MapBusinessOnline newsletter – January 2018

MBO News - RealDatasets for Market Analysis

In February of 2018 MapBusinessOnline and RealDatasets will be launching a partnership offering RealDatasets geodata layers for use within MapBusinessOnline for market analysis. These low-cost NAICS industry sector datasets are designed to provide MBO users with a method for quickly and affordably identifying market potential by ZIP code, county or other map layered jurisdictions.

Industry Sector Database examples will include:

Pharmaceutical Mfg
Surgical & Medical instrument Mfg
New car Dealers
Tire Dealers
Furniture Stores
And more!

Next month the newsletter will be dedicated to this new business data offering for Map Business Online users. We'll also hold a webinar to showcase how the data can be used by MBO users to identify potential markets.

MBO Guest Blog on TechnologyAdvice.com

This week MBO wrote a guest blog post for Technology Advice. Find out the 5 Ways Business Mapping Can Improve Sales. Read More.

MBO Discussion - Saving Map Images

Maps are for sharing. And although MBO does allow sharing of interactive web maps, often we just need to create a static map image for sharing. There are four approaches to saving map images:

The Save Image File button (four buttons in from the right) lets the user save a map as a .JPEG or a .PNG file. PNG files are best for Power Point or documents. Jpeg files are smaller in size and sometimes required. This button yields a wysiwyg image without the Data Window, master toolbar, or Manage Map & Data boxes. It's all map.
Use the Print button to save your map as a PDF file. The legend is always placed in the lower left. Great for large format printing to a plotter and people requiring detailed graphics. This approach requires experimentation to get your map at the detail level you desire, so plan to spend some time trying various approaches and deleting discarded PDF files. Experiment with zoom levels for your preferred map view and the two methods presented for PDF saving.
Snipping tool (PC) or clipping tool (Mac) lets you grab quick screen views. Great if you require the data view as well. Or if you want a thinner strip of the map.
Print Screen - kind of old school but comes in handy at times. This will take a picture of everything on your screen and lets you paste it. Multiple screens are captured, so there's that to keep in mind.

MBO - Let Us Build Your Business Map

While we focus our development team on making MapBusinessOnline the easiest and most advanced business mapping tool available, we also recognize that some companies with complex sales territories, haven't got the staff to learn, create and maintain their business maps. More and more enterprises have turned their map work over to MBO Business Map for Hire to build territories or map analysis supporting sales, marketing or strategic planning.

Let us review your business map requirement and we'll estimate the project scope which could include supplemental data, test cases, and map generation. Lead times and costs are reasonable. Join the OEM, manufacturing, retail, and sales organizations that trust their map requirements to MBO Business Map for Hire. References are available upon request under a mutual NDA.

MBO Tips & Tricks - Filtering By State

MBO users build maps based on a variety of layers - ZIP code, county, Census tract. But regardless of what layer you've based your business map on sometimes you want to filter that by state and fast. MBO has a State Filter button located in Manage Map & Data. The manage Map & Data blue box window has a top-level toolbar with a View drop down. The button on the right is the State filter. Open that button and select the state or group of states you'd like to highlight. The map will focus on just those states. Background layers are not impacted by this filter.

Lightning Video - Building Your First Map

For new MBO users still considering your first map here's a blog from last week with a video suggesting an approach. Read More. Here's the Lightning Video.

MBO Feature of the Month - Territory Isolation

In MBO the Territories you create are stored as a separate map layer. Occasionally the user desires to view one Territory at a time on the map. Here's the process. Make sure the territory layer is selected in Map & Data. Open the Data Window and select the Territory Layer. In the Data Window Toolbar type into the Blank White Space a unique segment or the entire name of your territory. click the Binocular icon. Your target territory should be the only one showing in the Data Window list now. Just above that list click Filter Data on the Map. Voila! 'Thar she be.' All by her lonesome on the map. Remember to uncheck the filter on map box when you are done.

Share Your Map Story

As always we are interested in ways to make MapBusinessOnline the best mapping software possible. Send us your business mapping software application examples. There are many map users who would like to learn about your application of business mapping.

Referrals

Referrals to friends, relatives or business associates are the highest compliments we receive from our clients. We appreciate your referrals. Please check out our Refer and Get a Gift program.