Top Analyst Currently in the Business Part 1

*NOTE* The information described below are completely my own opinion and should not be taken any more than just that.  I have never had the opportunity / privilege to meet or talk directly to any of these analysts, but I would jump for the opportunity if it arises.

When talking about top web analysts in the world, four names come to mind before anyone: Avinash Kaushik, Adam Greco, Eric T Peterson and Nick Mihailovski.

AVINASH KAUSHIK

I consider Avinash the pope of the web analyst world; no matter what tool you are using (UNICA, GA, Omniture, ..) people will stop to listen to what he has to say.  I believe my love for the industry is directly related to the enthusiasm he portrays in his blogs, books and videos.  One of my favourite saying describing how good an analyst is, an analytical ninja, came directly from Avinash.

Avinash has written two books, “Web Analytics: Hour a day” and “Web Analytics 2.0” which I recommend anyone to read.  While there is no university degree for web analytics, I consider these as textbooks that you do not sell at the end of the semester; you will reference back to these books during your career.  And do not forget about his blog: he always has pearls of wisdom that may not be in his book; do not worry, you only have 5 years to catch up on

Like I mentioned, Avinash speaks about Web Analytics in general without focusing on a particular tool; but starting around 2009, he does use GA as his tool of reference.  But we should give him a break since he is co-founder of Analytics Evangelist for Google, the tool is great and is one of the widely used tools (doesn’t hurt being free too).  The wisdom he divulges will only benefit your own career; so why are you waiting, bookmark his blog and start reading….well, after you finish reading this post.

While I may not have had the chance to meet Avinash, I have known people who have; they had nothing but great things to say about him.  Some of the words that constantly came up were humble, passionate and one of their greatest moments.  Hopefully I will get a chance in the near future to talk to him, or even interview him for this blog!!!

THE OMNI MAN

For Adam Greco – he is kinda like Wayne Gretzky; widely known, respected in a specific field (Omniture) and most people will stop to listen. Adam (best known as The Omni Man) originally worked for Omniture as a consultant but moved on.  Even though he is not with Omniture, he still gets the insides on the newest products and assists in making the product better; which will only benefit the industry. If you are using SiteCatalyst, this is a blog you must read, not should, you MUST!  There is no one better than Adam when involving SiteCatalyst.  I would like to write more about Adam, but as of now, he has not written any book or posted any videos that I know of. Once again, if I ever get a chance to talk to Adam, I will ensure that I put it up on this blog!


Next post, we will talk about Eric T Peterson a Nick Mihailovski.  Additionally, I have added what I believe to be must read blogs / forums on the side. 

Till next time.