The culture a company forms for itself has massive impact on the work produced.
Stealing this unashamedly from my dad... we try very hard to be "fun, friendly, and helpful." This manifests itself in: the calls we have with clients, our state-of-mind while at our desks, and how we communicate in email.
Life is hard enough, so we always try to keep a positive and upbeat attitude. You wouldn't think, so but creating or transforming a company's web presence can be stressful and high pressure. People entrust their businesses to us all the time; being alert and thorough is key. However, in order to not let this responsibility turn us into uptight, stressed-out, robots, we mix a healthy dose of fun, humor, and joy into our work.
Don't be mistaken, this surface casualness is how we keep our work full of joy, meaning, and we don't end up in padded rooms scribbling "Die Internet Explorer, Die!" We are still professionals underneath the jeans and un-tucked dress shirts.
Yada yada yada, so what do we mean?
Phone Calls
If we chat on the phone, we try to be direct and not waste your time, while being fun and interesting people. I do far too much rubbing in the face of my northern clients, the warm weather and sun that I suffer through. (sorry!)Posts / Content
When we interact in the online world with Social Media, mailing lists, website content, and blog posts, we may be more casual and entertaining than you are used to. And that is exactly why... we would put you to sleep at your keyboard if everything from LimeCuda was "what you are used to". Have you ever seen the face of someone who fell asleep on their keyboard? It ain't pretty.
Emails
We all get faaaaaar too many of them. We feel your pain. In our correspondence we try to be to-the-point and not waste your valuable time. You also might get some humor. We're also certainly no strangers to the emoticons like: :) or ;) and if you are a cheekish client maybe even a :P (don't be alarmed if you see an lol, only 30% of the time are we laughing at you)
Why do we engage in such frivolities? Experience. There is a very real danger when communicating with someone online as you immediately lose the 90% of communication that is non-verbal. By adding a smiley face we are trying to bring back some of the meaning and intent that is lost in written communication. This isn't us being goofy, this is us trying to make sure you know that we aren't mad or frustrated.
Note: in case you weren't aware, ALL CAPS is the online equivalent of screaming, so unless you are very mad or very excited about something, don't use it. Don't leave us guessing what you meant when you said "THE FONT IS WAY TOO SMALL" :)
Now it's your turn... Any tips you want to share for communicating online? Have a different style philosophy? Please share in the comments!