Wow – how times have changed since 1981 when I came to this country?  Wonder if "private consulting or professional speaking, or perhaps authoring a book" reform is coming?  I’m sure the Federal Solo Consulting Practitioners Administration can do what I do – or at least tell me how to do what I do – much more effectively…

If you haven’t read the Declaration of Independence lately, it makes for an interesting read…

From: "SPRConnect"

Subject: SPRConnect Community News

SPRConnect       NEW RESOURCES TO HELP WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY If you were able to attend David Nour’sRelationship Economics and Social Networking NEXT session at the Advantage Business Conference in Miami on June 24, we hope you found the content of interest and value. A copy of the presentation is now available on SPRConnect. Even if you missed the ABC presentation, we welcome you to join the Social Media Best Practices group onSPRConnect and take advantage of the many resources posted there. In addition to the ABC presentation, David has posted additional resources to help with your company’s social media strategy. To get started, join the Social Media Best Practices group; under the Resources section of the group you will find the copy of the presentation. It is a large PDF file, but is well worth the minute or two it might take to download. To learn more about how to navigate around and take the best out of the SPRConnect community go to Globalunder the Resources section in the left navigation bar and find SPRConnect Tutorials.   If you would like to meet your top matches, join a new group, reply to a forum or explore a resource, click here to login.

Exclusively for RENetworks Members…

Sociologists tell us that an average person can proactively manage between 100-150 relationships!  So, here are a few questions for you:

Which ones?

How do you Know?

What are you doing on a daily basis to make sure you’re investing in your most influential and strategic relationships? …

Sign Up on RENetworks to learn more, get this and other weekly Relationship Economics Tip of the Week, get notified of our upcoming webinars, and get access to other resources like articles and white papers.

To learn more about how to become a member, click on the logo below:

Newark. Del. – Rejuvenating business is the theme of Produce Marketing Association’s (PMA) 2010 Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition when it convenes Oct. 15-18 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., USA, and the opening session keynote speaker has proven that he knows how. A.G. Lafley, former chairman of the board and CEO of Procter & Gamble, turned the global company around after taking over in 2000, doubling its sales and more than doubling its portfolio of billion-dollar brands. Lafley will explain how he did it during the convention opening general session on Friday, Oct. 15.

Delving into personal renewal, growth and success, Sunday morning’s general session speaker David Nour will share the secrets of “Relationship Economics®,” including how to invest in people for extraordinary return. CEO of The Nour Group, Nour is a consultant, speaker and author of the books Relationship Economics, ConnectAbility, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Raising Capital and the Social Networking Technology Best Practices series.

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Mentoring on a personal and professional level is something that has been done for years. But recently, there have been some changes as it relates to mentoring. The following answers to commonly asked questions are provided in the context of these recent changes.

How do you find a good mentor, and how do you know if you need one?
We all need mentors (regardless of our business stature or seasons of our careers) to grow personally and professionally.  To find great mentors, sit and candidly assess who you want to become (not just what you want to accomplish) in five, ten and fifteen years; you may not know all of the answers or even what questions to ask, so seek individuals you admire and succinctly identify the remarkable characteristics, skills, behaviors they possess which you seek.  Identify a handful of individuals at higher stature than you are today and develop a relationship with them. This is ideal if you can find someone with a vested interest in your success to give you an independent perspective and unique insights on how you are perceived and particular areas for improvement.  Introspection is difficult for many, but those who can do it well and uncover candid gaps between whom they are today and who they want to become, go into a mentoring process with a very clear set of goals, strategies, objectives, and tactics (GSOT). Read the rest of this entry »

In the current economic climate  in any economic climate for that matter, its tough to sell to business customers.  Budget cuts, diminishing client relationships, more diligent often committee review of your proposals, an elevated decision-making process and roles within organizations, are all making prospecting, proposing, negotiating and closing business that much tough for everyone.

The only saving grace: this too will pass.  Deals are getting done by astute leaders.  How?  By elevating the conversation and the value of their unique solution as a must-have, not simply a nice-to-have!  In short, you must excite or disturb your current and prospective clients to create movement.