Enterprenuer
Eric Fischgrund is a father and husband, entrepreneur, writer, and philanthropist.
He is a champion for sustainability, accessibility, quality of healthcare, financial literacy, justice, equality, and advancing ideas and technologies that have a positive impact on the world.
Eric is the founder and CEO of FischTankPR, results-oriented marketing, and public relations firm that provides cleantech PR, healthcare, real estate PR services, and other services for innovative companies.
Eric’s thoughts about communications, leadership, and marketing have been featured by prominent media outlets such as CNBC, Bloomberg and Fox Business, PRWeek and Digiday, Forbes, and many others.
What is the story of FischTank PR?
Desperation? In-house communications counsel? I quit a Hackensack-based PR company in 2011.
Although I enjoyed that job, unfortunately, the CEO and President weren’t on the same page, and it was quickly over.
I was a natural networker and had created a demand for PR and communications services.
Eight years later, I am still in the same position I had eight years ago.
How do you stay productive?
It is impossible to have two workdays that are very similar.
I try my best to maximize what I can control.
I wake up at a reasonable hour and try to get productive immediately.
I can work, exercise, read, or both.
My daughter can focus on me once she wakes up.
She then heads off to daycare.
Although my typical workday may be stressful, it is one that I enjoy.
My day is filled with providing advice to clients and my teams, discussing potential engagements, and creating our brand.
I also value the relationships that I have with many of my colleagues.
That is why I enjoy communicating with and writing for my colleagues.
It’s a lot of fun to see people succeed for weeks, months, and years.
How do you bring ideas to life?
If I think I have a good idea, I ask my friends and family for their feedback.
What do they think? Is it possible? What will it cost? What amount of time will it take? These are essential questions that pragmatic people ask.
Every idea is not good, and some ideas are impossible to implement.
Echo chambers can be dangerous, so you need to trust those around you.
Great ideas can only be realized by constructive feedback.
What’s your favorite trend?
Remote work is great because it gives employees much control and scares employers away.
FischTank’s flexible and employee-centric program is an excellent option for PR and communications professionals.
We offer a superior experience for our employees with plenty of PTO, no office returns mandates, and other perks.
This is why I am excited about the trend.
Happy employees/colleagues = more pleased customers, so we will do our best to welcome people who have left rigid companies to join our team.
What habits make you productive?
It’s difficult to give an answer that isn’t conceited.
But I’ll continue reading. I read a lot, and the time alone helps me focus.
I also think that many of the books I have read have gradually changed how I listen to other people and interact with them.
Years of reading books on leadership, sports, US history, and biographies have made me more patient, understanding, and deliberate.
Bonus answer: Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday changed how I see almost everything.
His subsequent books also changed the Way I run my business.
What’s your advice for the Noob?
Develop more healthy habits and patience. If I could, I would tell myself to be patient.
That’s excellent advice. However, I wish I had developed healthier habits in my 20s, such as traveling more, playing organized sports, meeting new people, volunteering, and other activities.
What is one thing we can all agree on?
Many entrepreneurs will tell their clients that they won’t do anything for free and valuable time.
They are mostly correct. However, not all entrepreneurs are right.
FischTank PR was in its early days. I used to barter services with partners and, in some cases, did PR work free of charge for people I felt it made sense.
A few times, most notably with a securities lawyer, this early faith led to dozens of small business referrals and introductions that continued eight years later.
What do you recommend as an entrepreneur?
Recognize when you are wrong. I have made many mistakes. Sometimes, I make mistakes.
Sometimes I get frustrated, and it is not constructive.
While I don’t advocate blind apologies, I will often share my feelings and tell you when I need to.
What’s your rich strategy?
Although content writing is often discussed, few people do it consistently for long periods.
Matt Bretzius, my partner at FischTank PR, and I have published blog posts and submitted bylines to online news outlets and magazines.
We also made efforts to include our corporate URL and name.
Our web presence has increased as we grow and add more clients.
When we tell our clients content is essential, we practice what we preach.
How do you overcome Failure?
FischTank was founded in 2005. We were still struggling to identify our identity.
Are you a marketing company? A PR company? A digital media firm? Although we did some writing and media relations, it was tempting to do too much.
This can lead to you and your website not sharing much information but more buzzwords.
We didn’t generate the inbound leads or web traffic I expected.
We have refocused our efforts on our strengths and best practices and recommitting to a more excellent structure within the agency.
Our senior staff was trusted to manage accounts and train newer staff.
This investment in infrastructure was a huge success.
Can you share a business idea?
We had our baby in 2019, and I was shocked that no data was exchanged electronically between the hospital staff and the pediatrician.
The process involved taking physical papers and giving them to our new healthcare providers.
These people are the ones you see most often during the first three months.
Someone more intelligent than I can create software that allows infant records to be transferred to doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and other healthcare providers.
What’s your recent best buy?
Personal: A Fishpond Lowcountry Hat. The hat covers most of my shoulders, neck, and face.
Although I am a pale man, I enjoy the beach and fishing.
Professional: I am a frequent student of UDEMY and most recently took a course on the 2022 solar market.
What are your favorite Softwares or Apps?
Because it is so easy to use, QuickBooks is our accounting software.
Even someone like me, who isn’t great with numbers, can quickly understand income and expense reports and review correspondence from clients.
Which book would you recommend?
Oops! I already did that, but I’ll explain it here.
As an adult and father, I have tried to live more in the present.
Many Stoic teachings have helped to get closer to this.
Ryan Holiday’s book Stillness is the Key, and several other books, including Ego, is the Enemy, and The Obstacle is the Way, introduced me to Stoicism.
The Key to Stillness was the ability to take more time for myself.
This allowed me to spend more time with my family, friends, and work.
What’s your favorite quote?
“Whenever you find that you are on the side with the majority, it’s time to pause, reflect, and then take a deep breath.” Hunter S. Thompson wrote “By the ticket. Take the ride.”
Mark Twain
Key Learnings:TL;DR by Eric Fischgrund Key Learnings:
- Find things that work for your business. People who are happy to give free advice and unpaid guidance, especially via social media, is the bane of this age. Ask questions when you have to, but do the right thing for your company and yourself.
- Nothing can replace life experiences. You can travel, sign up, volunteer, protest, or take part in a position. But, most importantly, you should meet people.
- You can make changes quickly in your fortunes, but you have control over how and when you do so. You may need them someday, so do more for others.
