Breaking into the business world can be tough. Even with a college degree, top marks, and a fundamental understanding of the economic world, riding the ups and downs that come with a business is a challenge. The business world tends to be cutthroat. This generation doesn’t have the same room to make mistakes as past ones did. With so much competition and desperation to seize markets and clients, an up-and-coming CEO needs to be ahead of the learning curve.
Tips for Young CEO’s under 30
Fortunately, there are five tips for any aspiring CEO to follow that will put you far ahead of even some of the most experienced in the field. Ronn Torossian shares:
Always ask questions.
CEOs pave the way for business change by questioning processes and ideas. They come up with innovative ways of saving, creating, and doing. If you question the old processes, think outside the box, and problem solve, you’ll be well on your way to a unique entrepreneurship that brings clients flocking to your door.
Be passionate.
You have to love your work! You have to find something that you’re invested in, and let that passion drive you and your company, day in and day out. In such a competitive world, you need to have the extra drive to persevere even when others would stop. This is what will make you a success. You need to be a natural leader. One who can take on the responsibility of motivating people and revolutionizing the business world. This passion will also keep you from burning out too fast and too soon.
Don’t let arrogance get in your way.
No matter your skill level, there is always more to learn. You will never completely have a grasp on the business world, no matter how many years of experience you have. Even the oldest businessmen will tell you this. Know when you DON’T know something, and learn how to step back when you need to. If you need to learn more, then do so with grace. It’s okay if you make mistakes or if you need to learn more. You just need to own up to it and continue growing. Take personal responsibility for what you already know and what you need to know.
Hire more experienced people as executives.
This is another place where you shouldn’t let arrogance get in your way. We see it all the time in politics – the President hires experienced people for his cabinet, and different senators hire experienced people to give political advice. The business world functions much the same way. You need to have experienced professionals around to give you business advice. This way, you’ll have an army of knowledge at your fingertips.
Don’t try to brave this alone.
To be a success, you’ll need the help of other people. Though you’ll be at the head of the company, there will be other supporters who will give their input. From your executives to your friends to the members of your family, you need to have a support network. Some of these people will help with business decisions, whereas others will be around to lend a helping hand when the stress just seems like too much.
It is okay to be a human CEO. A sense of humor, a deep rooted passion, transparency, flexibility, and a strong work ethic will do you much more good than a brittle image that can shatter when the first volley is launched.
Americans love beer. No doubt about it. And, for decades, Americans have also had a love affair with light beer. Miller, Coors, Bud, and Keystone all enjoyed massive success with their light (lite) beer selections, but now there may be some signs that the golden years for the lighter golden brews is coming to an end. Ronn Torossian explains what is happening and how brands could respond with targeted consumer Beverage PR.
According to prognosticators, domestic sales of light beer in the United States will hit a ten-year low in 2015. And, while this is just a prediction, it is based on solid trends and a changing market. In fact, experts are saying light beer sales will finish 2014 down nearly 5 million barrels.
To top it off, the market’s big boys are also the biggest losers in this trend. Bud Light sales have fallen for five straight years, and both Coors and Miller saw their light and lite selections lose market share.
Of course, the folks at AB InBev, Coors, and Miller say they’re not worried. After all, they have weathered market shifts before, and they are already working on solutions to these trends. One solution, of course, is to introduce a line of new or slightly different products. If the companies can engage bored customers with new offerings, they can offset losses with gains in new markets.
In addition, all three companies are expected to make strong marketing pushes later this year. That means new creative campaigns, PR barrages, and new ideas coming from industry leaders. That could lead to an entirely different sort of marketplace shakeup. If the trend “victims” can successfully flip the script and become the trend setters, the upstart smaller breweries and microbreweries that have been cutting into their market share could once-again find themselves playing catch up with the big boys.
Social Media Marketing
With the internet evolving at speeds faster than light, it’s hard to keep up with the times. PR techniques that worked perfectly a decade ago are now outdated. Television ads have nearly become a thing of the past, and now social media allows people to share articles and information instantly. A business needs to be ahead of the game to garner clientele, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the use of social media for PR.
Here are six quick strategies to make your social media PR effective:
1) Be brief but exciting.
Many social media sites – Twitter in particular – are fashioned around short attention spans. Your press releases and public relations posts have to be short enough for the impatient, and filled with enough content to be interesting. Meaningful posts are the ones that are shared on social media. Without content that strikes a chord with readers and potential clientele, your company’s social media profiles will fizzle.
2) Keep up-to-date on the news.
The best way to keep up-to-date is by seeing what trends are taking over social media. You can comment on them on your company’s social media outlets, as well as contact local reporters and hold news conferences to discuss the issue. Business is politics, and you’ll have to take firm roles if you want to be noticed.
