Trace Cohen's Insight

Breaking the social norms

Archive for August, 2010

The 10 thoughts that come with an “AH, HA!” moment

Aug 25

Posted by Trace Cohen in breaking social norms, business, entrepreneurship, gen-y, passion, technology | 6 Comments

How many times have you been hanging out with your friends or doing something completely random and have an idea just pop into your head? It happens all the time, especially when you’re not thinking about it. I’m going to give you an inside satirical look at someone’s thought process when this happens.

#1 You have an “AH, HA!” moment and think you can become a millionaire over night

Every so often you have an idea that pops into your head that makes you smile. You came up with an idea that will make you millions!

#2 Everyone will want to use this, they just don’t know about it yet

It is such a genius idea that once everyone starts to use it, they will never know how they lived without it.

#3 To tell or not to tell?

If I tell everyone, they will steal my idea! If I don’t tell anyone, I can’t get feedback or help. I’ll make them sign an NDA!

#4 They will pay for it… only if I give it away for free first – Freemium!

I’ll give it to my friends, family and a few other people once it’s ready. Once a few people have it, everyone will want it.

#5 Get thousands of Facebook “likes” and twitter followers

This is the easy part, I have a lot of friends and who doesn’t want to be apart of such a good idea?

#6 Design a website and platform

Hire a few programmers and designers to build an awesome looking and interactive website that will sell my product.

#7 I need money! Let me ask for $500,000 because I can

Investors will be throwing money at me to start this company.

#8 Execute

This will only take a few weeks.

#9 Execute

Maybe a few months.

#10 Execute

Ok, maybe a few years.

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10 Essential Principles of PR That I’ve Learned

Aug 17

Posted by Trace Cohen in business, entrepreneurship, inspire, passion, social norms, Uncategorized | 25 Comments

The world of PR has always been somewhat of a mystery to me.

My parents have been in the industry for 30 years and like a lot of my friends, you’re never really sure what your parents do. This all changed a few months ago when I started to work with my father, shadowing him and doing everything that he did. I’ll get more into that another time because I want to share 10 fundamental principles that everyone is PR must master and execute.

#1 Clients are easy to find – Keeping them happy is the hard part

Every company needs a PR agency hustling for them; they just don’t know it yet. Your job is to use your proven track record to convince the client that you will get them press, prep them for the media and help them with their 6 months strategic communications plan. That’s the easy part though. Now you need to keep them happy so that they don’t start looking for another firm to take your place

#2 Everything is positive – If it isn’t, make it

There is no negativity in your repertoire. If you have something to say and it’s not positive or constructive criticism then don’t say it at all. No one wants to spend time with a “negative nancy” because it’s just not fun.

#3 Your job is to get them press – Period.

PR agencies are hired to represent their clients for media coverage. If you’re not getting them coverage, then what are you doing? At the end of the day, no matter how hard you work and how nice you are, if you don’t get press for your client, they will probably fire you.

#4 PR is not public relations – It’s People Relations

A little cliché but still very relevant. It’s the client, media publication and the readers that you build a relationship with. Your job is to be the liaison between the three and master the ability to communicate and translate between all of them.  This is what separates a master from a novice.

#5 There is a reason for every action – It’s all behavioral

Once you start interacting with numerous people on a daily basis, you start to notice a lot of the small things that they do. This is something that you need to be aware of in business so that you can communicate properly with anyone when you need to get something done. The whole “be yourself and don’t conform to anyone else” mantra is dead. You have an objective and you need to accomplish it by any means possible, by playing to your strengths and truly understanding why people do the things they do.

People do things for a reason and you need to figure out what makes them tick. Common sense is an outdated colloquium because everyone has had different experiences. You need to be able to read people on the fly and adapt.

#6 Pitching is a way of life – Learn from Ari Gold

If you have ever watched Entourage, you know exactly what I mean. Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) is one of the biggest agents in the world because he is so damn good at what he does. You need to learn to talk to the press like he talks to his clients. He is a man that exuberates confidence, has no fears and knows exactly what he wants – with some profanity which I don’t recommend.

#7  You need to have an agenda – Six months out

In the PR world, you need to be able to predict the future. No not really but you need to be aware of everything that will happen in the next 6 months that can affect your client. They need to know that you are looking out for them and that you have mapped everything out for them moving forwards so that they don’t have to worry about. There is only so much that can be done in the present which is why you need to plan for the future because it’s coming fast.

#8 It’s PR 2.0 now – Yes that mommy blogger has influence

When I first started working this summer, I naïvely thought that with social media and the Internet the PR world has gotten easier. Epic Fail.

I soon learned that it was the complete opposite because anyone can do PR now, especially social media marketing, which is a large chuck of what companies want today. On the other side of the equation, we have now analytics to track everything we do on our computers, and I mean everything. Years ago when a PR firm got a client an article or ad in a magazine, all you knew was the distribution of it – there was no way of tracking how many people read, glanced or even skipped over it.

That has all changed now that anyone with a computer plugged into the Internet can become a thought leader or influencer. Mommy bloggers, case in point.

