Do You Waste Time?

Ever feel as if there isn’t enough time in the day? You are not alone, especially if you own a company.  Well, there are some things we as people do daily that really lead to time crunches and task bottlenecks. I’ve listed them below to help you identify where you are wasting time and recover it to become more productive.

1.     Administrative work. If you are a business owner then this is your largest waste of time. Many business owners don’t want to relinquish control over these tasks. Why? You should waste an hour or more a day consolidating reports, reviewing specific documents, etc.  Your administrative team should do this for you.  You only need to review report synopsis, considering details as needed- not in general and all of the time.

2.     You place value on quick tasks. Don’t do this. You are wasting time. If you put off schedule appointments for simple haircuts, responding to short emails, etc. – then you are adding items to your task list and building pressure upon yourself that isn’t needed. If it takes under 2 minutes to do – do it immediately.

3.     Finally, don’t repeat things. If you have customers who ask you the same thing over and over again, or want you to send them the same document over and over again, put it on your website.  They can find these answers and documents on the website or your administrative team can help.

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO

“Good luck getting your overachievers to sleep.”

I recently read an article composed by Arianna Huffington titled the same as my blog post tonight. In the article,  Arianna wrote “According to 2012 numbers from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, among European countries, Greece was number one in hours worked, Hungary was second, and Poland third. Their productivity rankings, however, were 18th, 24th, and 25th (dead last). Working the fewest hours were the Dutch, Germans, and Norwegians, who came in at fifth, seventh, and second in productivity.”

She took the time to discuss how overachievers and entrepreneurs feel “lazy” if they are not working all of the time. I can certainly understand this psychology. I run several businesses. If I spend an hour not working, I feel like my competition is catching up to me.  While I was sad to read the stats of her article, I certainly found comfort that I am not the only one who thinks down time equates to loss of profits or laziness. I certainly would rather close a deal at midnight than be in the club not making money!

However, Arianna is right.  Being over productive can actually make the quality of work decline. Not sleeping, not being in the club, not taking time for our own health hurts us. This isn’t a good thing and leads to burn out.

All of this said, it is the weekend. As we head into Saturday- take some time off from your work and enjoy life- maybe even take a nap!

Until Monday,

Coco the CEO

The Traits of Outstanding Female Leaders

I was asked recently how a woman could become or be defined as a great leader. Hmm. What does being a woman have to do with leading? No one ever asks a man how he can become a great leader. Why are we women singled out?

The truth is there are plenty of great women leaders out there and there are plenty of great male leaders out there. The test of leadership isn’t found within your DNA and birth sex, but defined by the following skills. Do you have them? If so, you’re a great leader.

1)      You don’t care what people say, you have your vision and you are moving forward.  This stands true only if your vision is positive, lifts others up and you’ve done research to have such a provocative opinion about your vision.

2)      You collaborate, you don’t delegate.  Anyone can delegate. Not everyone is humble enough to collaborate. You need collaboration with other people to build your brand, grow your business and improve your networking (in person and online) circle.

3)      You are a life-long learner. If you didn’t throw your degree on the wall and announce “I’m done” then you are a life-long learned. Continued education is the key to being able to pivot your company when new technologies or methodologies are introduced.

You don’t have to be one sex or another to lead. You simply have to follow the three steps noted above to success.

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO

Content Calendars 101

The key to any great social media or PR campaign is a content calendar.  Broadcast companies have one, the media uses one (editorial calendar) and most major corporate accounts use one. Are you?

When developing your calendar make sure you are aware of industry trends. For example, if you run a gym then it is your job to know when national heart health week, national spinach day (today), and other health related milestones occur. When you are aware of important industry dates, you can trend along with the topics on your own social media and blogging accounts.

You should also consider how you are writing your content. Is it ad based? It is all about self-promotion? If so, it is a mistake. Make sure you are providing real information and value- not just a pitch to gain sales.

If you follow these two simple steps when creating your content calendar I promise your ROI will go up.

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO 

Pitching and Missing.

