the transparency of shaded geographic layers, territories, and areas of interest
  • Tweak the boundary color and thickness options, turn off internal boundaries
  • Adjust the labeling of geographic layers and imported business data layers
  • Choose from a variety of background base map layers – Streets, Satellite, and Topographic layers
  • Filter the map view by state or groups of states
  • Control sales territory layer options for transparency and overlap
  • Choose the ZIP code format your map will apply moving forward
  • Apply Calculated Data Columns, used to combine like demographic categories
  • Misc. map adjustments like – Legend updates, Map Title, Miles vs. KMs and more
  • Set map defaults for ZIP codes, Territory overlap, and Search options

Phew! That’s a lot of functionality for a little, floating gray box,

Where Did it Go?

Map & Data can be turned off easily by clicking the ‘X” in the upper right-hand corner. To turn it back on find the gray arrow tab on the far Left side of your map screen halfway down, and click it open.

Layer Drop Down

You’ll notice a layer drop down in the Map & Data toolbar. This toolbar allows the user to set a map up for just a specific map layer. In general, I leave that drop down option at Custom View. The other views provide template map views for commonly used map layers.  Stick with custom until you find a commonly used approach in your business mapping.

Map and Data Opened Up

Map & Data Editing Access

MapBusinessOnline users access layer editing functions in Map & Data by either clicking the Edit Gear on the M&D tool bar, or by hovering over a given layer and clicking the Edit Gear that pops up.

By using the overall M&D toolbar and clicking Map Options, the user opens a panel view with background options and the Filter by State tool, the Map Title control, the Map Legend control, and the Delete Draw Layer control. The user can also convert miles to kilometers here.

From this high level Map Options control panel, access individual layer controls by choosing the “Map & Data” tab along the top. Place your cursor in the light blue areas to edit specific geographic layers like ZIP codes. The geographic map layer must be checked on to enable layer editing.

Read More About Creating New Maps

You could forgo the selection of the overall toolbar for Map &Data and instead hover over any geographic or imported dataset until the Edit Gear pops up. Click that edit Gear and enter the editing functions for the dataset you choose.

Either way, once you are in the data layer of choice, you can select which Tab to edit – General or Labels, they are listed in vertical text along the right side.

The General Tab enables map layer outline or border adjustments for thickness and color. It also presents a transparency scrollbar. You can also color code your layer objects here – such as counties. General also offers the Calculated Data Columns option for combining or summing related demographic data layers.

The Labels Tab enables the ability to manage layer labels.  We define the various layer labels like this:

  • Auto label – That’s the state, zip code or county name label
  • Custom label – That’s the label that pops up when you hover over a state, zip code or county
  • Territory label – That’s labels associated with territories based on state, zip code or county

On of the coolest things you can do in MapBusinessOnline is append data to a label. Try it. Add demographic data or data you imported to a label. It’s a great way to present key data to your map viewers. Read more about appending data.

Territory Options

When you click the Map & Data overall toolbar Edit Gear you’ll also see Territory Options in the panel control view. Here you can set territory transparency and turn on the intersection or overlap tool. The ability to allow and identify territory overlap is extremely helpful in a sales territory mapping program. And you’ll see that you can control the color of the overlap by clicking into the associated color box.

In this way MapBusinessOnline lets the map creator define areas of overlap. So whether or not overlap is a good thing or a bad thing in your business, MapBusinessOnline at least allows you to address it.

ZIP Code Setup

Also noted included in the Edit Panel view tabs, all the way to the right, is the Zip Code tab. Click here to reset the origin and capabilities of your ZIP code layer.

MapBusinessOnline comes with Census ZCTA ZIPs turned on. For greater flexibility in generating ZIP code territories try USPS ZIP codes with fillers. This will allow your territories blend in with national park areas. You’ll see explanations of the various zip code layer options listed there as well. An interactive ZIP code map like MapBusinessOnline is a great way to display and analyze business details. Read more about ZIP codes here.

Spatial Search Options

To edit the spatial search options in MapBusinessOnline, click the Map and Data Map Options button. In the panel that opens scroll to the bottom and click ‘Edit Search Options.’

Here you can determine how your searches by radius or polygon or drivetime polygon collect data. Note the mode options:

  • Intersect – the spatial search will include map objects (ZIP code) touched
  • Intersect at 50% – the spatial search will include data for those objects intersected at 50%
  • Fully inside – the spatial search will only include objects fully inside the search parameter

Experiment

Jump right into MapBusinessOnline and create  some maps using various aspects of the Map & Data box controls as well as the Master Toolbar. This is a great way to learn how MapBusinessOnline can help you use business mapping software to support your business.

___________________________________

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 or review us at Capterra, or g2crowd

Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com or Jason Henderson jhenderson@spatialteq.com

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Demographic Mapping is Good for Business

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Geoffrey Ives

Demographic mapping is good for your business because it connects your business to the business of the nation. Business mapping software should let you consider demographic data in multiple ways. Map Business Online includes several years of US Census Bureau demographic data in categories with breakdowns that include:

Population, income, ethnicity, age, race, education, employment, occupation, households, housing units, ownership, rentals, and travel time to work

(Canadian and UK demographic data is included in subscriptions for those coverage areas.  Categories for Canada and the UK are not the same as in the USA version.)

These general categories are often broken down by various levels which can be combined to create more meaningful groups. For example, an Map Business Online user could calculate the combined total of seniors by age bracket – calculating all the levels stored between ages 65 and 85 and up.  That’s a popular age group; although I can wait.

When building a demographic map an Map Business Online user has the option to view these demographic layers from different perspectives; perhaps as a precursor to a final map view. For instance, build a map to view population and income demographics by county across the whole nation, to get a feel for where concentrations of income or population exist.  You could save that map view for reference purposes or just delete it when you’re done with the project.

If you create a map object – a circle, a polygon or a rectangle – you can click the summary button to enable a quick demographic analysis of that area of interest.

Summary

Your demographic data summary offers access to demographic data layers and calculated demographic data layers. Simply choose your layers and move them into your analysis. Export your data for use outside of Map Business Online, or consider placing your quick analysis table on the map itself.

Retail Map analysis

When creating sales territories or areas of interest out of zip codes, counties, Census tracts or other administrative districts, your selected area appears color shaded on the map. In the Data Window view you can look up your territory by name. It will be listed in the data drop down right beneath the geographic layer you chose to build it upon.  Zip code territories and areas of interest are listed below the overall zip code layer.

Select your territory and view the associated data in the Data Window.  In the lower right hand corner click More Data to adjust the included data.  You’ll see two panels and Blue Arrows that allow you to move selected data layers in or out of your analysis. Your data analysis might be used for market analysis, business expansion, strategic planning, sales planning, or donor campaigns.

You could add a variety of data layers to your territory analysis view including:

  • More demographic data layers
  • Calculated columns of demographic layers – a Map & Data function that allows the Map Business Online user to combine multiple and related data layers – like age brackets and income levels
  • Your imported business data layers
  • Public data from Map Business Online archives – like the full USPS point and boundary zip code list

Once your demographic analysis is to your liking it is time to share your map with your key stake holders. Map Business Online provides multiple options for map sharing:

  • Static maps in PNG, Jpeg, or PDF format for email or PowerPoint sharing
  • Large format PDF for wall-map plotter printing
  • MapShare interactive web maps for non-subscribing, view only interactive map sessions. Each subscription gets 100 sessions per month for free. Viewers cannot edit these shared maps
  • Team shared collaborative map editing between full annual subscribers of map Business Online.

Because what good is map analysis if you don’t share it? Business maps are for communicating.

Look for updates to Map Business Online demographic data layers later this summer. Expect the latest Census updates and additional categories based on user requests.

Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com

Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com (800) 425-9035, (207) 939-6866

MapPoint users – please consider www.MapBusinessOnline.com as your MapPoint Replacement.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra, or at the Salesforce.com AppExchange.

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Business Mapping Software on the Rebound

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Geoffrey Ives

We’ve talked a lot about using Map Business Online as a MapPoint replacement, but we also get a lot of calls and emails from users who recently purchased a competitor’s mapping service but have decided they made the wrong choice.

Hey. It happens. I tried the Hannaford grocery’s pre-cooked BBQ ribs recently, because they pulled the Lloyd BBQ Company brand I was used to. I won’t do that again. Sometimes you try something and it just doesn’t work out.

Maptitude by Caliper is a great low-end GIS desktop software. But compared to Map Business Online, it is not a business mapping software. Is more expensive and it’s much more complicated then it should be for a general business user. A customer recently signed up for Map Business Online, abandoning a valid Maptitude license after their Maptitude mapping genius left the company. Not one person in the organization could figure out how to create and maintain territories. It was easier and cheaper to find a new solution.

Competitor Map

Complicated map? could be, but it’s easy to use.

