I regularly host networking meetings at our midtown NYC PR agency. Not only do I thoroughly enjoy these gatherings, but they also continue to allow me to recognize how fascinating and successful our clients and acquaintances are.  Just yesterday, I hosted 22 CEO’s at the 5WPR offices for a 8 AM breakfast. Attendees included: the managing partner of a distressed real estate hedge fund, a cosmetic dentist, plastic surgeon, CEO of one of the largest kids’ brands in the world, head of a mobile commerce company, and celebrity attorney.  

From these meetings, I am able to learn vital insight from fellow leaders about their professional successes and challenges. The next networking event our PR firm will host is on May 26th – we will have a special guest speaker – Lisa Oz, New York Times best-selling author, and wife of notable physician Dr. Mehmet Oz.

One of the most difficult tasks working at a PR agency is to understand many different businesses’.  Its important to keep your eyes open, and always search for more knowledge.  Whenever I travel, I visit the neighborhoods where people shop, and live as I find it’s the best way to study and recognize trends and consumer behavior.  I always ask the local cab driver to be my local city tour guide (and tomorrow am off on a 5-day business trip to Latin America, where I will visit stores, get a feel for the local shops, etc.)

Heard a great quote at networking meeting yesterday, and have adopted it as a new corporate rule at 5WPR: “No skunking.” (spraying negativity).

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

As an entrepreneur and the owner of a PR agency, I find it’s important to stay positive. It’s a continual struggle to balance demanding clients, staff and the media, but hard work and good people help me succeed—especially good people. The people I associate with personally and professionally provide me energy and focus, influencing my attitudes, actions and desire to succeed in a positive way. Its important for success.

In this week’s New York Magazine, there was a very interesting article on Lady Gaga and her climb to stardom.  I pulled two quotes to share with you that resonated with this Bronx born entrepreneur who owns a PR firm.

“I’m just a kid from NYC who decided to do this after all. Rule the world! What’s life worth living if you don’t rule it.” (I agree – work hard and focus. Never accept second best, and absolutely LOVE what you do.)

“I’m from New York. I will kill to get what I need.” (New Yorkers know how to win. We work hard and won’t accept anything less.  I believe what Lady Gaga said here was right on.)

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I am still flying high from the news that 5WPR was named the 13th largest independent PR agency in the US for 2009 by Odwyers PR, a leading PR publication.  With over $11 million in revenue in its 7th year of operation, the agency continues to grow within the industry.

This honor ranks alongside 5W Public Relations being named to the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in the US, and being named fastest growing PR firm in the US 3 years running. It’s an absolute highlight for our company – Numbers and  results count.

On a personal note, 13 has always been my lucky number. It served as my jersey number from my beginnings as a little league player throughout my high school (and ongoing recreational) basketball career.

As always its been a crazy week:

I gave a lecture last night at NYU to a group of graduate students

I hosted a charity fundraiser with a friend and client this morning in my office.

Tonight, I am attending a client event where we are expecting 40+ Reporters

Since we were just named one of the 15 largest PR firms in the US, I wanted to reassert that we will keep growing, and continually realize that this is just the beginning for our company.

Credit is due to our hard working staff and our clients for believing in us and being great partners.

I wanted to end with a quick quote:

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” Henry Ford (1863-1947)

Bigger and better, onward and upward.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

The journey of 5WPR started January 2003, and amazingly, this journey this week starts its 8th year, and I at the age of 35, owning one of the 25 largest PR firms in the US continue to be inspired by amazing quotes. Some I wanted to share this week to start 2010:

“The one thing all famous authors, world class athletes, business tycoons, singers, actors, and celebrated achievers in any field have in common is that they all began their journeys when they were none of these things. Yet still, they began their journeys.” Mike Dooley

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” Robert Collier

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.” Vince Lombardi

“The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed.” Richard Brinsley Sheridan

“Genius is one per cent inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Thomas Edison – Inventor and Businessman

This PR agency believes in hard work, commitment, drive and focus. Onward and upward in 2010.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

As a follow-up to my previous post, there are and have always been quotes hanging all over my office at my PR agency. I wanted to post some of these — I use them for inspiration!

The Chabad Rabbi of blessed memory in difficult times would continuously quote this saying: “Tracht Gut Vet Zayn Gut: Think positive and it will be positive!”

Jay-Z : “I refuse to lose.”

