This morning I attended a small breakfast networking meeting hosted by a friend and client for 12 real estate and financing CEO’s. As always, I enjoy spending time with smart, successful people, and the most interesting quote I heard was from a hedge fund CEO who said “There’s no such thing as inventory or product.  Every single situation, vis a vis inventory and product, like never before, is an individual consumer.”  That’s a very scary statement for a marketer and means a lot more “hand-to-hand” combat when it comes time to market any product, whether property or loan.  It’s harder than ever when there’s no “box” in which to put the “buyer.”

Separately, in a late night religious course last nite, I learned that the average person’s brain has 60,000 thoughts every single day.  I found this fascinating and will continue to learn how to better process (and act upon) those thoughts.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

We have a number of high-profile clients who pay us, and pay us well, to keep them out of the media – they simply don’t wish to appear in the media, and we are paid monthly retainers to ensure that happens. They are concerned about negative, harmful media coverage and a major part of a crisis PR firm’ s work is keeping stories out of the media. It’s often very far from easy, as a reporter’s job is to pursue stories and angles of interest.

This weekend, I, along with the rest of the world learned that I that David Rohde, a NY Times Reporter, had, thankfully, escaped from his kidnappers. I was amazed this story hadn’t run anywhere despite the fact that many in the media world knew about it.  Thank goodness he’s home safe, but I wonder why the media didn’t report this story. Would they have reported it had it been someone else’s child, say, a Republican politician, or a celebrity ?

I found this quote from today’s Huffington Post quite interesting: I wonder now if a great debate will break out over media ethics in not reporting a story involving one of their own when they so eagerly rush out piece about nearly everything else. I imagine some may claim that the blackout would not have held if a smaller paper, not the mighty New York Times, had been involved.

As a student of the media, I look forward to reading more in the days and weeks to come.  Food for thought.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Owning a PR firm, I am blessed with the opportunity to spend a lot of time with successful people. We get hired and paid primarily by CEO’s and CMO’s, which enables me to spend a lot of time learning from the folks we do business with.  Most folks we work with are very smart, but being smart isn’t the only (or even primary) professional attribute needed to be successful– It takes a lot more than brains alone…and many smart successful people I know have said “I can always hire a MBA.”

I hosted a presentation this morning at 5WPR and heard a great quote by Amir Korangy, CEO of The Real Deal, known by many as the “Bible of NYC Real Estate”: “An investor shouldn’t follow economists or he may end up at a college making 90K.”

And on that note, I will end this post with a great quote I received in my email box earlier today from Ralph Marston: “It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when your heart is in it. Drop the doubts, self-criticisms, and anxieties. Instead, think positive and put your heart into what you’re trying to accomplish. Taking effective, meaningful action will put you in a positive frame of mind and that will open the door to many great new opportunities. Choose your destiny and delight in the fulfilling effort that makes it happen. You can do it, and now is when. Go ahead and get it done. Don’t waste your effort worrying about what you have not done. Spend your time working on what you now can do.”

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I read a great article in the Sunday NY Post,  entitled “Life in the Media Bubble,” and found it to be a must read for all in PR, and anyone interested in the media.  Owning a PR agency, I have known for a long time that despite claims otherwise, all media, just as all people, are biased.  I have battled many reporters who claim to be un-biased, but I find that to be an absurd claim. Do some folks like hamburgers while others don’t? Do some people like the color blue and others don’t? That’s bias, as is one’s religion, race, income, sexuality, and many other factors, and reporters are, after all, only human.

Good PR firms understand the media they are pitching and tailor their pitch to the “bias” of that publication.  Whose reality carries the day is a question for media and PR pros… and of course self-publishing user generated content via Twitter, text messaging and blogs allow that reality to be created by many people other than “major media conglomerates.”

Interesting read… and the bar continues to move as traditional media consumption continues to decrease.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I believe that the best clients for Public Relations firms are those who seek counselors, people to whom they can turn to for guidance and advice.

It’s important to constantly remember this in client relations. There’s a lot of noise out there and you cannot be paralyzed by fear (of the economy or the situation of the moment). The smartest folks are the ones who make confident decisions, decisions they can defend and, in many senses, are the “boss” of the client. This is essential in order to do great work.

As one of my favorite former client CEO’s says: Play to win, don’t play not to lose.  The smartest and most creative people these days are challenging clients, leading them, and refusing to be drones.  Challenge your clients when you believe in a concept or idea. Take ownership – they hire us for counsel and leadership, not to be bean pushers.

You will win, and it will certainly be more fun. The eyes and ears of a PR agency.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR