Read today that Joe the Plumber had hired a public relations agency to assist him in getting a record deal? Anyone out there join me in wondering how his 15 seconds of fame translates to people wanting to buy records?

Separately, there’s no doubt the economy is very tough, and while President Bush, both of the Presidential candidates and the brightest financial minds in the world are focused on trying to solve the world’s financial crisis, I believe entrepreneurs and small business owners shouldn’t get sidetracked by that. 

What I have promised to myself, and my employees is: I will work harder than ever before and be more focused to client needs than ever before.  The pledge I believe business owners can make is to simply be hurt a little less than their competitors. 

It’s refusing to lose.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

These past few weeks have been tremendously busy. Case in point: I ate my breakfast at 5:30 p.m. twice in the last week. These are trying times as an entrepreneur, and they require more focus than ever before. Demands on one’s time and on every penny a PR firm charges a client for results require PR professionals to be even more attentive than usual.

As a business owner, I’ve learned — and now understand more than ever before — how easy it is to criticize. (As my closest friend constantly says, “The boss is always an asshole.”) The longer I am in business, the more apparent that is.  I have always been a person who believes one’s energy and aura influences them, which is why a few fellow under-40 entrepreneurs and I have been rotating offices for dinner once a week (Monday night till after midnight) to review business planning, concepts, ideas, and of course, due to this environment, problems. Sharing with people who understand management as entrepreneurs as well as those who strive for more and refuse to lose are people I need to be surrounded by. Business 101 tells us to always surround yourself with people whom you enjoy and respect.

Separately, as a PR professional, I’ve seen the media so consumed by the economy and the election that it has forced all PR professionals to — at the very least — do their best to adapt their pitches to an environment that has little space for anything other than the most pressing news. There are many new angles to consider and focus on, and as the media landscape continues to rapidly change, the challenge as a PR agency is to stay ahead of the curve.

Last, as my assistant noted earlier today, my blog would be so much more fun if I wrote down more details regarding my day, but secrets can’t be told. That said, here are a few highlights of a whirlwind day:

-Started the day by dining at a NYC power breakfast location with someone who is sure to be a major behind-the-scenes power player if a certain someone is elected president. (He required a face-to-face discussion rather than a conversation on the phone.)

-Rushed to a meeting on the Upper East Side with a client to discuss a revolutionary product he created.

-Met with one of the richest people in the world. (This was my second meeting in 10 days with a person on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.)

-Was called to my rabbi’s office for a meeting with a business contact he promised to introduce me to.

-Finally reached the office at 2:30 p.m. or so and dealt with many different issues.

But, to write more specifics than this is the difference between a philosopher and someone who owns a business. Or perhaps it’s the difference between the bush leagues and the big leagues: That distinction is apparent when working extra hours during times such as these.  It’s always fun…but it’s tiring and challenging.

PR is a great business.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

I had a great discussion with a client (Sakiya Sandifer) today regarding the challenges of being an entrepreneur.  He described entrepreneurs as being much like ducks.  Ducks appear to be floating smoothly and easily across the water at all times, when in reality, underneath the water their legs are constantly kicking, flapping and fighting to keep moving.

As an entrepreneur, one must always appear to be gliding along.  But often, entrepreneurs are pushed and pulled in many different directions.  Being an entrepreneur is very very difficult work, all the time, no matter the perception.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

I have recently been reading The Week, a publication put out by Felix Dennis of Dennis Publishing (who also publishes Maxim).  The magazine’s simple motto is: “All you need to know about everything that matters.”

The weekly mag provides a review/roundup of the top stories from magazines and newspapers all over the world. That’s a great summary of the news and helps one to better understand how the media is covering stories, which allows PR folks like me to come up with better pitches – I came up with a bunch while reading it.

You can’t read enough if you work in PR, or are an entrepreneur. 

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

They used to construct the buildings that housed banks as if they were impenetrable stone fortresses.  The symbolism was obvious: your money is safe with us.  From kids with jars of pennies to young families and businesses of every shape and size, everyone put their hard-earned greenbacks into the hands of the banker, a person above reproach – someone you could trust to protect your money.  Today, that trust is at question.

Once-heralded banks are now seen as symbols of greed and deceit, and politics is equated to corruption.  It’s safe to say that the state of trust in 2008 is but a shadow of its former counterpart.

Who could have ever imagined that in the early stages of the 21st century the idea of a mattress being a safe place for money would be discussed, let alone acted on? So, who do you trust?  What factors foster trust?  And is the trust issue limited to the financial sector?  I think not.  Eaten any tomatoes with salmonella or E-coli in the last six months?

