The story resumes in the same office. Another eager and motivated expo salesperson named Toni has witnessed Michelle’s success. As this person was prospecting for Mid-America Remodeling & Design Expo (www.101expos.com/marde), she came across a retail store whose website  stated, “New Web Store Coming Soon.”

Curious, this salesperson called the store and asked, “How long has your Web store been under construction?” She learned that no one had actually worked on it for quite a while. She filed that information in the back of her mind, and ultimately began talking with the store’s owner about the expo. She sent him follow-up information. But each time she called, he’d tell her he had been too busy to look at it.

When, during her 4^th follow-up call, the owner again tried to tell her that he was too busy, she stopped him in his tracks. “Look,” she said. “Let’s put the expo aside. Given today’s business environment, I think your Website is where you need the most help. I suggest you stop in and spend some time with us to get a better feel for what we do, and how we can help you.”

The man grew silent, then conceded that he would be nearby in the next week making deliveries. Toni set up a meeting with her co-workers at Checkerboard Strategic Web Development (www.checkerboard.com) for the following Tuesday.

There once was an expo salesperson named Michelle, who refused to let a little word like “no” stop her from making her goals. Recently while talking with a prospect about the Mid-America Remodeling & Design Expo (www.101expos.com/marde), she heard every objection imaginable including “We don’t have a booth and we don’t have any ideas for a booth.”  So the industrious salesperson convinced the prospect to come into the office by stating, “We can help you come up with ideas for your booth. Oh, and did I mention we can also do booth graphics?” And so, the meeting was set.

On the day of the meeting, Michelle cordially introduced the prospect to people representing Kocina Marketing Company’s (KMC) various services (www.publicity.com). He was so impressed that he paid in full for exhibit space at Mid-America Remodeling & Design Expo and the company’s Seniors Expo. He is even talking with one of KMC’s other companies, Checkerboard (www.checkerboard.com), about enlarging some photos for use in his booth display.

But wait. There’s more! He also spoke with Checkerboard developing his Web site. The conversation then turned to the value of blogs, which led a further discussion about KMC’s newest service: Internet Advocacy.

Remarkably, there’s still more! This prospect is developing a new beverage and could possibly become one of KMC’s Media Relations clients as well.

“It really helps to get people here and in front of our people,” Michelle commented. 

Two years ago I sat down with my freshman college advisor and listed off my plethora of interests. From education to business, journalism and everything in between, I wanted to do it all!

Now, two years later, I am heading into my Junior year of college at Indiana University with a clear sense of what I want to do thanks to my internship at Kocina Marketing Companies.

Wait a minute, maybe I jumped ahead a little too fast. I did make a few important decisions during my first two years of college.

After taking a few courses in each of my many interests, I made the decision to double major in journalism (with a focus in PR) and communications.

With hard work and motivation, I absorbed as much information as possible about these exciting fields, but found myself wanting to learn even more.

I wanted first hand experience.

Luckily, that is exactly what I’ve recieved during my summer-long internship at Kocina Marketing Companies (KMC).

From day one at KMC, it was apparent that I would not be the typical coffee-running, copy-making, often-ignored intern. To my delight, I was assigned to help a specific team, and better yet, an important long-term project.

Although office life was a little overwhelming at first, KMC made me feel comfortable to ask questions, and take on more responsibilities once I was ready.

Because KMC is made up of three companies: Media Relations, Checkerboard Strategic Web Development and Mid-America Events & Expos, I have been fortunate to get a well-rounded experience, something that our clients are able to recieve as well.

KMC’s three unique companies work together to ensure that our clients’ needs are met at all levels by interacting and utilizing the many skill sets throughout the three companies. Because of this, KMC provides a full promotional experience.

Between researching useful information that could be included on a client’s website, organizing clients’ travel schedules and helping with project overviews, KMC has given me the opportunity to understand many facets of marketing. More importantly for me, KMC has shown me that my plethora of interests can all be utilized through the magic of marketing.

Not the Average Intern            Now I know what you’re thinking … this intern seems a little full of herself, but don’t let the title fool you.  The meaning behind the title doesn’t lie within me exactly, but more within Kocina Marketing Companies and the work I do for them.  As of this fall, I will be a senior at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse and I am currently a communications intern for KMC.  For the past two months, which have flown by like two weeks, I have been assisting publicists, making sales calls and working with the marketing intern on an internal contest to boost productivity, and a sense of community among KMC employees.  To the everyday Jim, John or Harry this might not seem like a big deal. To me, it’s huge!           

Kocina Marketing Companies is, in my best efforts to explain it, an umbrella company for Media Relations Inc., Checkerboard Strategic Web Development and Mid-America Events & Expos.  Like gears, all three companies are connected and working together on a daily basis.  For example: if one of our Account Executives brings in a new client, KMC would take this client and/or their product and create publicity through Media Relations Inc. As the publicists are busy getting bookings, we might have Checkerboard working on developing their new web site.  Lastly, as more people become aware of the client/product they may decide they would like to host an event that would celebrate their success, which we could facilitate though Mid-America Events & Expos.  You see where I am going with this right?  KMC is pretty much a one-stop shop for our clients making it not only easier on the client, but also for us because these three companies are housed together, ensuring that they are constantly communicating with one another.  Even Lonny Kocina, CEO and founder of KMC, is currently teaching marketing classes to his employees for free – during business hours – just to make sure that they are communicating more effectively.           

Currently I am making calls to book exhibitors for Mid-America Events & Expos’ Fall Remodeling & Design Expo.  Having only heard about the expo and never attended, it is interesting to get an inside look at how it is put together.  The Mid-America Remodeling & Design Expo, which we have lovingly named MARDE, is being held at the Minneapolis Convention Center on November 1^st and 2^nd.   What I love about this show, compared to other home shows, is that it is a focused show – exclusive to Remodeling & Design.  The show does include landscaping and other home improvement services but you won’t find any jewelers or chiropractors here:  Guaranteeing that the attendees we have coming to the show are there for the purpose of remodeling or design, and giving our exhibitors a quality attendee that they can talk to face-to-face.           

When I was looking for my summer internship I was worried I would be stuck at a place where I would go on coffee runs and make copies all day.  I continue to be pleasantly surprised with KMC and the opportunities they give me.    At KMC I have found that the knowledge held by its employees is staggering.  I have learned so much already and just hope to continue doing so in my last couple of weeks.  I can go on and on, but when you break it down – I am not the average intern because Kocina Marketing Companies is not the average company.

There is nothing better than getting a placement with a media contact you’ve been chasing after for some time. 

Finally, I was able to penatrate the veil of “untouchable media” the other day when I set up an interview for my spokesperson. 

This type of achievement motivates me to work even harder than the day before!

“Never give in, never give in, never, never, never.”
Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
 British prime minister

Working at Media Relations for the last two years has given me great wisdom and has been character building.  We are working daily to strive for the  greater good of our company and for our team.  The communication between our team is vital in assuring our company wide success.  We are in constant communication with each other on what contacts (for print, television, & radio) to look out for in certain markets and where we are at in our dialogue in relation to tours for our spokespeople and our clients. 

Media Relations is all about setting us up to succeed.  We take great pride in seeing new publicists get great placements and even our more seasoned publicists getting placements they never thought possible.  The power of positivity reigns through each one of us as we deal with rejection daily, but see the best in situations and how to position are clients successfully.   Mike Danielson and Heather Champine work very hard for us and we in turn are tireless workers and leave no stone unturned because we value their leadership.  They are excellent communicators and great people to work for and with.  Seeing Mike scurry around is a constant reminder of hard work paying off.  He is a big role model in my continued advancement with my career and a big reason for our success at Media Relations.  Heather is always willing to share her expertise and she is valiantly working with the publicists to ensure we have successful months with our placements and adding her unique clarity on the media we work with.

Media Relations is a joy to come and work for each day.  We never know what is going to happen.  Even with the best laid plans, your day is sure to throw you a few curveballs.  With the leadership we have, we have been prepared thoroughly to deal with these curveballs and use them and thrive on our failures, so we can learn from them and turn them into positives.  Media Relations has taught me a lot of things:  professionalism, work ethic, communication and resourcefulness.  Working with our team is the biggest benefit of joining such a rich and diversified company.  We pull for each other, cheer for each other, and work with each other so we can contribute to a greater good.  The continued growth of such a unique and fun company.

As an accountant, I am aware that most people think accounting is just adding here, subtracting there, making people’s paychecks, collecting the money and paying the bills. Well for the most part it was for me … until now.

Since I have had my “Now, Discover Your Strengths” chart posted by my door, others have realized what my strengths are including the owners Lonny and Robin Kocina.  The strength they all seem to relate with me is “analysis”.  They have had me analyze more things for them lately and I think they like the results. Even though I like accounting a lot, I probably like analyzing situations more.

I am also a very strategic person, which fits very well with analysis, since my analysis will be used to develop future strategies.  Analysis, in simple terms, is taking a situation and thinking of all the factors that affect it. A person then uses their experience in probability, people’s desires, supply and demand, profitability, the situation’s environment, common sense and ANY number of other factors important to the situation. I find myself doing this in my head every day for the weirdest things, but now I will do it for something that is productive for the company.

At Kocina Marketing we are starting a new group of services to go with our current product line designed by my boss, President Lonny Kocina.  Since the pricing and the costs involved are new to Kocina Marketing, proper analysis needs to be done to accomplish bottom line success. I am looking forward to helping in the analysis of the ‘how much, how many and other numbers, costs and revenue impacts’ of the development of Lonny’s strong group of new marketing services that we are adding to the Kocina Marketing product mix. 

The unique size of Kocina Marketing gives me the opportunity to be involved in a process like this. At a big company the Finance department and not the Accounting department would normally handle this analysis. It is a unique opportunity that I look forward to participating in using my top strength.

My analysis already has told me that these new services will be complementary to Kocina Marketing Companies’ family of core products, add great marketing services for our clients and help the employees see future growth in our company. These new services will be better for the “Company, Client, and Employee”. These are the three things all company actions strive to improve/achieve.

When I first began my career at Kocina Marketing Companies four years ago, I had the opportunity to participate in our company book club to discuss Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton and take the on-line assessment.  My top five strengths are Focus, Achiever, Responsibility, Maximizer and Relator.  At the time, I was an Administrative Assistant for our company.  When I was offered a position in Human Resources, my first thought was “Will this opportunity be a match for my strengths?”  Well, it was and I absolutely LOVE what I do!  Just ask anyone that I work with or my family! 

In order to develop a career that really suits you, it’s important to have a basic knowledge of your key strengths.  Unlike skills or knowledge you can acquire through education, your strengths are more basic talents.  For the most part you were born with them.  You can certainly continue to develop new talents, but in the area of your strengths you have an almost unfair advantage. Your strengths are things that come naturally and easily to you.  Your brain is just wired to be good at them.  You’ll be happiest working in a career that allows you to take advantage of your strengths on a daily basis.  Working from your strengths will help you (1) be far more productive, (2) get better results, (3) contribute more value, (4) attract higher compensation, (5) enjoy your work, and (6) experience greater fulfillment. No matter where you are at in your career right now please, oh please figure out your strengths! Look for what you’re passionate about and DO THAT. Think about what excites you; why you’re on this earth; where you can achieve your greatest successes; what will make you grin when you think, “…and I get PAID for doing this?”

Just that word alone sounds cold and cruel. We’ve all had to deal with it at one time or another in our lives, whether it was for a job, a date, a loan or any of a million other things when someone else is answering our request.

Never once was that rejection fun. It can make you feel underappreciated, unaccepted and unwanted. Of course, we get over it, but it’s not a daily occurrence we have had to deal with – until now.

As publicists, we speak with scores of producers, editors, hosts and reporters every day offering them opportunities to interview our spokespeople about topics and stories we believe in. Unfortunately, not all of these people we pitch to are going to be as passionate about these stories as we are. The nature of our job is such that some of the people we talk to are not going pick up the story or interview we offer them. Some of the calls we put out are going to end in a ‘no.’ This, of course, means we have to learn to deal with rejection .

How do we do that? How can we take anything positive out of someone telling us no?

As a former baseball player, I like to compare the rejection we encounter every day with sport.

When it comes to results, baseball players are just like publicists. The best hitters in the world ‘fail’ more than they succeed. The historically recognized standard for a ‘great’ hitter is a .300 batting average, which means he ‘fails’ 7 times for every 3 times he succeeds.

The same is true with publicists – even the best of the best have days when they receive a considerably higher number of ‘no’ answers than ‘yes’ answers. And just like Kirby Puckett had games, stretches of games even, where he went hitless, publicists are going to have days where they don’t get any bookings.

It’s those stretches that I believe separate great baseball players (and great publicists) from merely good or average ones. Any ball player can thrive off the success of a hard-hit liner one-hopping the fence for a stand-up double, but how does he react when he hits a ball just as hard the next time – only the centerfielder races over to make a spectacular catch? Or, for the publicist, how does he react when a certain approach works brilliantly with one reporter, but that exact same approach fails miserably with another?

To me, it’s about putting everything into perspective and making the appropriate adjustments, in both baseball and in my job. As a ball player, I never allowed myself to get caught up in what my batting average or slugging percentage was – I was always more concerned about the productivity of my at-bat and whether or not I swung at good pitches, watched the bad ones go by, and made solid contact when I swung the bat. Obviously, my goal was to reach base by any means possible. However, for the sake of becoming as good a player as possible, I always focused on how my results came to be.

Was I ripping the stitches out of the ball consistently, working the pitch count, and putting the ball in play hard? If I was doing all those things and getting out because the other team was making good plays and balls were being hit right at guys, I didn’t worry about it – I knew if I continued to do all the right things, balls would start falling and my productivity as a hitter would take care of itself.

Or, was I swinging at terrible pitches, letting the pitcher off easy and hitting the balls off my knuckles? I could be doing all that and still finding my way on base through a little good fortune – but I would know that good fortune would not last forever, and eventually at-bats like that would start to negatively impact my productivity. It’s at those times, I would go back to the dugout, talk with my coaches about my at-bat, what I did wrong, and what I could do to correct it.

It’s no different as a publicist. When I’ve got a perfect pitch and I’m saying all the right things to a media contact, I know there are going to be times that person is still going to tell me no. Does that mean I did something wrong? Not necessarily – I may just need to keep after it until those bookings start coming and my productivity evens itself out.

The bottom line is, it’s all about attitude and perspective. If you have an optimistic attitude (I did well, the hit just didn’t fall for me), you put each event into its proper perspective and make the necessary adjustments, you’ll be able to fight through the slumps of the job and be a productive member of the team. If you have a pessimistic attitude (What more can I do to get a hit?) and take everything at face value, the pressure will continue to mount and you’ll bury yourself beneath the weight of your own expectations.

Let me start by confessing something: I didn’t study marketing in school. Shh … don’t repeat that so loudly. So, if I didn’t study marketing, how is it I can confidently rattle off the “4 Ps” of marketing; discuss at length what the marketing orientations are; enlighten others as to what a positioning statement is?

No, I am not attending night school. No, I did not do a Wikipedia crash-course. No, I did not purchase the Marketing for Dummies series of books. I learned in class at work.

Lonny Kocina, President and CEO of Kocina Marketing Companies, offers what I think is a unique opportunity to his employees: on the job courses in marketing - a subject in which Lonny has more than 20 years experience. Guess how much he charges per class? Nothing. In fact, we’re paid to learn. The courses are taught twice per week, during regular work hours. Sweet.

The lessons I have learned over the past number of weeks have thus far helped me immeasurably in my job. Even within the walls of our office, the dialogue has changed. We’re using the concepts and words of marketing with each other in the hallways, the breakroom, and most importantly, in our work efforts. Don’t get me wrong, we are comprised of successful, seasoned marketing and PR veterans who know their stuff, but now we’re speaking the same language, which was Lonny’s ultimate goal when designing this class.

So now when someone asks me, “Do you think our company should be more market oriented rather than production oriented, employing an undifferentiated segmentation strategy, using reach & remind messaging, now that we’re in the mature stage of the product lifecycle?” I can respond, with a smile, “Yes, and let me explain to you why … .”