Here in the PR world, I sit behind my desk every day and read the news. I consider the clients I have, what is obtaining media, and then I schedule a list of pitches based on this information. I go into this process understanding there are editors who are changing jobs, writers who hate their paper or media outlet, editorial calendars already set and into play, breaking news could be an element, and that no matter how great my client is- there is someone out there who is better and being pitched right now!

This said, I still pitch. I spend the majority of my time on the phones or via email pitching reporters for client pickup. I spend the majority of my time hearing the word ‘no’ for multiple reasons. In fact, someone asked me recently what they could do to get more national pick up. Well, there is an art to PR and it is all about who you know regardless of what someone tells you. 

Here is my 3 Things You Should Never Do When Pitching List.  

1.       You don’t know who you are pitching.  I love when clients say “didn’t you pitch the local media?” Yes, I did. Why don’t they (my clients) know them by name? They should. I do. What happens when the go to the interview? Your clients should know the reporters they want to cover them as much as they know how much they want to be covered. In return, you should know what reporters can and will cover them versus who you shouldn’t pitch. Why waste time pitching Oprah if she is only covering celebrities for the next three months?

2.       Know when to pitch.  Here’s the thing, you can’t pitch a summer spring line right now to a fashion reporter. They are already working on fall and have already booked the spring interviews. If you are not familiar with each publication or broadcast outlet’s editorial calendar, you are already pitching to be rejected.

3.       You think your client is the only resource. Wrong! For example, let’s say you are pitching a football player. He is famous so it is an easy sell, right? Wrong. Think about all the other professional football players available for interview. Now, tell me again why I should cover yours? Find an angle other then what your client has already done. Pitch why your client is different, not based on existing accolades.

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO

Why Your Business Doesn’t Have Legs!

There are many great business ideas out there. Most don’t get off the ground because the person(s) behind the idea isn’t capable of executing it. In fact, they have some pretty bad business habits that harm the business idea.

 I’ve put together a list of the top 3 reasons why businesses / ideas don’t succeed. Read the list below and ask yourself if you own one or all of these habits.

1. Your reactive not proactive. Proactive people are busy planning, doing, getting things done. Reactive people spend the majority of their time catching up, copying the ideas of others, responding to emails all day long, and really not accomplishing mush.  You have to make your product grow. This isn’t something you can delegate to others. You can delegate emails, not your business.  Be proactive, not reactive.

2. You slow down the decision making process. Not every situation is life or death in business. You should be able to make a decision fairly accurately and quickly.  Major decisions do require time and thought, but are you bottlenecking simple decisions? If so, you are stunting your growth as a company.

3. You are brand confused. Wow, this is a major issue for me with many clients. You can’t have one leg in one demographic and another leg in a different pool. In other words, make sure you are true to your own brand if you expect other people to do the same. If you are business woman, act like a business woman.  If you are a tattoo artist, act like one.

I hope this information has helped you identify how to truly get your ideas off of the ground and your business moving forward.

Coco the CEO

Writing Your Own Press Release 101

I work in the PR field. My biggest challenge are the client who come to me with impactful ideas that hold no water.  The biggest mistake my clients make is thinking someone in the media cares. The truth is, no one cares.  What you think is news, really isn’t. In fact, in order to tell what is news and what isn’t newsworthy, hit up Google News. If you own a bakery and your big news is the launch of a new flavor of cookie, type in “new cookie flavor” and see what is relevant and what is trending.  I tell my celebrity clients the same thing. I tell them to Google their brand. Then I tell them to Google other “ a like” celebrities and see what they are getting as far as news. 

I ask them why they think the media is covering their competition and not them.  The PR Agency has nothing to do with it. In fact, we all pretty much use the same AP methods on a daily basis.  More established PR agencies do have better weight to throw around as far as pushing an interview, but we all face the same challenges and procedures.  Usually, when a client isn’t getting pickup, it is because they have nothing that truly is newsworthy to offer and therefore- nobody cares. Being famous for being famous is no longer the thing to do because of social media and there is no such thing as overnight success. Research some of the world's most famous people. I promise you they didn't achieve success in 6 months, a year or even 5 years!