As a marketer of products, I think that today marketers must “over” prove their trustworthiness, because consumers today are “resistant to being sold to.”  This is true across the country, unbounded by belief or status: blue state, red state, urban, suburban and rural.

Welcome to the age of retrusting.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

 Just a “quick tip” I gleaned from New York real estate maven extraordinaire Barbara Corcoran, from her book Use What You’ve Got… 

When on the phone – an important call – physically stand up when talking.  It makes you more confident, assertive and instantly gives you power over the person on the other end (Assuming the other person is sitting). I started using it today.  It works and is something I instantly adopted and took a liking to. In the PR agency business, we spend a ton of time on the phone.  Why not use it more to our advantage?

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

During my midnight Internet trolling last night, I came across the following study which I remember received a ton of attention when it first came out  a few months ago.  I thought it was an interesting read.  So  as the owner of a PR agency I’m passing this along… it’s entitled Marketing Your Way Through A Recession, courtesy of Harvard Business School.

The most interesting takeaway:  maintain marketing spending.  Self-serving, but true…  above all, preserve your public relations  and marketing budget.  

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I spent the weekend reading “Off the Record: The Press, the Government, and the War over Anonymous Sources,” by Norman Pearlstine, who spent years in the media serving as executive editor of The Wall Street Journal and editor-in-chief of Time Magazine.  Pearlstine writes about his experiences at Time battling the White House and court systems; he also discusses the press and its limits.  The book is very interesting reading for anyone involved with the media, PR, or public affairs. 

As I have stated before, journalists have the ability to make and break people, products, and businesses and often feel “above the law.”  This book details many of the conflicts inherent in high-level journalism, most notably regarding the law and protecting anonymous sources.  I really enjoyed it.

In the business of public relations, and certainly in politics, there is often a need to feed information to a reporter off the record.  This process requires some level of trust between reporters and their sources.  Reporters rely on the vital information sources provide for many high profile stories and investigative pieces, whether in sports, entertainment, politics, public affairs or law. 

Day to day, sources and journalists work hand in hand to create stories.  It’s simply the way the industry functions.   This book examines and questions the limits and parameters of these relationships and their boundaries.

Ronn Torossian
5WPR

Yesterday, I only finally arrived at my office in the afternoon, as I was running around all day.  I have always been the type of person who operates best in the office, behind a desk, working.  Simply old school: rolling up my sleeves and leading by example.  To me, this means being the first one in the office (as much as I can be), and the last one out.
 
All that said, running a company our size these days takes much more than just sitting in my office.  It’s almost like kissing babies on the campaign trail: go see a new clients’ office, meet colleagues for lunch, and network, network, network.  I do well with concrete yes and no, black and white, but as we grow, my role as CEO of this mid-sized PR agency is changing.  I am admittedly learning on the job.  

I always feel like a kid cutting school when I’m not in the office most of the day, even though I am of course working, albeit in a less formal, structured manner.  But decidedly working and working hard.  My continued non-reward of not working at my desk is being harried and nuts in the office, after everyone else has long gone for the day …
 
The joke for me remains whenever anyone asks me on a Sunday afternoon or a Saturday night when I’m heading to work, “But you are in PR – what can you possibly do on the weekend?” Any entrepreneur knows that there’s always work to be done.

Ronn Torossian
5WPR

I blogged about this recently, but I am still amazed that companies cut their public relations budget at times such as these (and it’s genuinely not just a self serving comment).  Yes, we are in a troubled economy and yes, companies must tighten their budgets, but a fraction of advertising budgets allocated toward PR can simply go so much further.  And it is not just media relations; both SEO and a company’s online presence are also dramatically influenced by public relations.  

More talk of firings and PR on the front page of Yahoo yesterday, with a quote that said, “Fields that aren’t so safe include public relations, marketing and advertising–anything that can be seen as an ‘extra.’”  This isn’t a big surprise from conventional thinking, but given the low pay range of the PR industry, at the very least, three mid-level publicists can replace one senior level bureaucrat at so many of these big corporations.  And I’d be willing to bet that the three publicists would do more to impact the bottom line.

PR is so many things, from 3rd party endorsements to brand awareness, at such a low cost.  There is perhaps no more effective way at reaching across the divide and communicating your message, at a time when people are searching for messages to trust.  Moreover, as consumers continue to cut back on spending, they will spend more time at home watching television, reading news on the internet, blogging, and living vicariously through celebrities.  PR can target consumers at each of these points in a way that other industries simply cannot, at a fraction of the cost.  It is simply the most economical way to create lasting awareness and build brands to withstand even the toughest of circumstances.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR