Worldwide, an estimated 9.6 trillion text messages were sent in 2012. This number is staggering, and with Valentine's Day upon us, its important to look at how people are using text messaging to interact with each other. Sweethearts flock to this service to send a quick, "I'm thinking about you," (or racier) note to their loved one when phone calls aren't required. There's also a way for businesses to use SMS to win love, leads, and revenue. There are several similarities between building a personal and business relationship, and we'll take a look at how businesses can learn a thing or two from them.

There is etiquette involved, and marketers are trying to learn the ropes and come up with strategies that will engage their customers in a thoughtful way, and not force a personal relationship before their is one. You wouldn't text a potential hook-up racy one liners before your first date, and you shouldn't do it in business either. People are being bombarded by marketers looking to scam, or make a quick buck from every angle imaginable, and they're on to these type of tactics.

What they aren't used to — the majority of businesses don't do this well at all — is a business trying to court them, and win their business through a steady stream of give-and-take. The best relationships are the ones where both people are committed to making it happen. They know there'll be bumps along the way. But in the end, they're where they want to be; and wouldn't have it another way.

People will notice, in a positive way, when businesses have their best interests in mind. When they make them feel secure about their purchases, have the support network to answer their questions & quell their fears. If the customer ever acts up, or behaves completely irrational during a complaint - which can definitely happen in relationships - the business will know to let things cool off and do what they can to rectify the situation.

via: Leads360

There are over 80 million smartphones in circulation throughout the world. Which means we are truly entering an age of "always on" and "on-the-go." This new mobile explosion is changing the way we receive and interact with content, whether we're paying bills, answering emails, ordering food, checking our favorite sites - news/design - or purchasing our favorite products on Etsy.

If business owners don't get their act together and think about how their website functions on a mobile phone, they'll hang perilously close to being left behind. There are over 80 million smartphone users in the world who access websites through their phones, and 57% of them wouldn't recommend a website they had trouble accessing on it.

People access information when they're waiting in line to get coffee in the morning, have 15 minutes to kill before a meeting, and — annoyingly — when they're having dinner with a group of friends. These are just a few examples, but when it comes down to it, people are inhaling their daily doses of information away from their desk, or laptop computer. Which means, businesses need to be ready if they want to keep up with how society is changing.

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via: Intuit

Your sitting at your desk, minding your own business, when you hear a deafening, "Ah-choo!" spring forth from somewhere deep in the bowels of the other side of the office. Based on the time of year it is, your mind instantly goes into worst case scenario mode: the flu is upon us. The flu is no laughing matter, with nearly 40 million Americans being hospitalized every year. The best thing you can do for yourself — and your wallet — is to take a preventative measure and get a flu shot. The average cost is $35 per person, and is typically covered by most health insurance plans.

When your at work, make sure to avoid certain office surfaces that are teeming with bacteria. The main culprits are: sink faucet handles, microwave door handles, keyboards, refrigerator door handles, water fountain buttons, and vending machine buttons.

via: CouponCabin

The original Thanksgiving was a 3-day harvest feast held by the founders of the Plymouth colony in 1621, which makes Thanksgiving one of the oldest holiday traditions of the Americas, started by some of the first European settlers. The Thanksgiving we experience today is very different, and Turkeys know the full brunt of Thanksgiving's wrath. Nearly 46 million turkeys will lay down their lives for our rumbling bellies, with nearly 88% of Americans eating turkey this Thanksgiving.

It's safe to say we've come a long way in the almost 400 years since the first Thanksgiving. While the first settlers were just hoping to make it through the winter months, we're stuck contemplating on if we're capable of pulling off a vegan Thanksgiving. We also rack our brains on whether or not we want to brave the lines at our favorite retail shops on Black Friday, or order gifts from the comfort of our couch on Cyber Monday.

via: History

Where will the reach of the Internet invade next? Those of us who love our television programs are increasingly watching them with our mobile devices in hand. We use them to find our information related to things we've seen, and connect on our favorite social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Shows like AMCs The Walking Dead really play things up in the social sphere, asking fans to create or comment on different hashtags for each episode, then discussing them on the air. This extra interaction is often happening during the advertisements, and the "second screen" trend is changing the way people view TV in surprising ways. See more about TV going social in the below infographic from Confused.com.

The days of showing up to work and immersing yourself in the humdrum life behind cubicle walls (essentially nullifying your existence from the immediate world around you for 8 hours a pop) until you leave at 5pm are going the way of the dinosaur. Claustrophobia has never been cool, and the feeling of dread one gets from not interacting with the world around them has become unbearable, and this type of office environment stifles aspects of today's economy that are becoming increasingly important: collaboration and creativity.

As technologies evolve and work needs change, companies like Google, Facebook, Pandora and Urban Outfitters are spearheading the charge in creating an encouraging space to foster creativity, innovation, contemplation, and collaboration. The success of these companies has changed the way businesses judge success.

This need to collaborate with co-workers on projects, or simply obtain a response to a 10-second question before the day is out, has brought about the need to create open space within the modern office.

via: Plantronics & Office Snapshots

To highlight the fears of creative professionals, creative agency Column Five Media—in collaboration with the social network for creatives The Creative Finder—has created an infographic.

In ‘The Common Phobias of Creatives’, it states that within the office, creative types have a phobia of: PCs, Comic Sans, sterile cube farm environments, internet outages, and hovering helicopter bosses.

When freelancing, creatives fear asking for extensions, asking for payments, getting non-traditional compensations, and never being able to say “no” to a project.

When it comes to dealing with clients, creatives are afraid to get these responses: “I’m not in love with it”; “Let me circulate it around the office”; “Can we make it ‘pop’ more”; “Can we get this ASAP”; “I’ll know it when I see it”; and “This is a good start, but…”.

Creatives, are these truly your fears?

Check out the infographic below:

Click to view enlarged version

[via Column Five Media]

This post was originally published on designtaxi.com.