I’m so glad you stopped by — I’m enjoying your blog very much!

While supervision and archiving requirements may be streamlined at some point in the future, we don’t see them going away. But we think the guidance is just enough for regulated companies to begin listening, learning more about their clients and prospects and slowly engaging. Will the level of engagement be comparable to Zappos or Starbucks? Not now and maybe never. But watch for investment brands to become more relevant and connected.

Far from representing a threat to the member companies and consumers, the FINRA guidance enables transparency. The days of publishing investment commentary just four times a year and portfolio manager interviews in semi-annual shareholder reports are over. Investors and financial advisors want and need more frequent, consistent information about how their money is being managed.

Social media channels can support ongoing communications, as more than a dozen investment managers are experiencing with Twitter (see the Twitter list we maintain of investment managers on Twitter http://twitter.com/RockTheBoatMKTG/investmentmanagers/members) The next frontier for these early adopters is to master, as supported by internal systems, two-way conversations.

I’m no longer in those trenches, but this does seem like progress. I remember email being filtered and disclaimers on voicemails. I pretty much had to get permission if it smelled like marketing or advice. So, for friends still in the business that want to be on social networks this seems like a win. Not every tweet or update is marketing (I hope!). It could be a conversation, which leads to a meeting, etc.

I think this new guideline recognizes that social media is here to stay, but I’m not sure it’s mainstream yet. Still know people that don’t know what a blog is or Tweeter. But hey, what’s mainstream?