Top 5 Reasons My Dog Would Rock at Customer Service:

1. Enthusiasm and Optimism - he’s got it. No matter if you come home two hours late, lock him in the bathroom when the mother-in-law visits or keep him from sniffing things on his nightly walk, he still smiles, his tail still wags and he still spins circles when I grab his leash. He makes me smile, and it’s contagious.

Spread your smile. People can hear you smile. It’s true. Google it. Before you pick up the phone, smile, they can tell. Smiling immediately puts you in a better mood, and it puts your customer or client at ease.

2. He Makes ‘em Feel Important - He’s got this covered. He is a human worshiper, he loves new friends and each one is as important as the next. He has some favorites, sure. Don’t we all? But he is an equal opportunity friender.

Your client or customer wants to know that their needs, issues and/or opinions are important to you. That though their issues be big or small, you’ll try and help. Go above and beyond for clients and customers. It’ll pay off in the end.

3. He Listens - Sit. Stay. Come. He’s got his orders down pat.

Listen to your customers. Their complaints, critiques and even praise are all vital insights into your company from an outsider’s perspective. Pay attention. Sometimes you don’t even need to help, just let them talk it through and agree or disagree. Keep an open mind, it might actually be a new issue that needs to be brought up in your next staff meeting!

4. He’s got a great “I’m Sorry” Face - It’s a common scene in my house for the dog to be upside down, belly showing – why? Because he did something wrong. He stole a sock, he ate paper, he has something he shouldn’t. So he’s sorry. He is bringing you the offending item, but you have to take it. He then looks at you with his ears back and eyes forward and he just looks…guilty. He couldn’t help it. He’s sorry.

Sometimes bad things happen. Sometimes it’s not your fault. Sometimes, it is. Apologize and fix it – fast. If it’s not something that can be fixed right away, then keep your customer informed on the progress of the issue and when they can expect a resolution. Putting your head down and your tail between your legs is sometimes the best way to keep the customer loyal, even when you made a mistake.

5. He knows. He just does - A hug when you’re sad, a toy when you’re mad. He knows just want you need to make it all better.

Feel your customers’ pain, don’t ignore their frustrations because you’ve heard it all before. The issue is unique to them and they need to be reassured you’re here to help. Sometimes it’s as simple as patting them on the back and letting them know they are all good. Feel their pain. And like a good friend, make it all better.

Sometimes you have to learn from your mistakes to move forward and grow. This is true in customer relations as well. Though my dog may be a rockstar when it comes to the items above, he has some faults too. So here are 5 reasons he would suck at customer service. Take a cue and learn from him.

1. Communication - Well, he’s a dog. Communication is not his strong point. Getting smacked by a giant paw can mean anything from ‘It’s time to eat’ to ‘I’m seriously bored’ to “I felt the need to smack you with my giant paw.’

You have to communicate with your customers. Check in on them, let them know you are involved. Be concise, clear and professional with all communication, but at the same time be yourself and don’t act like you’re reading from a script. Know which customers appreciate a more laid back or humorous approach and which ones don’t.

2. Patience - Yeah, not so much his forté either. He might wait all day for me to get home, but when he’s hungry, he’s impossible. When he wants something he goes from a great big friendly dog, to an annoying chirping bird. I have yet to figure out how he makes noises that sound so small when he’s so large.

You have systems, processes and you know your product. Your customers don’t. They are learning and they can become frustrated if they aren’t understanding as quickly as they had hoped. Give them time and don’t  become frustrated yourself or make whining bird noises. Trust me, they aren’t pleasant.

3. Focus - One frisbee and you’ve lost him.

You have to pay attention to your customers, when listening to their concerns or actually focusing on the problem. Focus on the task, and give it 100%. Your dedication will show and they will appreciate it.

4. He Makes the Same Mistakes – Twice - He eats paper. Constantly. Steals socks, again and again. He’s a dog. He prefers to apologize later (he does have that great ‘I’m sorry’ face).

