Episode 2 -- SocialBuzzONAIR - LIVE at 10am/ET Dave Kerpen : Likeable.com

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Block Talk Radio.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Oh, yeah, we know what that sound means. It's Friday, and this is Social Buzz on Air. What's happening, everybody? I'm your host, as always, Sebastian Rusk, broadcasting live here in the Social Buzz on Air studio at the lovely Latitude One Business Center in the beautiful downtown Miami. If you haven't checked him out, be sure to check him out on Facebook, Facebook.com forward slash Lat1 Business Center. Hey, a very special guest on the show today, my buddy Dave Kirpin, Likable Media's Own Brainchild, here to chat about his brand new book, Likeable Business, Why Today's Consumers Demand More and How Leaders Can Deliver. So I'm fired up to learn more about what Dave's new book's all about. Dave's always got an edge on what's happening in the social space. I had the unique opportunity to connect with him uh this summer. Uh Dave's just that kind of um uh uh entrepreneur and and and uh and an employer. He brought his whole team down to Miami Beach for a few days to stay at the Clevelander, to kick back, uh, and to uh have a likable time, if you will, no pun intended. So I had the unique opportunity of chatting with him for a few minutes. In fact, I got my own foam orange thumb. It's all mine. It's here in my office right here. I was pretty I was pretty fired up about that. So it just goes to show that um I originally connected with Dave through Harrow, help a reporter out when he had his previous book out, had him on the show like a year and a half ago, and had the unique opportunity again to meet him in person after two years of uh talking to him uh uh online or digitally or whatever the case is. Sorry, I've had a lot of Red Bull this morning. Big shout out to my friends at Red Bull. You guys wheeled in, probably a lifetime supply of Red Bull. Um I don't know if I need any more energy. Hey, if you're just joining us, better late than never. This is Social Buzz on Air. We're chatting about social media, we're chatting about things that matter. Most importantly, we are highlighting the hitters out there, the movers and the shakers. My buddy Dave Kirpin uh defines mover and shaker. Uh, he shared a little bit of the likable story, and he said that we are just extremely blessed with the uh with the amount of business that um we're continuing to bring in as we continue to grow our brand more and more in the social space. And to me, that's motivating because for a long time selling social media was like selling uh a luxury. It almost still is, but I believe it's only to the individuals that think they don't need social media. Friends, uh the genie is not going back in the bottle. It's here to stay. In fact, it's only getting bigger and better. Hey, local South Floridians, we're getting together tomorrow. Excuse me, tomorrow. Let's not get crazy. I'm excited. We have over 200 RSVPs. We're getting together Tuesday, this coming Tuesday, 1120 at uh La Jolla. That's the date, not the time. La Jolla Ballroom in uh the lovely Coral Gables from 6.30 to 9. It's the Social Buzz Networker, but more importantly, it is the launch of Social Buzz TV's newest agency client, Lully B.com, my good friend and now client, Lully B.com. Are you a mom entrepreneur? You need to check out LulieBee.com. She's gonna help you better understand uh how to really just embrace being a mom and an entrepreneur and being able to uh balance it all. So stay tuned. Lots of exciting stuff coming from LullyB.com. We've got well over 200 RSVPs for Tuesday evening. Uh you can register at Social Buzz, excuse me, November Networker.eventbrite.com. Again, the list will be closing soon. We have a limited capacity, but it's going to be hands down our biggest event of the year, and we're definitely going to highlight uh Lulie B jumping on board, creating lots of buzz for what's happening. I know that mommy market's big out there, and then the mommy entrepreneur market is as well, too. Always stay tuned to what's going on. Following us on Twitter at social buzz on air. You can follow me personally if you'd like, at Seb Rusk. Follow Dave as well, Dave Kirpin, K-E-R-P-E-N, and also his company likable media. They've got a likable chat, I believe they're still doing that. We're gonna have to we'll we'll clarify that. I'm almost sure that's happening still on Sunday nights, I believe. Talking about social media, keeping me in the loop. I learned so much from likable. That's why I'm so attracted to that orange thumb. Hey, so let's not waste any more time. Let me help you better understand who we're who we're gonna be chatting with here in just a few minutes. Dave Kerbins, the co-founder and CEO of Likable Media, an award-winning social media and word-of-mouth marketing firm. Dave's new book, Likable Business, Why Today's Consumers Demand More, and How Leaders Can Deliver, uh is what we're gonna be chatting about today. I want to know more about this book. Uh, haven't got a chance to get all the way through it, but um, we're gonna get a 30,000-foot perspective of what it's all about. Dave's really proud of his likable business and accomplishments, but he's prouder of his wife and business partner, Carrie, and two daughters at home in New York, Charlotte and Kate. That is what it's all about on there. Friend, let's not waste any more time. I just saw the phone lines light up. Let's welcome to the show, my good friend Dave Kirpin. What is happening, Dave?

