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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.

Compliments of my friend, Lou Heckler.

In my last several prospective client meetings, a consistent conversation has centered on the need for a social media policy. Whether you work for a progressive organization or a conservative, risk-adverse one, it seems that everyone has an opinion on the best approach. Here are some prevailing camps:

Read the rest of David’s article in Top One Report.

In 2010, the changing dynamics in buyer behavior will force many organizations to engage and influence their current and prospective customers very differently in the “new norm” of 2010 and beyond. Marketing will have to focus much more proactively on one-on-one relationships (as advocated by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers of Peppers & Rogers Group in the early 90s – talk about being ahead of your time!), whether on the corporate website/blog, or a multitude of social networks.

The organizations of 2010 and beyond must become much more astute in how they identify and respond to the ever-fluid market dynamics. In short, they have to learn to engage and influence more and mass broadcast less, participate in communities, set up LinkedIn groups and Facebook fan pages, read blogs and respond to tweets, create conversations, and share photos – in short, to Listen Louder! In many ways, social networks are changing the rules of influence and engagement.

Read the rest of David’s article in Top One Report.

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. Mentoring has evolved in three fundamental ways:

First, it has evolved into specialty areas of one’s development needs.  I recommend every high performer (a must to attract ideal “future-state” mentors) to identify 3 independent individuals as mentors: one within your company who clearly understands your role, realm of responsibilities, challenges and opportunities; one within your industry who is familiar with the bigger picture outside of your purview; one completely outside of what you do to give you an independent perspective on your particular assets and areas for improvement.  This “triangulation” gives you the best possible perspective on any inflection point in your career.

Second, it has evolved in a much more balanced approach between hard and soft skills.  Emotional Intelligence and Strategic Relationship Planning have become as critical as the technical skills to succeed, grow personally and professionally, and to engage and influence others often without authority.

Third, it has evolved into formal and informal structures, cascading mentoring programs as well as “reverse mentoring” opportunities.  Formal mentor / mentee events are still held several times each year, yet it is highly encouraged to meet and engage informally as the need arises.  Cascading mentoring programs connect a senior mentor with a mentee who also mentors a junior person; this 3-tiered model allows for a cascading effect of best practices down the organization.  Reverse mentoring is younger or newer employees showing “old dogs” some new tricks – particularly in Web 2.0.

While mentoring programs have evolved in recent years, their purpose has stayed the same. Sharing knowledge, insight and wisdom that one person has with another person benefits everyone who is involved in such a program.

It is so important to know why you are getting involved in a mentoring program, what you want out of it, and which program to choose from. Stay tuned for the next week’s article regarding the questions to ask yourself about a mentoring program.

Do you suffer from Corporate Relationship Deficit Disorder? Most large (and not so large) companies usually do. In a keynote speech for Sun Microsystems David discusses some of the things that contribute to that disorder and what can be done to fix the problem!