Being of sound mind (as it were), we have exciting MP3 news—news that is even bigger than The Beatles coming to iTunes. You may have noticed that our revamped WhatTheyThink Marketplace now includes podcast interviews with selected report authors (well, me, for now), conducted by our own Dr. Joe Webb, discussing each report. These 3–5-minute podcasts can be streamed on the site or downloaded to iTunes, where you can play them on your iPod or in your car, or perhaps even burn them to the next mix disc you make for a friend or significant other.

The podcast interview for the just-released January 2011 Business Conditions Report can be found here. Other podcast interviews include the recent iPad study, and there is a forthcoming podcast interview for the Print & Creative 2010 Yearbook and 2011 Forecast study.

Speaking of our quarterly Business Conditions Report series...

This month, the January 2011 Business Conditions Report looks at the most recent economic data for the overall economy in general, and for the printing industry in particular. If you’re a fan of Dr. Joe’s quarterly economic Webinars, these business conditions reports are the perfect complement/supplement, and provide a wealth of data from WhatTheyThink’s regular surveys of the industry. How did printers’ overall perceived business conditions for 2010 end up? How do they think 2011 will go? And what products/services/technologies/strategies are printers increasing, decreasing, or discontinuing? And what do they plan to add in 2011? (Hint: it involves marketing services—and some real marketing services.)

These business conditions reports are not just about economics, but also media, communication, and technology trends that graphic communications professionals should keep an eye on. That is, they are a look at the entire business landscape set against the backdrop of economic data.

Look for more podcasts as we release new reports and studies and continue to improve our Marketplace as the go-to location for industry research and information from a wide variety of writers, analysts, and luminaries.