When a customer has an issue, fix it. Then address it. See if it’s an ongoing problem and try to resolve the core issue so it doesn’t happen again. Put new policies in place or adjust your current policies to avoid future complaints.

5. He’s a Dog

Customers like people. Getting a person and not a machine or automated response is like hitting the jackpot these days. Personal customer service is the best way to keep your customers loyal.

A friendly reminder: Mother’s Day is this Sunday! It’s time to take your mother out for dinner and buy her something nice, but more importantly, it’s time to reflect on all of the things she’s done for you and taught you over the years.

With that in mind, here are five important lessons about marketing we learned from our mothers:

Always Be Willing to Listen

It doesn’t matter what the problem is.  Your mom will always listen to you.  As marketers, we need to cultivate that same openness to listening to and learning from our customers. Ask questions. Find out what they’re interested in. With this information, you can target your promotions more effectively, increasing response rate and customer loyalty.

Be polite.

Left to their own devices, children are naturally rude little creatures. It’s not that they intend to be, of course; it’s that tact and politeness are not innate.  They must be taught, and that’s where Mom comes in.

Marketers, too, sometimes have a tendency to be inconsiderate, especially as we move into the social media arena. Lessons your mom taught you when you were little will serve you well here: Don’t interrupt. Don’t talk over people. Don’t make it all about you.

Mom makes the rules.

When I was little, Mom was the ultimate authority. She may have delegated some “enforcement duties” to Dad, but she made the rules.

In most households, she also makes the majority of the purchasing decisions. According to DM News, there are 75 million moms in America making 85% of household purchasing decisions. Ignore them and their concerns at your peril.

Don’t forget to write home.

When I left home for summer camp, the last thing Mom said to me was “Don’t forget to write!” Never mind that camp was her idea, or that I’d only be gone for a week and a half. Later, after I graduated high school, I went on a month-long trip without my family. You’d better believe she loaded me down with phone cards!

Don’t be so focused on getting new customers that you forget about the ones you already have. When it comes to personal relationships, people appreciate it when you stay in touch. The same holds true in marketing- as long as your marketing communications are relevant to your customers’ needs and timed appropriately, they’ll appreciate hearing from you!

Check Your Work

Mom wouldn’t let me stop working on my homework until I’d checked and double-checked my answers. She always held me accountable for doing my best.

Likewise, it’s important to keep your marketing accountable. It’s not enough to simply give every campaign you run an “A for effort.” As much as possible, you must measure the success of all of your efforts in every channel. Finding out what works and what doesn’t is the only way to end up with a successful marketing strategy.

Thanks, Mom!

Photo Credit: Some rights reserved by Etsy Ketsy

Yesterday, we looked at the reasons why you should use landing pages instead of directing your traffic to your company website. Today, let’s take a look at the  ”how,” with some easy, actionable tips that will help you leverage your landing pages to increase sales.

‘Tis a Gift to Be Simple…

Your landing page should have one goal, and one goal only: convince your visitors to convert. So, keep it simple. Anything, whether it’s content or visual elements, that distracts your visitor from that goal needs to be pruned ruthlessly.

To create a tightly focused landing page, get the messaging nailed down first. Remember, more words are not necessarily better. Create a simple, persuasive call to action that makes it crystal clear why your customer should redeem your offer. Everything else on the landing page should support the call to action, not detract from it.

Keep It Consistent

Establishing trust is a crucial first step toward convincing customers to follow through and act on your offer. Consistent design and messaging will reassure them that they are at the at right place and that you aren’t trying to trick them.

That means that the text in the ad that brought your visitors to the landing page needs to be reflected on the landing page itself. The headline, call to action and offer should all match. If it doesn’t, warning bells go off and conversions go down.

The design of the page and the imagery used should also be consistent with the original ad, and it should remain consistent across each page of the microsite.

Design for Conversion

Your landing page design should support your call to action. People are visual creatures- include attractive images that will inspire them to redeem your offer, like that mouthwatering burger in the Wendy’s landing page above.

