The Archangel PR [business] Blog

Sometimes I envy my competition. I’m human; I can’t help it.

I look at my current struggles over money, time, sleep deprivation, family obligations. This is a constant juggling act that I’ve knowingly created and I eagerly jump into every day. Most of my day is consumed with the tasks that I need to perform, but there’s always a moment that comes and goes every week where I can’t help myself.

I need to know what my competition is doing. Better yet, I need to know HOW my competition is doing.

On the surface their website is sleeker and has more fresh content. What’s this? They actually paid cash for a new brick and mortar building? And in the hip, upcoming downtown spot that I’ve had my eye on for the past few years? I just saw the CEO at a business luncheon (that they sponsored). Someone handed me their fancy new business cards and said those dreaded words, “Have you heard? They’ve gone global.” Everyone at that company drives a Mercedes or a BMW. Oh, that’s a good reminder, my Nissan needs an oil change.

On the surface, the competition is kicking my butt.

When I feel myself getting caught up in these moments (and like I said, they come weekly), it helps when I’m reminded that I will never truly see what’s happening behind the scenes. Are layoffs the price of that new office, or that global expansion? Is the boss mortgaging the company’s future for the feel of a Mercedes today? Are their clients as fed up with their work as the rest of are about hearing about it.

Even beyond this is a feeling of guilt: I want my competition to succeed.

These are real people. They have real problems. And rather than walking around hoping that they fail, it would probably do wonders for my karma and energy to wish them nothing but success. Yes, I want success for my endeavors… and I truly want to be the best at whatever I put my mind to… but I know no good will come from my wishing misfortune on others.

After all I wouldn’t want others wishing these things on me.

So this week when I begin to look at what the competition has bought, sold, acquired, stolen, introduced, or how they have seemingly created the “next big thing”, I will strive to change my way of thinking.

Focus on what I’m doing only. Glances to the left and right are normal, but it’s not healthy to stare. Everyone succeeds and fails at their own pace. My moment in the sun is just around the corner.

Pretty soon someone else will be sweating me too.

Whether we like it or not, we are all moving forward into the future. Some of us cling to old memories and stories of days long gone. We hold on to pictures of ourselves when we were young and compare them to recent pictures where we are decidedly less than young.

Last night I cleaned out the filing cabinets that hold my entire collective entrepreneur and business history. While I was looking through the invoices, the receipts, and the e-mails, I began to separate the papers into the ventures I considered successful (the ones that made me money) and the ones that I thought were epic bombs (the ones that lost me money).

I wasn’t stunned by what I saw.

The “failure” pile was immensely bigger than the “success” pile. I’ll tell you in all honesty, I was a bit crushed. The first decade of my business existence looked like a history lesson in “What Not To Do: 101.” In all, my failures should serve as a warning to others. Better yet, these failures should serve as a lesson for myself.

Both my success and my failure have brought me to the place I currently reside.

My success provides money and livelihood. It sustains me and allows me to purchase goods and even provides a shot of confidence. But my failures allow me something just as valuable: experience.

I value experience as much as I value education and/or money.

Everyone is different, but I hope that if you are ever at a point where you can stop and examine the last few years of your business or personal life, that you’ll count it all joy. These things are making you the person you are. The trials and tribulations of this (business) life will make you stronger if you allow it to.

If you learn a lesson from each failure, as well as each success, you’ll be that much stronger in the end.

It’s late, or maybe it’s early. Either way, you’re tired.

Don’t worry. If you can make it to 5:30pm on Friday you’ll be sitting pretty looking forward to another weekend. If you’re like most folks those nice, fuzzy “weekend feelings” usually end Sunday evening when you realize that Monday morning is a few hours away. So you start preparing for the week however you can. You lay out an outfit for Monday, maybe prepare your lunch since you’re brown bagging it lately “due to the economy” (and not so much due to your ever expanding spare tire). You lay your head down at a reasonable hour and you may sleep, but you never rest. Your mind is too busy looking at the week ahead.

Then before you know it, your alarm is screaming. Time to get a move on! But you honestly don’t want to. You’d rather lay in your bed and not wake up for another few hours, but you do so begrudgingly because those damn bills have to be paid. Maybe you work out, maybe you don’t, but then you grab a shower, grab a bite, and head out the door to another week of unsatisfying work.

If this is your life, do it full blast. Enjoy those paychecks! Enjoy that restless sleep! Work yourself to death! Just think, if you push yourself and push yourself, you’ll complete a few more assignments, move a little ink, and maybe one day your boss will notice and pay you what you’re worth.

Don’t worry, you’ve only got thirty more years until you retire. That’s only 1,500 more weeks or so of this and BOOOOOOM! The sweet, sweet embrace of death will be here to take you to the other side (or if you’re atheist, nowhere).

One question though: ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME?!?

This is how you want to spend your life? Working your ass off day in and day out, only to be “rewarded” with two or three weeks of vacation a year?? You gladly trade time away from your family, friends, and the things that matter most to you for a chance to upgrade your 2006 Honda Civic to a 2010 Honda Accord? You’re giving up your life to trade in your 1,200 square foot house for a 2,250 square foot house?

**Don’t get me wrong, material things are great. If someone wants to give me $100 million dollars, then I will gladly accept it and promptly move to a small island somewhere never to be seen or heard from again.**

The most precious commodity you have is time. We freely give our time away; time we can never recover. Even as I type this and you read it (and hopefully share it with friends), we are giving are time up.

This will always happen, but I hope you more closely examine the things you give your time to. For me, giving an extra few hours on any project that ultimately doesn’t make me happy or help me spend more time with my family is without a doubt, a complete WASTE.

Decide today what kind of life you want to lead, because you ultimately get one time to do it.

Get busy… times a wastin’!

It happens without fail.

You’ve got a great business idea. You have a business plan (or at least one in your head). You actually found funding! You begin to assemble a team of trusted individuals and brilliant business minds to launch this idea into the stratosphere.

But…

You begin to hear rumblings around the office. The tight circle of trusted minds and joyful outlook have turned to anger, resentment, and jealousy. The future suddenly isn’t sunny and the gray clouds have gathered above your heads.

You have a bad apple (or two) within your walls. What’s worse, it’s now affecting your mood and your productivity.

How do you cut ties with the bad apples in your group? It may be easier said than done, especially if the person in question is a business partner or friend.

Best Case Scenario: You pull the person(s) aside, tell them how their gossip and back-biting is affecting the workplace and the productivity; they quickly see the err of their ways, apologize, and the world is right again.

Worst Case Scenario: It gets worse. Now, they’ve put YOU directly in their cross hairs for even calling them out (in a professional way).

How are you suppose to handle this situation?

When it comes to business, it’s best to handle each and every decision in terms of what is truly best for your business. If you hire an outside marketing team, and sales fall flat, you cut that team and hire a new one. If the PR team isn’t generating headlines and buzz for your product, you cut ties, and go a different direction. It’s the same situation.

It’s not personal. It’s business.

You need problem solvers, not problem creators. You need sales to go up, not gossipy in-fighting that’s tearing the team down.

It may be a tough to deal with when contracts and feelings are involved. But, in the end, you know what needs to be done.

You’ve made it this far. Don’t let the bad apples ruin the rest of your harvest! Stay strong!

I didn’t plan on adding a sequel to my rant from yesterday, but I had the opportunity to talk with a few people yesterday whose opinions and reflections I both trust and respect.

These three gentlemen helped guide me through the murky waters I was facing. Like any entrepreneur, I face epic highs and incredible lows. The last few weeks have been an incredible low. This valley has reminded me that I have amazing friends and mentors. If nothing else I’ve surrounded myself with folks who calm me down and help clarify my situations with wisdom.

I was gently reminded why I began to work for myself in the first place and what I started out with. I began with nothing. No one is going to hand me anything at any level of the game. Business is now and forever will be a “what have you done for me lately” industry.

I was reminded again that I am only 5 years in to a lifelong pursuit. I am still a baby in this game. I’m still laying the foundation for future success and endeavors.

It’s still frustrating. And it always will be. What I haven’t read in all of these books is how it’s “so easy now” no matter what level you’re at.

I am, like many of you, impatient when it comes to success. Our definition of success may differ, but we want it NOW. We want to be doctors… we want to scale Everest… we want these admirable things without putting in all of the work. I guess it gets even more frustrating when you can see the finish (start?) line and you feel you’re getting bogged down with frivolous time-wasters.

I didn’t go to sleep happy last night, but with these and other words of wisdom floating through my sub-conscious as I slumbered, I woke up re-freshed and re-newed.

I was starting to put my dreams in the palms of other peoples hands, whether real or imagined. Our fight-or-flight reflex is like a scale and from time to time it was lean overwhelmingly in favor of one direction. My scales were tipped for flight. I’ve noticed with every step forward, I seemingly had one foot out of the door, always ready to run if the situation didn’t work out in my favor.

This severely dampened my ability to perform my duties, my work, at a high level.

My mentors reminded me that my dreams and hopes are not foolish pursuits. They make me happy. They are significant. But I must be willing to give 100% of myself for them to succeed on a larger scale.

Great articles posted by a few incredible thought leaders… check them out if you have time (and if you’re reading this, you have time):

Ronn Torossian – CEO of 5WPR in NYC

**Check out his archive. Very useful information to be had there.**

Jonathan Fields – Author of ‘Career Renegade’ and ‘Awake @ the Wheel’ blogger.

**Check his archive out also. Also you can find his podcasts on iTunes… I highly recommend them.**

Julio Varela – Founder of v5, LLC.

**Julio (better known as Twitter’s @Julito77) is a major force in the world of PR, etc. in the Latino community. His brother is a pretty incredible singer too!**

check them out! Now!

Great post by Ray Silverstein.

Silverstein, a recognized small business expert, is president and founder of PRO: President’s Resource Organization, a network of advisory boards for small business owners.

Silverstein founded PRO in 1993, after selling his multi-million dollar tool and hardware manufacturing company. Today, he facilitates PRO groups throughout the Chicago area and in Phoenix. He has facilitated over 1,000 such meetings to date, making him one of the leading authorities on business peer groups.

I’ve copied the story below but click here if you want the original post on Entrepreneur.com.

********

What does it take to be a compelling business leader? We hear all this talk about leadership styles but, really, is any one style preferable to the others? In my observation, there is no single, universally superior leadership style.

That being said, there are some universal qualities that successful leaders share, including the ability to inspire trust, the vision to move a company forward, and the foresight to provide the training employees will need to realize that vision.

Inspiring trust is critical. People are not willing to recognize someone as their leader unless they trust them, not just intellectually, but ethically and morally as well. Likewise, people won’t follow someone unless they’re convinced that person knows where they’re going.

When ask to define their leadership style, entrepreneurs often reply, “I lead by example.” What they mean is, “I work long, hard hours and will take on any task.” Leading by example is terrific, but it’s not the be all and end all. Employees aren’t dumb. They can recognize effective activity versus meaningless busyness. That’s why one of my favorite pieces of leadership advice is “don’t do well what you shouldn’t do at all.”

I suspect that leading by example may sometimes mask a fear of letting go. A true leader doesn’t just inspire trust, he or she returns the favor, trusting those who follow. To lead effectively, you must overcome your fear of losing control and allow others to step in. When an employee sees the boss has confidence in him, he becomes more willing to accept responsibility, therefore making a greater contribution to the organization.

Ironically enough, true leaders understand that their business requires more than one leader; someone other than themselves. They know that, ideally, every employee within an organization should take the lead in some situations. And–here’s the kicker–true leaders assume responsibility for training and guiding their followers into leadership roles.

I have a friend, a business consultant, who likes to talks about “the three Ps”: program, process and people. The program is your vision, your plan. To achieve it, you need to develop a process that allows to you achieve the desired results consistently. To see the process through, you need the right people, people who trust your leadership.

In other words, real leadership is not necessarily doing (i.e. leading by example) but creating a process where average people can consistently achieve better-than-average results.

One of the toughest tests of leadership is the ability to make personnel changes. Rather than do so, too many entrepreneurs will accept mediocre performance. True leaders are willing to make sure they have the “right people on the bus,” even if it means ushering some people off. If you are willing to tolerate mediocrity, what does that say about your leadership style?

Over the years, I’ve encountered many leadership styles with interesting labels: The Benevolent Dictator, Rah-Rah Type, Open Book Manager, Theory X, Theory Y, Autocrat, and Team Builder, for example. They all offer certain pros and cons, which I’ll be discussing in more detail in future columns.

More importantly, regardless of what your leadership style is, it can work, providing you employ people who are comfortable with it. And, of course, who trust you.

The age old question from most upstart actors and actresses is “How can I find an Agent?” or “How can I get signed with an Agent?”

There are literally TONS of sources and references for this kind of topic! Just Google the question and you’ll get more results and more “wisdom” than you probably ever care to have on the subject.

So, let me add a twist to the whole process if you’ve got that same question: FINDING an Agent is easy. They’re everywhere. They come in every shape, size, and color.

The real question you should ask is this: How do I sign with the Agent that is right for my goals and my future?

This is where a lot of potential actors and actresses trip themselves up. Let me be honest with you if you’re seeking an Agent: 95% of the time an Agent in Houston/Dallas/Austin/Atlanta etc will not get you “Hollywood” type work. These are big cities, but honestly, they’re not New York or Los Angeles. We live in the digital age and these places are “closer” than ever before, but LA & NYC are still the places where deals are made.