This said, I want to talk about the top 3 things to consider when writing your own press release.

1.       Remember that no one cares.  Writing a press release for SEO and deep linking purposes is very different than writing one for actual media pickup. If you are writing for media pickup, use AP formatting and make sure you really have something to announce.

2.       “Do” vs “Applause”. What’s this? Well, your press release should either be an announcement of something that is about to happen (do) or something that did happen and is something people will want to care about (applause).

3.       Be straight forward. Contrary to popular belief, a press release shouldn’t hype you or your products up. Reporters hate this. In fact, it makes reports distrust the source. Be direct. Have a quote. Don’t use words that make you or your products sound bigger than they are and don’t write a biography as part of your press release. Remember the “Do” or “Applause” rule!

Until Monday,

Coco the CEO

Branding, A Lesson in Strategy

I am asked about branding more than any other component of business. Everyone today wants to be a brand. Well, easier said than done. You see, as a personal brand you have to offer something other than yourself.  People don’t buy things easily and they aren’t going to buy into you so quickly, either. You have to prove yourself first before you can become a brand. 

I was reminded of this lesson last night when watching a rerun of the TV show Shark Tank. I’m posting the link to his personal website below. You see, this magician thought he was the best magician Vegas would see. An unknown name wanted to charge $60.00 a ticket in a 400 seat showroom. He showed the Sharks his magic tricks. The tricks were really, really good. However, he didn’t possess any ticks or talent that didn’t already exist. He had talent. He had tricks. Despite being on national TV (several times), he has no brand. 

Tonight, after you watch the example I show below, think about your personal brand. Are you simply trying to copy what other people are doing with the hopes of lightening striking? Are you truly making an effort to define yourself apart from your competition versus trying to be just like them? You may have the look, you may have the magic tricks, but you will not have overnight success. You need people to believe in you as a product before you can sell yourself as one. 

Coco the CEO 

http://ricksmithjr.com/

'Thank You'

Have you ever received an insincere ‘Thank You’ note? I get them daily. My homeowner’s insurance agent sent one when I signed my policy.  I have vendors send them to me. They mean nothing, right? Wrong! While some notes do seem insincere, there are notes that can make an impact in business. It is all in how and why you write any type of personal note, including the ‘Thank You’ note.

I like to calendar my notes but I don’t do it for the day before they are do. I calendar “random” notes to send to clients stating how much I love working with them or as a token of appreciation. This shows you really care about their business and their welfare as your client. This “random” practice really goes beyond the formalities of business. People love the unexpected.

I will write clients who tell me no more often then I write clients who tell me yes. Why? Simple. I care. If I wasn’t able to hash out a deal with a prospect, I want them to understand it wasn’t a personal thing. In fact, I may want to earn their business in the future or the business of one of their friends. Being friendly and thanking someone for their time is important on so many levels.

So, get out your calendar right now and mark random dates to send ‘Thank You’ notes.

Coco the Ceo

Are You A Business Diva?

Here it is, the moment of truth…. Are you a business diva? I wanted to write this blog after dealing with so many women in the workplace today. People say men can be hard to do business with. Maybe. But nothing compares to a diva woman in the workplace, especially if she is the boss. How can I say this? Well, I own several companies and guess what… I am a woman!

I deal with other women day in and day out and I am sad to say there is an ignorant demographic of women business owners out there that I deem as divas. These are women who are not successful but holding on. They have an attitude that stumps their ability to grow as a woman and a business owner because they are too busy not helping others or leading with grace. 

How do you know if you are a business diva? I’ve listed some signs below;

1. You complain.  Life is imperfect. People can’t read your mind. If you are not providing tools or constructive criticism to help others, you are setting them up for failure and your complaints only validate this to yourself. Complaints never helped anyone grow.  Learn from your complaints in order to help your own company grow and correct a fellow woman or peer. 