Also, use visual elements to direct your visitor’s eyes to your call to action. As with text, less is more here. Use blank space to surround and set off the elements you want your visitor to focus on, as Stine does below. Don’t let the page become cluttered or busy.

 Make it Shareable 

Finally, use social sharing buttons to encourage your customers to share your offer with their friends and families. This exponentially increases the amount of exposure your campaign will receive, so you get more leads, more new customers and ultimately, more sales!

Daunted by the prospect of building landing pages from scratch? Dukky makes it easy with customizable templates that incorporate best practices and include social sharing, no coding needed. Plus, our killer analytics give you valuable information about your customers and your campaigns’ performance in a gorgeous, easy-to-understand package.

Are you directing your website visitors to your company home page instead of a landing page? You might want to reconsider your strategy.

Sure, your company probably invested a significant amount of time, energy and money into designing and developing that home page, and it’s only natural to want to send all of your traffic there.

Here are 5 reasons why you should resist that impulse:

Landing Pages Improve the Customer Experience

Even the most well-designed home page inevitably suffers from “jack of all trades, master of none” syndrome. There’s general information about your company and links to other pages on the site, and your customer may or may not want to sift through all of it to find information about the offer or ad that brought them there.

Microsites, on the other hand, can be targeted to specific subsets of your customer base. They also align with the campaign that brought the customer to your page in the first place, so they are always presented with a consistent message.  Think of it as putting a welcome mat out for your customers.

Be a good host- Don’t just dump your visitors on your website and expect them to find what they’re looking for. Use a landing page to take them by the hand and lead them to the information they need to convert!

Landing Pages Help You Measure Performance

The days of marketing by instinct are long since over. Good riddance and rest in peace! Now, the more data you have about how your campaigns are performing, the better.

Landing pages are a key tool to help you capture that data and track the performance of your campaigns. Use landing pages to find out which offers appeal to your customers the most, so you can give them more of what they want and less of what they don’t.

Landing Pages Let you Get to Know Your Customers

The conversion form also provides you with an opportunity to get to know your customers better. Simply by asking the right questions, you can get valuable demographic information about them and learn more about their needs. Get the information you need to market to them effectively.

Landing Pages Are Dynamic

Creating a new landing page is much easier than redesigning your entire website. So, when you use landing pages, it’s a snap to change the information your visitors are presented with depending on the circumstances.

More Conversions

Landing pages provide a better experience for your customer. They also provide marketers with more data and more flexibility to act on that data. You don’t have to be a math wiz to see what that adds up to: more conversions, more leads and more business for you!

At this point, I can almost hear the collective groan issuing from the throats of overworked, overtaxed marketers everywhere: “We don’t have time!” We understand. We’re busy, too. That’s why Dukky offers support, training and a simple upload manager to make it easy to create your microsite, plus the ability to easily track the data you capture and viral peer sharing to supercharge your campaigns. Best of all, no CSS or coding is needed to launch your campaign.

Now that you understand why you should be using landing pages, tune in tomorrow to see how to leverage them to increase your sales!

So, you have a business and you’ve gotten your budding empire signed up for a Twitter account and a Facebook page (and perhaps a Google+ Business profile in the future too?). Go you! You’re part of the social media revolution. Cake and champagne for everyone!

Fast forward a few months and you may find yourself asking what’s this actually doing for me? What’s the value of social media? How can I get a ROI out of it? It’s a popular question on a lot of professional minds these days, especially in the case of B2B marketing. “Ok,” you say, “I got on board this train, where’s it taking me?”

Ensuring your business has a presence in the virtual world is an essential part of any successful marketing plan. With that said, it’s easy to get lost in social media. Between looking up relevant industry articles to load up the Tweetdeck and responding to comments on your Facebook page you can start to feel like you’re spending a lot of valuable time and resources keeping up a presence that isn’t necessarily turning into dollars.

