Google Analytics dotnet api working!

It’s been some months already that google anounced it’s api for google analytics.

As I was interested in using this API in dotnet I was disappointed to see that there was no such library yet.

There are some examples on the internet building up the calls yourself, but that’s to error sensitive for someone who is not a professional programmer. To start with google has 3 different kinds of logins etc.

So I was happy to find a thread on google about a dotnet api for analytics, and found that google had adopted the source code but had not put it in the build yet. In that thread is a link to the source (release 933). In the trunk directory is a dll for the analitics (cs/lib/release)

So how do you make this work?
Install the google data API and download the Analytics dll 
Download the examples from the samples/analytics directory.

Start your visual studio, create a new application, and then register all the dll’s you need (see the import in the .cs file) and copy the code from the example.

Then you can call the analytics in dotnet!

And a tip: imagine combining the analytics with the graphics from fusion charts……

 

The next generation: Websitebuilders 2.0

My first program I wrote using hypertext technology was in 1993, the first time I created an html page was in 1995. It were times of discovery and very ugly interfaces, using black backgrounds and green letters, like the 1970 unix terminals.  In that time anybody who new html and some cgi programming had a job as a designer , programmer and webmaster at the same time.

 Then there was this time of upgrading browsers, and plugins, better java, flash, pdf’s etc. and there was always new things to learn. And companies learned how to create better websites with better technologies that people actually visited. Words like findability and usability appeared.

But there still was no real idea of what would make a website successfull.

Nowadays you can see the buzz about findability, availability, accessability, trust, usability, and relevance when talking about successfull websites. The softer the goal (like usability and relevance) the harder it gets for them.

What is obvious at this moment  is that most websitebuilders have mastered the technology, and will continue to do that, but that the gap towards the softer skills is difficult to master, and getting the website aligned to the business instead of the other way round really is a challenge.

Only few can really say they help add significant value to their clients business in building the website. Full service internet companies that help their clients to reach success with their website afterwards are really scarce at the moment. Yet I believe the websitebuilder company 2.0 should be just that, full service, from strategy till website management, supporting the client all the way to success.

That the 2.0 company will have a different business model is obvious, it will collect on the success of ot’s client, not on the work done. 

A Win-win situation!

 

Maslow ’s piramid of needs adapted for businesses

While I was writing for my website, I got on the topic of defining needs for potential customers. Then maslow’s piramid with a hierarchy of human needs is an obvious choice. After some reseach i found out that the complete piramid does not have 5 but eight levels to my surprise (and ignorance). This  piramid seems to be a great tool for b2c.

But then I wondered about the b2b. I had never heard of a piramid of needs for businesses. I also cannot find one on the internet. But yet it seems so logical to create one, as organizations also can be seen as organisms, they are always changing.

So here goes my shot at creating a businessneeds piramid.
For businesses, maslow did not consider a needs piramid, but i believe it to be similar:

1. Biological : the need for ‘continuity’
   Internal needs; recources, competences
   External needs:  Money
   Products & services: office supplies, raw materials , Hr services , Financial services
2. Safety: the need for order and trust, ,to avoid risks
   Internal needs: Processes, protocols, procedures,
   External needs: Laws, Contracts
   Products: MRp, ERM, lawyer, organzation process configuration and development, etc
3. Belongingness: Need for synergy
   Internal need: productive culture, teambuilding
   External: Clients, partner companies.
   Products: CRM, Collaborative tools, Enterprise search, Intranets, Portals
4. Esteem: Need for recognition in the market
   Internal need: proud of product, organization, leadership, a clear vision
   Internal need: Trust in brand and product.
   Products:marketing agency, internal marketing
5. fun: need to have fun in the business
   Internal need: Distraction, diverse activities
   External need: positive feeling with brand
   Products: team building activities, coffee machine, relax/fitness rooms etc
6. Cognitive:The need to learn and understand the world around us
   Internal need: measuring and reporting,
   External need: data collection, trend watching,
   Products: Business intelligence, competitive intelligence, marketing surveys etc
7. Aestetics: the need for beauty.
   Internal need: design
   External need: design, beauty
   Products: product consultancy, design agency etc.
8. Self-Actualization: need for growth in new areas
   Internal need:Innovation
   External need:
   Products: knowledgemanagement, training,
9. Transcendence needs: Need to help society:
   Internal need:social responsibility, helping others
   External need: creation and support social responsibility
   Products: social active organizations

I’ve published this list also on my site , www.webscorecard.nl as part of the strategical process, as i think it may contribute in understanding the business-clients a bit better.

Tell me what you think!

 

Internet scorecard

My blog and website is called the webscorecard, but you also see the term internet scorecard on the web. As with so many wordgames, it comes down to having a customer perspective or not.

In this case the term internet scorecard is a bit off target, I think. It’s the difference of the technology – internet – and the use of the internet through browsers.  I think technology is not that important, it’s the how that’s important.

Both terms reference to the balannced scorecard, but I suspect that internet scorecards are not about the customer.

Anyway, you can check out my website on www.webscorecard.nl

 

Validating your idea

While on hollyday, i’ve been reading a book called the marketing guru’s by chris murray. It’s a summary of many important books in marketing.

One of these summaries is about the popcorn report by Faith Popcorn, which is a report about trends that are (going to) happen in the consumer world. I found this very interesting, because a new product and service should in most cases connect to a main trend to stand a chance in the marketplace. This could be a powerfull tool for validation of ideas.

This week i applied the trends to a new website and drew some conclusions on how to improve on it by adhering to more trends. A talk with the projectmanager showed that the second release will have most of the funtionalities i saw, just by using these trends!

On her businesses website she says the trends are not rocketscience. “The decisive force in every successful marketing effort, today and in the future, is cultural relevance”. Translating the trends into producs and services and communication is the real trick.

But to be able to do that you should know where the product or service hooks up with that culture, and there the trends are very usefull.

Just by checking what trends apply to your service, and which almost, you can adapt your idea to include more trends, which will make your potential for success bigger. There still has to be an underlying customer value proposition though.

As an example,some energy-companies use these trends blatantly: one sells “green energy” (save our society trend), the other one calls on our nationialistic sense and beliefs (clanning). Both started selling the same product basically. The green energy company though, has altered the product, separating it from the other, using a trend.