2. Your verbiage is ‘off the chain’. Ever notice how some women help themselves look stupid by not having a grasp on the basic English language? I once spoke with a woman who used “irregardless” over and over when putting someone else down. This isn’t even a word! Years later, frustrated employees mocked their boss by putting up a voicemail with animation on YouTube with an “irregardless” remix. Don’t let your ignorance come back to bite you. Speak elegantly and know the meaning of words. Otherwise, you are a diva and not a true business owner. 

3. Don’t make friends with employees. I say this because I see women do this. They make friends with their employees, or worse- clients, and then when it comes time to play the role of the boss they bring up personal situations. This is terrible and classifies you as a diva.  You shouldn’t be friends with your employees or your clients in the first place. More so, you shouldn’t throw personal situations or occurrences up to them when dealing with a business matter.

Until next time, 

Coco the CEO 

The secret to great presentations.

If you are like me, you often find yourself having to give presentations to large and small groups. If you are new to presentations keep reading; I have some great tips to help you develop amazing demonstrations.

First, keep your slides simple. Too many graphics or frilly fonts are bad for engaging people, especially if is catering to a group of 10 or more!

Encourage a conversation, don’t force it. I hate when people go around the room and make me introduce myself to others. I never remember everyone’s names and I’m sure they don’t remember mine. Setting the tone to encourage conversation will let people naturally introduce themselves to one another and spark interaction.

Finally, I never end late. If you have a meeting scheduled to end at 2pm and it goes an hour long, guess when people stopped listening to you and started paying attention to the clock? That’s right, 2pm!

The secret to a great presentation isn’t that big of a secret. In fact, it is a three step series of events that is quite simple to implement.

Until next time,

Coco the CEO

Start Your Workday Empowered

I used to feel as if I couldn’t get a grip on the day. I would open my eyes in the morning to email after email, client text messages, phone calls waiting on my office line and my family had needs too. I felt like I didn’t have time for a shower, breakfast or even lunch! I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t fitting everything into one day. It was then I realized I wasn’t Super Woman – close- but not quite there. I needed to change my schedule and allow me time to really start my days empowered.

Here is how I can believe you can organize your mornings the same way I did;

Pledge to get up an hour earlier. I promise you sleep will not be an issue. The first week will be hell but after that you will find you do have more time in the day and can actually achieve more sleep at night! When you wake up feeling ahead of the game, as with being awake an hour earlier, you are calmer and get put your day in perspective while grabbing a shower and something to eat without feeling rushed.

Create a “to do” list and stick to it. If it isn’t on the list, put it off to another day and have someone assist you with your schedule. Shoot an email to the person in charge of your schedule to delegate time to the task(s) that just appeared for another day. If a client pops a last minute project on you, charge more or give him or her the option to wait. I promise you the emergency can wait….

Finally, I stay away from cocktails with friends. This will put you in bed longer the next day and take away from time for you to dedicate to gym, visiting family or prepping for the next day. Sure, once in a while go out and have a glass of wine or two, but don’t make it a nightly habit.

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO

3 Common PR Mistakes

I own a marketing and public relations company. I hear, see and watch newbie PR professionals fail on a daily basis. You see, everyone has this idea of what PR is. Then, there is the actual definition of what PR is. Most people get into PR because they themselves either want to be the center of media attention or they want to be reporting the news, not delivering it. Yes, there is a big difference.

Here’s the thing; public relations is about managing the media and developing a brand. It isn’t about making someone famous through managing appearances or mingling with celebrities – which is one of the biggest misconceptions to date. Public relations professionals don’t book work or appearances outside of media interviews, talent or literary agents do this. Public relations professionals book media appearances based on what a client is doing. If you have to do the work for your client and then get them media interviews – there is a problem with the client. This said, below are my top 3 common PR mistakes.