Or is it?

I like to think of social media as a networking tool. I know, that sounds rather obvious but if you take a look you’ll see a lot of businesses aren’t utilizing it the way they should. Effective networking leads to sales, especially in the B2B market. Social media can be a great B2B sales tool, particularly Twitter, you just have to change the way you approach networking and sales.

Ever see a business you’d like to pitch your product or service to but had no inside connection? As any salesperson worth their salt will tell you, pitching to someone you’ve built a relationship with is easier, and usually much more successful, than cold calling. You just need a way to get a foot in the door, to get in their good graces, to endear yourself to them, and then the sale will follow. That’s how it happened in the brick and mortar days of sales, right? Well, Twitter can be the tool that gets those lines of communications flowing. The key is to pace yourself and to not be…..sales-y.

It’s important to remember that there are just as many spammers and cold tweeting annoyances out there as there are telemarketers. No one wants to talk with them. So sending a tweet to a new business you’d like to sell yourself to 5 minutes after you start following them isn’t going to hack it. You’ll be written off. Lines of communication will go cold.

Twitter isn’t about broadcasting, although a lot of people seem to think otherwise. It’s about listening. It’s about conversations. It’s about building a relationship. Take your time. See what sort of things they tweet. Retweet the ones that are pertinent to your business and add a short encouraging message in front of it. For example, “Talk about a dog day afternoon! RT @ChicDesigns It’s bring your dog to work day at the office!”

It sounds corny, but this is what gets them to notice you. And if they reply, then you can get a conversation going. I like to compare it to networking at a cocktail hour. No one appreciates the guy who shows up, doesn’t buy you a drink and lays into a business pitch. They want to talk to the guy cracking the jokes who also just happens to work at the company you want to be in business with. Show your personality, have some fun with it. In social media it’s as much about listening as it is about getting your message out there.

Social media can get you in the room with the right people. It just happens to be a virtual room. If you can outline and define a social media strategy and refrain from merely broadcasting, you’ll see that much sought after ROI start rolling in.

Welcome to the August 10^th edition of “What We’re Reading”, a weekly series where we report on stories that get our marketing, social media and workaholic brainwaves going. What’s on this week’s docket of must reads? Well, small business owners can be confusing, cubicles suck, an office should be like a dinner party and the Twitter world rallies to help clean up jolly old London. So grab that morning coffee and read on!

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64% of Small Businesses Think Social Media is Unnecessary [Study]

Apparently an overwhelming majority of small business owners in the U.S. don’t think social media is vital to their marketing. According to a study by small business insurance provider Hiscox, many SMB owners say they don’t see the value in being active on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Oddly though, the same group of business owners polled said they relied heavily on word of mouth marketing. Um, what’s this? What’s the word we’re looking for here? Oh yeah, conundrum. Read the fully confusing stats here.

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The Rise of the Mobile Workforce [Infographic]

It’s infographic time! And who doesn’t love infographics? Today’s design covers the rise of the mobile workforce. Team Dukky is all too aware (and we’re sure you are too) that the days of the 9 to 5 job is over and working from a mobile device is taking a greater hold. Who needs a cubicle when you have an iPad and a smartphone, am I right? Check out the stats compiled by Cisco here.

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The Joy of Dirty Dishes (and Passion People)

I don’t know about you, but sometimes a blog post comes along and makes you take a moment to lean back in your chair and say “yes”. That’s what I did when I read this particularly refreshing post by Amy Taylor on the Brains on Fire blog. In it, she compares a dinner party to the workplace and asks us all to take a moment and remember that real life happens offline. Would you attend a dinner party thrown by your company? Something to ponder.

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London Riots: Social Media Mobilizes Riot Clean-up

We got to hand it to the good people of London. They’ve dealt with a fair amount of terror and craziness the last few days. But as we’ve continued to see in the wake of social revolutions in the Middle East, natural disasters the world over and now on the streets of London, people are using social media for good. Using Twitter to organize their movements, the Britons came out in droves with brooms, bags, gloves and smiles to show the shop keepers and home owners that were looted that the city has not forgotten them. So let’s hear it for the socially minded, digitally connected good people of old London town. Say it with me – hip, hip, hooray! Read some of the inspiring tweets here.

