As I get older and mature into adulthood, I find myself becoming increasingly more religious and certainly more spiritual. This brings me increased inner peace and, I believe, many blessings including business and financial success.  It’s enjoyable and gives me a natural high.

Last night, my Rabbi hosted a pre Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) service.  I had the opportunity to join nearly 1,000 men for special blessings from the Rabbi.

·        Exchanged business ideas with one of NYC’s “social staples” and a very prominent business person as we waited an hour or so for the Rabbi.  This individual (who I have admired via the media for a long time) shared some spiritual secrets in balancing life and business commitments.

·        Sat with a South American who moved here last week with his 3 children and a “war-chest” of $200 Million to invest in real estate in the next year.  He told me that although he had made one major mistake last year with a purchase, he believes fortunes will be made in the next 2 years.

·        Listened to some fascinating stories from the Bible and practiced some ancient, and modern traditions.

Increasingly, I find that these practices allow me to focus more in every aspect of life, of course including business.  Entrepreneurs and business people of all walks of life need to find their escape and serenity.  After leaving the synagogue, I worked until after midnight cleaning up e-mails and organizing some necessary work for the morning.

I heard Jay Z’s inspiring new album playing via Youtube.  Empire State of Mind is an amazing song, and is wholly on a different level.

As a New Yorker and entrepreneur owning a PR firm, the lyrics are really a source of inspiration to me: “In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, There’s nothing you can’t do, Now you’re in New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, the lights will inspire you, lets hear it for New York, New York, New York.”

Escape and serenity of a different sort.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I attended a fascinating client breakfast this morning, where my client matched interesting business people together for a discussion on various topics, and I came away inspired by dialogue.

Bankers, lawyers, developers and marketers were amongst the group and I found the amount of hesitancy that exists is something which remains quite concerning. People are talking a lot, but are hesitant to pull the trigger, as no one seems to know where the bottom of the market is.

A very senior banker from a major bank said flatly there is ZERO lending available from his bank.  None at all, which I found to be simply amazing. 

Next to him was the son of a high-profile billionaire who said that they have millions to invest, but haven’t done a deal. 

There is a lot of product available for investments and purchase, but people are really only selling companies, property or stocks if they have to.  One who can afford to hold on is holding on, and that’s a major issue.  Money simply isn’t flowing. 

Successful high-profile people are increasingly concerned about their market perception.  While many are hesitant to do aggressive PR, many folks who hire us are speaking of “brand management.”

Whether for market intelligence or to ensure no/neutral media coverage during this difficult time in the market, I predict perception studies and media management will be increasingly successful businesses even as the market remains volatile. 

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.”

- Karen Kaiser Clark

“Change is inevitable. Change for the better is a full-time job.”

- Adlai E. Stevenson
1900-1965, American Lawyer, Politician

“The whole course of human history may depend on a change of heart in one solitary and even humble individual – for it is in the solitary mind and soul of the individual that the battle between good and evil is waged and ultimately won or lost.”

- M. Scott Peck  

“Fate, is an excuse for why we end up where we do! Our ‘Actions’ predetermine our Destiny, our ‘Reactions’ seal that fate!”

- Carl Stoynoff
poet/philosopher

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

“This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind…let it be something good.”

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I am very excited that we have been retained as PR agency of record for El Al Airlines. On many fronts – from the 1st airline we have ever represented to the myriad of relevant issues which comes with representing this brand – it is both personally and professionally gratifying to have this client.

Life moves way too fast and I often pinch myself wondering if all of this is real. I remember when I started 5WPR, I used to call the office after I left just to see if anyone would actually answer the phone.  Now nearly 7 years later, I’m often amazed that we have amassed 22,000 square feet in office space, have served thousands of clients and will surpass $50 Million in revenue since Day 1 this year.  It’s all very exciting, and winning El Al makes the work we do here even more gratifying. 

Hard work is indeed rewarded, and so goes the life and times of the Public Relations world.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I remember as a kid watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, a movie about a High School wise guy who cuts school and gets into various teenage adventures around Chicago. A central issue in the movie was trust – between parents and their kids and schools and its students. Clearly in today’s A.D.D. generation, such a thing could never happen as the new media world now allows everyone to serve as “citizen journalists.” Videos and messages, via YouTube and Twitter, would be everywhere before anyone could feign illness at home.

This post came to me after a few simple weekend observations:

Dining alone at a mid-tier Japanese restaurant on a leisurely Sunday afternoon, the woman next to me was served the wrong order twice. She told the servers that she planned to post to the Internet how bad the restaurant was and relay this experience to everyone she knows.  While she was telling the truth, what’s to stop others from spreading lies?

A couple was in line behind me at an amusement park joking about a friend who was fired because someone else posted inappropriate pictures of him smoking marijuana to the Internet on a day he was supposed to be working.  People can “tag” photos without permission.

A close friend is firing an employee today because he discovered the employee twitters and blogs every hour while at work and on his payroll. His reasoning: “Why am I paying someone to twitter instead of work for me?”

Many questions still remain and I believe they will continue to evolve along side these changing forms of communication.

Amazingly, by 10 AM Tuesday post Labor Day we have eight new business leads, all of which have materialized since close of business Friday. While I am far from optimistic that the economy is close to recovery, there has definitely been a slight uptick in people’s interests in marketing and PR programs.

Post-Labor Day, summer is really gone in NYC – Musings from a PR Agency.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Five tips to be a good gossip:

-Always speak positively (Business is great; my relationship is great, etc.)

-Put yourself at the center of positive news

-Become the center of networking, both personally and professionally. Whether it’s forwarding on a great note or helping to organize an event, make gossip work for you so you are seen as a “connecter” or cultural epicenter

-When spreading the word about something, know how to play the old game of “telephone tag” – Know how to get a message (to your boss, boyfriend, etc.) across indirectly, which ultimately makes them “get the message”

-Be relevant, well-read and “cared about.” Speak about interesting topics that make people want to hear your thoughts.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR