I did think that the art business was all about making great pictures and for the most part, it still is. Unfortunately, it's 2015 and it has to operate like a business today's economy. Enter Google analytics.
Running a business today demands a strong web presents and the knowledge of Google analytics in order to make the necessary corrections to stay ahead in the industry. Terms such as conversions, acquisitions, and cohort analysis have become common place as the daily routine revolves around pie charts and average session numbers.
Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining as I find most of it pretty interesting. My issue is how deep can all this analysis go before we fall back to the basics of running an organization? A perfect example is Sabemetrics in baseball. Billy Bean certainly has changed the way baseball is run but at what cost? His Oakland Athletics currently sitting at the bottom of the AL west with no hope for the playoffs this year.
One of the major problems with all these stats and analysis is that executives and business owners are trusting the numbers over their own gut instinct. For instance, Oakland used Sabermetrics to draft the right players to the ball club but they made poor decisions to get rid of them to trades when things did not go well.
Keep the statistics but don't lose your ability to make decisions that are for the sake of the business and have nothing to do with the analysis.