1. It is two different things entirely to pitch news your clients force you to pitch against your better judgment and pitch something to a reporter without the thought of you believing it is news in the first place. Yes, pitching what a client thinks is newsworthy doesn’t make it so. You need to educate your clients on this or your company will be reflected in the mistake as much as the client.

2. Your timeline isn’t what the press cares about. In fact, you need to care what the media’s timelines are. I recently read this piece of advice and couldn’t agree more. “Let’s say you are sending a Christmas wish list to a monthly magazine. When do you send that pitch? October? August? Try June or July. If not, tell your client to wait until next year or focus on weekly trades. Editorial calendars change sometimes but lead times do not. Know the deadlines first, and know not to call a reporter when he or she is buried under one second.”

3. Know the news. Everyone thinks their clients are special, and they are. However, you will not get your clients picked up by every single news outlet. In fact, for every 500 outlets pitched, expect a 3% return and not right away. Remember, editorial calendars exist!

As you move forward into your PR career, you will create connections that will make it easier for you to pick up the phone and bump competing press agents and their stories. Until then, follow the rules and don’t make these 3 major mistakes.

Coco the CEO

Consulting As A Business

It isn’t easy to be a consultant. I offer business consulting and there is no perfect formula to help every client because each client and situation is unique. There are many entrepreneurs who believe consulting as a business is easy. Well, it isn’t. Breaking in is hard to do and you have to strive for perfection and branding each and every day.

Before you strike out on your own as a consultant, you have to prove you can be a consultant. What have you done that would make other business owners turn to you for advice? If you don’t have a best-selling book, a multi-million dollar company, or thousands of dollars in brand recognition then you can’t be a successful consultant. No business owner in his or her right mind would hire someone who hasn’t had landmark milestones within their own career to consultant on another company.

You should also show how you are different right away. For example, don’t offer the same or typical consulting topics. Make your brand different as a way to be competitive. For example, consulting on how to turn a profit is a dime a dozen topic. However, if you decide to coach or consult on the topic of increasing your profit margin by 30% in the first two quarters of any year than you have a niche topic to start with.

Consulting for a living is NOT in any way easy. Build your brand, show what you’ve accomplished and then tell people why you are different.

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO

Clever Ways to Brand Yourself!

As a brand professional, you have to constantly work on improving your marketing. I’ve come up with a few great branding opportunities that will work specifically for trade shows and/or conferences.

1. Survival kits. You’re presenting or you have a booth at a convention / trade show. While you are overwhelmed by the long hours, constant pitching and the mass amounts of people- understanding the people visiting your booth feel the same. Instead of pitching, provide a solution. Hand out “survival kits” filled with a bottle of water, candy bars, pretzels and other food or usable collateral (stress balls work too). The people visiting your booth will remember your kindness and your brand is all over the packaging!

2. Host a “power” booth. It’s not what you think. Literally pay for the charging stations for people to plug in their phones, tablets and laptops. Again, you create a solution and people will remember your kindness and your brand.

3. Free services. Who doesn’t like the word free! Host a booth that allows people to come in, sit down, have a free sandwich or bottle of water, and either get a shave or their hair refreshed. It can be costly to do this, but people will be thankful. Plus, once they are sitting in the shaving chair or hair chair- it is hard to escape from your pitch!

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO

Are You The B-Word?

I was in line at a coffee house and I heard two guys classify their female boss as the B-word. The conversation grabbed my attention. As I listened to their complaints, I could tell their boss was described right. But, I thought it was funny how I immediately started to think about the way men clarify women business owners. I jumped to a discrimination accusation before I heard the entire conversation.

Calling attentive and smart women the B-word is a problem. However, what about the women who embrace this title? Is pushing someone on your staff a good thing? The more the men in line spoke, I realized it wasn’t. They resented her. They went out of their way to do their duties without going the extra mile for her. Had she not been so demanding and so hard on them, these two men probably would have embraced her leadership and gave her more as far as creativity and productivity are concerned.

I grabbed my coffee and I moved on. Here’s the thing. I want you to go into this weekend realizing being a tough doesn’t mean you have to be the B-word. In fact, being harsh is probably going to get you less from your employees than presenting what you need in a nicer manner.

