I just returned from a whirlwind 36 hour trip to Montreal (Wow, do I love that city), where yesterday began with a car pick up at 5 AM, and ended well after midnight with the client.

Anyway, in the meantime and in flight I read one of the most amazing business books I have ever read and can’t begin to think of how soon I look forward to re-reading it: “IT’S NOT THE BIG THAT EAT THE SMALL…IT’S THE FAST THAT EAT THE SLOW” by Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton.

Perhaps, for me the best business book which has ever been written.

It spoke about a number of different concepts, from making decisions quickly and effectively, to how to manage without ego, and a number of other very wise comments.

A few favorite quotes from the book:
“Show me someone with a five year plan and I will show you someone who has no idea whats going on” (A Quote from a senior Telecom Executive).

(Note: We don’t have a 5 year plan… We speak in terms of 5 hours, 5 days, 5 weeks… perhaps 5 months. How can a PR firm possibly have a realistic 5 year plan ? The world changes way too quickly and in the nature of the PR business, decisions are made very quickly to choose a new agency – 5W PR didn’t even exist 5 years ago, and today it is one of the 20 largest independent firms in the U.S.).

“I don’t skate to where the puck is – I skate to where the puck is going to be” -
Wayne Gretzky (One of the greatest hockey players of all time).

(Note: Think ahead – Understand trends and whats going on. Not making a decision or moving is in fact making a decision. Win or lose, choose.).

Great Great book – get it and share your thoughts…

Ronn Torossian
5WPR

Wow, today was one of those days – Swamped, buried nonstop. Phone call after phone call – Major decision after major decision. Just not a minute so much as to breath..(as I tell interns and college students I speak with – If you don’t love your profession, you can’t thrive at it… I love my job… nearly every day…)

I have discovered recently that running keeps me sane (10 miles this AM….) and I find sweating it out makes calmness prevail (although I will never be the Zen type)…. I think great entrepreneurs need to have an escape mechanism.. and mine this year is running…

In the next 30 days, I need to be in Montreal (next week), Chicago (the week after for the INC. conference), and in between then sometime in early September Russia. (I really dread business travel… it is never fun)…. Although each of these trips for different reasons are enjoyable once there (But how archaic is the travel industry, with security, poor customer service, etc.).

There’s only so many hours in a day, but as we grow I find myself trying to maximize productivity.. but wow, it’s not easy (but today was a great, busy and fun day.).

And yes, yesterday we were in fact named to the INC. list- I am still glowing.

Today for me is really a moment to stop and reflect.

In January 2003, I, alone in a 400 square foot office started 5W Public Relations. Today, we received formal notification that we were named to the INC. 500 list of the fastest growing companies in the US. We were 153. SIMPLY AMAZING AND I AM PROUD. Perhaps the biggest honor a private company can receive.

Thank You – To Each and Every One of our employees. Christine Employee #1. Adam, my right hand. Tracy who has been there since the beginning… All of you, Thank you.

Thank You – To Each and every one of our clients. For Choosing 5W. For allowing us to grow with you.

Thank You – To G-d from whom I believe allows this to happen.

Really, a great day to reflect and Thank you.

That said, we are just getting started as I have said all along, and we won’t stop until we are on the Fortune 500 list (largest companies in US), and I personally make the Forbes 500 (richest people in the U.S.).

Thank you…

PRESS RELEASE:

5W PUBLIC RELATIONS NAMED TO 2007 INC. MAGAZINE’S COVETED INC. 500 LIST

- Fastest Growing PR Firm In U.S. Three Years In A Row Debuts At #153 -

New York, NY — Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 – 5W Public Relations, the nation’s fastest growing public relations firm three consecutive years announced today its debut on the 2007 Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies in America. The firm which was founded in December 2002 maintains practice areas in consumer products and services, corporate relations, technology, public affairs, marketing communications, entertainment, sports, health and wellness and crisis management.

5W Public Relations appeared at #153 on the INC. 2007 list.

“Thus far, this is the proudest moment for 5W Public Relations since the creation of the firm,” said Ronn Torossian, President & CEO of 5W Public Relations. “We work hard to deliver unparalleled results for our clients, and it is that tenacity and commitment to excellence that has enabled us to rapidly expand our brand. I am delighted to see our growth recognized outside of the PR industry and this honor clearly proves that our philosophy… strategic, aggressive and proactive public relations is what companies are demanding and we are the only firm from which these values can be delivered. As has been noted previously, we are the only Top 50 independent PR firm in the U.S. owned by anyone under the age of 45. The world has changed, and we will continue to achieve success. Onward and upward,” added Torossian.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

Our Technology Practice, Amazing.

