Shortly after graduating from college, I got a rather unexpected call from an acquaintance with whom I went to high school and attended college. (We were both business majors, so we shared a few classes.) After some small talk and kicking around the idea of meeting up for a beer one night, I found myself wondering why he was bothering to call me. We hadn't spoken much in college, and weren't particularly good friends. Why the sudden interest in what I was doing?

That was when he mentioned that he was now working at a company where he was in training to be a financial planner. Tactfully, he slipped in a request that I come over to visit him one evening so he and his associates at the company could make a pitch so I might be convinced to let them handle my finances. Ah...now I get it.

Here's the problem: if you treat me like a prospect, then I'm going to treat you like a salesman. Actually, I'm going to treat you worse than a salesman, because usually, when I'm talking to a salesman, it's because I've sought them out for something I need. Getting a call from a friend/acquaintance/family member who is trying to sell you something is an egregious violation of trust. It makes you seem more promiscuous and it ruins our relationship by turning it into more of a transaction than a real connection.

Facebook is full of people trying to promote things. I'm not against that in and of itself, but I think there's a line that needs to be drawn. Take this blog, for example, which I recently started feeding into my Facebook account so friends would see my posts in their news feeds. I don't have any ads on here, and I never will. I'm here to offer any advice and ideas to anyone that might be interested, not turn it into a profit center.