I'm Dave Kerpen, Founder of Likeable Local and Likeable Media ...

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Firmology?s How I Power My Business?series?profiles the technology?business owners?use to run and grow their business.

How I Power My Business
By Dave Kerpen of Likeable Local and Likeable Media

Dave Kerpen is the founder of?Likeable Local,?an integrated software solution that allows small businesses to create, enhance and manage their social media presence. We founded Likeable Local this year as a spin-off of Likeable Media, a highly successful social media marketing firm for big businesses, which has a fully developed and deployed product that integrates with Facebook and Twitter. The software is sold on a subscription basis, and is already being used by a growing customer base in its initial vertical, dentists, as a result of our strategic partnership with Henry Schein. My first book, Likeable Social Media, a New York Time bestseller about social media marketing for small businesses, reminded me of my strong passion for the small businesses sector. Likeable Social Media was a start to helping small business with their social media marketing but it wasn?t enough. My first book proved that small businesses were looking for social media help and guidance. Likeable Local will enable many thousands of small businesses to grow thanks to social media.

What is the story behind the launch of Likeable?

Likeable Media was started after my wife, Carrie and I decided to get married in 2005. We decided to get married at a baseball stadium and use our marketing backgrounds to create a promotional event and offset the costs of an expensive New York wedding. The Brooklyn Cyclones agreed to let tus get married at home plate after a game, 1-800-Flowers.com supplied us with flowers, Smirnoff provided alcohol, Entenmann?s added desserts, and David?s Bridal sponsored the gowns. In July 2006, Carrie and I said our vows in front of 500 friends and family members and 5,000 strangers. We raised $100,000 from sponsors to cover the cost of the wedding, as well as $20,000 to give to the MS Society. Not only was this a dream wedding, but it was a dream promotion: ?we generated $20 million worth of earned media for our sponsors. A few weeks later, we started getting calls from vendors asking what was next. Since we couldn?t get married again, we decided to start a company instead.

What apps, software, service or gadgets are essential to the?operations of your business?

My favorite app is Twitter. The quickest and easiest way to get in touch with me is always through Twitter. I make it a point to get back to everyone who tweets at me. Twitter is a great tool to get in touch and spread the word about something: it?s fast and to the point.

I frequently use Skype to meet with people I can?t meet in person. It adds a face to their name and makes the meeting more memorable. I try to arrange Skype meetings as often as possible.

My entire life is scheduled in Google Calendar. From meetings, to reminders, I put everything in my Google calendar to make sure I stay on top of all the things that are going on in my life. It is important for me to stay super organized and scheduled in order to keep a good work-life balance and spend enough time with my family.

Buffer is another amazing app. As a big Twitter fan, it makes it easy for someone as busy as me to always keep it up-to-date and have articles I find likeable to be scheduled for me. That way my Twitter is always active whether I am in a meeting or not.

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If you?d like to be featured on Firmology?s How I Power My Business series, here?s what we need from you:

1. Read this example post first:?Wanted: Businesses for How I Power My Business Series
2. Headshot/Company Photo: Ideally, we?d like a picture of you standing in front of or in your business, but we?ll take your profile headshot by itself or two separate photos too!
3. Company Logo: Who doesn?t have a logo now-a-days? If you don?t have the file, just send us your website link and we?ll grab it from there.
4. Description of Business: Tell us about your business! What is your product or service? Extra points if you have a story of how or why you launched your business.
5. How You Power Your Business: What apps, software, service or gadgets do you use to power your business?

Email the above information to contact@firmology.com with the subject line: How I Power My Business

Source: http://www.firmology.com/2012/12/17/im-dave-kerpen-founder-of-likeable-local-and-likeable-media-and-this-is-how-i-power-my-business/

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