I’ve been taking a long look at our Online & Technology division lately, not because there’s any problem – the practice has been a steady performer for a number of years – but rather because we have so many long-term, innovative clients in this area. If you’re like me, a few of the gray hairs on your temple are a result of the dot com bust a few years ago. A lot of hard lessons were learned by many in business at that time (How many paper millionaires couldn’t even afford to buy lunch?)

Here at 5WPR, we take a hard look at every so-called “Web 2.0″ and technology client before we agree to represent them (and we have turned down a number in the last few months who really have no business plan whatsoever). Despite the downturn in the financial markets over the last few weeks, I find that there’s a lot of investment money abound for the right technology companies.

It’s amazing how some of our clients turned a late-night business idea into a multi-million dollar enterprise; our clients have “must-have” wireless applications that were unheard of five years ago, online services that were impossible to provide two years ago, and older, time tested services that are continually enhanced with new technologies. The one common trait among our entire tech clientele is that they consistently look back at the hard lessons learned when the first dot com bubble burst. The notions of launch, initial public offering and cash-out are replaced by hard work, aggressive sales, marketing and PR, and – as one client told us – the will to “build something useful and meaningful.”

The reason why we have such great technology clients is twofold: we pick and choose who we work with, and their work ethic mirrors the 5W PR work ethic. Our senior VP spent a few days at the agency’s Hampton house, but never missed a conference call or dropped the ball when a client had a crisis. His staff comes in early and/or stays late to accommodate client work schedules from the West Coast to Israel. When we learned that a client’s competitor was going to appear in a Wall Street Journal article, a junior staffer contacted the editor and fought to have our client appear as well.

The tech world is a cluttered market filled with knock-offs, clones and pikers looking for a piece of the pie. It’s our job to raise a client above the noise and clamor and get them noticed by consumers, investors and large corporations looking for partners. We succeed and retain long-term clients because we place ourselves in the trenches alongside them. Our clients acknowledge the fact that we become “partners” in their vision.

We are only to happy to be there with them and witness some of the most exciting technologies unfold. They are amongst our agencies best clients and smartest folks.

Ronn Torossian
5WPR

While I constantly blog about how the world has changed, so too has politics worldwide completely changed – Let’s look at the field of leading U.S. political candidates today. On the Republican side, you have a Mormon (Romney), a NY Italian who has been divorced 3 times (Giuliani), and on the Democratic side a woman (Clinton), and an African-American man (Obama)… The world has changed.

Last night I was awoken in the middle of the night by a foreign political leader with a crisis regarding a wire story which had recently appeared. At 5WPR we work for a number of different political and religious institutions from a wide variety of backgrounds – For one of our clients, a member of Israel’s Knesset, we help generate U.S press interest and facilitate important meetings in Washington. At the same time, we also represent a number of the leading Evangelicals in the country.

At 5W Public Relations we successfully represent clients getting significant media coverage and in front of key audiences, and strategic messaging. Our political division is one of the fastest growing at the agency, having doubled in size in the last 12 months.

In the modern business world, being diverse and willing are the keys to success.

Ronn Torossian
5W PR

This quote sums it up for me from this month’s Vanity Fair, and I wanted to share it with you…it is describing Rupert Murdock:

“Publicity geniuses are different from you and me. They have the stomach for it. This tempermental combination of imperviousness and egomania that allows them, compels them, to dominate the media which means they dominate reality, that’s their world and we just…well you know.”

(Courtesy of a client)

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

Yesterday (Friday) afternoon a client and friend came to see me enroute to his summer home in the Hamptons urging me to go to the Hamptons with him (I have only been once to 5W’s East Hamptons house this summer which our employees and clients have for their use all summer). I told him in the last 3 weeks I have been to Costa Rica, LA and Boston and this weekend I wanted to relax, sleep in my bed, work out in my gym and just enjoy the weekend in the city. I asked this successful, self made entrepreneur “Don’t you want to sleep in your bed, work out in your gym? Just do every day things in your home?”

He said “Growing up without much, I am living the dream – To be able to fly, to have people wanting my time, living life? I have a bed everywhere I go, gyms everywhere I go? It’s a virtual world and you need to realize that – There’s no longer such a thing as only one bed for worldwide entrepreneurs… ” He made me think…. Not sure I agree….. but certainly interesting (and I say that at 4 PM from my NYC office as I didn’t listen and go to the Hamptons… and woke up, went to my gym and came to work…).

