via Small Business Trends, Brent Leary Brian Solis is one of the leading futurists/digital anthropologists in business today.  And his books, “The End of Business as Usual” and “What’s the Future of Business” are best sellers and required reading to anyone interested in digital transformation.  And his new book, “X: The Experience when Business Meets Design“ is probably his most ambitious — and impressive — book, focusing on the importance of experienced design and the role it will play in business…

by Al Urbanski, Senior Editor, Direct Marketing Excerpt Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s blog post this week heralding the end of the 140-character limit on tweets was met with surprise and consternation from most quarters. Isn’t the succinct electronic message the thing that defines Twitter? Perhaps, but it does nothing to define what need the network filled for marketers overwhelmed with choices, according to observers. Brian Solis, Altimeter Group analyst and author of a new book about customer experience called X,…

by Jennifer Van Grove, LA Times, excerpt You may not have unwrapped a robot on Christmas, but your new year will be filled with artificial intelligence. The digital gift comes courtesy of Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other technology companies, large and small, that are making rapid advancements with virtual personal assistants that can solve problems and even complete tasks. The assistants, sometimes referred to as “chatbots,” represent noteworthy advancements to computer programs that simulate conversations. Chatbots are not new — perhaps…

via Ed Sessions, Excerpt The modern world has an increasing ability to make information accessible to people from all walks of life. Each technological advancement, in some way or another, leads to a greater access to information for people as a whole. Is this really a good thing for us to come up against? Or is it something that could turn out to be a perilous problem for all who are involved? Brian Solis: Relevancy We each face many different…

By Heike Young, Salesforce Excerpt In September 2015, Salesforce Marketing Cloud launched our first podcast: the Marketing Cloudcast. On the show, Joel Book and I interview marketing thought leaders, practitioners, authors, and more about key trends, technologies, and topics in marketing today. We’ve featured guests from a variety of industries and business sizes, from B2B tech to nonprofit to beauty. They’ve taught us a lot, and if you work in digital marketing, I’m sure you can learn something from them,…

via The Young Turks Futurist, change management specialist and “X: The Experience When Business Meets Design” author Brian Solis sits down with The Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur to talk about the past, present and future and how more and faster change is coming, and the only question is whether you’re going to be a part of that change or a victim of it. Along the way, the two discuss how disruptive technologies and changing cultural standards will affect the news…

via Web.com As a small business owner, you have tough days – we all do. When you’re facing a challenge that seems insurmountable, are frustrated by a client, or feeling so exhausted you just want to nap for a week, read through these business quotes that inspired us in 2015. And here’s to a great 2016! Excerpt… Businesses are no longer the sole creator of their brand; it is co-created by consumers through shared experiences and defined by the results…