BigData Interest Explosion!!

BIGdata Video

Because I frequent analytical groups, blogs and virtual cafe's, I have been inundated by the term “BIGdata”. And as the Greek poet Menander says: “Bad company corrupts good character.” my vision could be a bit distorted. I got so excited I even did two videos about it – my most watched. http://bit.ly/BIGdataJRM So when I decided to explore Google's new Search Trends I thought it would be fun to see the history of this term.

Chopping the scale off makes it look more impressive

This also gives you a nice view of how this new tool works. As you can see, BIGdata has gone from basically non-existent into the stratosphere! I was so excited to be part of this 'trending' (here's the trend on that). Well, as with most analysis, if it looks too spectacularly exciting, you might want to do some comparisons. I noticed that the scale was 0-100 and that seemed like a pretty low number... then I realized that this was a relative scale. So it can be millions and millions of searches – or not... hard to tell.

Chopping the scale off makes it look more impressive

There is an additional feature which allows you to compare a second, third or fourth (not sure the limit) search term. I thought that might give me some greater perspective on this exponential growth in BIGdata (of course it is BIG, look at how it is growing).

When we compare it with 'Database Marketing' we see that there has been a huge decline in what once was a trending phrase. I remember discovering that I could charge almost double if I talked about 'database' instead of the tired 'Direct Marketing'. Google doesn't offer trending before 2004 but this graph suggests that it may have peaked around that time. What the comparison graph shows is that even compared to a pretty 'niche' term like 'Database Marketing', BIGdata hasn't really gotten much use outside of our analytics cafe group.

As I mentioned in my video Data Science video, the first and most important character trait is curiosity... so of course I had to go deeper.

Even though most of my friends and readers will recognize the “Database Marketing” term, I decided to compare still a more general phrase to see what its scope might be.

You can see that the simple term, “Database” while declining, crushes the other two terms to such a large extent that both completely disappear. What this suggests to me is that many many more people are doing things with data and databases than are concerned about 'Database Marketing' and/or BIGdata. Which is a super great illustration of the problem.

We want to build data, work with data, pile up database but we really do not want to take much time letting marketing do much with it. Which is also why we find it far easier to make money with data when we do not work within the traditional database environment. And that 'out of the box' thinking is why we beat the best modelers in the world. So keep your attention on your work, your data and get some real data scientist to help you make sense of the back end.

Social Media Update (3)

I haven't written one of these since Sept 2012 - New Year is a good time to view the progress.

When I began in June I had 200 connections on linked-in, 3 on Twitter, none on Google+.  Lets see.  I now have 1,059 on Twitter, 689 on Linked-in and hmmm (I've never checked on G+) 13 are following me.  I've also started a series on youtube - my best video has 131 views - not exactly Lady Gaga but double the average video.

I've also revised my book, Spinning Straw into Gold adding about 35% more pages and even more pictures.  I learned how to convert it to Kindle, post and promote on Amazon.com and there have been over 300 copies downloaded.  It is the number one book on RFM on Amazon.com #2 Database Marketing on Kindle.  Even more interesting (to me) is that I have several posts on http://migmar.com which have over 7,500 views.  Then again, that hasn't generated that many calls.

While I feel like I have learned an immense amount.  It does not seem to have translated into any kind of return on investment.  I can see why so many industry leaders are still below the radar in social media.  For the moment, all of you, my faithful followers, can see my creative posts without cost or obligation.

Book Marketing & Selling Tips for Authors

Yes, I published this book 10 years ago.  How could a ten year old book in a highly technical and fast moving category have anything to say to today's BIGdata professionals.  Well, in the past 10 years, we created 4 new case studies and won 11 documented head-2-head tests against 8 of the worlds best modelers.  In one of the last, our names out performed them by 321%.  I doubt there is another modeling company in the world that has that kind of competitive success story.  If your company is struggling with your customer data, this is a MUST READ.

To promote the book, I have joined with Authors Marketing Club.  It is essentially an author's co-op where we download, review and promote each other's books.  First promotion launches 11/14/12...  I'll keep you posted - literally!

Book Marketing & Selling Tips for Authors

Making Money with BIGdata 2

We continue to explore the process of making money with data. What are the two main ways we can make money with our data? Improve the List and/or improve our Offer. It all boils down to that.


