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Breaking the social norms

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Do Business Like you Have Road Rage!

Jan 9

Posted by Trace Cohen in business, creativity, inspire, passion, social norms, Uncategorized | No Comments

I was just driving in NYC and the two cars in front of me were battling it out for the upcoming merging to one lane. It reminded me of the Meet the Fockers scene when Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro where racing on that street trying to get home first – both had determination in their eyes and ego in this hearts to make it home first at any costs. It made me think about how you can apply what happens when you have road rage to your daily life because there are definitely lessons to be learned.

Fight for every inch – get in front of that other car:

Most people inch up at a red light or in bumper-to-bumper traffic and treat it like a battle won, just that much closer to victory. You should have the same mentality in business as well. A new partnership, client, deal or functionality are all like that inch, small battles won so you can ultimately win the war.

Check your mirrors – see if that jerk is trying to cut you off:

If you have ever driven in NYC, you know that you must be checking your mirrors and surroundings at all times. In business, you need to know what is going on in your industry at all times as well to make sure you don’t get left behind and sideswiped by a competitor.

Change lanes – the other one may be moving faster:

On long drives you usually like to sit in the same lane just driving along and you can get pretty complacent with yourself. In business the same thing can happen because you are so laser focused on one thing. While multi-taking may not be the best idea, try to focus on something else that you need to get done and come back to the previous thing later. You may not be thinking about it, but your brain subconsciously is.

Turn down a side street – there is more than one way to get there:

In NYC if you can’t go straight, you can go left or right usually. If you’re in a rush, you will try to take shortcuts or you know the streets well and know where the traffic is going to be. In business you have to be agile and able to take different approaches to achieve the same desired result.

Life in the fast lane – pedal to the medal:

There is a lot of stop and go traffic in NYC but sometimes you get lucky with the lights time perfectly and you can fly. When you get an opportunity like this you need to take advantage of it and go as far as you can. In business the same is true because of a new opportunity that you can take and run with.

Detours – everything is in a constant state of renewal:

Getting stuck behind a construction truck or two lanes merging into one can cause some serious problems and aggravation. In business there is no such thing as a great first draft, only great rewrites and the same can be said for anything that you do. Iteration is the new innovation.

Get angry – honk, yell and hit the steering wheel:

Enough said. Point being is that you need to be passionate and driven (no pun intended) to accomplish whatever it is that you’re doing. It’s amazing how crazy some people get when their behind the wheel of a car and feel empowered for nothing.

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Is the Pubic Relations / Media Model Flawed?

Feb 8

Posted by Trace Cohen in breaking social norms, business, change, inspire, PR, Public Relations, Quick Though, social norms, technology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

If you are in the PR world or have ever worked with a PR agency, you know that at the end of the day the goal is to get press. You and a million other people!

The system is inherently flawed. Thousands of PR professionals and companies doing it themselves are bombarding journalists/writers everyday for a story about them, or at least references to them in a positive way. This has forced us to make every word count and come up with innovative (tricky) ways to entice a writer to open an email, and follow-up with a pitch on the phone if necessary.

If you have made it to this step, that means that you have something you feel is worth being written about and a press release to back it up. And if you’re a PR agency, you know you put hours of strategy, effort, thought and preparation in to that press release to make your client sound like a million (billion) dollars and a Nobel Prize laureate.

Yeah! Someone you reached out to is interested in covering your client, oh happy day. News comes out… They totally butchered the story, have no idea what your client does and didn’t even include the most important facts! Your client is pissed that the story missed the point and now you have to wait until the media outlet will cover you again. #FAIL.

Media Mind Set

A journalist wakes up every morning with a blank piece of paper or screen that they need to fill – think of them as a realtor and you’re a client looking for space to rent. If they work for a top publication, then they have a full inbox every morning of emails that want to be read. It’s their job to sift through them, find the most interesting one, get some facts, write it up and publish it.

Not to be too cynical, but they don’t really care who the company is or what they do, they have a job to fill space and that’s what they will do. Are they the most qualified to cover a chemical company, or a tech company with some new platform? Most likely not, though they hopefully have some background in it.