#9 Words are everything – It’s not what you say, it’s what they hear (Dr. Frank Luntz)

Frank Luntz is the acclaimed marketing/PR guru who has worked with every politician under the sun and is famous for saying that “it’s not what you say, it’s what they hear.” This means that you need to use the rights words when talking to someone so that your message resonates with them and doesn’t get lost in translation because you said what you wanted to hear. Like the behavioral aspect that I touched on before, you need to tell people what they want to hear, using the right words. For instance, which sounds better – someone who believes in abortion or someone that is pro choice?

#10 Celebrate every success – more reasons to party

If your employee lands a good coverage for a client, let them know that it was a job well done. If a client lands a big deal or is celebrating a 1 year anniversary, make it count. Celebrating every success – even the small ones – shows that you care about them, which at the end of the day is the only thing that separates you from the competition. People like to work with people they like, make sure that your client not only adores you but that they respect you as well.

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Everyone I Know Wants To Work For a Start-Up: Updated!

Aug 9

Posted by Trace Cohen in breaking social norms, business, entrepreneurship, gen-y, inspire, passion, social norms, technology | 2 Comments

It has only been a few weeks,  but I am officially a college graduate. Four long years of bad habits to be broken down and assimilated to whatever establishment feels I’m worthy among the masses. Luckily for me I get to stall this future for another year or so while I go off to graduate school to become a master. For everyone else though, my fellow graduates, the majority of them will move home or to a thriving city to join the “real” world that was only oh so far away when we were in school.

This past weekend, I had dinner with an older friend of mine from college (I only graduated a few weeks ago, that’s weird to say) who has been working for two years now. When she graduated, her job at Company X was a huge accomplishment and the culmination of years of hard work. After a few drinks and some prying questions, the truth came , out – she wants to quit her job and join the exhilarating world of a start-up.

Everywhere you look, you will see some social media, hi-tech company raising money, getting acquired or hitting the million-user milestone. It is all very exciting of course, but you still have to realize that 99% of entrepreneurs fail and that they are actually in the business of failure and not capitalism to put it so bluntly. If that doesn’t shatter your dreams, you’re well on your way to becoming the next Zuckerberg.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of doing so – some of which can go both ways:

PROs – Some positive outlook on why you would want to work for a start-up.

#1 Working with passionate, like-minded individuals

If you start a company you are most likely working with others who share the same passion as you. When you join a start-up they aren’t just hiring you because you are smart and have a great background, they are hiring you because you are someone they want to spend time with.

#2 Less strings attached

One of the major factors that drive people to working at a start-up is the freedom that they are granted. A small company most likely doesn’t have the same corporate structure as other places you may have worked and thus you have the ability to try new things and be more creative.

#3 Everyone is close – maybe even back to back

With most start-ups it’s a rag tag office set up in whatever place that they can afford (hopefully nicer if they received investment) Your co-workers are within arms length, if not a just a simple shout away. This can make for a more enjoyable workday assuming you like everyone you work with.

#4 Inspire Others

One of the best parts of starting my own company was the ability to inspire others to do the same. Anyone can start their own company – hopefully for the right reasons (another post in the works) – they just need a little push and encouragement sometimes.

#5 Stock options!

You have heard all the success stories about companies early on not being able to pay their employees so they gave them some “imaginary” stock options. That paid off huge for the original Google janitor who is now a multi-millionaire. Long story short, if you receive stock you now have a vested interest in the outcome of the company, which will hopefully motivate you to work that much harder.

CONs – Not really the worst things in the world but things to consider.

#1 Job security

When you receive a job offer, hopefully you are looking at it as more of a career and not just another placeholder for the next few years. In the start-up world, companies come and go with the blink of an eye because it is such a crowded and hard place to survive. Be weary that your company can seriously go under at any point and you can be looking for a job again.

#2 It’s just another job

To touch on my first PRO, and this is really only for more of the ego driven bunch, the true excitement of working for a start-up comes from being a founder. This is debatable of course but from experience, while you can work with others or have others work for you, the “glory” and “fame” is usually only for the founders.

#3 9-5 is optional

Your company will most likely have you working the 9-5, but the day doesn’t end until you finish all of your work. Unlike larger companies, some items can wait until the next day, but in a start-up timing is everything and it needs to get done ASAP. How many times have you slept in your office?

#4 Small Budget

Lots of new companies are bootstrapping their way to success, which means less money to spend on most initiatives. In times of drought you either shine or burn out, hence why new companies seem to be more innovative.

Advice from the community!

David Spinks of Scribnia:

My best advice to students who are on the job hunt and worried about whether to go startup or corporate is to not consider anything permanent. Anything can (and will) change at any point in your career. If you try something and find that you don’t like it, then you’re one step closer to finding out what you do like.

Ryan paugh of BrazeenCareerist:

Consider more practical concerns like health care, mobility, benefits and vacation time. You won’t always find these types of luxuries at early-stage startups.

I’ll tell you what though. If you can get past all of that stuff and focus on the pros you listed above, you’re going to get a learning experience that you can’t necessarily find any place else.

—

I hope that these reasons inspired or discouraged you to join a small company. My goal is to give you a realistic point of view that the press and other publications are unable to do.

What are the other PRO’s and CON’s of working for a start-up?

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