Paul Zikopoulos, IBM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B27SpLOOhWw. Watch both of his videos - big data is bigger than you ever imagined. For Hudson's Bay, we'd loaded 250 million transactions (not 250M). @JRMigs

Good Data in BigData?

How to Find the Good Data in Big Data

Guest Blog by Ray Schutz, TellAllMarketing

There’s one thing wrong with Big Data. A lot of is is “a little big like overhearing a conversation,” says John Miglautsch, chairman of Miglautsch Marketing Inc., in the second in a series of videos on data. .

 Ray Schultz contributes a summary of my second video in the series 'Making Money With Data'. 

Ray Schultz, journalist and author, has written so much about marketing that he is now a marketer himself. He has launched TellAllmarketing, an agency specializing in content marketing.

TellAllmarketing is devoted to the idea that relevant, well-done content attracts leads and moves them through the B2B purchase funnel. We produce white papers, case studies, email newsletters and other forms of content for clients like IBM Netezza, KBM Group, InfoGroup, NextMark and Reach Marketing.

Founder Ray Schultz has solid grounding in both marketing and journalism. As editor of DM News, he tracked the growth of direct marketing as it evolved from a business backwater into a global force embraced by Fortune 500 companies. From there, Ray moved to Direct, where he documented the online and CRM revolutions.

Spinning Straw Into Gold (overview)

Find out why so few turn their data
into money and also how to do it.

It IS  possible to turn data into money. I’ve seen millions of extra dollars generated on one mailing, catalog response rates of over 100% because of modeling. In the past 6 years, we have beaten 8 modeling firms in 11 massive tests... Gold can happen, but it generally does not happen. People think it is a systems problem and it is NOT a systems problem. It is a thinking problem, it is a brain problem.

Consider the Grimm's story of Rumpelstiltskin. A miller says his daughter can spin straw into gold (a big lie). The king sends for the daughter and says, “Here is a room filled with straw. Spin it into straw or you die in the morning.” 

The database marketing industry also has lies. Only by exposing the lies, can we spin straw into gold. 
more...  

Just posted a short version of my book Spinning Straw Into Gold finished the audio recordings today as well.  

Why am I promoting a book that is almost a decade old?  When I first wrote this, I knew that I was on to something.  Being largely self-taught in statistics and modeling, I kept being amazed that we not only beat mature mailers, but also seasoned modeling companies.  However, since we have continued to pile up wins (so great that we've been accused of 'cheating') I knew I needed to reiterate WHY our system WINS.  It is because we think about the process and have spent over 20 years molding and perfecting a system to achieve it.  Last week I opened our doors to a company that builds databases.  We spent a day showing them everything we could.  Why?  Because this isn't a system that can be easily copied, even if the technology were simple (it isn't) it could take years to prove that it was working as expected... then more years to run all the tests which ours has won.  In addition, it incorporates so much that we have learned from our world class clients - yes, we also include their variables in their systems.  There is a reason why it works and the time has come to share this amazing breakthrough.

Look over this article and see if it makes sense... and if it does, perhaps we should talk about how you handle your customer contact system.

I'm working with Author Marketing Club to promote my book on Kindle - click this picture to check it out.

Social Media Adventure Update

In June 2012, I began my social media adventure.  I had approx. 200 contacts on Linked-In and 3 followers on Twitter.  As of today, I have 262 followers on Twitter and 411 on Linked-In.  I have also met and reconnected with some terrific people.

I posted two video blogs - I think I'm going to like that the best.  I have re-energized my vision for direct marketing and I will be speaking ad ECMOD in London the last week of November.  

If we have not yet met, feel free to follow, connect, retweet or whatever.  Hopefully I will be speaking near you and we can grab a cup of coffee.  In the meantime, if you have a topic you'd like to discuss, comment and lets start a conversation.  As you can see (below) I'm starting to get how to make it easier for you to connect.

In the next few weeks, I'm hoping to convert my book, Spinning Straw Into Gold into both a Kindle version and an audio book.  I've built my first facebook app and will be attempting to create a viral system to get you lots of cool offers.  I'm not sure of the business benefit of facebook and google+ so I'm tip-toeing into those with my main focus going to Twitter and Linked-In.

@JRMigs twitter bio
my website
http://
my linked-in public page
linked-in business page