SPEAKER_00 5:27

Not too much. Great to be here. How are you, my br my friend?

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Hey, I if I was any better, my last name would be Kirpin. It's good, it's good chatting with you. Can you hear me okay? I sure can. I sure can.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

How's everything uh in the Big Apple? It's great. It's great. I mean, obviously we were hit by Sandy, and that really sucked. But um but we're hanging in and uh no, you know, no complaints.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Well, we know what it's like we we definitely know what it's like uh to be affected by uh Mother Nature via a tropical or hurricane uh down here in South Florida. So uh we we we definitely were compassionate towards that challenging time. It was crazy that uh you know this day and age there's hurricanes going you know near uh you know the northeast. But um again, good to hear that things are returning to uh to normal there. So lots happening. How was the launch party? I know that um I had sent out the invites from my uh NYC peeps. I know there was a lot of buzz around it.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

It was a blast. You know, it's actually I'm staring right now at uh this little um uh you know, actually it's not little, this giant cardboard cutout that my team uh put together for me. It it's like um I haven't had something like this since my bar mitzvah. So it's a lot of fun, and everyone signed it, and uh, we're gonna have to put it up somewhere in this office, I think. Uh uh so yeah, no, it was a lot it was a lot of fun, and and the book officially debuted that day, so we had a bunch of people buy it and talk about it, and we we we uh we we ranked uh at one point number one in all business books and number 51 in all books on Amazon. So we were we were very happy with the day for sure.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

That's awesome, fantastic, and uh you know uh congratulations uh on all that success. I'm not surprised at all. Uh you have definitely built a likable brand here, and you're a likable guy. That's the most important part. You're reachable, uh, you're uh you're you're authentic, and it shows through your brand as well. So thanks for carving out some time for us this morning uh to hang out and uh and chat here about the book. So um you got a lot of awesome stuff. I haven't had a chance to get to the book yet, but I'm I'm you know I was looking through some of the chapters here, and again, it's really it's really juicy. Sink your teeth in material. Uh chapter one dives right into listening. One mouth, two ears, many opportunities. Wow, it's amazing what happens when a brand listens, huh, Dave?

SPEAKER_00 7:47

It is, you know, and uh the first so the first book uh that I wrote was called Likable Social Media, and it was all about the the strategies to building a successful social media uh program uh and implementing that. And listening was the first chapter of my first book because I think it's the most important part of any social media plan. Well, you know, listening is the first chapter of likable business as well. Likeable business, by the way, takes the lessons learned from likable social media and applies them not only to social media but to the entire running of any business or organization. And so to me, listening, listening is super important because by listening, you you you you find out what your customers need, what they want, what your staff needs and what they want, what your investors need and want. You know, pretty much all of your stakeholders are important, and but but you know, leaders and entrepreneurs have a lot of ideas in them and they want to they want to spread those ideas. They want to talk. But the thing is, it's actually counterintuitive because by shutting up and listening to what your people tell you, they want to need, that's how you can actually be successful. That's how you can perhaps perhaps change some of your ideas based on what the market's asking for. That's how you can be successful. So listening to me is super important in any business. And then, of course, thanks to social media, you can listen at scale now, which which which which is which is pretty awesome. You know, for the first time, you don't have to just listen to people that you're in the room with. You can listen to hundreds, thousands, or millions of people, depending on the size of your organization.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Yeah, you've got the reach to be able to do that. The the the you know, the at the speed at which we we're able to communicate with each other these days is is astonishing. It really, really is. Um, and I think that leads, you know, not you know, to add on to listening, um, an important component is, you know, when when a when a customer or a new prospect or a new new prospective customer um interacts with your brand, the way we communicate and the way we listen allows that conversation to continue. And, you know, as as funny as it is, leads right into what your second chapter is of storytelling. Once they connect with us, we're able to continue the conversation. Instead of selling them, we're just telling the story of our brand by them interacting with us. And that's key. Storytelling's huge. I tell people that all the time. Listen, I wear bow ties and I'm a storyteller, and I and I and I tell my stories on YouTube.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

Exactly, exactly. And um, you know, when you are ready to talk, after you're after you're listening and throughout the conversation, the way to the way to talk isn't to sell. It is to tell, it is to tell stories, and that's you know, that's that's gotten me very far, and that's gotten a lot of the businesses that we profile very far. Um, you know, I think you know my story, Sebastian, but for those of you listening that don't know sort of my story about how likable came to be, it's a pretty good story. My uh wife and I both had a marketing and sales background. When we decided to get married, we couldn't afford a large wedding, but we were both big baseball fans, and we both were good marketers, and we both were you know fairly creative, and so we put together a promotion at a baseball stadium, and we called up the minor league Brooklyn Cyclones and said, if we get married at at on your field, we will create a real buzz for you. They they bought it and we we ended up selling some sponsorships for our wedding. 1800flowers.com sponsored our flowers, three-up sponsored our alcohol, David's bridal sponsored our bridesmaids gowns, and so on and so forth. We raised $100,000 for an awesome wedding. I got married to the love of my life, so it was a great day for me, but it turned out to be a pretty great marketing promotion as well. We earned about $20 million of earned media for our partners. ABC Willowness Tonight, CBS, Early Show, CNBC, New York Times, and thousands of blogs. And after the wedding, our vendor said, This was great. What are you guys doing next? We couldn't get married again, so we started a company instead. Now that's my story.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

That is a story. I told you guys, Dave Kirpin's the man. I wasn't just hyping it up because he's gonna be my radio show. I mean, that is absolutely brilliant. And and uh you know it doesn't it doesn't I'm not shocked at all, Dave, that that you know, you're we're able to leverage resources and brands to be able to, I mean, that was like a total co-op deal, win-win, and you got married to the love of your life.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Exactly. It really was it really was a win-win-win for the cyclones, the partners, and of course for us and our our friends and family. Um and and that was back in the day uh where social media was just blogs, really. But you know, of course, uh as social media exploded, we we we uh we at uh the K Buzz and then and then now Likable um were able to leverage that on behalf of our brand partners. You know, 1800 Flowers and Enzymins who had sponsored our desserts uh went went straight from wedding sponsors to you know early early large clients of of our company, and that was very, very fortunate for us. Um but the idea here is that, and I think you you you alluded to this, Sebastian, when you when you mentioned uh that you tell stories on YouTube. You know, 20 years ago, the way to tell a story to the masses was through a 30-second TV spot or a 30-second radio commercial, or maybe if you were a real small business, a full-color glossy brochure. Now, here's the problem with those three tools for telling stories. Sometimes they work well, but sometimes they don't. And all the time they are expensive and time consuming. So it's a big risk. It may or may not work well. Here's the thing about today you can tell a story on internet radio, like I just did, or you can tell a story on YouTube with a 30-second video that you shoot with your iPhone, or you can tell a story on Facebook, or you can tell a story with a tweet, or you can tell a story with a picture on Pinterest or Instagram. Here's the good news, guys. If the story doesn't resonate, tell a different story tomorrow. Tell another story an hour later. Because the good news is you didn't spend millions or thousands of dollars on that TV spot or glossy brochure. It didn't take you six weeks to produce. So you can tell a different story ten minutes later, an hour later the next day, and keep telling those stories until you figure out what resonates with your key stakeholders.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Absolutely. Yeah, you you're you're you're you're meeting your audience where they are by really telling that story. I mean, that's been a that's been an old saying forever and a date, you know, you know, facts sell, stories tell. I mean, I believe it's a collaboration of both of those, but again, it's crazy how the flow of your chapters are here because it's really uh it really it's kind of a step-by-step thing, David, is that you know, first you're listening, second you're telling your story, and then next you're you're you're you're being authentic with telling that story. And again, you know, Gary V's one of the very Gary Vee's greatest quotes, you know, authenticity trumps like ability. And um, you know, I I believe that um, you know, if people don't know who I know what you like to do on the weekends, your story, your kids' names, who you are as an individual, and a brand, uh, I don't believe they're gonna do business with you.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

That's absolutely correct. So let me tell you a story about my friend uh Sheldon Yellen. He's the CEO of a company called Bell 4. They're a multi-billion dollar company, and Sheldon has blown me away with his authenticity and his ability to be the same person at work and at home, online and offline. Sheldon will not ask anything of any of his thousands of employees, six thousand employees, that he wouldn't do himself. That means this guy, the CEO of his company, climbs roofs and ladders and is is doing every single activity that he would require of his company. He sends out birthday cards, written birthday cards to every single employee. That means he signs about 15 to 20 birthday cards per day. And most interesting to me, he found out a comp an employee um uh $17,000 seemed to disappear. Okay? They tracked it down, they realized that an employee had put in a pool in his own home. He sent the employee a note saying, Meet me tomorrow at the airport. He flew in the next day. He handed the employee a check for $17,000. He said, I think you might have made a mistake in your accounting. Here's $17,000 to cover the money that went missing from our company. I'm sure you will be able to pay it back over time. He didn't fire the employee. He instead assumed the employee was good. That employee is still with him six years later, paid back the money, and has contributed to Belfort's success. So to me, authenticity is about being a good person, no matter what situation you're in. And being your true self no matter what situation you're in. You know, there's a lot of people that are really old school that think that they don't want to be, they want to be private. They don't want to be their public self online, they don't want to be their pub, their professional self as well as their personal self on Twitter. Here's the thing, guys: privacy is dead. Privacy is all but dead. You've got to be who you are, online and offline, public and private. I am the same dude, honestly, whether I am speaking in front of a thousand people or tweeting in front of 50,000 people or, you know, hanging out with my kids and my wife, you know, to me, and it it what's so amazing about this is it's very it's very freeing because you don't have to try to ever be someone you're not. You don't have to try to put up a wall. You know, there's a subset of authenticity that I that I call vulnerability. And the amazing thing about vulnerability is there's a lot of leaders, especially men, who are very hesitant to be vulnerable in front of their staff. They they want to be strong, they want to be the man, they don't want to be vulnerable. Here's the thing, here's the amazing secret. When you're vulnerable, when you let people in, when you share, yeah, I had a shitty day today. When you share how you're feeling, people want to help you. People want to be there for you. So the amazing thing is I'm vulnerable and I encourage, strong encourage my management team here likable to be vulnerable, and we've seen really tremendous results from that. We've seen a team that has become, you know, a true family here and wants to help each other and wants to hang out. I came into this morning, they're showing a movie on a big screen in the office. You know, at first I was sort of like, this is sort of weird, because how is everyone going to get work done all morning? But you know what? I know they're doing it. I trust them, and it's all good. It really is all good. Anyway, enough with that rant, Sebastian. I'm sorry I went off. What do you got?

SPEAKER_01 19:08

No, no, no, no. You're dead, no, you're dead on. And I and I beat the same message um constantly because people don't get it and they need to get it. It's, you know, wake up people, treat people, you know. So it was so funny. Uh uh, you know, go back to I I heard another radio interview a couple months back um on my friend Tanya Hall's show with Gary Vee. And this is something new I had heard him say. It was, you know, think about how your family has always treated you. Imagine if you treated your customers, prospects, and people that you do business with just like that, the amount of results that you get. You know, be willing to leave some money on the table when negotiating a deal. Let somebody win, because at the end of the day, you're going to end up winning by a landslide if you're willing to be a lot more open to that and just treating people really back to the golden rule, how we want to be treated. Hey, Dave, um, don't go anywhere. We're going to go pay some bills real quick. We'll be right back. Hey, if you're just joining us uh better late than never, this is Social Buzz on Air. We're chatting with my boy Dave Kirpin, likable media's own brainchild, about his new book, Likable Business, Why Today's Consumers Demand More, and How Leaders Can Deliver. Don't go anywhere, we'll be right back. Are you sick and tired of working in noisy coffee shops with slow internet and an endless journey just to find a place to sit down? Or perhaps you're sideways at the thought of working from your living room one more day. If this sounds like you, the Latitude One Business Center may be the answer you've been looking for. The Latitude One Business Center is located in the heart of Brickle in downtown Miami. Their state-of-the-art Class A office space offers everything you need to just, well, work. The Business Center occupies the 14th and 19th floor. Each comes equipped with private executive suites, shared space, a receptionist, mailroom, break room, copier, fax, phone, internet, and the best news, it's all inclusive. Give Jamie and her team a call today and set up a tour of the center. We promise you won't want to leave. Call 305-529-6229 today. Be sure to find Latitude One on Facebook at facebook.com forward slash Latitude One Business Center. All right. We are back, party people. This is Social Buzz on Air. I'm Sebastian Rusk, your host, as always. Hey, welcome to the show. Chatting with my good buddy Dave Kirpin with Likable Media about his new book. It is available on Amazon. I'm sure it's a bestseller by now, isn't it, Dave?

SPEAKER_00 21:41

The number one bestseller in uh three categories. Thanks for asking. And actually, it's available in bookstores everywhere, Barnes Noble. Um, I'm excited. Actually, they kicked off a promotion today at the front of stores in Barnes Noble. Of course, let me know if it doesn't actually show up at the front of the stores because sometimes uh I hear that can be the case, but certainly the public. Says to me, Dave, it is going to be in the front of every Mars and Noble in America. And you know, it's a little exciting for me, I have to admit. I have to admit. Not to sound like a jerk or uh like a braggadocious, but I am a little excited.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Hey, I you know, I would probably, you know, actually, I'm not gonna say I would probably, when my book is in stores like that, if I just get a lawn chair and like a six-pack of beer and just spend the weekend right there in front of the window, you know, ponder the accomplishment a little bit. That might be a little odd with the family, and uh, I don't know if Carrie will give you a thumbs up on that there, Dave. But uh, and any here, Ben. I'm I'm gonna skip down a couple chapters here. Something really caught my eye, actually the last chapter, gratefulness. That's not really that that's a that's a great that that's a great concept and word and very important in business. But right under it says the ROI of thank you. Can you elaborate on that?

