Digital touches so many parts of your business and your life that it’s reasonable to ask "What does ‘digital’ even mean right now? How does it affect my business? And what should I be paying attention to?" Those are all great questions. And, fortunately, for the most part, there are some readily available answers for you.

This episode of Thinks Out Loud looks at the big trends that shape digital at the moment including shifting customer behaviors, the rise of remote work, and how those connect. We look at where those trends might be headed. And, most importantly, we look at how you can put those trends to work for your business to take advantage and continue to grow.

Want to know more? Here are the show notes for you.

Thinks Out Loud Episode 343: What Does "Digital" Even Mean Right Now Headlines and Show Notes

Show Notes and Links

Here are this week’s show notes for Thinks Out Loud with links and news related to this week’s episode. Be sure to check out all the links that matter for your business once you’ve given the episode a listen.

* The Future Digital Trends You Must Think About Today (Thinks Out Loud Episode 342)

* You Get to Make it Better (Thinks Out Loud Episode 341)

* What 2022 Trends Should Marketers Care About? (Thinks Out Loud Episode 335)

* How Much Will 2022’s Top Tech Trends Shape Your Digital Strategy This Year? Not Much (Thinks Out Loud Episode 334)

* Why Digital Transformation is More Than Just E-commerce (Thinks Out Loud 331) – Tim Peter & Associates

* The End of Millennials (Thinks Out Loud Episode 224)

* Mobile, Millennials, and…Moms? (Thinks Out Loud Episode 256)

* How to Build a Digital Company (Thinks Out Loud 302)

* The Five Drivers of E-commerce and Digital Transformation for Your Business (Thinks Out Loud Episode 293)

* Why Digital Leaders Bet on the Future (Thinks Out Loud Episode 327)

*

I like to say that "we live in the future." After all, as William Gibson has stated, "The future is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed." Well, the Pew Research Center has a report that looks at "Visions of the Internet in 2035" that looks further into the future. The thing is, 2035 is a long time from now. We’re not there yet. But, it’s worth asking, are any of these visions relevant to us now? Are there future digital trends that you must think about today?

As it happens, there are (I know… surprised aren’t you?). So, what are those future digital trends? What data or information exists that tells us that they’re important? And why must you pay attention to them today? This episode of Thinks Out Loud takes a look and tries to provide some answers for you.

Want to learn more? Here are the show notes for you.

Thinks Out Loud Episode 342: Future Digital Trends You Must Think About Today Headlines and Show Notes

Show Notes and Links

Here are this week’s show notes for Thinks Out Loud with links and news related to this week’s episode. Be sure to check out all the links that matter for your business once you’ve given the episode a listen.

* Here’s a list of top-rated charities to help the Ukraine relief effort

* Movies | Google Year in Search 2014

* Steph Smith on Twitter: "In 1994, Jeff Bezos famously spotted a stat that made him leave his high-paying PE job to start Amazon: ? The Internet was growing 2300% per year. What are the generation-defining stats of today? I’ll post a few to kick things off…" / Twitter

* https://twitter.com/stephsmithio/status/1501084435076157440

* Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Artificial Intelligence Software Market to Reach $62 Billion in 2022

*

* A sampling of overarching views | Pew Research Center

* 7 New Social Media Platforms Marketers Should Watch in 2022

* Google’s Sundar Pichai Just Announced a $100 Million Educational Fund. It Might Mean the Beginning of the End for College | Inc.com

*

We’ve been talking about the state of the digital landscape for the last handful of weeks, exploring where the e-commerce and digital marketplace is — and where we’re headed — based on the financial results of the AGFAM, Shopify, and others. But what about you? Where do you stand? More importantly, if you’re not happy with where you are, what can you do about it? Well, no matter the answer to that question, there’s good news: You get to make it better. You get to decide.

Seriously.

You have more control of your situation than anyone. Yes, economic headwinds or changing customer behaviors play a role, sometimes a big one. But that doesn’t mean that you’re doomed just because they’re moving against you. Far from it. You get to make it better.

How can you do this? How can you make things better for your organization, even in troubled times? This episode of Thinks Out Loud dives in and takes a look.

Want to learn more? Here are the show notes for you.

Thinks Out Loud Episode 340: You Get to Make it Better Headlines and Show Notes

Show Notes and Links

Here are this week’s show notes for Thinks Out Loud with links and news related to this week’s episode. Be sure to check out all the links that matter for your business once you’ve given the episode a listen.

