Business Communications

Last week, under the presumption of sending me St. Patrick's Day greetings, I got this from a life insurance agent who likes to pose as a financial advisor...This kind of crappy communications gives the insurance sector a black eye.

With financial reform and the worldwide economic meltdown on most everyone’s mind, sending a newsletter with fluff like this makes me question whether this advisor is in the loop or out to lunch. C’mon, talk to me about something you’re a credentialed expert in!

True story: I was once written up for using college level vocabulary on the job. Yes, it was in a written performance evaluation. No, I was not writing for a living at the time; was running a line of business. You might not guess that my employer was a bank, where most workers had some college and many had MBAs. Go figure. Just one of the reasons I'm forever freelance.

I remember when my elder son was about four or five and learning to say all the wrong things. One day he stomped into my room, ranting a string of expletives about his brother. He stopped mid rant, clapped his hand to his mouth, looked me in the eye and said "I'm sorry, Mom, my mouth was on fire."

Last week FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 10-06 to finally address how those it regulates can participate in social media. Anyone regulated by FINRA already knows this, and I've got nothing new to say about the notice.

My inbox is clogged with so-called newsletters from people who must have made a resolution to "communicate more" or "do more marketing" in 2010.

We all love shortcuts, but sometimes they backfire.