At 3 Amish last night I had a very interesting hour long discussion with a colleague, music mogul Andre Harrell who spoke about passion and focus as being the key to success…and told me countless fascinating Hollywood stories…. So who wanted to not be in NYC?

New York, New York – The greatest city in the world…

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

Had a Fortune 1000 executive in town last night who is negotiating with 5W to see if he will do business with us. In any case, the individual asked me and my staff to take him out in NYC to see trendsetters as the brand is consistently examining outlets to be relevant. I think there aren’t enough companies who understand the need to be on site and examine these things and these people first hand.

Last night was 5 hours with 5W (and I won’t name specifics so competitors get any ideas)…

We started dinner at 9 PM and as we walked in, Jay-Z walked out of dinner… Literally brushed on the shoulder of my visiting executive. (Won’t name specifics so competitors get ideas… but in every city know what time dinner is relevant, know where to go, where to sit at the restaurant – which sometimes requires over-tipping)… and as important as the food is, see what the ambiance is, what the dress is, etc…

The restaurant owner of this establishment told me they don’t like food reviewers, because the week this place opened every famous food reviewer (mostly older people) came in and loved the food, the service and décor… but couldn’t believe all these people who came in dressed in jeans and sneakers. As I say often, the world has changed… and many don’t get that…. Be relevant for the age and demographic you are trying to reach…. Dinner is a social occasion with people jumping between tables and trading business cards if done right…

Then went to a hotel bar where literally the first person sitting in front of us with his feet on a couch was Russell Simmons. The venue was filled with high level managers, models and 2 club owners.  The manner in which people interact of course depends on where they are – Bars in every single city are different. (and pool will never go out of style, although I don’t play…)… Again it’s a case of knowing where to go and watching behavior…

Late nite, attended a DJ’s birthday party (DJ’s are increasingly relevant – They attract celebrities and the like). They create trends as they are pseudo-psychologists – a good DJ needs to understand crowd moods and behavior (If a song doesn’t get people excited, people leave…. And venues won’t pay them to stay)…

I have increasingly been spending time simply watching people – Still try and go once a month for a half day to NYC’s outer boroughs to watch people shop, I spend at least 3 hours a month in apparel stores – H & M, Old Navy, the Ipod Store… and whenever I travel internationally or domestically I want to speak with cab drivers (who always bring a unique perspective), and see shoppers – every city is different and trends start in many places.

Recently heard a speech from one of the world’s leading fashion designers who said he still spends a day a week in a mall in America watching people shop – How do they behave, what do they buy?

Reminds me of when President George Bush had no clue how a supermarket checkout worked – an event New York Times reporter Andrew Rosenthal turned into a chiding front page story about Bush’s lack of familiarity with the details of ordinary life in America:
Today, for instance, [Bush] emerged from 11 years in Washington’s choicest executive mansions to confront the modern supermarket.
Visiting the exhibition hall of the National Grocers Association convention here, Mr. Bush lingered at the mock-up of a checkout lane. He signed his name on an electronic pad used to detect check forgeries.
“If some guy came in and spelled George Bush differently, could you catch it?” the President asked. “Yes,” he was told, and he shook his head in wonder.
Then he grabbed a quart of milk, a light bulb and a bag of candy and ran them over an electronic scanner. The look of wonder flickered across his face again as he saw the item and price registered on the cash register screen.
“This is for checking out?” asked Mr. Bush. “I just took a tour through the exhibits here,” he told the grocers later. “Amazed by some of the technology.”

Bush obviously was clueless about life for every day Americans and it hurt him at the time tremendously – Brands can also be easily fooled – If they don’t understand the market, they can’t win…. And I’d argue to you marketing and PR are increasingly welding much much closer to each other…

(and the final key to success, despite being out till 2:30 AM yesterday I was at my desk today by 9:15 AM)… Back to work.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

5W Public Relations is 2nd fastest growing consultancy in world

5W Public Relations is the second fastest growing public relations consultancy in the world, according to The Holmes Report, one of the most authoritative journals of the public relations industry.

5W Public Relations had 85% growth in 2006, only the firm’s fourth year since creation. Only one agency worldwide ranked ahead of 5W in the Holmes Report’s first global ranking of public relations firms: the UK’s Tonic Life Communications (95%).

The study says the $7 billion global PR industry, employing over 50,000 people, grew by 8.5% annually. The rankings were based on the responses submitted by 300 consultancies across the globe.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR