// How Not To Get Turned Out in New York City Part 1 (Pop Up Friends) //

How Not To Get Turned Out in New York City Part 1 (Pop Up Friends)

By Mike “Mancini” McConnell

Living in NYC you are always surrounded by really FUN and CHARMING people who seem like they specialize in creating circles of  “Pop Up Friends.” The majority of relationships these people create don’t really have any depth or purpose. It’s almost like a high school friendship where the only goal is to sit at the same table with a certain crowd that are all dressed alike.

As an entrepreneur, your most precious commodity is TIME and you have to be careful of opening yourself up to toxic people. Please understand there is a difference between socializing with people for personal and financial gain. These folks are usually bored, nosey, gossipy, and will gladly use you as the subject of some random lunch topic. There is no advantage to telling complete strangers your personal business so they can use it against you. All we have, as entrepreneurs are our reputations and since NO one is perfect I suggest being cautious.

How can you spot these people?

 Gossip

1. They love gossip. I mean I have nothing against a good story, but I’ve been told, “Those who gossip with you will gossip about you.” It just seems society has made gossip acceptable and having the courage to say things to people directly is unpopular.  I personally despise gossip and think it’s a coward’s way of dealing with issues. If you’re running a “client based” business how do you expect people to trust you with their intimate business secrets?

Instant Friends

2. This delusional person is quick to call “everyone” his or her friends over night. I’m no friendship expert or Mr. Rogers, but just because you’ve had brunch or shared a brewski with someone two weekends in a row doesn’t qualify him or her as a friend. A friendship takes time to develop and is just like any other relationship. As an entrepreneur, building REAL long lasting relationships is key. The relationships with your client will continuously evolve and if you don’t know how to nurture them you’ll be disappointed.

The Turn Out

3. Look, some people want to be turned out and others don’t even see it coming. These people are amazing at turning others on to their bad habits and quick to drag you down to their level. If this person just wants to feed you alcohol or drugs as a means of escape then they are looking for company in their misery. NO one should feel pressured to do any substance just to hang out. You’re a LEADER and need to recognize that fact.  The reason we thrive as business owners is because we have good instincts and march to the beat of our own drums.

Value Opinions

4. Real friendships allow room for opinions and original thought. If the person you have decided to share your Saturday evening with doesn’t value your opinion and feel like everything they say is the gospel truth then RUN.  You should hang around people that respect the things you have to say. The “Pop- Up” friend loves keeping “YES MEN/WOMEN” around them. How you communicate in your personal life will ultimately affect how you communicate in your professional life.

Watch The Kick

5. This city is rough and people go through tough times. When you find this person laughs at other people’s misfortunes and bad luck it’s pretty much guaranteed your “Pop Up” friend will do the same to you in the long run. I really do believe in karma and what you put out in the universe will always come back to visit you again.

I’ve been told judgment is for “Jesus and Santa” so since none of us are perfect the best we can do is be careful about the decisions we make in our personal lives. This blog entry is not about being judgmental or frightened but rather re-learning how to make real connections in an otherwise tricky city. The truth is a friendship is not about possession or popularity. You need people around you that want to see you healthy, happy, and share the same principles. We have to remind ourselves that just because someone is FUN doesn’t qualify him or her as a GOOD person.

Mike “Mancini” McConnell is a brand consultant, marketer and speaker based in New York City. The founder of Team Mancini a brand consulting and marketing agency. @TeamMancini

// The Socio-Economics of Cool//

myuberlife-nyc:

                        The Socio-Economics of Cool

Today I was awaken by a thought.  My subconscious mind had brought me back from a place; a place where the judgments of people, my sense of self and the excitement of acceptance all collided within the confines of a five floored building:  My High School. Once again, being brought back to adult life from dream state, I, for a moment, had the ability to traverse my ego and access my memories of my ‘not-so-far-but-far-former’ teenage self.  As I walked to the shower, recalling the details of said travel, and in an attempt to unravel the deeper meaning of my dream, I began to analyze what the underlying significance could be.  What I extracted was a reoccurring and revolving theme that haunted my psyche and self esteem; since my [teenaged] years, this thematic state has been my prime subconscious concern:  The Holding On To My Ephemeral State of ‘Coolness.’  The state of ‘cool’ has dominated my intuitive rational since my mid-90’s adolescence and since then I have sat in divine reverence to the Godly ‘cool.’  Today, I have decided to investigate my obsession: What is ‘cool,’ how is ‘cool’ relatively defined and exemplified in America and Europe, currently and historically? Why is ‘cool’ so revered?  And what makes ‘cool’ such a valued socioeconomic cultural asset?  I have decided to approach ‘cool’ from its metaphorical roots to its hyper-cool frost-bit branches.

In my attempt to explore the ‘cool,’ I began exploring its definition.

Read More

// “Never be afraid to let go of people”//

Did this in 2011 and it saved my life.

thedreamersdaughter:

A term to live by.

Keeping people around in your life out of fear or emotions can ultimately become your downfall. Toxic people will only bring fourth toxic situations and that’s when you have to let go of the relationship and move forward. Never be afraid to let go of someone who’s not matching your efforts in life.

(via nerd-rex)

// All Hail the Brand Ambassador by Michael “Mancini” McConnell//

All Hail the Brand Ambassador by Michael “Mancini” McConnell @TeamMancini

All Hail the Brand Ambassador! So, what is a Brand Ambassador? Brand Ambassadors are the face and fingers of the brand, everything they touch, the brand is touching. Brand Ambassadors form the public image of brands and are the humans, company’s use to get their message to the public. (According to Wikipedia). This is pretty much accurate and in recent years it has become popular for companies to hire celebrities or athletes to be the face of their brands. It’s even been cool for brands such as Subway to build an entire campaign around popular consumers like Jared who lost a gazillion pounds and holds up a pair of size 52 pants to show how much weight he has lost just by eating Subway sandwiches.

You‘re neither a celebrity or athlete but someone who has been hired to break a brand into a specific market segment.  In my journey as a brand professional I’ve met many Brand Ambassadors and look for a few attributes when speaking with them.

Energy: Does this person posses the right energy for the particular brand? Obviously, if you‘re representing a high-end wine brand you‘re not going to be overly animated but rather have a sophistication, knowledge and coolness that represents the lifestyle of a vino connoisseur. If your aura is negative than that will manifest during your course of promotion. Nobody likes a negative Nancy…even if you‘re selling guns! There are just some people that give off such an amazing energy that you’re delighted to support anything that they’re apart of. This energy transfers to any project or brand that you’re working with. You are giving an inanimate product a personality and identity.

Art of Persuasion without selling: The art of selling without selling should look effortless. The Brand Ambassador should make me want to buy into the brand through sufficient product knowledge, brand history and charm. I despise being over sold and under educated when it comes to new products or features. Why is it the best? I appreciate a Brand Ambassador letting me experience it on my own while walking me through the process. The salesman rap should be left for Canal Street bootleggers and people selling comedy show tickets in Times Square. I also really hate gimmicks and desperate attention grabbing tactics. People like to discover these days and not be over sold to.

Network: What kind of network does this person have? Can this person throw an event and bring out tastemakers? Recruit new consumers who will be loyal to the brand? The tastemakers will spread the word to the consumer hopefully resulting in a direct sale. You should be constantly networking and building your base.

Dream Makers: Can the Brand Ambassador provide memorable experiences that will emotionally tie me to the brand? so, every time I think about your brand I automatically teleport back to the time I had while using your brand. This is where event marketing and personal touch combine forces. You should work with your marketing team to help create dream like experiences that will create a lifestyle around the brand or some sort of memorable benchmark.

Product Placement: Let the product go, but make sure it falls into the right group of hands. I’ve done product placement for the last five years and have put goods into the hands of superstars like Neyo, Lebron James, Ving Rhames to mention a few. I have two rules when servicing people who want product GET A PICTURE or VIDEO of person interacting with your brand. I remember when my company facilitated providing shoes and belts for a national Lebron James commercial from one of my past clients, Mezlan Shoes. We gave thousands of dollars in product to him to keep but only required from his stylist that he at least take a picture wearing our product. Luckily, the shoot was in Beverly Hills not too far from Mezlan headquarters and we personally dropped the product off making the process easy and smooth for all parties. We were able to obtain an image of Lebron wearing the shoes and used the image to send to our key accounts and blogs. A celebrity endorsement can translate into huge dollars for the brand as re-purposing those photos online via social networks, websites, etc.

Social Media Savvy: Social media has given brands a huge advantage by using multiple online channels to promote/cross-promote to very specific online communities. If your a brand ambassador and don’t have a Facebook or Twitter account by now then you need a good hazing. Following certain people or friending them online allows you to feel closer to their daily activities and personal taste, which ultimately can influence your lifestyle choices. Wow, you were at a party with Ashton Kutcher last night? I suggest filtering yourself or creating a separate account for super personal and opinionated subjects like Religion, Sex and Politics. People get the opportunity to live vicariously through you and with the drop of a hat thousands of people can read your messages, share content, view pictures and or watch videos. Use Wisely!!

Sponsorship: When you become affiliated with a brand EVERYONE and their mother wants you to sponsor their hair brained event concept. I once had someone ask me to sponsor their kids after party for a christening and mind you I was representing a well known spirits brand. You have to make sure that you work with your entire team to figure out what the (KPI’s) Key Performance Indicators are and what matters the most to the overall bottom line. That could mean Social Media impressions, Digital content, Media attention, Account activations or more. Seeking out opportunities that work best for the brand and getting sponsorship decks will be constant and you develop a sixth sense for what works and what doesn’t. One tip is to always request a one-sheeter from people trying to solicit product or monetary means from you. The one-sheeter is basically the 5W’s about the event and it’s purpose.

Vision & Mission:  What is your vision for your brand? Is there a clear vision that everyone on the marketing/promotions/PR team gets? It’s your job to convey Vision & Mission so that your team is collectively working towards the same goals. I’ve met various reps from brands and they all tell me a different strategy on breaking into new markets and or what their brand represents. This is an example of not having a shared vision and mission, as I honestly believe in pounding V&M in my colleagues heads like the mantra in Full Metal Jacket “This is my gun, there are many like it but this one is mine...”.

The Brand Ambassador may have a tough job and many variables to consider on their journey, but it’s like raising a human being from infancy to adulthood. I honestly would like to call child services on a lot of BA’s and not return their children back until they have fully digested the above attributes. There will be stages and growing pains but its all apart of the process….reminds you of parenthood huh? You cannot treat your position like a regular 9 to 5 as your hard work and effort ultimately dictates the careers of the rest of your colleagues in the company. There is a certain responsibility with having that much control, as you will sometimes clash with sales, accounting and production  who don’t quite understand why we’re doing a celebrity swag suite or sponsoring certain events. Stay on the right track and develop a keen sense for “The Bullsh*t” while becoming a master at your craft. When you’re developing a brand people watch your every move. Ultimately all your hard work should result to increasing sales and brand loyalty amongst consumers.

Michael “Mancini” McConnell is a Marketing and Brand Consultant based out of NYC. @TeamMancini