Richmel's Blog

Enjoying Food?

richmel — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:26:12 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the New York Fancy Food Show and it was amazing. It took my sister and I approximately seven hours to eat, smell, and witness the show. It was a very well organized event produced by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT). I enjoy meeting the vendors and tasting their goodies, especially the “mom & pop” companies, who exhibit great pride and passion for their food. I also enjoyed the various international areas offering foods from their homelands. My favorite area is always the Italian section because it reminds me of Roma and Italy, one of my favorite places. At this show, I had a least 10-12 espressos – and I could have easily been in Italy. I attend many food shows for melslife, our healthy living website, which has become one of the largest sites for young people seeking healthy solutions or information. I look for new products to review, discover trends, and meet new people. I like to go to these shows because I had a product back in the late 1970s called Brownie Points, which became one of the best-selling brownies in America due to Bloomingdales, and I remember what it was like – the struggle – to create a product, develop the market, and sell it. I identify with the vendors and want to do anything I can to help them. I used to think that sampling at these shows was a waste of time. Now I don’t. I remember the good, bad, and mediocre tastes – and either recommend or avoid products. One food niche that is overwhelming at this show is the cheese. There must have been at least 3,500 cheeses to taste. I love cheese, but come on…

Safe Job & Steady Income or Risky Job & Reward?

richmel — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:38:54 +0000

My wife and I have debated for years whether or not a steady income is better than a risky job? We have agreed and disagreed over they years. A steady income – usually associated with a lower-paying job – has predictable cash flow while a risky job usually has high pay and significant rewards, but is not consistent. Many financial planners have told us that they can handle a client with steady income and plan their retirement better than someone who has an inconsistent income. I have been an entrepreneur almost my entire career and I have made some huge scores, but have had many years with no income. To me, it is just part of the lifestyle. What I like about a risky job is the excitement, meeting interesting people, and being constantly challenged intellectually. During the years I make no money, I must admit that I am jealous of those with steady incomes. However when I am involved in a very complicated deal, I love the adrenaline rush of the moment and don’t think about the rewards or the steady income. When a deal closes and I look at my reward, there is no way that I could emotionally accept a job with a steady income. So which is better – risky job or steady job? I believe it comes down to a quality of life issue. If you never want to worry about money, then go for a steady, predictable income, which usually means less lifestyle is always more. If you want some excitement in your life and the opportunity to change your life forever, then you have to go for the risk. During these tough economic times, the risky jobs actually look safer than the tried and true because of America’s embrace of unemployment.

Hope & Passion?

richmel — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:24:13 +0000

Last week I attended the Natural Products Expo West show in Anaheim. I have been going to this show for countless years – even before melslife began. New Hope Media does an excellent producing it, and this show is fun to attend – excellent sampling. It took me 6 hours to walk the entire show. As I was walking through the show, I was trying to understand what I was witnessing. I felt like I was in a human stew – lots of desperate images – a bombardment of sites, sounds, and smells. I could feel the hope in the air that business was on an upswing. I could hear so-called “experts” pontificating strategy or knowledge to partial friends and colleagues. I ran into many friends and tasted some wonderful things. I could see people’s dreams in their eyes. I truly enjoyed the show, but I felt bad when I left. Most of the people I met will fail. Almost all of the experts will be wrong. Many hearts will be broken. Because in real life the big boys with the cash and distribution dominance will prevail and the small business owner with the best of something will run out of cash, passion, and shear resources. The show was sort of a metaphor for life. Big is not always better, but being big is sometimes better than being passionate and sometimes passion wins.

Are You a Brand?

richmel — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:10:25 +0000

Do you think that you are a brand? I do. Almost everyone I know — who wants to know something about someone — Google’s the person’s name to find out something about that person. Sometimes it’s good – awards, achievements, social activism – and sometimes it is bad – traffic tickets, lawsuits, and smelly business or personal adventures. Yesterday I was speaking to a friend who used to run a very large entertainment company. His name had been synonymous with international distribution, and for those who know him well, he’s also an expert – world-class expert — in movie genres. He is in the process of trying to buy another media company and build it into a very large content brand utilizing characters. He had me read his business plan. Before I read it, I Googled him. I found many people with his same name, but nothing about him. I then read his business plan, which I thought was flawed. He had the right information, but it was not interesting to read. No sizzle and the business plan lacked a cogent strategy. I called him to give him my take. First I told him that he had to build up his Google/Search resume, and that he had done or accomplished many things, but was not Google/Search relevant. I then gave specific notes on his business plan and helped him frame his strategy, which he had nailed down in his mind, but had not communicated it well on paper. I then told him that I did not think he could raise any money – sell an investor — without raising his Google/Search profile. He was surprised by my comments, but agreed with me. The world is a different place today. By building melslife, I have learned the value of new media and social networking. While I am cynical about new media when it comes to building branded businesses, I am bullish on building one’s personal brand or polishing a media brand. It does not matter what age you are, if you are not Google/Search relevant, then it’s going to be hard to distinguish yourself amongst the millions of people who are…therefore you are a brand and need to start thinking like a brand.

Life Overwhelming?

richmel — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:15:02 +0000

Yesterday I was talking to an old friend, who asked me about another friend we both had not heard from in a very long time. We both made excuses about our friend’s behavior – an illness in the family, financial struggles, difficulty getting a job and so on. Neither of us knew the truth, but we were making excuses anyway because we cared about this person. At dinnertime, I mentioned this conversation to my wife and she said – without hesitation – that people are just overwhelmed with life. It got me thinking, and I believe she is right. There are many people I know who have not stayed in touch recently…yet I hear from others about them from time to time, and the situation is never good. Another old friend, who canceled a lunch and never got back to me, surprised me by his lack of follow-through. After several weeks of not hearing from him, I asked another one of his friends how he is doing and they told me that he had severe financial problems and might lose his home. Ouch. When people get overwhelmed they usually shrink from life and wallow in emotional pain. It’s very hard to find solutions or even lend a helping hand. It’s almost like a spinning funnel cone of doom where bumper sticker slogans of hope do not help. I have always believed that people create their own reality, but the last 3 years of America’s economic pain and job losses have taught me that his might not be the case. I have witnessed good citizens on the verge of losing everything, and they did not create this reality – it happened to them through job loss and lack of credit. One of melslife.com’s most popular pages is Spiritual Happiness. Life can be overwhelming…Stay in touch with your friends.

Andy Williams — Thank You

richmel — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:48:06 +0000

I just finished reading Andy Williams biography. When I was in my early twenties, Andy hired me to help revitalize his career. He was one of my first marketing/branding clients. I put together a Sweepstakes with Brides Magazine where a lucky wedding couple could win Andy Williams singing at their wedding. Andy and I then went to his record company – Columbia Records – and put together a compilation album called The Andy Williams Wedding & Anniversary Album, which was sold through Brides Magazine and Columbia’s distribution. Brides Magazine got hundreds of thousands of entries and the lucky winner was from Boston, where Andy sang at their Polish Wedding. It was an amazing scene and Andy handled the chore gracefully and with good humor. I enjoyed working with Andy and getting to know him. When I think of Andy today, I think of a classy man with impeccable taste who treated me well. One Christmas Andy and this then-love Laurie gave me my first high quality sports coat. I treasured it for years. What many people do not know is Andy is one of the most successful recording artists of all time. He is on a very short list of artists who have sold the most albums. What I enjoyed most about his book was learning that he is happy in Branson, redefined his career and relevancy, and found the love of his life. The experience with Andy Williams allowed me to build a large entertainment marketing company, be a television producer, and a whole lot of other cool things including melslife.com. Thanks Andy.

Self-Confidence?

richmel — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:02:34 +0000

Many successful people I know suffer from a lack of self-confidence. This has always baffled me. How could they be successful if they did not believe in themselves? Sometimes success and confidence do not go hand-in-hand. Sometime people just want to hear that they are doing okay. When you climb to the top of any organization, there are not too many people that you can share your thoughts with candidly. In the last couple of weeks, I have had two-or-three very successful people approach me and ask for my advice for building their confidence. I was flattered and humbled, but surprised that someone would share their inner most thoughts with me. It’s not like we are bosom buddies or something – these are acquaintances or professional friends. They looked at me as having it all or someone they could trust. I told them that no one has it all, that the grass is always greener, and that we all have our issues. I do not know of anyone who is perfect. Do you? I am very regimented though…I follow a relatively strict diet, work out daily, and keep long business hours. I have always been lucky to have quiet – deep – inner confidence. One of my failings is that I am a workaholic, but I do make time for pleasure and enjoy those simple life moments. I think being prepared for almost anything and a curiosity to learn gives me strength. One of melslife.com’s most popular pages is Spiritual Happiness. I am not sure what gives people confidence…maybe smaller platforms of success – personally and professionally – that lead people to believe?

So What?

richmel — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:56:56 +0000

So What?
It is now official. NBC is canceling Jay Leno at 10P. What is amazing to me is that anyone ever believes what a network executive is saying – I mean spinning. I have known many network executives well and been around many that I did not know well. They are not bad people, but they definitely have an agenda and spin to create a perception – just like most CEOs who sell quarterly earnings. Imagine always trying to make everyone happy – talent, producers, advertisers, and advocate groups? It is not easy. Brandon Tartikoff was a friend and I was able to witness first hand his dilemmas…and his skill of navigating through them. He had the charm, wit, and velvet glove. I worked for Ted Turner, who was usually brutally honest, but he too had a charm and way of telling the people who were unhappy with him that their issues were unreasonable. Anyone who has been close to NBC over the past several years know that many of their executives – past and present – never took ownership of the underlying problems the network faced. They always spun the future, but never truly understood the future. Ben Silverman was successful as an independent producer by anyone’s definition, but the brilliance of Ben was taking what he was doing for then-William Morris and doing it for himself. He basically “agented” deals…and he had a larger-than-life personality which help him sell those deals. How NBC could not see who Ben was still amazes most people in Hollywood. Every salesman likes to be sold, and Ben sold himself to naïve GE executives, who were probably looking more for an “announcement” than trying to fix its problems – lack of good programming and viewer relevancy. So maybe GE was not naïve. In Hollywood, the gossip about NBC’s shortfalls was nonstop chatter, but few publicly challenged those key NBC executives about their decisions and essentially destroying this once great network. Like all networks, NBC needs good shows to fix their problems. As Comcast takes control of NBC, there will be another debate – conventional wisdom versus thinking out of the box. Back in eighties no one believed that cable could challenge broadcasting except…people like me who were working at cable networks like TBS. Very few people thought FOX would work. I did. No one knows how technology will change content formats or distribution. Going back to NBC. Why did Jeff Zucker move Leno into 10P? At the time it was a brilliant strategy – NBC had no money and was cleaning up its books for sale. Jeff did not want to lose Leno or Conan…so he tried this “experiment” and saved GE face. Was it the best move for NBC – no. Did he know this? Probably, but he wanted to spin it. Now Jeff owns the spin and failure. Most companies focus on quarterly earnings – networks and their executives focus on daily ratings…and spinning them. Why is anyone surprised Leno failed? So what? The game begins all over again….Welcome to Hollywood.

Most friends disappoint me
I have now been in business over 30 years. What I have learned over the years is that I can never truly count on my friends. It’s my fault. I expect more and have faith that out of a relationship, they will do whatever they can to help me out. It never happens that way. Either my friends misrepresent their power, position, or understanding and cannot deliver what I need or they just don’t want the deal or project to succeed. Sure, there are many exceptions. I have many good friends who have helped me out over the years, but a majority of them do not.

Making Sense of New Media?

richmel — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:59:19 +0000

I am giving a speech soon on a college campus. They have given me this topic: “Social Media: Its Global Role in Reinventing Traditional Media & Redefining Brands, Communities and Humanity” and asked me to provide a snapshot of my thinking beforehand…so I thought it might make a good blog: Logline: While traditional media will rely on benchmarks like reach and frequency, Social Media will play a role in redefining New Media, branding and relevancy, but at what cost? Thinking: Social Media has been hyped. There is no secret sauce. While there is value in creating social media and connecting to friends or constituencies – creating a community – the new media industry has oversold its value to harvest revenues from naive companies and executives. The industry of selling social media services – SEO, e-mail marketing, content creation, software applications, etc – is probably greater than the actual revenues derived from social media. There are an estimated 3 trillion Web pages. How many Internet-centric companies can you name that are successful? It’s difficult to name 25 companies, but let’s assume there are a thousand companies. Do the math. New Media success is an anomaly. If you think that you can create a successful new media business, are you better off buying a lottery ticket? If you are extending an existing business brand, social media is probably filled with countless opportunities. People and marketing companies love to banter about “Google,” “Twitter,” “Yahoo,” “Bing, ” “Amazon,” and others to create excitement. The real excitement should about extending one’s brand, providing relevancy, and connecting-or-extending relationships with others with little to no barriers of entry; not daydreaming about gaming Google’s logarithm. Google is not a strategy; it’s a robust search opportunity to derive customers and branding, and to better understand consumer habits. The key to social media is raising awareness, expanding market share, and improving customer loyalty while managing expectations. Strategy is not a calculus. It’s not enough to innovate, but rather one needs to create habits for people and to tap into their passions. Think Coke, McDonalds, P&G, and Wal-Mart. melslife, owned by Richmel Media, is one of America’s largest healthy living sites that combines content with social networking. While it will never be Facebook or WebMD, melslife has a chance of being its own anomaly once people discover its intrinsic value. melslife is currently updating its software and rebuilding on a new platform. melslife serves as Richmel’s New Media Laboratory. Social Media Results? Generically speaking, success in media is based on Reach & Frequency to create Awareness. What is the success benchmark for Social Media? It would probably be an evaluation of your increase in revenues minus expenses, the value of your time, and the awareness – new customers – that you have attracted. Analytically you can determine how much it cost to derive a new customer, lead, or make a sale. It takes a lot of time and energy to create Social Media, and time has value, which very few people calculate.

Time?

richmel — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:43:40 +0000

I like to think. I can spend hours daydreaming about something or anything. Creativity is hard to define. For me, it’s trying to see something from a different perspective and put a pulse or beat to it. Even when I have to write dense strategic-thinking emails, I try and find a rhythm or theme to the thinking, and daydreaming allows me to do that. Do I waste time? I don’t think so. I am one of the few people that I know who jealously guards his time; time is one of the precious variables we have, and I hate wasting it.