Here’s what you need to do:Create a new content item to be added into the game.
What you will win:Your name will be immortalized on the Pirates of Somalia credits and your item will be added to the game.

If that wasn’t enough the grand prize winner will win a $25 gift card of their choice (US only) or $25 via Paypal (US and International)

The more entries we have the more prizes we will give out! The Runner-up will win Pirates of Somalia Influence Points! If we get a lot of entries, we’ll hand out MORE prizes!

Contest will take place between September 3rd and October 3rd.Entries must be in by October 3rd. Winners will be announced by October 10th.

Rules:

– You may not use the brand name or “marks” of another item. For example you can create a gun but you can’t call it a Walther. If you create a can of soup you can not name it Progresso.
- In your submission you must provide a short description of the item and explain the item’s uses. For example, Shark Repellent is something used to allow you to do dive missions. If it is weapon or other item that has attack and defense stats giving the stats is optional.
- An image to be used in the game is optional but is highly recommended.
- Contest entry emails MUST include in the subject the word “contest”.
- Method of obtaining the item in the game should be included in your description. Will players purchase it with Influence Points? Will it be randomly dropped? Will it be available as a gift? Let us know how you see the item being used in the game.
- All items are allowed: Weapons, Armor, Transports, Buildings, Boosts, Gifts, Drops, Loot, Collections and Crate Entries.
- All Items submitted become the sole property of Strategic Design Network, Inc.
- We reserve the rights to use any, none or all of the submitted items. Furthermore we reserve the right to award multiple or no winners at our sole discretion.

Submit your entires to contest@sdnnow.com

Post sales and specials. It doesn’t matter how low the discount. People love to save money.

Do you have new merchandise or a new service to offer? Facebook is the perfect venue to get out the word about new goods and services.

Just start a dialog. Ask the people on your page what they think about a product or service. Ask them what kind of sale they would like to see. Ask them what else they would like to see your company offer. People love to get involved and give advice.

It is almost impossible to post too much. You need to you keep your company and brand in the public’s eye. With the exception of posting what you had for lunch, all is fair when it comes to posting on Facebook.

Thanks to the guys at Inside Social Games for the write up on GameToyz our FaceBook Arcade sites.  Nice comments for an application that has been out of beta for about a week.  We are making improvements daily but this is a very nice beginning!

Read the Article Here

One of the perks of advertising on social networks is the sense of informality it provides. You can converse with your customers and potential customers in a conversational setting. This can bring a feeling of camaraderie between the customers and your company. People will leave the discussion thinking that you really get them and care about them.

The informal setting also brings a new set of problems. It is possible to be too informal. As a professional you should always avoid using text speak and internet slang. Customers want to feel a kinship with you but they still want to know that you know what you are talking about. Using bad grammar and improper punctuation will make a customer wonder about the quality of service or product you provide.

Would you be comfortable giving your business to a company that responds to your Facebook posts with “Thanx 4 UR BuziNess!!”

I spent hours a day clicking this button until the idea hit me that was perfect! I took everything I knew about game design, game mechanic, user experience and I rolled it all up into a nice document.  We sat around at coffee houses and kitchen tables and discussed and tweaked this idea for weeks.  OK it’s done.  Fully fleshed out.  I now hold in my possession the best thing I have ever seen come to life on paper.  Now it was time to go out and make it come to life.  I need art, I need ads, I need payment processors (because I am sure this thing is going to make a million dollars) and I need more than 24 hours in a day.  One quick check to make sure NO one else has had this idea already (and who would, this idea generator only works for me right) and there you have it.  Not only did someone else have my idea, they had art, they had payment processors and they were already running ad campaigns.

So tonight here I sit.  Clicking this button.  Waiting for the next best thing to be thrown at my feet like an offering from the gods above.

The mental roller coaster that comes with the life of being an artist is something I have learned to cope with by now. There are unavoidable times of self-loathing, and doubt that stem from the desire to be a part of something great, and not quite being there. And then there are the highs, when inside I am saying, “Wait until the world gets a load of this…”

Today I find myself in the latter. These are good times and SDN has much to do with it.  Part of that ride I take inside my head, always leads me to ask myself if I’m doing the best thing for my growth as an artist. Should I be directing big budget games? Should I do the Hollywood VFX thing? And right now I consider myself pretty blessed. There’s a wonderful, new opportunity going on to really push the limits of technology’s interaction with society. And SDN is in the middle of it all. The waters will eventually settle, Facebook will go away, but how often do you get to be the one in the center of the storm churning the tide?

“Strategic Design” is quite well stated. I wasn’t with the company yet, when the name was chosen, and I wonder if they knew how fitting it would be for a company that would find itself face first into social media applications. In the design of these games I have an obligation to make them as sociably interactive as possible. Staying up with the trends, creating new ways for people to share with one another…all par for the course, all strategically and methodically thought out. And I can’t help but notice that as much as I am designing for social reasons, I am designing because of them too. So just who is in charge here?

Both sides are pushing the other forward at new speeds.  There is pressure to optimize each technology to its peak in order to better the quality of peoples’ daily lives in return. And so on goes the cycle. Today we are well past any point of return. Every family member, business, and school has their own personal page online, and the amount of daily, social interactivity that technology plays a hand in has soared to unpredictable levels. And I find it exciting.

The best part? Strategic Design Network has a strict mission not to just hang on and enjoy the ride, but rather, to grab the reigns and try our best to shape the way every person interacts. I’m right where I belong.