I confess to probably spending more time than I should playing Mafia Wars, though I’m only a level 124 Maniac; my son’s friend is a level 700-plus something or other. Oh, to be young again.

Anyway, I noticed that one of the loot items they’re offering right now is a “Haitian Relief Drum.” It’s a nice idea poorly executed.

According to Wikipedia, there are nearly 26 million monthly active Mafia Wars accounts. Why not give them a real reason to buy the drum — and generate some real dollars for the relief effort?

The drum costs 25 reward points that are acquired by playing the game, or that one can buy directly. But why not offer the drum for a $5.00 donation that goes directly to Haitian relief? It then becomes something of a badge of charitable honor within the game while raising some real money for the cause.

Takeaway for marketers: Doing good business sometimes means simply doing good.

“One thing you sometimes forget is, no matter how hard your day, no matter how tough your choices, how complex your ethical decisions, you always get to choose what you have for lunch.”
—Denny Crane

Trendwatching is a pretty hot commodity among big-ticket marketers who want to know what the Next Big Thing is going to be so they can be among the first to jump on the bandwagon and market to the other riders.

In case you missed it last night, watch now as The Daily Show turns its typically brilliant spotlight on the trends toward trendspotting and turned its Senior Trendologist Jason Jones loose on the trendspotters.

Over on AdAge, Pete Blackshaw has assembled “Top 20 Labels, Buzzwords to Describe Our Curious Stampede to the Social-Media and Mobile Future.”

Everybody loves lists and numbers, few more so than headline writers and bloggers. So, without further ado …

The Ten Stages Of Social Media Business Integration

Nine Practical Ways To Use Google Wave For Business

Eight Things Business Hates About IT

Seven Top Online Marketing Trends For 2010

The Top Six Tips to Drive Traffic To Your Site

Five Ways To Comply With the New FTC Guidelines For Bloggers

Four Ways Social Media Budgets Will Move In 2010

Three Ways to Run A Stand-Up Meeting

The Lesson From Two Lemonade Stands

The Principles of Marketing Can Be Summarized In One Word