"If there is one different word in each description, that is presumably enough to stop them being seen as duplicates?"

Yes, if there's only one character different, they won't be seen as duplicates, at least by machines/bots.

"Also, I was intrigued that you said "Google doesn't officially use meta descriptions" - is there some doubt over this? I thought they'd confirmed it themselves?"

It's just that Google doesn't reveal exactly what they use in their algorithm to determine ranking, so its up to us to figure it out as best we can with observation and experimentation. Sometimes they will confirm or deny using a specific factor, but it's still up to the individual to choose to take that at face value or not.

"I think the choice I have to make is, is it better to have 100% unique descriptions that are too short (keyword only, as at present), or much less unique ones that are 130+ characters. I guess the latter wins."

Probably the latter, but in the case of meta descriptions, I would make that decision based to what is best for the user/customer rather than what we'd speculate Google would want.

Having duplicate meta keywords will trigger red flags in the Moz tools and other site quality tools, but only because it's a potential user quality issue. Google doesn't officially use meta descriptions as a ranking factor, so as long as the meta descriptions are appropriate and as best as they can be for what's on the specific page, it doesn't matter how different they are from each other page-to-page. Just keep in mind that this is what shows up in the SERPS, so make them interesting enough to make a user want to click your page over the ones surrounding it.

I don't think I ever realized that forwarding also can return a 301. That's really good to know. Thanks.

Why don't you try domain forwarding? That may be your only option as there is growing evidence that Google passes links from 302 redirects as well. You can find the domain forwarding option in the control panel where the domain name is hosted. Instead of doing a redirect, the change will take place with the DNS.

Here's some info: http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/422/forwarding-or-masking-your-domain-name

Make sure you choose forwarding without masking.

"My current strategy is to target the top 3 all on one page."
Definitely have one page for all those keywords. "Managed IT Services" and "IT Managed Services" are the same thing. Even "Managed IT Support" could be considered the same thing. Google's algorithm is smart enough to decipher synonyms.
Resource: http://helpmyseo.com/seo-tips/296-language-synonyms-and-the-google-algorithm-and-how-it-affects-your-seo.html

"The problem then is the title tag: Managed IT Services | IT Managed Services | Managed IT Support"
Definitely do NOT do this. Google will see it as keyword spam/stuffing and it will hurt you, not help you. I'd recommend making the title tag "Your Company Name | One of those keyword phrases" (assuming your company name doesn't already have those phrases in the name)
Resource: http://www.pagetraffic.com/guide/keyword-repetition.php

"I could build pages for all 3, but how would I incorporate them into the website since they are all synonyms. . . How would handle separate pages with synonymous content?"
The way to handle pages with to avoid them like the plague.
Resource: http://moz.com/blog/duplicate-content-in-a-post-panda-world

If you're looking for a second opinion, I 100% agree with Thomas.

Thanks for the link, but this happened radically and exactly two weeks ago.

One of the clients I manage has over 5,000 Facebook fans. Whenever I'd make a post, it usually would get ~700-1,000 impressions.

About two weeks ago I did my first promoted post. Ever since then, all the regular posts I've done have only gotten ~100 impressions . . . out of 5,325!

I'm wondering if Facebook, once learning that you are willing to pay for promoted posts, secretly lowers your impression count so that you will pay for promoted posts more often, or if the timing of my promoted post was just a coincidence, and everyone started to see a decrease about two weeks ago.

Does anyone know what's going on?

It sounded like you were describing us word for word. A couple weeks ago, I started a topic about this. http://www.seomoz.org/q/interesting-serp-trend-i-m-observing

I don't have advice either. Just know you're not alone and other people are feeling your frustration.

Can you clarify a little what you mean? You really don't need a plugin for that, as you can specify right in the editor when you're writing which text you want to assign a heading tag to.

It's generally agreed that a best practice in this regard is to use target="_blank" any time you are linking out to a different website. You should keep your internal links within the same window or tab unless you are linking to a part of your site that's totally unrelated or if you really don't want the user to leave the page they're on.

Additionally, if you are not using target="_blank" make sure all of your pages have clear, easily-understandable navigation, especially when it comes to linking back to your main page.

I used a very similar service that promised 25 edu backlinks for 25 dollars. It was a huge mistake, as all they did was place spam comments on dofollow edu blogs. We actually saw our ranking drop a couple of spaces because of this. I learned my lesson and will never do anything like this again. Hence, I do not recommend this. Any company that charges to get you links usually only acquires poor quality links.

If you're looking for a second opinion, I 100% agree with Thomas.

Having duplicate meta keywords will trigger red flags in the Moz tools and other site quality tools, but only because it's a potential user quality issue. Google doesn't officially use meta descriptions as a ranking factor, so as long as the meta descriptions are appropriate and as best as they can be for what's on the specific page, it doesn't matter how different they are from each other page-to-page. Just keep in mind that this is what shows up in the SERPS, so make them interesting enough to make a user want to click your page over the ones surrounding it.

Here's the real question: if you acquire inbound links to blog.domain.com do those links add to the DA of domain.com or only blog.domain.com? Answer that and you've answered the question.

It sounded like you were describing us word for word. A couple weeks ago, I started a topic about this. http://www.seomoz.org/q/interesting-serp-trend-i-m-observing

I don't have advice either. Just know you're not alone and other people are feeling your frustration.

My belief is that they are not the same at all. With /blog, Domain Authority and Page Rank are being passed on. With blog. you're starting from scratch.

"My current strategy is to target the top 3 all on one page."
Definitely have one page for all those keywords. "Managed IT Services" and "IT Managed Services" are the same thing. Even "Managed IT Support" could be considered the same thing. Google's algorithm is smart enough to decipher synonyms.
Resource: http://helpmyseo.com/seo-tips/296-language-synonyms-and-the-google-algorithm-and-how-it-affects-your-seo.html

"The problem then is the title tag: Managed IT Services | IT Managed Services | Managed IT Support"
Definitely do NOT do this. Google will see it as keyword spam/stuffing and it will hurt you, not help you. I'd recommend making the title tag "Your Company Name | One of those keyword phrases" (assuming your company name doesn't already have those phrases in the name)
Resource: http://www.pagetraffic.com/guide/keyword-repetition.php

"I could build pages for all 3, but how would I incorporate them into the website since they are all synonyms. . . How would handle separate pages with synonymous content?"
The way to handle pages with to avoid them like the plague.
Resource: http://moz.com/blog/duplicate-content-in-a-post-panda-world

Why don't you try domain forwarding? That may be your only option as there is growing evidence that Google passes links from 302 redirects as well. You can find the domain forwarding option in the control panel where the domain name is hosted. Instead of doing a redirect, the change will take place with the DNS.

Here's some info: http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/422/forwarding-or-masking-your-domain-name

Make sure you choose forwarding without masking.

"If there is one different word in each description, that is presumably enough to stop them being seen as duplicates?"

Yes, if there's only one character different, they won't be seen as duplicates, at least by machines/bots.

"Also, I was intrigued that you said "Google doesn't officially use meta descriptions" - is there some doubt over this? I thought they'd confirmed it themselves?"

It's just that Google doesn't reveal exactly what they use in their algorithm to determine ranking, so its up to us to figure it out as best we can with observation and experimentation. Sometimes they will confirm or deny using a specific factor, but it's still up to the individual to choose to take that at face value or not.

"I think the choice I have to make is, is it better to have 100% unique descriptions that are too short (keyword only, as at present), or much less unique ones that are 130+ characters. I guess the latter wins."

Probably the latter, but in the case of meta descriptions, I would make that decision based to what is best for the user/customer rather than what we'd speculate Google would want.