One of the major tenets of social media engagement is showing the folks in and around your network some love for the great things they create and share. Heck, that’s really an important foundation of any healthy relationship. It’s a bit like the Golden Rule, and while it sometimes seems like we can never do enough to show the people in our network just how much we appreciate and value their contributions to our lives, it’s amazing what even the little things can do.

So, in the spirit of showing some love, we’ve aggregated a few recent pieces of great content from inside our social networks to share with you. This isn’t only to show love, though; this is also to provide you with great reading and ideas to chew on as you move forward and continue developing your social media programs. You’ll see pragmatic how-to articles as well as some forward-thinking content on social business, and much more.

We also encourage you to share some of the best stuff you’ve read recently in the comments, and give us an idea of why you got so much out of that blog post or those articles, too. And if you like this concept of regular link sharing, let us know. The more you tell us, the more we can provide the content you want to see.

Okay. Without further ado, onto the meaty stuff.

3 Myths That Prevent Regulated Industries from Embracing Social Media, by Shannon Paul.

We, as people and organizations, often make assumptions about why we can’t do something before we do any research or deep thinking into how we might actually do it. At some point, we have to give up this method of jumping to conclusions and start seeing the possibilities, and a place to start with that is in finding out the truth about our assumptions. In this article, Shannon debunks three myths (read: assumptions) that have been keeping regulated organizations from jumping on board with social media. Note that this myth stuff doesn’t just apply to regulated industries, though. What myth is your company succumbing to that keep them from social media integration?

Content Strategy and the Dying Art of Execution, by Joe Pulizzi.

Content strategy as a practice is still catching on, but if you’ve already gotten started with yours, or are in the planning stages, this post is for you. Even if you’re unsure about content strategy, though, take a read through this one. In it, Joe shares multiple reasons why a content strategy could fail, but if you take a look at his reasons you’ll see they reach far past the bounds of content. As he asks at the end, “Where is your ‘lack of’?”

Our Corporate Brand is Cramping My Personal Brand, by Todd Defren

Early on in the social media revolution, companies had the upper hand in evaluating potential and current employees via social networks. Nowadays, people are working diligently to craft and manage their online “brand”, and are turning the tables. In this piece, Todd discusses how the tables are being turned and what we can do to adjust to it.

Six Best Practices to Improve Sales and Marketing Alignment, by Laura Patterson on MarketingProfs

Sales and Marketing should work together as well as peanut butter and jelly, but often that’s just not the case. In this article, Laura offers directly applicable suggestions for better aligning your Sales and Marketing teams and efforts around opportunity management. Note: You’ll need to subscribe to MarketingProfs to read this one (a basic subscription is free).

Social CRM Strategies for Business — Day 1 and Social CRM Strategies for Business — Day 2, by Emanuele Quintarelli

A couple weeks ago, we attended the Social CRM Strategies for Business seminar in London, and, while there, were exposed to some fantastic thoughts around social CRM from some of the best in the business. In these posts, Emanuele puts the meat of each day into an easily digestible format for readers to absorb and think upon. These are strong summaries of the event and we recommend a read.

Okay, now it’s your turn! What have you read recently that’s got your gears turning? Share in the comments!

Disclaimer: Some of the folks here are friends of ours and there’s a good chance we’ve worked with them in some sense or another. In light of that, we have to say we’re just sharing great writing today, with nothing else wrapped into that sharing. Enjoy!

Tags: emanuele quintarelli, joe pulizzi, MarketingProfs, shannon paul, todd defren