* Shopify (SHOP) Q4 2021 Earnings Call Transcript | The Motley Fool

* Shopify Q4 2021 Investor Deck PDF link

* Shopify Q4 2021 Earnings Press Release PDF link

* Early estimates: US ecommerce grows 14.2% in 2021 | Digital Commerce 360

* What We Learned About Digital from Frightful Five’s Q4 2021 Earnings (Thinks Out Loud Episode 338)

* Shopify’s Monster Year in 2020 Highlights a Generational Shift to Digital (Thinks Out Loud Episode 318)

* Day One at Amazon and Developing a Digital Culture (Thinks Out Loud Episode 325)

* What 2022 Trends Should Marketers Care About? (Thinks Out Loud Episode 335)

* We’re Living Through a Generational Shift to Digital...

Shopify just reported its earnings for the fourth quarter of and full-year 2021. And, much like the AGFAM—Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft’s—earnings, Shopify’s numbers tell a fascinating story about the “State of Digital: 2022.” The TL;DR version is that they had an amazing year and that the generational shift to digital continues.

But… that great news for Shopify signals a number of challenges and opportunities for every business. And savvy, future-oriented leaders can learn meaningful lessons from unpacking Shopify’s earnings in more detail.

What do Shopify’s 2021 results tell us about the current state of digital? Why do you care? And what can you do with this information to make the generational shift to digital work for your business? This episode of Thinks Out Loud dives in and takes a look.

Want to learn more? Here are the show notes for you.

Thinks Out Loud Episode 340: What Shopify’s Latest Earnings Say About the State of Digital Headlines and Show Notes

Show Notes and Links

Here are this week’s show notes for Thinks Out Loud with links and news related to this week’s episode. Be sure to check out all the links that matter for your business once you’ve given the episode a listen.

* Shopify (SHOP) Q4 2021 Earnings Call Transcript | The Motley Fool

* Shopify Q4 2021 Investor Deck PDF link

* Shopify Q4 2021 Earnings Press Release PDF link

* Early estimates: US ecommerce grows 14.2% in 2021 | Digital Commerce 360

* What We Learned About Digital from Frightful Five’s Q4 2021 Earnings (Thinks Out Loud Episode 338)

* Shopify’s Monster Year in 2020 Highlights a Generational Shift to Digital (Thinks Out Loud Episode 318)

* Day One at Amazon and Developing a Digital Culture (Thinks Out Loud Episode 325)

* What 2022 Trends Should Marketers Care About? (Thinks Out Loud Episode 335)

* We’re Living Through a Generational Shift to Digital (Thinks Out Loud Episode 317)

*

You’ve heard me say "Customer Experience is Queen" many times here on Thinks Out Loud. But what does it look like when a brand really takes that principle to heart? And what does it look like when a company doesn’t? Just this past week, I had an experience with two different companies that illustrates how important "Customer Experience is Queen" is in vastly different ways. Each highlighted key elements of using digital to deliver customer experience, one company—Lively—in the best way… and one of them not so much.

What does "Customer Experience is Queen" look like in practice? What does it look like when an organization does it well? And why does this matter for your business? This episode of Thinks Out Loud takes a look.

Want to learn more? Here are the show notes for you.

Thinks Out Loud Episode 339: How Lively Demonstrates “Customer Experience is Queen” Headlines and Show Notes

Show Notes and Links

Here are the regular show notes detailing links and news related to this week’s episode. Be sure to check out all the links that matter for your business once you’ve given the episode a listen.

* What We Learned About Digital from Frightful Five’s Q4 2021 Earnings (Thinks Out Loud Episode 338)

* Quick Statistics About Hearing | NIDCD

* What 2022 Trends Should Marketers Care About? (Thinks Out Loud Episode 335)

* Content is King, Customer Experience is Queen (Thinks Out Loud Episode 188)

* Amazon Go, Instant Gratification, and the Boring Future of Business (Thinks Out Loud Episode 265)

* Lively Hearing Aids – Buy Online – Lively

* We’re Living Through a Generational Shift to Digital (Thinks Out Loud Episode 317)

* Why Digital Leaders Bet on the Future (Thinks Out Loud Episode 327)

* Day One at Amazon and Developing a Digital Culture (Thinks Out Loud Episode 325)

* Are You a Legacy Leader? Or Are You a Future Leader? (Thinks Out Loud Episode 336)

*

The Frightful Five, the AGFAM — Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft — have all reported their quarterly or annual earnings for the past quarter. And given their dominance as digital leaders, it’s always worth combing through their releases and earnings call discussions to get a sense of the "State of Digital." So, what is the "State of Digital" right now? What have we learned about where digital is — and where it’s going — from the Frightful Five’s Q4 2021 earnings calls?

