New York SBDC Research Network

Excerpt from an article by Krista Garcia To read more, visit  eMarketer "Email marketing is one of the most evergreen retail tactics. It's also one of the most targeted forms of messaging since recipients opt-in and often provide solicited information or preferences. Despite these factors, personalization can still be hit or miss. An April 2018 Evergage and Researchscape International study found email content was by far the channel that more US marketers personalized, cited by 71% of respondents. Personalizing home pages (45%) and landing pages (37%) were a distant second and third. When asked how email was personalized, 76% of respondents said they use a first name in the message or subject line. Just over half recommend products based on audience segment, while one-quarter suggest products on an individual basis."

Excerpt from an article by Ayaz Nanji To read more, visit  MarketingProfs "Marketers are using original research primarily to create blog posts, infographics, and PDFs, according to a recent report from Mantis Research and BuzzSumo. The report was based on data from a survey conducted in January and February 2018 among 698 marketers from around the world (53% work for B2B firms, 16% for B2C firms, 26% for hybrid B2B-B2C firms, and 5% for governments/nonprofits). Respondents were surveyed on how their firms are using original research, which was defined as research published to gain attention from external audiences (benchmarks, salary guides, etc.), not research conducted to meet internal needs (marketing plans, competitive analyses, etc.)."

From MarketingProfs Email subject lines that express gratitude tend to outperform email subject lines that do not, according to recent research from Cheetah Digital. The report was based on 2017 data from email campaigns sent by Cheetah Digital clients in a wide range of verticals. The researchers found email subject lines that included terms such as "with heartfelt thanks" and "thank you!" had average unique open and unique click rates that were 69% and 38% higher, respectively, than subject lines which did not express gratitude.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns (CBP) program has released its 2016 ZIP Code statistics. This is an addition to CBP's recent release of U.S., state, metropolitan area, county, and congressional district statistics. The ZIP Code data cover more than 7.7 million U.S business establishments. Employment and payroll data are available for all U.S. ZIP Codes with a business establishment. Data for the number of establishments by employment size are available for nearly 1,200 industries. CBP's ZIP Code statistics are obtained from Census Bureau reports and administrative records from other federal agencies. CBP defines employment as all full- and part-time employees who were on the payroll during the pay period that includes March 12. Statistics are presented in comma separated value (CSV) files for download and manipulation on the CBP website . CBP data can be accessed using multiple tools available via the Census Bureau website, including American FactFinder ...

The 37th edition of the New York State Statistical Yearbook for 2013, published by The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government of the University of Albany, is now available in print and online. Similar to the Statistical Abstract of the United States, this Yearbook is organized into chapters focusing on specific topics or governmental functions. Where possible, the tables provide data for each of the state’s sixty-two counties, including the five boroughs of New York City. Several interesting statistics are captured in this edition with particular relevance to the small business landscape in New York State:  New York State ranks second in New Economy scores for High Wage Traded Services. Also in the New Economy category, New York is ranked twelve for Foreign Direct Investment and sixteenth for Job Churning. (To view the full data, navigate to Table B-5 ) Direct expenditures by New York State and local governments totaled $15,173 per capita, 51 percent above the nat...

The July 2013 release of BDS data contains data for 1976–2011 and includes tables by establishment characteristics in addition to tables by firm characteristics. •Firm Characteristics Data Tables Describes job flow and entry/exit patterns for establishments in the U.S. classified according to the size and age of the firm with which they are associated. •Establishment Characteristics Data Tables Describes job flow and entry/exit patterns for establishments in the U.S. classified according to the size and age of the establishments themselves.

The New York State Statistical Yearbook provides more than 700 pages of data, tables, graphs and maps on the state's people, economy and government, as well as selected comparisons with other states. Who needs this information? Members of the news media, government officials, citizens and others. The data enhance understanding of the economic and social environment in which state government operates. Such improved understanding is increasingly important as tough decisions must be made in a challenging fiscal climate. Originated 35 years ago as a joint project of the Rockefeller Institute and the state Division of the Budget, the Statistical Yearbook is now available both in print and online, where data appear in both Excel spreadsheet and PDF format. The Institute is exploring options for placing additional relevant data about New York State government online.

The Statistical Abstract of the United States , published since 1878, is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Use the Abstract as a convenient volume for statistical reference, and as a guide to sources of more information both in print and on the Web. Sources of data include the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and many other Federal agencies and private organizations.

It has been written that the Census Bureau has no data on same-sex couples; this is incorrect. Go to Families and Living Arrangements and scroll near the bottom. Not only will one find tables, one will discover a couple working papers that describe the political and statistical challenges about gathering such information. Gay marriage is a particularly complicated statistical issue. Also, on American Factfinder, look for Table B11009. UNMARRIED-PARTNER HOUSEHOLDS BY SEX OF PARTNER in the American Community Survey. There's a UCLA professor named Gary Gates , who has put together some statistics based on 2000 Census data and other sources, including the Gay and Lesbian Atlas.