3) Offer help.
One of the best ways to boost your customer base is by establishing yourself as a knowledgeable leader in your company’s field. Nothing is better for this than being helpful. Post links to tutorials as well as helpful advice. Know what questions people are asking and be prepared to answer them.
4) Avoid Facebook for PR.
Facebook can be good for advertising, but it’s not so good for PR. The website tends to be for connecting with friends and colleagues, as well as sharing different articles found on the web. Though this may sound like the ideal place for PR, many Facebook users – even if they are part of your clientele – aren’t likely to reblog serious news stories. If you have a funny advertisement then by all means, share it. But even the most engaging press release probably won’t get picked up on Facebook.
5) Live in the moment.
Sometimes a crisis of epic proportions will arise. Whether it’s a natural disaster or something that affects solely your business, you’ll need to respond to it. Social media outlets shouldn’t be your one place to respond, but they should be utilized. You’ll need someone on your PR team to man your social media accounts during the crisis, while another calls a conference to comment on the news as it develops.
6) Utilize videos.
Know about video management sites all over the web. Your company should probably have a Youtube channel, where you can post everything from press release videos, to new product lines, to tutorials. Some people find that watching a video is much easier than reading an article, and so you’ll pull in more clients this way.
Underestimating the powerful role that social media plays in PR is a costly mistake. By creating a plan that incorporates these successful strategies, your company can maximize its social impact.
A very compelling piece of information began to circulate the other day. According to a report in Businessweek, some are crediting an iPhone update for helping to lower crime rates in New York City. As incredible as this idea may seem, there appears to be some concrete evidence supporting the assertion. 5WPR CEO explains…
Every iPhone is now equipped with a feature that allows users to erase their personal information remotely. In other words, if the device is stolen, users can go in and erase any data in the phones. Known as Activation Lock, but described as a “kill switch” the feature is now being credited by none other than New York’s attorney general with doing the all but impossible, lowering crime rates in NYC.
According to a report published in June 2014, New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman noted that robberies involving Apple products dropped nearly 20% in the first five months of the year. The Businessweek article goes on to say that grand larceny rates fell 29% in the same time span. According to the Attorney General’s report, because more than half of the grand larcenies in 2013 involved a mobile device, and the vast majority of those devices were Apple products, it is plausible that the iPhone kill switch can take some credit for lowering those crime rates.
Even if this connection is somewhat spurious, the PR Apple can gain from this announcement is definitely worthy of consideration. Think about it – choose Apple and your chances of getting your phone stolen drop dramatically? That’s an amazing claim that, at least for now, appears to have some backing.
Consider, many people steer clear of vehicles that are considered “commonly stolen.” It stands to reason that they would also see this report as a compelling reason to add more perceived value to Apple’s Activation Lock feature. It’s also likely that many other competitors are working feverishly on a similar feature for their own devices. When that happens, Apple will have yet another opportunity for targeted consumer PR.
Harley-Davidson, one of the longest manufacturer’s in American history has outdone themselves again with a new motorcycle that runs on electricity. Harley has been through many fazes of its lifespan, including a sell out and the fear of a bad economy causing buyers to hold off purchasing their dream machine.
But through all of the downturns, Harley never gave up and now there is a new concept for a motorcycle that runs on electricity. Forget the gasoline for those who are looking for changes that will spark the environment and cause those who want a greener lifestyle to pay attention to what Harley has in store for them; as Harley ushers in the latest in Consumer Public Relations.
Harley always reinvents itself and with this new concept of an electric motorcyle it will capture a new band of riders. Let’s talk a bit about what this motorcycle has. How about seventy four horsepower and fifty two pounds of torque with a top speed of around ninety two miles per hour? In just four seconds this bike can accelerate up to sixty miles per hour from a standing position.
What about driving one hundred thirty miles until charging the battery? Some of the bikes with small gas tanks like a Sportster won’t run that far without having to fill up the gas tank. It also takes about an hour to charge the battery so that will have to be planned out in your travels. Since the bike’s battery is so large, right around two hundred fifty pounds, the other components are made a bit lighter to offset the batteries.
Harley understands they have to research more about customers desires when it comes to an electronic motorcyle. Their core groups who buy the basic bikes you see at the average Harley shop are the bearded and with tattoos and professional bikers who like the gas powered bikes. They probably would not buy an electric bike but the idea is more geared to the women, and other outreach groups like international customers, including young urban adults.
A public relations show called Project Livewire will tour some major cities in the USA this year alone with visitors being able to try out the new bikes. In other countries, there will be some tours as well the following year. Canada and Europe are scheduled for 2015.
This customer relation experience alone will help to bring new faces and customers who are interested in a new electric cycle.
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