This episode of Thinks Out Loud breaks it down for you. We look at why what these digital leaders say continues to demonstrate that "Content is King; Customer Experience is Queen; and Data is the Crown Jewels." We also explore how those three areas of focus have changed and what you need to know to put them to work for you today. We also dive into whether it’s time — or not — to put some energy into the metaverse for your business. And we look at why the war for talent isn’t going away anytime soon.

Want to learn more? Here are the show notes for you.

Thinks Out Loud Episode 338: What We Learned from AGFAM’s Q4 2021 Earnings Headlines and Show Notes

Show Notes and Links

Here are the regular show notes detailing links and news related to this week’s episode. Be sure to check out all the links that matter for your business once you’ve given the episode a listen.

* Apple (AAPL) Q1 2022 Earnings Call Transcript | The Motley Fool

* Alphabet inc (GOOGL) Q3 2021 Earnings Call Transcript | The Motley Fool

* Meta Platforms (FB) Q4 2021 Earnings Call Transcript | The Motley Fool

* Meta – Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Results

* Meta Q4 2021 Earnings Presentation PDF link

* Amazon (AMZN) Q4 2021 Earnings Call Transcript | The Motley Fool

* Amazon more than doubles base pay for corporate and tech employees | Engadget

* Amazon Q4 2021 earnings send its shares soaring | Fortune

* Amazon Business and Financial Update Q4 2021

Finding the right talent is a struggle right now. There are too many opportunities for too few workers, which is making hiring harder than ever. So, what can you do about it? It starts by asking a simple question: Why would anyone want to work for you?

The difference between future leaders and legacy leaders is that future leaders think about all the ways they can use digital can help them answer this question. Want to know why anyone would want to work for you? Want to know how you can use digital to better reach potential employees? And want to know how future leaders think about these questions for your business? This episode of Thinks Out Loud takes a look.

Want to learn more? Here are the show notes for you.

Thinks Out Loud Episode 337: Why Would Anyone Want to Work For You? Headlines and Show Notes

Show Notes and Links

Here are the regular show notes detailing links and news related to this week’s episode. Be sure to check out all the links that matter for your business once you’ve given the episode a listen.

* Are You a Legacy Leader? Or Are You a Future Leader? (Thinks Out Loud Episode 336)

* Teachers Are Quitting, and Companies Are Hot to Hire Them – WSJ

* How to Prepare for the Future of Work – Future of Work | BCG

* Future Workforce Report 2021 | Upwork

* BLS PDF showing quits/hires

* Future of Work Predictions, Best Employee Onboarding Practices, Startup Traction, & More

* Heather Long on Twitter: "Job quitting by month in 2021. Notice how it kept picking up steam. As workers saw their peers quit, they often quit soon, too.

* Jan 3.3 million

* Feb 3.4m

* March 3.6m

* April 4.0m

* May 3.6m

* June 3.9m

* July 4m

* Aug 4.3m

* Sept 4.4m

* Oct 4.2m

* Nov 4.5m **** RECORD HIGH****

* Dec 4.3m"

* Life after quitting: What happened next to the workers who left their jobs – The Washington Post

* Progressive Policy Institute U.S.

I’m not a big “there are two types of blank in the world” person. But, when it comes to leadership in a digital era, there really are two types of leaders. One, the “legacy leader,” believes that things aren’t really changing that much and that, pretty soon, things will go back to normal. A “future leader,” by contrast, recognizes that we’re living through some fundamental shifts in customer and employee behaviors brought on by the pandemic and how that brought digital to center-stage.

What does the difference between a legacy leader and a future leader look like in practice? Which kind of leader is best positioned for where we are and where we’re going? And why does this matter for your organization? This episode of Thinks Out Loud takes a look.

Want to learn more? Here are the show notes for you.

Thinks Out Loud Episode 336: Are You a Legacy Leader? Or Are You a Future Leader? Headlines and Show Notes

Show Notes and Links

Here are the regular show notes detailing links and news related to this week’s episode. Be sure to check out all the links that matter for your business once you’ve given the episode a listen.