Roger Ailes  (Fox News): “If you run into people who are negative and always telling you that the cat got run over, and you couldn’t get the car started, and you’ve got a cold, the suits are idiots, and life isn’t fair, you know, you need to get away from those people because they will suck you under and hold you down and drown you.”

Phil Knight:  “Just Do It.’ This has become a legendary mantra of self-sufficiency, rugged individualism, and fearlessness. If you look deeply enough you can see that there is much more to the statement than meets the eye. Often in life we just have to face our fears and do it (whatever “it” is) anyway. Phil Knight had fears just as most people do when it comes to starting something new, but Phil Knight did it anyway.” 

Theodore Roosevelt: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”  The power of positive thinking.
 
Ronn Torossian
5WPR

Read an interesting article in The New York Times regarding the positioning of major banks’ public statements during this tremendously difficult time. Anyone who doubts that spin exists at all levels should clearly read this. The conclusion of the article from a PR viewpoint is also noteworthy:

“If there are ways people in this room go to jail, it’s probably through crimes of upholstery — the cover-up will kill you,” Joseph A. Grundfest, a professor of law at Stanford University who is a former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said at a class for directors of the nation’s Fortune 500 companies which I attended in 2002 in the aftermath of Enron’s collapse.

Oftentimes, I see very public people in very senior financial positions at my gym, restaurants, and at events. You can see on their faces how incredibly difficult it is to be in the public arena and suddenly have the world watching your every move. I expect to see more analysis of how the banks are handling crisis communication in the coming weeks. Either way, this is certainly an interesting read in these very difficult financial times.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

I came across a great quote today while doing some reading: “Marketing after all is really theater. It’s like staging a performance. The way to motivate people is to get them interested in your product, to entertain them, and to turn your product into an incredibly interesting event,” said John Sculley, former president of Pepsi and former CEO of Apple.
 
It’s a very insightful quote for many reasons. Truth be told, although very few brands allocate the sorts of budgets that Sculley had access to, marketing is theater in many ways. As we come up with pitches, guerilla marketing events, and other tactics for all kinds of companies, we realize if we can elicit laughter or positive emotions from reporters or consumers, we are more likely to get coverage — positive coverage.
 
Ronn Torossian
5WPR

People ask me about our five year business plan.  I tell them how we started without a business plan, and we were profitable within 30 days because of hard work and sweat equity.  There are people who theorize endlessly and those who go out and just do it.  Every day of the week, I tell employees go out, create and do. It’s ok to occasionally make mistakes.  Be passionate, care and try.  Don’t over think.  Do.

Along those lines, I wanted to forward the following quote I was sent today: “You could spend years and years figuring out how to take three steps at once. Or you could simply take one step, and then the next, and then the next.  Being able to think things through is a tremendously valuable skill, but don’t let all that thinking prevent you from making things happen. Sometimes, it pays to think of a more efficient, effective or faster way to complete the task.  Other times, you’re better off when you just go ahead and do it.  Although analyzing what you must do can be helpful, analysis by itself won’t get the job completed. After you think it through, go ahead and get it done. Put your clever thinking into action, and you’ll have something of tangible value to show for it.  Put your mind to work, and you’ll create great ideas.  Then put those ideas to work with your efforts and bring them successfully to life.” – Ralph Marston

… and I will mix in a personal quote I am passionate about:  “If you were there and the Romans or the Babylonians were about to destroy Jerusalem and you had the power to do something about it, would you sit and mourn and cry? Or would you turn the world upside down? So what is stopping you? Overturn the world today.” – Chabad Rebbe – July 18, 1992

RONN TOROSSIAN

5W PR

I am a huge fan of quotes.  In every office I have ever had, a framed poster of Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s (a great Zionist leader and personal hero for me) Samson book hangs with the immortal quote: “Tell them three things in my name, and not two: Collect iron , choose a king , and learn to laugh.” There are many life and business lessons one can gleam from this quote.

A friend, colleague and client, Dr. Keith Ablow, emailed me the following quote this morning after we had a discussion in my office about Jabotinsky’s quotes:

“The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dirt and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Take chances and live life.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

On this rainy Friday afternoon in NYC, a friend forwarded some quotes I wanted to share (my office walls are adorned with great quotes)….

Be ready when opportunity comes…Luck is the time when preparation and opportunity meet: Roy D. Chapin Jr.

Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it: Lou Holtz

Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal: Vince Lombardi

Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not find them, they will make them: Samuel Smiles

Don’t go through life, grow through life: Eric Butterworth

Ronn Torossian

5WPR