How to get on the machine learning treadmill.

There is a 30 to 40 percent chance that you’re fat.

How do I know that? Most readers of this newsletter are in North America and based on the available data, more people are getting fat than are getting slim -- all the time.

Now that you feel bloated, you might ask what your weight has to do with Machine Learning..

Everything!

You have the data. Set a goal. Assemble the team of experts and with steady progress you'll achieve the perfect beach body.

But let’s take this analogy from achieving the objective of a slimmer, trimmer body to creating high-performing companies. That is, one which takes full advantage of what it knows.

In the market where everything becomes quickly commodified, your data is your unfair advantage. Making decisions become easier. 

For instance, imagine what you could do if you knew that out of all the leads in your database, 40 percent were prime targets for the weight loss miracle product you make.

How would you know? Have the machine learn from the past data and identify the potential new customers. Now you can send them an offer they can't refuse.

Rather than wasting your marketing effort on every single lead, talk to people who are most likely to buy. You'll be surprised how much you save on marketing campaigns. Now you can deploy that money to other growth activities at your company.

I know, I am over simplifying things -- like how easy it seems to lose weight with all of the miracle pills they advertise on late night TV. Just as there is no miracle pill for that, there is no instant way to make machine learning work for you.

But you know that with clear objectives, focus and the right team, you can have a lean, mean, machine learning…company.