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Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse

This microsite was launched for a handful of Ruth’s Chris franchise owners. Clean, tasteful and to the point, the site was in keeping with the nationally recognized restaurant chain’s branding and image. More importantly, it had a great offer – two offers in fact. For filling out the form all customers enjoyed a complimentary appetizer (with the purchase of an entree) through a printable coupon. Customers were then encouraged to share the offer with their friends via email, social networks and SMS for a chance to win free steak for a year. In total the campaign allowed the franchise owners to add 3,419 new customers to their databases. Their response rate was a mind blowing 33.88%. And of course we all know why. Who doesn’t want free steak for a year?

NewEgg.com

NewEgg is a very popular, highly recognizable website for purchasing all things technology related. This campaign was a huge slam dunk, bringing in a total response of over 870,000 hits. There are 2 reasons for this level of success. First, their offer rocks. Just in time for March Madness, the company offered the chance to win the Ultimate Man Cave which included everything from a massive flat screen TV and surround sound to a grill, XBOX and a computer. What guy doesn’t dream of owning that? The second factor was how they marketed their promotion. Combining email marketing, ads on their website, ESPN.com, CBSsports.com and Turner Sports with national and satellite radio mentions from Howard Stern and Dan Patrick as well as a social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter, the campaign was unstoppable. Nearly a quarter of the people who hit the site input their information and shared, bringing NewEgg over 208,000 customers into their database. The campaign was recognized as the winner of AdWeek’s Media Plan of the Year for integrated campaigns.

Educate Now!

This is one of our favorite campaigns by a small to medium business client. Educate Now! is a non-profit in New Orleans working to bring effective and sustainable reform to local public schools. Their campaign capitalized on their target audience’s love of all things NOLA by including a partner in their campaign – The Maple Street Book Shop. The shop, is a favorite independent book store in the community. The microsite invited those who entered to enjoy the spirit of giving and send their favorite public school classroom on a shopping spree at the store. All in all, the organization received close to 500 entries, which was a 20% response rate from the total number of visits to the site. For a small organization with limited funds this was a highly successful way of adding to their database without breaking the bank.

Sucré

Another New Orleans small business, Sucré is a gourmet desert shop that has exploded on to the local food scene. One of the sweet boutique’s greatest assets in its marketing arsenal has been it ability to be instantly recognizable by the design of the store fronts themselves, the packaging of the sweets and their collateral. Their brand image is synonymous with colorful, lively, delicious sweetness throughout the city. The company makes a concerted effort to keep customers aware of their behind the scenes activities too, branding their gourmet kitchen as the Sucré Confection Studio. The offer for this campaign was right in line with that branding, offering those who entered the chance to win a day in The Sweet Life where they could go behind the scenes, tour the studio and make their very own confection creations with their renowned Executive Chef. With this campaign, the local store gathered over 400 new customers to their database and increased the likes on their Facebook page as well. Sweet life indeed. 

Designer Social

Designer Social, an online community where stylish users can buy and sell luxury designer goods, has launched several successful campaigns using microsites. By running multiple campaigns, they’ve come to find that partnering with a designer brand in their offer has brought in a much higher response rate. With this campaign they hit their stride. By offering 1 of 3 designer looks from popular beachwear brand Vix to those who shared they were able to bring in a 22% response rate from the 8,497 people who hit the site. Considering they were only offering a sweepstakes and not a coupon or discount to every customer this was a very high response rate. The design of this microsite played a major part in the campaign’s success. Knowing their target audience is a fashion minded, highly sophisticated bunch, they ensured the microsite reflected the look and feel of marketing collateral from a high end retailer. In the world of fashion first impressions are everything and Designer Social made a huge splash with this summer campaign.