This simple model represents the ridiculousness of the media industry – and it is even more skewed then the model shows – where the long tail is completely neglected because it isn’t possible to cover all news.

So ask yourself, who is the expert and most qualified to write the story about a company’s new widget? The company and PR agency is!

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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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Common Sense Isn’t That Common

Mar 2

Posted by Trace Cohen in breaking social norms, common sense, inspire, passion, social norms | 3 Comments

Have you ever thought to yourself when talking to someone that something is “common sense.”

I have come to the conclusion that common sense, well it just isn’t that common these days. Why is this happening?

The underlying problem is that there are just to many things going on today that anyone you meet should have a general understanding of what you may be talking about. According to Wikipedia “Common sense is based on a strict construction of the term, consists of what people in common would agree on: that which they ‘sense’ as their common natural understanding.”

So according to the common consensus on what common sense is, they say that it is something that “common” people would agree on. Our world is so diverse and constantly changing that I find it hard to find someone often enough that shares my same understanding to be able to call it common sense. This is an industrial age, web 1.0 word that needs to be changed for modern times.

My question to you then is what is the new 2.0 word that would fully encompass the meaning of common sense in current times? Or if you like the notion of common sense, defend it!

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The Generational, Technological Black Hole

Feb 23

Posted by Trace Cohen in breaking social norms, business, change, social media, social norms, technology | 2 Comments

While these may sound like they coincide, they actually are two separate things that overlap with some gray area. Also the title is in a particular order as the generational differences are first an foremost the underlying issues at hand, the technology is just what makes it more convoluted and scary.

We are in the midst of a recession the likes of which we haven’t seen since well, The Great Depression of the late 1920′s. Is this how we want to be remembered though when we look back on this like a bottle of wine, “Oh yes, I remember 2010, that was a bad year.” The answer is no, because I won’t let it happen and neither should you.

Our Generation – I’m talking roughly about Gen-Y – is known for being rebellious, strong headed and misunderstood. We are the product of our parents generation who unfortunately didn’t grow up with the luxuries that we are so accustomed too, for instance our abundance of information thanks to the technology that binds us all together. We have grown up in a faster moving society then ever before and it will only continue as we move forwards because of the Law of Singularity, which states that “through a law of accelerating returns, technology is progressing toward the singularity at an exponential rate.” Gen-Y is only trying to assimilate itself to the current times but at the same time being bombarded by studies, research and corporations to try and get into our heads to see what makes us tick so in the end we can buy their products. It’s the sad truth but the truth of the capitalistic society that we live in.

Now, Technology only fuels and clouds everything I just talked about. It is true that we grew up with the Internet so to speak, so we “understand” and “get” it. Whatever that means is in the eye of the beholder based on what they want to hear. The BIGGEST misconception I hear day after day is that:

“Gen-Y is connected to the Internet at all times, loves to use social media and knows technology like the back of their hand.”

While the first part is generally true, the rest of the sentence is way off. Most of my friends don’t have a twitter account – let alone know what it is besides what they see on TV. They do Facebook though – a lot – but does that really count as social media if it is only posting pictures and comments on each others walls? I have found that it is actually the older generations and professional who use Social Media (Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.) effectively because they think that we use it and want to profit from it.

So here is my Black Hole scenario:

  1. Everyone wants to get in touch with Gen-Y through Social Media, which most of us don’t use. Statistics show this

  2. Social Media “experts” teach us how to effectively use Social Media to accomplish step 1. It is generally older people teaching older people how to reach younger people.

  3. By the time someone finally “understands” Social Media and how to use it, it is to late because a new technology comes out and Gen-Y has moved on.

  4. A vicious circle of learning and trying to apply it. This is were you get lost in the Black Hole.

No one has all the answers because everything is constantly changing. If you are really passionate about Social Media or whatever it is that you might do, it is up to YOU to keep up to date on it and learn from other people. The “Black Hole” is not a bad thing to get sucked into as long as you don’t get lost. My advice to you is that “Nothing is as it appears to be” until you see it and feel it for yourself. Take everything at face value until you determine it’s validity for yourself.

