From the Desk of Margaret Jackson

Growing up in the mid to late 70s, my brothers and I couldn’t wait to watch Saturday cartoons and Soul Train, “the hippest trip in America,” in front of our colossal wood-finished floor television set. Of course, we had to sit close enough to reach over to turn the television dial. We did not have a remote control for the television. We actually had to move our bodies. Go figure. We thought that was the best technology of our time, and don’t get me started on the wood-finished stereo console players. We did not know what was coming and how our world would transform from this analog experience to a digital experience. We would be surrounded by computers that, would be the new television. We would live in a world similar to the Jetsons when making digital face-to-face calls using applications like ZOOM, FaceTime, Duo, WebEx, and Google Meet, talking with family and friends, and doing business worldwide.

The phenomenon of digital impact is just getting started with great S.T.E.M. minds eager to bring new experiences to the marketplace. Who knew that traveling to space as a customer would be possible? Who knew that A.I. technology and capabilities would be accessible to small businesses to create a competitive advantage? Who knew our social interaction experiences would become a digital medium called social media? What happened to the world that we once knew? It is long gone.

As small business owners, entrepreneurs, and dreamers, integrating digital applications into your customer’s online experiences is unavoidable. The world’s digital population continues to grow, and so does the digital population’s use of social media platforms. According to Statista, there are 5.18 billion internet users worldwide and 4.8 billion social media users from the total internet users. (Statista, 2023). The world turns on a digital axis changing digital seasons; what was new in the digital world is now old in the digital world. What’s new? Only time will tell. Don’t worry; it will not be a long wait. Digital experts state that digital technologies change 2x every 18 months, 4x the rate in 20 years, and 16x the rate in 40 years. The digital world moves rapidly, and small businesses cannot wait to integrate their businesses into a digital experience. Fear of embarking on the digital world, today’s digital technology, and what’s to come is a high price to pay. That business will be as antiquated as my watching our old wood-finished television set from the 70s. Step into the future and be a digital small business that is an online phenomenon.

Sincerely,

Margaret A. Jackson Publisher Romans 10:9-10