Data, data everywhere! It’s mind-blowing how much information we now handle in just one day, surpassing what people used to consume in their entire lifetimes. The digital revolution has unlocked a treasure trove of insights about our business, from online leads to call centers, team management, and productivity. We can gather mind-boggling levels of data if we roll up our sleeves and get into it. But the question is, just because we can measure it all, should we? And even if we should, is it the right approach to grow our business? These are the dilemmas inundating our inboxes, vying for our precious time as we strive to work both on and in our business.

Let’s take a brief trip down memory lane to the early days of the World Wide Web. Back then, hit trackers were all the rage. We humorously dubbed them “how idiots track success” because they revealed nothing about how to manage a business effectively.

In the late ’90s, I experimented on the WWW with hit counters. I waited for web server log analyzers to churn out reports that could shed some light on our website activity. Those early reports were basic, catering mostly to developers. But marketers came along, demanding more information. In 2001, I wrote an ebook with Jim Novo called “The Marketers Common Sense Guide to eMetrics.” We introduced the term “bounce rate,” now widely used in tools like Google Analytics…

Fast-forward to the present, and our digital tools are pouring out more data than we can comfortably handle. My brother Jeffrey an​​d I have dedicated our careers to helping business owners and marketers make sense of this data overload. Tools like Google Analytics, Google Adwords, and Facebook Business Suite are essential for daily operations. But there’s a catch. The majority of businesses, big and small, lack the analytical prowess to turn this data into actionable insights to work on their business strategically.

Since Michael Gerber’s EMyth in 1986, business owners have sought guidance and tools to focus on their business’s growth. The difficulty is telling apart services and tools that give business data from those that only help with daily tasks.

Are you like the HVAC, plumbing, garage door and landscaping businesses, using great software, like ServiceTitan, who are struggling to have their data simply presented so they can make better decisions? Which services and tools allow you to work ON your business? Please send me a quick message and I’ll share them in a future post to help your growth-minded colleagues out.

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