To me, business mapping software as a software category sits right between basic navigation software, like MapQuest, and low-end GIS software. It has to meet certain criteria:

  1. It’s got to be dirt simple – Now dirt simple means different things to different people. We’re all somewhere on a continuum of technical capability. But it should be accessible by regular – non-GIS database enabled – business people. If you can use Microsoft Excel at a basic level, you should be able to use business mapping software. You should also be able to easily try it for free
  2. It should include a basic zoom-able map of the USA with zip codes, counties and states. You should not have to pay more for base map data
  3. You should be able to import a generous allowance of address data records. Beware of the daily limits and mysterious caps on processing through-put found in most cloud-based mapping services.
  4. Sharing view-only interactive web maps should be achievable at no or low-cost. Maps are for sharing and communicating. If it’s hard to share maps, keep looking.
  5. Cloud-based software is state-of-the-art. Cloud services do not require software installations. Map data and software updates happen while you’re asleep. I sold my horse and buggy in a yard sale, and gave my music CD’s away for free. Now I drive a Tesla and listen to music through Spotify.
  6. If you are replacing MapPoint, it should feel right to you in short order. No nagging doubts that this isn’t the right fit. Get a web demo, ask some questions. These aids should give you a basic sense of the tool’s replacement value for your organization.
  7. Technical assistance should be easily activated by chat or email. If you’re waiting more than six business hours or not getting responses, “Next!”

Changing your mind happens in business. After all, the one thing we can count on in business is change. So my only advice is to remember the great realization in When Harry Met Sally, “Because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

Map Business Online is the certified easy-to-use business mapping tool. Your preferred choice for sales territory mapping, expansion planning, market analysis, customer mapping, and having fun with business maps. You’ve found your source for heat maps, customer visualizations, drive time analysis, radius searches and zip code maps.

We’re here to help and we’d like you to start using Map Business Online as your business mapping software as soon as possible.

Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com

Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com (800) 425-9035, (207) 939-6866

MapPoint users – please consider www.MapBusinessOnline.com as your MapPoint Replacement.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra, or at the Salesforce.com AppExchange.

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Business Mapping as Database Management

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Geoffrey Ives

Business mapping software provides location-based map visualizations of your business which include a basic database of associated records that you can easily control. In other words, a business map lets you highlight or color shade a specific area of geography and then select from a variety of data sources, data related specifically to that area of interest.

Business map users or creators might decide to build a map based on a circular or a rectangular area. Or they could also decide to view a number of zip codes or Census tracts. Perhaps a county or two? Whichever area or shape they chose to view, business mapping software shades or colors in that area of interest in the map view, defining the area for business analysis purposes.

Once your area of interest is established the user can begin the process of appending data to that geographic object; adding data layers or data columns to the analysis. Often this appending process starts by the assignment of zip codes.

Map Business Online Map Business Online users establish a geographic base map layer for their area of interest – zip codes, counties or states. You can add Census tracts, city limits or MSA districts from the premium layer button.

With zip codes turned on and an area of interest defined, the application creates a color shaded area on the map and assigns the list of impacted zip codes to the data sheet view. Map Business Online assumes the users wants certain columns of data included in their zip code map analysis. All that data gets automatically added to the data view of your map analysis. Many of these auto assigned columns deal with overlapping zip codes and counties. The user can get rid of these in a few mouse clicks and replace the information with data more pertinent to your specific analysis.

Map Business Online Data Base Management

Your area-of-interest database can be adjusted and appended by clicking the More Data button in the lower right view of the data window. This opens up a panel with two distinct sections – left and right. You’ll notice two Blue Arrows located between the two panels. Those arrows move selected data from the right side to the left, or vice versa.

I usually start by removing data I don’t think I’ll use from the right to left. Then on the left side I click the Drop Down associated with the General category. Here you will also find Demographic data, any imported data layers of your business, and data you may have Calculated will be listed there.

A datasheet view in Map Business Online

A data sheet view in Map Business Online

If you click on some of the datasets listed under General, you’ll find access to all the associated data columns. Simply select a column and move it to the right. This will add that data column of data to your area-of-interest data view. When you’re done, hit the Set data columns button.

Also available in that left side data repository is Map Business Online demographic data. Simply choose Demographic Data and move data columns from the left to the right. And if you’ve applied calculated data columns to multiple Demographic Data layer options, that calculated sum will also be available for inclusion in your data.

In this way, Map Business Online is a database management tool. It’s not super fancy, nor is it super complicated. If you can import a location-based or address based dataset of information into your map view, you can append your data analysis with columns from that data. You’ll have a map based area of interest with all sorts of data possibilities:

  • Counties, zip codes, city limits, Census Tracts and MSA’s
  • Demographic data like income, population ethnicity, and many more categories
  • Calculated data – Compiled Census data layers – like populations across multiple year categories
  • Imported data – Sales, products, fund-raising totals – anything you have in columns

Once you’ve imported this data into your Map Business Online Data Window view you can conduct filtering queries on the data using the Data Window tool bar. You can export your data and any query results, out of the mapping application as a CSV file.