Welcome to the August 3^rd edition of “What We’re Reading”, a weekly series where we report on stories that get our marketing and social media juices going. This week we’ve compiled a short but rather concise view of, as Brice so aptly put it, The Realm of Social Media. So, without further delay here’s the rundown: Tweets save lives, show some love, Mail Chimp rocks (literally), and beware the looming Sharepocalypse. Read on!

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Twitterverse Rallies to Prevent Suicide

We are amazed at the ever growing number of ways people are harnessing the power of social media for good. Take for example the recent case of a South African woman who was contemplating committing suicide. When the distressed woman sent out a rather grim post her followers, recognizing a dire call for help, started tweeting kind messages of encouragement and consolation to her. Then they mobilized. Coordinating their efforts with hastags #FindGina and #SaveGina they managed to locate the woman and ensure she was in the safe arms of her family. Now if that’s not a powerful testament to the collaborative and community engagement capabilities of social media we don’t know what is. See the full article on Mashable here.

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Are You Talking To Your Most Intimate Customers?

In today’s market everyone is looking for ways to reach more and more people. We want MORE. More followers. More likes. More RTs. More +1s. The list goes on and on. But what about your core team of supporters? What about the people who really love you? Is your company doing enough to thank them and keep these brand evangelists engaged? In her latest post for the Brains on Fire blog (which is brilliant, by the way) Robbin Phillips asks these very questions. If you are a brand and you have 1000 or millions of likes on Facebook, do you know any of them, she asks. Do you know about their lives? Can you call them out by name? Read on for more insights about customer retention and engagement here.

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MailChimp: We Commissioned a Rock Opera

We at Team Dukky are pretty fond of creative tech and marketing people. They inspire us. They help get our brainstorming mojo on. So, like any good fans, we stalk them. MailChimp is often the target of said stalking. What can we say? They do it right, all the time. From putting out fun and engaging info on their amazing services to the fun items they commission we love all that they do. Case in point, their latest company sponsored venture – a rock opera. You read that right. Get the back story and download a free track from the project here. Then, we suggest, you bookmark their blog and join us in our fandamania.

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Sharepocalypse Now: Why Social Media Overload Means New Opportunities for Startups

You feel it. We feel it. It’s creeping in. Sure Google+ is cool but a lot of social media users are bemoaning the ever increasing number of networks we’re expected to be active on. Is there no end in sight? Will they ever all be linked together? The budding movement of social media overload brings with it one good thing – sharing. Sharing – be it B2B, B2C or C2C – is at an all time high. This looming sharepocalypse  means we’re entering a new era of social network chaos, and this, in turn, is going to create new needs and opportunities for startups. Read on here to see just how you can take advantage.

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My idea for this post is largely inspired by the hit new HBO series Game of Thrones, which is also an excellent book series. It tells of the epic tale of love, adventure, honor, and betrayal, and I feel I see much of the same drama unfolding every week in the social media world. Therefore, I will now present to you my take on the realm of social media, and the great houses that rule over it.

Google

“Never stop searching”

The current King of the Internet and all of its lands. Yet for all its massive power and knowledge, Google has still been unable to marshal the social realm under its banner. One of the oldest houses of the Internet, it provides its loyal subjects with, seemingly, all they could desire. It brings them the finest items for trade both near and far, carries letters from one end of the realm to the other, and its impressive grasp of technology renders new feats of science at an astounding pace. Yet, despite the fact that Google is the largest of all the houses, it has still been unable to plant itself in the social realm. This is not to say it has lacked ambition, as many of its conquests have sallied forth from its gates only to be found broken and shattered on the field. The greatest enemy to the King is Facebook, and the young house has had little trouble thwarting Google’s past conquests. Though the King is not without hope, as a new champion has arisen to conquer the social realm. Whether or not Google+ can finally make progress in the social realm remains to be seen, but to be certain, this new champion is not lacking in fortitude, reputation, or in valor.

Facebook

“Defend the Wall”

The most powerful lord in all the lands and sworn enemy to Google the current King, Facebook may be one of the youngest houses, but it more than makes up for its youth with ruthless ambition. Indeed, the aspirations of this young house are so great that it seems to be unwilling to accept anything other than being anointed King. Of course there are those who say that the Facebook house is more fit to be named King then Google, since it is Facebook who now firmly holds the social realm in its iron grip. The social media frontrunner has already accumulated enormous riches from the social realm, and certainly has the ability to reap even greater wealth from a kingdom whose true worth is not yet fully known. More and more, people swell the ranks of Facebook with every day, and it seems certain that the powers of Facebook and Google will soon clash again. Though Facebook is not without faults, as would be expected for a house with such ambition. The social realm is not as safe a place as many would like to believe, and tricksters, thieves, and brigands roam the roads of Facebook freely. It also seems that Facebook has little regard for the rights of its people, and it oft seems that the young house would sell the privacy of its followers to the highest bidder. The Facebook wall may be guarded by millions and protect immense wealth within its keep, but the wall is not without cracks, and those cracks are beginning to show.

Twitter

“WE WILL BE HEARD”

Another young lord of the Internet, this house may be lacking in size when compared to the powers of Facebook and Google, but it certainly does not lack in presence. Not long ago Twitter sought to challenge Facebook in the social realm through sheer numbers alone, but it quickly became apparent that such a tactic was not likely to succeed any time soon. The members of this house are boisterous to a fault, known around the Web as loud-mouthed braggarts with sharp tongues. To be sure, the house is well known for making bold accusations and has a propensity to share useless drivel with its followers, or simply besmirch the honor of a bitter foe. Though, as brash and simple minded as this house may seem, there is something to be said about those who make a habit of accumulating powerful and influential friends. The Twitter house is always ready to receive the famous, the wealthy, or the incredibly powerful, and it is not oft that their halls are not graced with the upper echelons of Internet society. Though for now the great potential of this house remains squandered, as it lacks consistent leadership or any semblance of a cohesive strategy for conquest. Until such a time comes when a true leader can marshal the masses of this powerful house, it will remain nothing more than a raucous den of jests and rumors; a glorified back alley brothel for the prominent.

LinkedIn

“Business as Usual”

An older lord who has only recently risen to a prominent position in the social realm, this house has recently experienced an influx of membership and riches that most houses merely dream of.  Taking the age old saying of “It’s nothing personal, just business” to heart, this house has chosen to make business relationships the cornerstone of its empire. This house serves as the focal point for all professionals in the social realm, and its doors are open to traders, guild members, and even mercenaries for hire. While in the end it remains a social house at heart, this house holds little regard for its principal competitors like Facebook, and feels confident with its smaller contingent of experienced professionals, in contrast to the endless rabble that swell the ranks of rival houses. If there is a deal to be made or an alliance to be forged in the social realm, this house will see it through, and watch their coffers fill with gold all the while. Yet, while the men and women who undertake most of the business transactions of the social realm are proud to swear their allegiance to this house, the vast majority of so called “commoners” find little use in the business oriented house. Whether this shall serve as a blessing or a curse remains to be seen.

Myspace

“Never Forget”

This ancient Lord founded one of the first great houses of the Internet, and was the first to sit the throne as King of the social realm. It is now nothing more than a shadow of its younger self, having long lost most of those who pledged their allegiance. It was undone by the guile of a younger competitor, for it did not comprehend the extent of the ambition that the young Facebook house had for claiming control of the realm. It did not take this new foe seriously, and was unable to match the clever ploys and attacks of its new competitor, and before it could grasp the graveness of the situation that had befallen it, Facebook had usurped the crown right off its head. Now the lands of this house, once vast and populated by millions, are scarce large enough to earn it the title of Lord. The deserted hovels of its previous subjects are numerous, and once where you could find gleeful chatter and harmonious music drifting through its halls, now lay only dust and abandonment. The house has enough retainers to earn it a title, but its once brimming vaults of wealth have long since run dry. There are few who remember this once proud King of the social realm, and even fewer who mourn it. This house now serves as nothing but a reminder to other houses that the allegiance of the masses is only as worthy as those to whom it is sworn. The social realm may be vast, and full of wonders and riches, but the trait that has always held most true for this magical realm, is that it is ruthlessly unforgiving.

