Without data, there is no business. No economies, no governments, no states. Nothing. You may not get this… but you will.

Dexter Nelson

Let me begin by stating the obvious. The world runs on data. I know the topic sounds boring… Like, mind dragging, snooze-fest, “let me out of this meeting” boring.

But it isn’t!

In fact, when you understand what you can do with it, you’ll understand why I’m so excited, and why you will be too.

Hey. My name is Dexter Nelson. I am an entrepreneur and small business owner; and like most of my ilk, I work from home, (for the last 8 years), and I wear many hats.

I am trade school educated, a Microsoft Certified Professional, and my background includes engineering and programming (20 years), data analysis, (since 2011 – a natural progression of engineering), and I’ve been a student of sales, marketing, and business for almost a decade.

Throw in the fact that I’m a musician and classical composer, (30 years, by passion), and I play video games, you can say that I am the quintessential geek, (not a nerd. I get paid for what I do haha).

Over the past 8 years, I’ve worked for and consulted for businesses in several markets, including real estate and commercial real estate, finance and ecommerce, healthcare, waste disposal, fashion, music and entertainment, cannabis and CBD, the auto industry, restaurants, art, and even healthcare.

Do you know what they all have in common? Data. They all needed data.

Hear me out…

I said, “the whole world runs on data,” but do you actually understand what that means? A lot of people think they do, but they really don’t.

I mean, most people understand the importance of it, but they don’t really “get it,” because if they did, it would blow their minds!

Sure, we have the cute little phrases like, “knowledge is power“, or “in the know“, and all of the other niceties that people say, but what does all of that really mean?

We even call this day the Information Era, and the Internet is still referred to as the Information superhighway.

It’s just kind of a thing to say, isn’t it?

But here’s the truth, (and I really want you to grasp at just how big and important data is).

Data is so powerful, tat it become illegal if you go high enough – just ask anyone who’s ever had to deal with things like insider trading or doctor-patient confidentiality.

Data is so big that corporations spend hundreds of millions of dollars to secure it, and it can even be classified – for your eyes only – except it’s their eyes and not yours.

And you better believe that trying to access it can get you locked up.

Political campaigns run on data – and that means data is directly linked to power, and who gets it, (or keeps it).

Data is used to make sure that the ads you see on your favorite social network lines up with your interests.

Data is used to make decisions on how much money the government spends and where.

Data controls the stock markets. Data controls the military. Data controls the economy. Data controls governments and entire countries.

Data is at the heart of every major decision that requires accuracy or truth everywhere; from the weather man on television, to what products are available on your grocery store shelves.

Are you starting to see the picture yet? I told you that would get it.

Information, knowledge, demographics, analytics, trends, statistics, census, polling – there are 100 different names for the same thing – data, and the application of it controls everything.

To quote a game I used to play, (Skyrim):

“… Dangerous knowledge is still knowledge and therefore useful. Usually turns out to be the most useful, in my experience.“

Neloth

Full disclosure? I still play Skyrim from time to time. (Don’t judge me!). lol

That being said, everything runs on data. We couldn’t survive without out.

Economies need it. Governments need it. Charities need it.

Your business needs it – but more than that, you need to apply it in a way that gets you results!

That’s why I do what I do. That’s why I started this blog.

I am going to show you the power of data – along with some really cool ways you can apply it to your businesses and your projects so you can get results.

Some of it will get a little bit “techie” but I promise to make it as interesting as possible for you – and useful.

After all, data is no good without any way to apply it. All of this aside…

This Is What I Do.

Back in 2011, a couple years after the big economic crash, I was still recovering myself, however I started receiving calls from business owners who were pretty much stumped with the markets.

If you remember, it was a confusing time for everyone and people were still trying to find out how to move forward, but one thing was clear – that nothing was clear, and a lot of things would need to be different.

Sound familiar?

When my phone started ringing, I responded with data. People needed stone cold, hard data in which to base decisions that affected the lives of not just themselves and their families, but their employees and their families, as well as their customers.

And they didn’t just need data; they needed to know what was happening right now, because things were happening so fast.

So, I created a process for data mining which allowed me to pull data from hundreds of sources all across the Internet. I merged data from more sources than I could actually count, and I wrote algorithms to sort through that data.

I called that process Live Minder, and it was sort of an inside joke, that when people said to, “mind your business,” I replied, “mind your data too“.

Soon, those who knew the joke started saying, “don’t just mind your business. Mind your data,” and that’s how the slogan was born.

That little project of mine helped to impact a lot of businesses, and it is something I was very proud of, but it was only there for a time.

When things got back to normal, I went back to doing what I was doing before – chasing the laptop lifestyle.

Since then, I’ve gone on to do other things. I’ve become an affiliate marketer, I re-launched my music company, and I still do consulting for a list of clients.

This includes programming, online marketing, and yes – research, (I told you, everyone needs it), and once again, we are at a time when people know they have to move forward, but they don’t quite know how.

My phone is starting to ring again, and this time I have a mission.

I have restarted The Live Minder Project, and yes, the slogan is still the same, but this time it’s different.

It won’t be here just for a time, then disappear when things get back to normal – or as normal as we can expect post-pandemic.

Live Minder is here to stay this time, and I’m here to serve you.

I am already in the process of transitioning all of my clients that receive marketing to Live Minder clients, and the project will remain under the umbrella of my IT company, (TechDex Development & Solutions).

And at this time, I am inviting you to take a closer look at what Live Minder is, and what it can do for you – starting with the three most important things businesses need in order to succeed.

Hint: They are heavily dependent on having good data.

Welcome to Live Minder, and thanks for hanging out.

See you in my next post.