Map Business Online provides a great business map background for your business analysis, over which you can layer a variety of data layers. “And I would do all of this why?” You might ask. Why to answer key questions in your business like:

  • Where are we conducting our most profitable business and why?
  • Where are our best customers located?
  • Why does my competition have a store in that city?
  • Approximately how far would my wife and I have to relocate to avoid unannounced in-law drop-bys on Saturday mornings? (Hint – it’s further than you think.)

Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com

Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com (800) 425-9035, (207) 939-6866

MapPoint users – please consider www.MapBusinessOnline.com as your MapPoint Replacement.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra, or at the Salesforce.com AppExchange.

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How Business Maps Help Differentiate You

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Geoffrey Ives

Business mapping software can have an impact on your career. In blogs and articles I write about features, benefits, and applications for business mapping. But there’s an additional benefit to mapping software that’s more personal. Bringing business mapping tools to your business can help you stand out in the crowd.

We speak with many businesses everyday that are looking for solutions to common problems. These problems could include business expansion challenges, increasing sales in a competitive market, franchise territory management, customer service process improvements, field service response effectiveness, efficient and secure information sharing, sales territory management, and a host of other real and significant business challenges.

Tech Procurement

Business mapping can put companies on a path to problem resolution by improving location awareness, providing location-based business processes, exposing positive or negative trends in sales, or by simply offering a map visualization of business and demographic realities. Business mapping software helps to solve problems by providing answers to key questions.

Many of our customers, the actual people we speak with, have been handed the challenge of securing a business mapping tool and determining how it can help resolve their business challenges. By simply researching business mapping options these people often become the default business map administrators in their organization. Completing these tasks adds two key skills to their resumes – technology systems research and procurement, and business mapping administrator.

The procurement aspect is not to be undersold here. Technology sourcing projects are a real challenge for businesses today. Who usually handles technology purchases in your company – purchasing or IT? Work with your groups controlling these projects. Make their jobs easier. Learn something. Pay attention to service cost versus the application value for your organization. Pay attention to SaaS/cloud services and security concerns. Handled carefully and diplomatically you will enhance your reputation by helping the company enter the business mapping world.

Drive Location-Awareness

Business mapping software at any price are not procured for fun. (Although they are fun to use.) These location-based visualizations are used to solve serious and sometimes complex business problems. By sticking with a business mapping project, helping your organization get trained and by learning to apply map solutions to tough problems you are increasing your value to the organization. Seek to become the map go-to gal or guy in your organization. Turn the loss of MapPoint into your own personal gain.

Look for more ways to apply business mapping tools. Sure, maybe you solved that huge initial problem the boss was worried about, but there are more mountains to climb. You may find other departments struggling to solve issues that could stand some basic location awareness.  Perhaps your marketing or sales departments could use:

  • Customer visualizations based on an address list
  • Sales territory map creation or updates
  • Demographic perspectives on key market areas
  • A visualization of all of the [Pick a business type] businesses in your target markets
  • Shared map editing through Map Business Online Team Edition – collaborative editing for the enterprise

In many situations business maps are quick to make and free to share. Providing a fellow employee or department with a customer visualization map seems like a pretty good use of your time. Better than Facebooking or Candy Crush anyway.

What will your next map be?

What will your next map be?

Be the Go-to Map Geek

Being the administrator of a basic mapping tool or even an enterprise level mapping tool means the boss is going to seek you out. We all know this can be both good and bad. Much depends on who your boss is.

I speak with many users who have bosses with vision. Business maps often excite that vision and inspire broader use of a mapping tool. Remember to keep map clutter under control and not to try to solve all problems with one map. Edit your maps to reflect your particular business vernacular. Maps that are concise and focused communicate concepts better than crazy maps. Be sure to tell your crazy boss that.

Business maps provide information that informs decision making, quite possibly driving the company forward faster through location-awareness. The boss will like and remember that.

So now you’ve got some technology procurement background, you’re the go-to map geek, and you’ve helped the company make important business decisions. In some companies, basic business mapping can lead to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) work. GIS is required to solve complex, big data problems like you find in epidemiology, political science, government work, statistics, and large fleet management. You may want investigate applying Esri.com tools to your business or perhaps pursuing a GIS certification.

Wow. You’ve come a long way since you created your first MapQuest route. Maybe you should consider a third party run for office?  Oh wait. I forgot. You’re not the crazy one.

Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com

Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com (800) 425-9035, (207) 939-6866

MapPoint users – please consider www.MapBusinessOnline.com as your MapPoint Replacement.

Please read customer reviews or review us at Capterra, or at the Salesforce.com AppExchange.

 

 

 

 

 

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