LessThanHumble.com

While developing one of our internal websites I decided to develop a system to track user browsing and input habits to enable us to further develop the website. This is really in a effort to improve usability, and not to mention our return on investment on advertising and bringing traffic to the website.

I will try include the base of the code later, but basically the system tracks each unique visitor (based upon IP address), initiates a session for the user, creates a log entry for every page view, and tracks data posted to each page(ie: the input from all forms). We can then generate statistics based upon these habits to determine how visitors are navigating the website and what they are using. Further more, we then use these statistics to determine the average/common habits of our users/visitors and then decide what we think is a positive/negative outcome of such habits.

So basically we track every page view, then for each user we determine whether or not they did a positive or negative action for us. An example of a positive action might be a product purchase, or an example of a negative action might be an account cancellation. We then take these statistics and determine what are the common habits for users who complete both positive actions (to improve the number of these) and those that complete negative actions in effort to discourage and such actions.

It is really a basic concept and I’m sure over the next few weeks we will modify things appropriately to improve the system. At that time I will try to make an effort to post it on here.

None the less, I found a great article containing a overview of the principle behind monitoring user activity that may be worth skimming:
http://www2006.org/programme/files/xhtml/17/xhtml/fp17-atterer.html

I should caution that you really need to consider such racking measures and notify your visitors through a privacy policy because their are definitely some legal considerations to worry about.

What do you guys think?

As of the 5th of this month, I am finally finished my work at my former employer, DakotaCom.Net. Sadly enough it took nearly three weeks for the effect, the relief, to kick in. I am happy to announce that this effect has finally kicked in and I am back to the prior motivation that I had before I started working for this company. Though, I am thankful that through this past year I have really come to realize that I’m may not necessarily be the best candidate to work for a company other than my own. This is primarily attributed to the fact that I feel I am an entrepreneur at heart and as such, already have way-too-much on my plate, and my own businesses to favor. I will say that I appreciated this recent job for the most part because I learned a lot, most importantly, the nit and grit of the technology world and running a successful business in such a cut-throat market.

In terms of exciting news, I am looking at getting a new vehicle of some sort. Fortunately DakotaCom.Net provided me with a company car that I was able to use for personal use, but now that I no longer work for them, I have to resort back to the old ride (1996 Buick Regal Baby!) which because of it’s 200,000+ miles on it, it is becoming less and less reliable. Money is not an issue nor is the need of financing. I am looking at either a 2005+ GMC Yukon, 2005+ Ford F150, or a new Honda Accord. Totally random, and non of them really compare to each other, I just need to decide what I’ll need for transportation and buy the vehicle that most closely matches that. Hopefully I can make a viable decision on it this week, until then I’m crippling around in the Buick, and riding my bicycle most places - how humbling.

On a brighter light, we’re finally ordering new PCs this week for SophMedia, which I’m really excited about. Basically we’re building 2 Pentium D 2.66Ghz machines with dual 20″ on each machine, plus all the rest of the good stuff. The best thing about it is that out the door we are only dropping $2,747 (thanks Newegg!) on them, including shipping. Hopefully this helps increase productivity and maybe even my excitement to put more effort into posting here.

Speaking of the businesses, we are in the process of reorganizing RuckusWorks (AZEntertained.com, Rated*.com, etc), and reorganizing the partnership arrangements. Although it is best not to release all of the details, I am happy to mention that the outcome will be really positive for the business. SophMedia on the other hand is doing great, we have been overwhelmed with local and internet-based projects, nearly too many, and are in the process of launching another project/website this week (I’ll announce that later this week) and finishing up the final touches on XStreamHost.com / APanel.

None the less, I have got to get cranking on my huge list of things to catch up on, until next time - Take it easy!

“My son is now an “entrepreneur.” That’s what you’re called when you don’t have a job.” - Ted Turner

You know, it is the time of year where we all reflect on the past 12 months of 2006, the achievements we’ve made, the downfalls we’ve hit, and of course the vision for next year.

Personally, I’m finishing up a short stint in the technology world (at my current 9-5 employer), getting ready to back to class this coming spring semester, moving forward with both businesses (SophMedia LLC and RuckusWorks), each businesses’ related projects, and continually striving to improve myself.

Project wise, we’re finally getting ready to launch AZEntertained.com (RuchusWorks LLC), near completion of the entire revamp of XStreamHost.com – which has been an continual task since we originally purchased it back in January of this year. We’re also expanding on our existing IT consulting branch, delving deeper into providing VoIP services, and much more. All with a new revived, focused approach that has already brought great success financially and client population wise just this past year.

Personally, I’m looking forward to another great year, finishing up the fundamental bases of RuckusWorks and moving forward with the mature SophMedia. I’m to the point in my entrepreneurial career that I’m – okay – enough to quit working for someone else, and starting improving my own financial and professional future through expanded business dealings, completed projects and new relationships (both personal and professional).

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and a great New Year. Remember, you only live once, so make everyday enjoyable…

Until January, I am out, take it easy…

It is indeed a funny story - I was born in this state, moved around the country, and somehow end up right back here. I love Arizona, the diversity, the people, the weather, and most of all the vast opprotunity that the state has to offer in the professional sector. We have a hugely booming real estate market (as much as I hate it), large amounts of Fortune 1000 companies, including high profile tech companies like Intel. We have a pretty large entertainment sector - thanks in part to the weather, and most of all, we’ve got a vastly diverse landscape, and the best sunsets in the United States.

Arizona is hugely diverse, in the fact that there’s not only a huge cultural diversity here because of the multitude of ethnic backgrounds, there’s a huge diversity of economic classes likewise, and not in the sense of rich/poor, but a whole span in between. 

The People
We also have some of the most genuine and friendly people around - why’s that? Because everyone is happy. There’s a reason celebrities stake claim to the stay - and it’s not just because of Arizona’s Wild West Heritage.

The Weather
I don’t think there is any other place quiet like Arizona in the sense of the weather. Take a city like Tucson for example, you can literally drive to the mountains, play in the snow (during the wintertime), drive home, all in less than two hours, and be back enjoying the 85F weather and swimming in the pool. 
There’s also not many other places where you can be in what part of a small town (take Sierra Vista - 45,000 people) where it is raining, hailing, and causing a ruckus, drive 3/4s of a mile and be in the midst of the sunshine - sheer craziness.

The Opportunity
It’s funny, I’ve always viewed California (more so So-Cal) as the land of opportunity on the west side of the United States, but over time, I’ve learned that Arizona, is another area dense with opportunity. I don’t mean just in the entertainment world (though California has definitely beat Arizona and most other places at this), but in the professional world. Some of the largest corporations in America have taken roots in Arizona. 
And for that, I’m proud to say, I rep AZ.

Well, first off, it has been a while since I’ve posted an article. I’ve been busy completing a three-month long project that has unfortunately been extended several times. Initially I started it in April and was planning on rebuilding the web hosting platform that I support my customers with. Thankfully I’m finally getting towards the end. Of course though, the last 5% is the most painful portion.

But none the less, I wanted to drop a post regarding the heated ‘Overselling’ delimma. For starters, I am a comfortable fan of overselling my services to my customers (to an extent) and I don’t find any company who follows this same ideal, within reason, at fault - even if I’m their customer.

Why are people so afraid of it?

I’m not really sure why soap box’n people are so afraid of it, but this is especially noticed around the web hosting industry. A market that has been trashed by price wars, yet continually you hear people on their soap box’s complaining about company X or company Y who is clearly overselling their services. Now I must admit, the occurence of overselling in web hosting does continually pose a problem because many of these companies, aren’t companies. They are simply websites setup in haste to sell web hosting services by people who do not know the first thing about providing services to customers let alone maintaining and supporting those services. But there are plenty of honest companies - my self included - who oversell our services to a reasonable extent. Why? Why not let your customers take the cost benefit of a the fact that 90% of customers will never use anywhere near 50% of their alloted services. 

When is too much - too much?

As my example, the web hosting industry is a great example of where people are overselling way too far. It is obvious that Joe Blow’s Hosting cannot support nor facilitate 300 15Gb (all paying $1.95/mo - what a joke) web hosting accounts on a single server (with say 60Gbs of storage), nor can a “Dedicated Server” company provide a customer with 2000Gbs of bandwidth on a cap’d 5Mb connection (for those of you who are not aware that 5Mb x 320Gbs = 1600Gbs). All of which occurs all so frequently. However a reasonable web hosting company could easily support 200 200Mb web hosting accounts on a 60Gb drive (please note these figures aren’t exactly literal).

Who else oversells?

Besides the web hosting industry, numerous other markets are covered with legitimate companies overselling their services. A perfect example is cellular providers, I do not need literal figures to show that if every customer used their 1500 monthly minutes (or whatever they are allowed) it would be obvious that the cellular provider would not be able to support it. These companies bank on the fact that they know their customers aren’t going to use anywhere near 100% of their services. But if course if they do, there’s a huge chance that the customer will have overages to which the provider will make up for the use.