Insights

If there's one constant lament—from both consumers and businesses—about the various social media tools out there, it's that many of them seem somewhat unprofessional or childish. There's room for argument there, certainly, but both groups have reason to fear that perception can equal reality. Enter LinkedIn.

One of the things I studied in college was business, and there's something I learned quickly: You have to know how to talk the talk. True, business jargon has existed for years, but it seemed to reach new heights during the last 20 years—such ridiculous heights, in fact, that there has been a well-deserved backlash by some of the very companies who may have had a hand in the problem.

TRC Consultants has enjoyed favorable market share for a number of years with its powerful PHDWin suite of software for the petroleum industry. As part of a recent international expansion, TRC translated PHDWin into Russian and renamed the regional product offering PHD Precise.

Tuesday we were surprised to see that our package had arrived early. Everyone gathered around to see it as I began cutting into the large cardboard box. The result was better than any of us could have imagined.

Let me start from the beginning, let me back up the truck. We had our offices renovated not too long ago with a new Digett sign, new light fixtures, and new paint throughout. Everything looked great, but the freshly painted walls were a little bland—they needed some help.

We all know times have been tough, of late. Fear not—I'm not going to launch into a lengthy analysis of potential causes of the economic meltdown. After all, I'm in marketing, so I'm a little more concerned about potential effects. In any economic downturn, a plethora of experts in micro-/macro-financial issues and experts in worldwide market analysis will share with you their years of strategic wisdom—though little of it may apply to you and even less of it will make sense.