City-Data.com is a useful website that has collected and analyzed data from numerous sources to create as complete and interesting profiles of all U.S. cities as possible. The website has over 74,000 city photos not found anywhere else, graphs of latest real estate prices and sales trends, recent home sales, home value estimator, hundreds of thousands of maps, satellite photos, stats about residents (race, income, ancestries, education, employment...), geographical data, state profiles, crime data, registered sex offenders, cost of living, housing, religions, businesses, local news links based on their exclusive technology, birthplaces of famous people, political contributions, city government finances and employment, weather, tornadoes, earthquakes, hospitals, schools, libraries, houses, airports, radio and TV stations, zip codes, area codes, air pollution, latest unemployment data, time zones, water systems and their health and monitoring violations, comparisons to averages, local ...

When I am assisting a business with start-up information, I find that industry statistics are particularly helpful. A wonderful source for industry statistics is the Economic Census. A useful information tool available from the Economic Census are Industry Snapshots . 2007 data is available for the majority of 6-digit NAICS codes and snapshots can be obtained for 3, 4, and 5-digit codes as well. Each snapshot provides comparisons between the current census and the previous one. Maps of the United States divided by state are provided that show various industry statistics, including sales per capita, number of establishments, payroll per employee, etc. There is an option titled "Compare YOUR Business" that compares a single business to national averages. And a "Did You Know" feature provides interesting factoids on the Industry. All in all, this is a useful AND interesting tool from the U.S. Census.

It's been go-go-go here at the Research Network since the beginning of October. As a result, I've not had much chance to look at the usage statistics since then (nor has there been much in the way of blog posts lately, either . . . sorry about that). However, with the dawn of the new year, things have calmed down just enough for me to take a peek. Whoa. We've been running this library since October 1991. Among other things, I've a spreadsheet that breaks down requests from you for every month since then. From what I'm seeing, we just finished the busiest December in our history. And the busiest November. And the busiest October. I appreciate your ongoing trust in asking for our help with your clients. Discovering this is just the motivation I need during the cold, cold doldrums of early January. (And the average turnaround for each request has been just under 7 calendar days, a pace that also helps keep us warm up here.) (And sorry, again, for the lack of posts. Ha...

comScore describes itself as "a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence". I'm fond of their "press releases" page, as it provides links to brief articles featuring measurements of users of the Internet from countries around the globe. In the past, I came to rely on sites like this, only to see them stop publication of material without any warning. I'll keep my eye on this one, as it seems pretty hip. Pass it on to your e-clients, too.

Noted by our colleagues at the Hill Library : Where can you find data on how many US businesses open and close each year and the impact this has on the economy? Where can you track firm age, firm size, and firm performance over time at state and national levels? The Census Bureau recently launched Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) to track the changing landscape of entrepreneurial activity in the United States. BDS tracks business activity, annual changes in employment, and growing and shrinking businesses. It includes unique information on firm age and firm size and tracks firms over time. BDS currently includes data for 1976-2005. So use Business Dynamics Statistics today to access data for your industry or region.

I was having a discussion with a an SBDC colleague about the term "microenterprise". I found some stats, then I came across this report Do Business Definition Decisions Distort Small Business Research Results? According to SBA: This working paper has two purposes. It presents special tabulations from the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners (SBO) to offer the public detailed information on businesses with and without employees and their owners (including owner age, home-based status, franchises and financing). Second, the authors consider the characteristics of nonemployer and employer businesses. Their examination shows that research results based on data on nonemployers are not necessarily applicable to employers and vice versa. A copy of the report is located here and the research summary can be found here . Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Brian Headd or Radwan Saade at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov.

The Rockefeller Institute of Government has published the 32nd edition of its popular New York State Statistical Yearbook, providing updated information on a vast array of state data and state agency contacts for news media, citizens, government officials, and others. The 714-page Yearbook contains information ranging from population and health statistics to information on education in the state. Information is freely available online as a series of Excel pages here . For more information or to obtain a copy, click here . Read the news release .

I could run numbers all day long. Lately, I have been running numbers all day long. But creating statistics without actually employing them is like taking empty breaths. At the beginning of each month, I calculate such things as the average turnaround time; the number of requests asked; the number that are answered, and by whom; and break down the requests by advisor & by center. It's a part of the management function of the library, and something that my inner accounting-major actually enjoys. But I've never shared this information with any of you in the field. This blog isn't the place (I'd rather not broadcast it openly for the world). If you're interested in knowing how often you're using us, or how often your center in comparison with others, or any other general program data, then drop me an email. I'll put together a package for you. (Keep in mind that my data is available only for the fiscal year starting October 1st.) *** Earlier in the w...

Here's a new tool to help businesses see how they do in comparison to the rest of their industry. Entrepreneur.com and a research organization, CentrisPoint , have teamed up to create the Business Performance Dashboard . The Dashboard provides business performance data by industry, and covers quite a few. The data describes all businesses in that industry, as well as top performing companies (the top ten percent), including stats on average revenue, revenue per employee and years in business. Thanks to the J.J. Hill Library's " Business Web Site of the Week " for pointing out this resource.

The World Trade Organization has recently published " International Trade Statistics 2007 " on its website. For SBDC clients engaged in importing and/or exporting , Section II ("Merchandise trade by product") and Section III ("Trade in Commercial Services by Category") would seem to be the most useful. Keep it handy.