A lot of actors / actresses won’t ask that question, and most Agents won’t fess up to that fact. Houston Agents can and should get you local / regional work with a few nibbles at West Coast work… Atlanta Agents can and should get you local / regional work with a few nibbles… but it’s highly UNLIKELY (not impossible, but unlikely) that you will be in the next Hugh Jackman movie through your Dallas-based acting agency.

I know, I sound like a jerk. But the biggest complaint I hear from real-life Agents about unproven, inexperienced talent is that they’re looking to be the next Julia Roberts or Matt Damon.

So what would be a good starting point then?

1.) Find a quality agency (i.e. Houston: Pastorini-Bosby Talent) and start getting some experience on local commercials / voice-overs, etc.

2.) Follow the instructions on the agency site when contacting or soliciting for an offer of representation. If the site says “do not call”, then don’t call. That’s the quickest way for your headshot to wind up in a trashcan.

3.) Do not harass an agency / Agent. Pretty self-explanatory. Maybe they just have too many other folks that look / act just like you. Doesn’t mean you’re not great, but they have a ton of clients already and not enough work to go around.

4.) Market yourself! If you sign with an agency, your typical Agent has about 50-75 talented and tragically underpaid actors/actresses at their disposal (this is per Agent; an agency can have HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE JUST LIKE YOU.). Always have your headshot/resume with you and take some time each day to go check out Actors Access and sites like that to search for opportunities. Remember to always check with your Agent about those opportunities though and get them to see if the offer is legit so they can get you the most money for your services.

5.) If you’re an actor, you need to be acting. If you’re a writer, you should be writing. If you’re a musician, you should be out playing your instrument. It’s as simple as that. If you haven’t acted professionally in a play / film / tv episode in 2 years, but you still consider yourself an “actor”, please stop wasting your breath and an Agent’s time. You should be attending workshops at the very least.

Anyway… you could write entire books on the “right” and “wrong” way to start a career in entertainment. Actually, they have.

Remember to keep honing your craft and keep your head up. While you’re at it, check out my interviews with some great producers and it may just help you out even more!

If you were told an irrefutable truth that 1 year from now you would be dead, what would you do?

I know most would naturally ask, “How do I die?” For this moment look past that.

If you had one year left to live, what would you do? How would you spend your last year?

Would you wake up and go about in the same routine? Would you drag yourself out of bed and make your way to the job that you hate? Would you lock yourself in your house out of fear of the unknown? The questions abound: Do I go to church? Do I go back to church? Do I get angry at the world and plot to take people with me into the unknown?

Believe that for a moment there are no right or wrong answers.

If you could do anything, what would it be?

Where would you go? Who would you talk to? What new experiences would you try for the first… and last… time?

Would the grudges you have been holding for years suddenly seem so inconsequential? Would you lose all hope and end it now with the unknown an bearable given?

Could you find it in the deepest parts of yourself to embrace it and truly live life the way it was meant to be lived? Could you bring yourself to experience the unknown horizons and uncharted waters?

The truth is a truth that no one wants to admit: We do not know which day will be our last.

We make plans and build “toward the future” when in reality, our futures are never guaranteed. We are not promised a tomorrow. We are not promised success. We are promised nothing.

Here’s the damnable misery of it all: If we so choose, “nothing” is exactly what we will get out of life.

This is not an original concept at all. I am no philosopher. I am 26 year-old, small business owner. I don’t have a right or wrong answer for you. Only questions. So all I can speak about are my own experiences and thoughts.

The way I live my life is what most “logical” people call foolhardy. I think of my goals and dreams in terms of months, not years. I am defiant of the social-norm for life, love, and responsibility.

I am a family man through-and-through. They are a huge reason why I live the way I do. Don’t get me wrong, I try not to engage in foolish activities or unsafe practices (drugs, etc.), but I absolutely, without a doubt, live without reservation.

I have lost friends because of this. It’s sad. My heart truly breaks for the friends I’ve lost. Although I’ll offer an apology whenever someone believes that I have wronged them with my “stupid sense of urgency about all matters”, I do not apologize for wanting to embrace the life I have left.

However long that may be.

What about you? What would you do with your year? Where would you go? What do you think you would see? I honestly want to know, because you may give me a clue about where I’ll be headed.

Jonathan Fields, himself a family man and life renegade has a great blog up about making an impact. Do read it if you have a moment.

Neither of us invented these thoughts, but never the less these thoughts remain.

Let’s start sharing some thoughts on the subject…