* How Much Will 2022’s Top Tech Trends Shape Your Digital Strategy This Year? Not Much (Thinks Out Loud Episode 334) – Tim Peter & Associates

* What 2022 Trends Should Marketers Care About? (Thinks Out Loud Episode 335) – Tim Peter & Associates

* U.S. holiday retail sales rise 8.5% as online shopping booms -Mastercard | Reuters

* The Year of the “New” Traveler PDF link

* Gallup: U.S. Air Travel Remains Down as Employed Adults Fly Less

* US Hotel Recovery Continues With Higher Rates but Meandering Occupancy

* Restaurants doing generally terribly according to OpenTable data

* TSA checkpoint travel numbers (current year versus prior year(s)/same weekday)

* Tim Minahan on Medium details a new study of 13,000+ knowledge workers that says "nearly 90% of employees expect to return to a more flexible work model in the year ahead."

*

Last week, we talked about some big tech trends for 2022 and why, mostly, they don’t matter for your business this year. Which begs the question: Are there any 2022 trends that do matter for business leaders and marketers? And, if so, what should we do about them?

In this episode of Thinks Out Loud, we’ll look at the trends that you should care about this year. We’ll look at what they mean for your customers, your employees, and your business overall. And we’ll talk about how you can use these to your advantage as the year unfolds.

Want to learn more? Here are the show notes for you.

Thinks Out Loud Episode 335: What 2022 Trends Should Marketers Care About? Headlines and Show Notes

Show Notes and Links

Here are the regular show notes detailing links and news related to this week’s episode. Be sure to check out all the links that matter for your business once you’ve given the episode a listen.

* How Much Will 2022’s Top Tech Trends Shape Your Digital Strategy This Year? Not Much (Thinks Out Loud Episode 334)

* The Conference Board Economic Forecast for the US Economy

* The economy is booming. 5 reasons that could change in 2022 – CNN

* What Wall Street economists expect for the U.S. economy in 2022

* Countries by GDP: The Top 25 Economies in the World

* A Year of Digital: The Pandemic, One Year On (Thinks Out Loud Episode 320)

* Director, The Museum of Civilization on Twitter: "If hires>quits, the "Great Resignation" is people getting better jobs." / Twitter

* Ethan Mollick on Twitter: "The work-from-home optimists’ case is showing signs of coming true: we seem to be learning how to do it better. Efficiency at working from home is steadily improving in this survey by @I_Am_NickBloom, tracking respondents since the start of the pandemic. https://t.co/Qy8lzrkThU https://t.co/qummYC13w2" / Twitter

* Patrick Collison on Twitter: "In Q1 2019, 39% of Stripe’s hiring was outside Bay Area and Seattle. Last quarter, it was 74%. I think the rate at which tech industry is going global is still under-appreciated, and that this will be a big tailwind for the world over the ne...

There are a number of top tech trends that will dominate 2022’s discourse. Among these are:

* The metaverse

* AI and machine learning

* Crypto and web3

* The "techlash" (i.e., the backlash to Big Tech/AGFAM)

* And a few others…

How will these major tech trends effect your business in 2022? Eh… probably not much. Now, that doesn’t mean you should ignore them. In fact, ignoring them entirely probably isn’t a successful strategy. So, what should you do? There’s actually a pretty straightforward playbook. And in this episode of Thinks Out Loud, we’ll look at the top tech trends of 2022, why they’re not likely to affect your business dramatically in the next 12 months, and what you can do to be ready for when they actually become a big deal.

Want to learn more? Here are the show notes for you.

Thinks Out Loud Episode 334: How Much Will 2022’s Top Tech Trends Shape Your Digital Strategy This Year? Not Much Headlines and Show Notes

Show Notes and Links

Here are the regular show notes detailing links and news related to this week’s episode. Be sure to check out all the links that matter for your business once you’ve given the episode a listen.

* Today Marks 15 Years Since Steve Jobs Unveiled the Original iPhone – MacRumors

* Initial data released on consumer views of the metaverse

* The top 20 companies on a hiring spree for remote workers this year

* What is Augmented Reality? | Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF)

* 5 Innovative Examples Of Augmented Reality In Action.

* Top 5 Gadgets on the High-tech Soldier | HowStuffWorks

* 8 Amazing New Military Technologies | Kiplinger

* How high-tech logistics could be game-changing for the US military   – Lawfire

*