April Rudin

While I think it's true that "the rich are getting richer," it's important to note a newer, more quantifiable trend: the rich are getting younger. Heretofore, most wealth creation and/or wealth inheritance events occurred much later in life. One of the major drivers behind creating the new young wealth has...

One of the stories pinging around on the Internet a couple of weeks ago was Goldman Sachs' plan to hire a social media community manager. While most concluded that it was "the toughest job on Wall Street," I happen to think otherwise. It's actually my "dream job," as difficult as...

Chip Roame, Managing Partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors is one of the famous names in market research and strategic consulting in financial services. He has worked with over 360 top financial services' firms, and has been engaged for over 1500 assignments. He has become a trusted advisor to...

One of the early principles taught in medical school is "first do no harm." Sadly, this core value is currently a topic of raging debate at the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) as the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) continue to argue for suitability standards that are different...

Unintentionally, I ended up doing a series of blogs comparing social media and drug use. Here is the latest and final installment of this blog series: Facebook as compared to a recreational drug.

Facebook has always been considered a "recreational" drug and has even been called "addicting" by...

Hong Kong and China, in general, have established themselves as global manufacturing capitals by inexpensively producing a variety of electronics, clothing, knick-knacks, etc. But Hong Kong and China have now started "manufacturing" something much more lucrative and exclusive: high net worth individuals. One in seven adults on Hong...

Baby-boomers (those born prior to 1946) are a generation typified by their competitive streak, idealism and eagerness to put their own "stamp" on things. They've lived through booming prosperity and recessions. As compared to their parents (traditionailists) who were patriotic, loyal, conservative, and, so displayed fierce loyalty to their financial...

In a previous Huffington Post blog, "LinkedIn -- The Gateway Drug to Social Media For Financial Services and Others," I discussed how LinkedIn serves as a "gateway" drug of sorts for those reluctant about where to enter social media marketing. I think that the "gateway drug" theory has...

In a new study by Swiss consulting firm, Assetinum, it's reported that most wealth managers and private banks are having difficulties and are actually quite "clumsy" when it comes to their social media marketing. I am NOT surprised. Remember, that financial services is comprised of mainly left-brained quantitative thinkers, i.e....

Think about electronics, think about Hong Kong. Think about portable radios, think Hong Kong. Portable DVD players, cell phones and smart phones, all have Chinese ancestry. Many other electronics were born in Hong Kong. It's no wonder that social media has penetrated so much of Hong Kong (and other parts...

Crowdfunding is yet another example of America's pent-up demand to "crowd together" for daily deals via GroupOn, to 'Like" and "Friend" people via Facebook, to content share by tweeting and re-tweeting on Twitter and so on. In this instance, the "crowd-sourced" buying power allows investors the ability to purchase stock...

What is an asset? In the financial world, assets are resources. Anything tangible or intangible that is owned or controlled to produce value is considered to be an asset. Real estate, stocks, bonds, jewelry or even pieces of art are the usual "powerful" assets that one thinks of individuals and...

What does Hong Kong have in common with Facebook, business intelligence software, and new mobile medical diagnostic technologies for physicians working the front line of patient care? They're all platforms which will dominate the 21st century landscape. Platforming is the" new black" for smart business "architecture." Send out an...

I grew up in Southfield, Michigan in the very late 1960s and early 1970s. From the time that I was young girl, I have always been a baseball fan. I even attended a 1968 World Series game with my grandfather at Tiger Stadium. Most people remember Tiger Stadium as one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAcimdt8Po0

There is a lot of talk about the relatively, newly-coined term, "helicopter parent." In a broad definition, I think it means hovering parents who are controlling their kid's every move in life from what they eat, to who they are friends with, which extracurricular activities...

Living in NYC brings significant and interesting possibilities to me every day. Although as a point of interest of reference about me, my heart remains in my hometown, Detroit. These days, I have a marketing firm in NYC which counsels financial services clients like wealth managers on how to create...

Sometimes people write to me and ask me to blog about their cause, product or whatever passion that they have. Because blogging is an activity for which I don't get paid, I do try and limit the number of blogs which I write as they can be time-consuming to research...

Quantity vs Quality is age-old debate. The question remains: Is more always better?

In high school, one of my classrooms had a poster which read, "More is Always Better!" The illustration underneath was of a small man who was underneath a pile of many elephants and another elephant was...

Last year, a friend and trusted business colleague suggested that I read the book, Rework. I bought it without hesitation. The friend suggested the book, by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, at a point when I myself was working through some of the fits and starts that befall most...

According to Wikipedia, the current definition of a social network is "... a social structure made up of individuals (or organizations) called 'nodes', which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislikes, relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge...