According to Wikipedia, the phrase “There’s a sucker born every minute” is closely associated with P.T. Barnum, an American showman of the mid-19th century. I have been discussing the 25 different areas of a person’s life where certain organizations, individuals, or sometimes micro-financial managers can affect the success of your life. Often, people will only look at a very small part of their life as I am expressing in the following photo. They limit their view to what they can see through a long, narrow paper roll tube. Instead, let's look at the big picture.
Today, let’s look at how we’re influenced by ‘The Influencer’.
What is an Influencer? These are people or organizations who affect others because of what they say or post on social media. There is money to be made by people who run their businesses through social media. These are the influencers. We see their posts over and over again online until, after a while, it sounds like what they are preaching is the truth. But wait, here’s what you need to know when it comes to financial advice: what you may hear online may not necessarily be the truth.
Many people don’t realize that if I am posting a blog or a video, my content has to be scrubbed. My words have to go through a compliance department to make certain that what I am saying is true and correct. If it isn’t or even if there is a word that could be misinterpreted, I have to change it. I either have to choose a word or phrase that is more descriptive or use a word that is more accurate to what I am communicating to the public because the internet is a public domain. I am constantly monitoring what I am saying. Is it accurate? Is it truthful? An influencer, in many cases, is unregulated, unlicensed, and unregistered; which also may mean “unchecked”.
I’m not saying that all influencers fall into that area. I am saying it’s very important that you take a look at the big picture and not just assume that what you are seeing through the filter (or paper roll tube) is truthful, because it may not be. When you obtain information, you must receive it, test it, question it, and ask for verification that it is not only true in the big picture, but is also true in your own situation. Remember what P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
If we appear to be the type of firm that thinks outside of the box (or beyond the paper roll tube) and if that is what you are looking for in your life, I would invite you to have a one-on-one conversation with our team. Perhaps it’s time for you to schedule your life Financialoscopy®.