Today’s blog post was written by Brice Sanderford. As he is off to bigger and better things he left us with this lovely article to remember him by. In true feudal fashion, we threw candy at him on his way out. Cheers Brice!

Welcome to the July 27^th edition of “What We’re Reading”, a weekly series where we report on stories that are totally Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and every other social network-worthy. This week we have prepared for you the most fastidious assortment of robust and intellectually invigorating periodicals that ever did grace the Web. If you are sitting there wondering how on earth those two sentences could possibly follow one another, don’t worry; we are just as flabbergasted as you. Onward!

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HuffPo Outdoes Esquire, Microsoft in Shameless Use of Winehouse Death

We all experience different reactions when faced with death and tragedy, and for the most part people’s attitudes convey grief and remembrance for the loss of the loved one. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that not all enterprises adhere to the notion of respecting the dead. Numerous reports have surfaced since the untimely death of British singer Amy Winehouse of companies utilizing the pop star’s death as a marketing ploy (surprise!). Microsoft wasted no time reminding their Twitter followers to honor the dead singer by buying her album, and unfortunately they are not the only company masquerading their shameless profit-driven messages as sincere acts of respect. Not to be out done, PR ‘pros’ are took to the Huffington Post and used Winehouse’s death as a lesson to small business owners. Thankfully social media is around to catch them in the act and reveal their disgusting acts to the world. AdAge covered the use of social media for good in the wake of social media for bad. Read the full story here.

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Scoring Your Dream Job Through Social Media

This Philippine’s based writer must have known that the U.S. would soon be removing Galileo, Thomas Hobbes, Calculus, and Rhetoric from the syllabus and replacing them with how to manage your privacy on Facebook, ways to make your Flicker account edgy and cool, and of course, the best way to redeem your public standing through your Twitter. In this article he talks about ways you can use social media to help you land your dream job. Offering some very creative tips for helping you with the interview process, such as advice on how to find a prominent contacts email, and learning more about your future employer through their twitter postings, it’s a must read. What this post really shows is that it always pays to be ahead of the curve when looking for a job, and (just as we suspected) that social media can help you get there. Read on here.

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The History of Advertising on YouTube

Another social network is figuring out how to turn your avid fandom into millions of dollars worth of revenue. Shocked? Neither were we.  As much as we love using social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and in this case YouTube, we need to remember that in the end these free services are businesses, and it is interesting to see how a free service can generate so much cash. This infographic covers the evolution of advertising on YouTube since its creation, but also includes all the other cool services the video sharing site has garnered along the way, as well as other stats. This infographic gets huge points for including the first instance of a Rickroll, because let’s face it “I’m never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you” is just hilarious. See the full infographic here.

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Study: Checking Social Media Addiction on Par with Smoking, Drinking

As odd as it might seem to some and as obvious as it probably seem to others, a recent study has found that social media can be just as addicting to people as smoking cigarettes or hitting the bottle. Some of the quotes by participants in this study are actually quite disturbing, as one of the participants equated having social media taken away from him to his hand being cut off. The parameters of the study are not given in this article, so it is unclear if they followed the scientific method, though the test size and demographics are given. Most likely someone would learn to cope with life without Facebook or Foursquare after a couple of days or weeks without them, but then again maybe a future epidemic is on the rise. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before we start seeing people holding signs with “Will work for Facebook”, or have to listen to your friends tell you not to lend that guy money because he will just go and spend it on Twitter. Hey, it could happen. Read more here.

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