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Breaking Social Norms #2: The College Education

Feb 11

Posted by Trace Cohen in breaking social norms, change, college, creativity, innovation, passion, social norms | 2 Comments

It seems now a days that getting a college education is something of a must. In many ways I support that, but does that mean college has to be confined to a campus? Many students are starting to take classes online as it becomes more popular as it can be completed from anywhere at a fraction of the price.

Don’t get me wrong, I love almost every aspect of college and being a student. I just feel like something got messed up over the years as it seems as most of what we learn can not be applied in the “real world.” This won’t be solved by taking a class online either.

I’ve heard the excuse that college is a time for you to “figure out what you want to do with your life,” or “figure out everything that you don’t want to do.” Too many students graduate without any idea of what they want to do or even how to do it and then end up in debt. The fingered can be pointed at just about everyone for this problem, whether the student didn’t try hard enough, the teacher just wasn’t qualified or even the curriculum is outdated and/or not challenging enough.

Right now the average job seeker is changing jobs every 18 months, which is causing a lot of problems in the professional world. Most of our parents have had the same job for 20-30+ years and if they were laid off, they really don’t know how to do anything else sadly, as they never were required too. Nowadays we are being taught for things that don’t even exist yet.

Way back, the educational system was based off of apprentices and master were the student would maintain and do a craft for the rest of their life. Is that to crude and rudimentary for today’s world? Are there to many niche professions that this wouldn’t work anymore?  I have a double business major and a minor in information tech and am still looking for ways to apply it, with the hope that this broad range of knowledge will land me something.

Is everything moving to fast for us to be able to catch up and teach or is it time for an educational reform? How can we fix this, or is it even a problem? Please share your ideas with us as this is something that will be changing soon.

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Breaking Social Norms: Cool Person of The Week!

Feb 3

Posted by Trace Cohen in creativity, entrepreneurship, innovation, inspire, passion, social norms, syracuse | 2 Comments

So I was going through my old photo albums of when I was abroad in London (because I miss it!) and came across a picture of a guy I took randomly. I always wanted to do something with it and never knew how to apply it to anything I was doing until now!

Thanks to this guy, who when he walked onto the tube and impressed me so much that I had to take a picture, I’m going to start a weekly series dedicated to all the unsung cool people of the world I come across. For now, I am limited to Syracuse until I graduate or travel – I do often – which isn’t a bad start, as on such a large college campus, there are a lot of people doing cool things everyday! It will be my mission and goal to seek out and find these people to give them the credit they deserve! The best part is that “cool” can come in many different shapes and forms.

At the same time, it will also be a learning experience for me as I have to approach people I have never met before and explain to them why I want a picture with them. One of the best ways to learn is to get out of the box and get uncomfortable!

I don’t want this to be a one-man effort though. If you know someone who is cool and deserves a little spotlight to highlight their efforts, please please please let me know!

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Breaking The Social Norms #1: Favoritism

Feb 1

Posted by Trace Cohen in entrepreneurship, inspire, social norms | No Comments

I recently came upon a case of favoritism in my life…

It had to happen eventually but the idea behind it kind of irritates me. This is a conscious decision by an individual to be more lenient when it comes to the grading (in this case) than another student in the class. On the surface it seems unfair, yes, but in hindsight it teaches a valuable lesson. One thing that I have learned while studying business is that people like to work with people they like. Simple, makes sense. So why would we shun this in schools (along with a lot of other things)?

I know what you’re thinking; a suck up is the last thing we want to see in a classroom trust me. This is different though because I’m talking about a student who excels in a class and forms a relationship – strictly academic and professional – with their professor who is teaching them a valuable lesson. Anyone who comes prepared, participates and completes their work on time has a better chance of succeeding and thus getting on the professor’s good side. Will they give them a better grade for this? Maybe, but that’s not my point. When deciding how to grade said individual, the professor will consciously be aware of their aptitude and eagerness to learn and thus be somewhat biased as there is room for ambiguity. This is the way that the world works.

Now there are a lot of other cases were favoritism can be applied, so if you have ever experienced it, want to share your thoughts about it or just don’t agree with me, please comment below!

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