Until Monday,

Coco the CEO

Social Media – It’s Just Wrong

Do you know about 78% of individuals use social media improperly? It is a very true fact. Most people don’t use social media to better their personal brand. In fact, they do a pretty good job of either creating brand confusion or ruining their all-out brand. But Coco, I’m a person not a brand! Oh, I wish this was true. People are now brands thanks to LinkedIn. If you work, if you’re employable, if you exist online- you are a brand.

Here are some ways to ruin your brand and use social media incorrectly.

1. You don’t update on the constant. A post here and there doesn’t offer any insight as to who you are. Skip the mediocre posting habits and either get better at posting for yourself or hire someone to do it for you.

2. You make announcements about yourself and how important you are versus engaging with others. Yep, this is a major mistake. No one likes a bragger. Be promotional without being obvious.

3. You ignore the bad stuff. Why? This is an opportunity to see where you are falling short and correct it. You can move on by responding to bad stuff. Saying nothing in response is just as bad as pleading guilty to it.

Try to practice your social media efforts daily, be engaging and respond to bad comments. All these practices will put you ahead of the game as far as social media is concerned.

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO

Email pitching and the trash. Are you in it?

Try to call a reporter these days. Even worse, try to call someone for a donation. You get voicemail and operator screen over and over again. If you are forced to pitch via email, which many prefer these days, try these tricks before your email is deleted.

1. Don’t use a template email. People buy into these email services a lot. Why? You can use standard copy if you make it personal. But using email templates as an e-blast? This is a way to get your email trashed and a waste of your subscribing money.

2. Don’t focus on selling. Focus on establishing a relationship. You don’t like to be sold something from someone you don’t know. Why would someone else appreciate this?

3. Be concise. Don’t write a book. Statistics show most people don’t read a document past the first 200 words. Focus on writing the first 200 words well and then summarizing your points again.

If you have to pitch, pitch with power. Use standard copy and make it personal. Focus on relationships, not profit and don’t spend too much time on sending long content.

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO

Running A Company and Weight Loss.

Here’s a fun saying, ““Running a successful business is a lot like losing weight; the principles are simple, but the practice is difficult.” I heard this and laughed because it is so true. Everyone thinks they can run a business but the practice itself is difficult.

I want to talk about walking the walk today because there is more to owning a business then just clicking the start key and being rich! No one cares how many emails you have, how many other people are calling you when you are on the phone with them, how many projects, cold calls, or pitches you have on your schedule – they only care about their results. If you are not striving for results, you’re dead in the water. And, it may take months, if not a year, to start seeing results. No turn-key success here.

You also have to practice being pleasant in some not so nice situations. You will have to be kind to clients who are less than horrible. You will have to bend rules to make deals happen. You will have to strive for success when everyone else is betting on your failure.

My point for tonight’s blog is to not give up. Like a weight loss goal, the longer you try and the harder you apply yourself- you will get there. You might not lose 100 pounds over three months and you certainly will not make a million dollars in a day, but as long as you are practicing what you preach- you will reach the end of the rainbow.

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO

Recovering from a crisis

I had a client get arrested this weekend. It was a simple misunderstanding, but it happened. At first, I wanted to panic. Not only is this person a client, he is a personal friend. I had to gain my composure and look at the situation from a business perspective instead of a personal one.

If you find yourself in crisis mode, my suggestion is to follow what I did this weekend. You need to disassociate emotionally from the situation in order to handle it methodically. This isn’t going to be easy and it will not be fun. However, your role as a business person- regardless if you are in the PR business or the food industry- is to address the situation head on, honestly and with integrity.

My biggest piece of advice for recovering from a professional crisis is to remain calm, composed and emotionally detached from the situation. Stay professional and approach everything with a plan. Don’t give immediate answers, don’t take bad news personally, and don’t react.

If you need more information on crisis management and communications please contact me. I am here to help.

Coco the CEO