Get on the Grind like "Blok Work"

Hey guys, I'm back to check in and let you know whats hot in my life. Recently, I've been working on this major project for an underground Hip-Hop artist named, Fred The GodSon. Fred is a rapper, born and raised in the home of the "Bronx Bombers," Bronx, N.Y. He has proclaimed himself "Big Bronx," and delivers a lyrical flow that Jay-Z once quoted as, "The Future." Fred has featured in major magazines such as, XXL and Slate as well as, underground Hip-Hop DVDs such as, "Hood Life Cypher." He recently appeared on "D.W.I Radio," an online radio show that features, unsigned artist.

I met Fred at a recording studio called Blok Work Studio. I was introduced to him by a College friend, along with studio owners, Dre and Zo, who are twins.Dre and Zo, also from the Bronx, had a vision to invest their savings into something they believe in, music and Fred. They believe that Fred has the ability to be next in Hip-Hop and they support his craft.

When I heard their story, which I dubbed "the modern day," Jay, Dame, and Kareem story, minus the back stabbing and bullshit; I was impressed. However, when I heard Fred rap, I was "amazed." His ability to use metaphors and unique hand movement, in addition to his charming demeanor reminds me of, "Big." He has a "BIG" character, that works with his skill.

I am excited about this project, it consist of 2 things that I love, Hip-Hop and public relations. I've always had a ear and love for Hip-Hop. I have a excellent team at Blok Work, the talent and energy in the studio is amazing. This project has opened many doors for me and I've had the opportunity to network with beneficial individuals. My lifestyle has drastically change and my days/nights can be long and interesting. Everyday opens a different door with a better opportunity. I believe in my clients and I believe in my craft. Look out for Fred The GodSon and Blok Work, they're hot, i'm their PR person and we're wining!

Stay Tuned for my next entry, "Dairy of an Underground Publicist."

Thanks, for rocking with ya girl.

Best,

A.

Twitter/@A_ThePublicist

"Real Life Sh*t; No Pop-Culture Fluff."

Respect The Grind

As I'm sitting here beginning to work on a PR Plan for my new client, I remembered that I made a commitment to blog. Sorry guys, I have been extremely busy in pursuit of my PR career. Success is looking up and I am grateful, I'm a unstoppable force. I entitled this post "Respect the Grind," because it pertains to self-realization and sacrifices, in success, that I am experiencing on my "Success Journey."


Recently my significant other and I separated for various reasons. One of the reasons being, the ability to love and focus on the growth and development of self. Due to his ambition and urgency for success, my Man dedicated himself to his goals and neglected our commitment. He explained to me that he before he could give himself to anyone, he had to focus on self and achieving his goal. For him those things required sacrifice and selfishness. At the moment, I could not understand why he wasn't able to put an equal amount of energy into two things that he loved; His success and I. I thought about it and spoke out loud about him not loving me and not loving me enough and that contributed to our break up.

I thought he was being selfish, until recently when people in my life, called me selfish because lately, I've dedicated all my time to my Public Relations career. Now I understand, in order to achieve self goals , you must exhaust yourself in accomplishing those goals, by any means necessary. I didn't respect his grind because I did not understand, nor could I relate; I was being selfish.

In the end, I applied that same selfishness in pursuing my PR career. I revised this quote from Jay-Z song,"The Prelude," "I have this fantasy of putting the PR industry on it's ears, what the f**K else am I suppose to do except hustle." Public Relations is my hustle, I did it the American dream way, graduated from College, learned creative skills, and now I'm contributing my creativity to the world. It's a beautiful thing to know that you serve a purpose.

Great things are happening, fast and I am meeting great contacts, building my brand; Myself. I've allowed social media to serve it's purpose and utilize it, for networking and the results are amazing. I am realizing that success requires sacrifice, that's a big beneficial pill to swallow. Success also requires, "tunnel vision" and sometimes alteration of your peers and habits. This is my commitment to myself; There'll be no break-up. It wasn't until the break up, that I realized I had not vested all my time and energy into myself and my career; Now I'm "full-throttle," and there's no turning back. If no one is, I'm amazed with my craft and believe it will be the reason for my success. I will be 'Next in PR," it may happen over night, anything is possible when you believe and when it does, remember I told you so.

Respect The Grind.

Peace,

A.

How to be Your Own Brand

With the Job Market crashed, it's important to be creative and think outside the box. When job hunting, a resume is not enough; you have to Market yourself. During the course of my, "aspiring PR career," I created Tips on "How to be Your Own Brand." These Tips can be useful when job hunting, especially for Freelancers, because you represent yourself.

Know Your Target-Create a list of Companies/Organizations, that you're interested in working for include, their contact information. Be sure to do your research and familiarize yourself with the Company/ Organization.

Create Awareness-Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. Raise awareness about who you are and what you have to offer; pitch yourself. Pitch a letter to a point person at a Company, it seems a aggressive, but some Employers may see your ability to be aggressive, as a plus. Create a Facebook and/or Twitter account or manage a Blog. See my "Blog-Resume," @ www.23PRGrad-Seemyresume.blogspot.com.

Network-Build a list of reliable resources include, their contact information, email, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Using Social Media to network, may seem unconventional, but it can be beneficial in gathering new resources and professional networking.

Gain Creditability-Be professional, perfect your craft, and own it. Leave an everlasting impression on potential clients, that way you build a professional relationship for future projects.

Be Prompt-This Tip applies to everything you do. Whether, it's replying to emails, returning calls, showing up for client events, working on deadline, you must ALWAYS be on point and on time.

Be Confident-People who are strong in message and able to deliver are successful, because their listeners, believe in them and their message. Your objective should be geared to what you have, to offer and how it can benefit a client, Company or Organization.

Lastly, never lose sight of you're dreams; never give up. This is not included in the list of Tips, because it's more of a "Note-to-Self" Tip. Although, we are facing a rough time with the economy and job market, things will take flight again. You want to be a star player, when that time comes.

Follow me on Twitter @ www.Twitter.com/23PRGrad.

GREAT READ FOR PR PROFESSIONALS

Lately, I've been pushing my PR career and I purchased this
book at Borders called, "Public Relations for Dummies," Eric Yaverbaum with Bob Bly and IIise Benum. It's a great book for individuals like me, looking to pursue their PR career. It covers everything from, What PR is, How it works, PR Tactics, Handling the Media and Knowing what to do in a PR Crisis.

The book also includes, Ten Steps to Better PR Writing.

1. Organizing

2. Know your Reader

3. Avoid long Sentences

4. Use Short, Simple words

5. Sidestep "Writer's Block

6. Defind the Topic

7. Gather Information

8. Write, and Then Rewrite, Rewrite.

9. Be Consistent.

10.Avoid "Corporatese" (meaning, writing as you were a computer or a corporation instead of a human being).

These are essential tips in being a great PR writer. The book is awesome, I recommend it to all PR professionals, that either has experience in PR or achieving to gain experience. It's definitely going to be one of my resources during the course of my PR career.

Pick it up at Borders for, $14.99. Buy it used on http://www.amazon.com/, for $4.00.

Until next time, remember to hold tight of your dreams and be your own brand.

Peace,

Ayanna

TRUE LIFE: I'M A PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSIONAL

Hello, hot people reading my blog.....today was a very long day, I had a tremendous amount of work. However, ya girl managed to get it done. So anyway, I'm sitting here listening to Trey Songz, who did an outstanding job on his album (Clap, clap, Bravo). I'm working on two Media Kits. One for a Fashion Designer named, Washington Roberts. Washington line is self-entitled and was started in Fall 2007. Check out his Spring 2009 fashion show @ www.picasaweb.google.com/washingtonroberts , its hot. The other Media Kit that I'm working on is a Brooklyn born, Harlem raised rap kid named, Stress. I must say the kidd is nice. Check him out rapping over Hov's DOA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEN4fX1drfQ .

A lot has happened within the course of two days , I've decided to "take action," and do some freelance PR work. I don't want to hold out too long and lose my talent. I'm excited about this, it's going to be something I enjoy and can earn extra income from-it works. I'll post some of my work so you guys can see it. I'm making progress in building up my PR Agency, ConcreteRose PR. I've been doing my research and all the good things I learned in College. I was thinking of posting ads for interns, to help built my client list. I also researched information on grants for small business owners. In order to get the grant, I'll need to explain how my agency benefits my community. I'm a persuasive writer, so that is going to be easy to do. So watch out for ConcreteRose PR, revamping PR at an event near you....

So listen to this, today I seen the funniest shit ever. I'm walking with my two co-workers after work, to the bank and we see this homeless guy with yellow shorts, stealing this bike, off the chain (excuse me, because I'm dying laughing) As he's stealing the bike, a Chinese girl comes out of the Deli and starts yelling, "Hey, that's that's my bike." The homeless guy was so determined to steal the bike, that he broke the kickstand off of it, trying to run LMAO-Hilarious. He pushed this lady and damn near knocked her down, as he attempted to get on the bike, it was a disaster. The girl was running so damn slow, that she had no chance of catching his ass. The funny thing about the entire situation is that the cops rode by while she was chasing him. They were in the last left line of the street, opposite the sidewalk and didn't see what was going on. I felt sorry for the chick, but that was the highlight of my day, a bum stealing a bike, wearing yellows shorts. Only in the Concrete Jungle, New York. He should have stole a pair of jeans, as cold as it was today. This is definitely flu weather, my job is mandating all employees to have both, the flu shot and the M1 ,H1 shot. I'm not too happy about this, because I've never had a flu vaccine in my 23yrs of living. Some people have claimed to become sick after they were vaccinated, so it's a tricky decision.

Btw while you're checking out Stress on Youtube, please check out Lil Mama, explaining why she rudely interrupted Jay-Z and A. Keys performance at the VMA's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLzvH1qtszc&feature=related. Let me just say that her Publicist sucks, what kind of crisis management is that ? Her words were over exaggerated and she delayed her points. If nothing else, that was an awesome publicity stunt.

Kudos to me for keeping up with my blog! My co-worker told me that it looks great and I actually got her to start blogging. Follow her @ www.Kishabetterdays.blogspot.com. She said, I look different in all of my pictures, lol, I agree. That's the beauty of a rose, it blossoms ;)

I'm signing off , I have a lot on my agenda. I'm going to have a glass of this delicious wine that I purchased in Harlem, NY at this fab winery, which is called, "The Winery." It's incredibly cute and inexpensive, loved it. Check out the website, www.thewineryonline.com . If you're a red wine lover, I recommend the Aresti, Pinot Noir 2007. It's perfect in taste, pairs well with full-flavored fish, red meats and pasta. It's a $14 bottle with a $100 taste. See everything that starts with an "A" taste good. "How you doing?" (in the Wendy voice) Lol.

I'm out, follow me on Twitter coming soon, interested in having some PR work done email me @ Concreterosepr.com. Pricing available upon service request, packages are available-(This is not an attempt to solicit) LOL.

Thanks for rocking with the best.
Peace,


TheRealA**