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Yeah, absolutely. You know, just like I opened uh with uh listening intentionally, I closed the book with gratefulness. To me, you know, gratefulness is something that so many of us uh lose sight of because we're so focused on the bottom line and driving results. But when we take a step back and are thankful, truly thankful, it goes a long, long way. You know, we actually uh we actually quote a study by uh an organization called Donors Choose, a nonprofit that I really love. They're a uh donorschrows.org, you can go on and uh support any teachers' classroom projects you can give as little as $10 to help fund classroom projects. And what Donors Choose did was they did a study where they took a test group and uh didn't send any thank you notes, and then they took uh they took a control group and they didn't send any thank you notes to donors, and then they took a test group and they sent them all handwritten thank you notes. And the amazing thing is the folks that got handwritten thank you notes were 38% more likely to give a second donation. They actually verified the incredible return on investment financially of writing those thank you notes. And I have to tell you, I, again, at the risk of bragging, I'm going to tell you one thing that I am proud of, okay? I am proud of the fact that I have developed a habit of starting my day every single day by writing three handwritten thank you notes. In an age where it's so easy to send an email or a text or a tweet, I write handwritten handwrite three thank you notes every morning, send them to staff, send them to clients, send them to prospects, send them to partners, send them to the media. And I have to tell you, it's awesome because people get them and they freak out and they're so so happy. But what makes it even more awesome, Sebastian, even if those thank you notes were never even mailed, even if they got lost in the mail, every time I write those thank you notes in the morning, it puts me in an amazing mood, an amazing mindset. It makes me feel happy, and that makes me more productive. So the ROI is there immediately. Even if nothing ever happened with those thank you notes. Emotional ROI. Well, no, I'll tell you, I'll tell you, it's not, you know, you you know, it's not just emotional because it makes me more productive. I'm in a better mood, which makes me more productive. On a day where I miss my thank you notes, and there are some days where I miss writing my thank you notes in the morning, I am not in as good a mood. I am and it affects my work. It absolutely affects my work. So uh there is really a lot of evidence in this book, uh, not only for gratefulness, but for all these principles that, you know, they may sound simple, but by actually learning about them, studying them, and executing against them, you will build a more likable business and most important, even a more successful business for yourself.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

Absolutely. Great, great advice. Uh I I back that up a thousand percent. People are starting to get it and understand that you know, if you're not listening, you know, someone is, some brand is, and someone will get the business. So it's a simple, uh simple, it's just going back to the basics, really, and embracing um the rapid rate at which we communicate right now and not trying to sell or shove our message down consumers and prospective clients' throats, but just interacting with them, engaging with them, and listening to them and telling our story. And it's amazing the amount of opportunities that are derived out of something so simple. Hey, listen, I know you're a busy guy. We're running out of time here, Dave. Um, be sure to check out Dave's new book. I just posted a link on the Facebook page, Facebook.com forward slash social buzz on air, direct link to Amazon.com, on shelves everywhere. If you're in a bookstore locally, go pick up a copy as well, too. Dave, any final uh uh final tidbits of uh of likable genius before we uh uh before we sign off here?

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Well, well, I have no genius, but I will tell you this. One of my core values or one of the values that I write about in the book is responsiveness, and I get thousands of emails and tweets every week, and I respond to each and every one of them. So please, please, please, if you have any questions whatsoever, feel free to tweet me at Dave Kerpin, K-E-R-P-E-N. You can Facebook me, Facebook.com slash Dave Kerpin. Or if you want to go really old school, you can email me, Dave at likable.com.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

And he will respond. He is a reachable guy, not only a likable guy, but a reachable guy as well. Hey Dave, I appreciate you. I know you'll be back down to Miami before too long with the team, so definitely hit us up. We'd love to have a Miami Vice with you over at the Clevelanders.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

Well, it sounds like a plan. You know I enjoy that, Sebastian. You have a super likable weekend, and thanks so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 27:59

Hey, thanks so much, and say hello to Carrie for us.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

You got it.

SPEAKER_01 28:03

All right, buddy, have a good weekend. Good guy. It's always great to connect with him. He's making some moves. Wow, did you hear that story about their wedding? And that was before social media was even around. But now his book is on shelves everywhere. Uh and it's three times bestseller. Three different cat three three different category bestseller. So be sure to check that out. I posted a link on my personal page for those of you friends with me on Facebook. If you have any questions for me after the show, drop me an email as well. Srusk at socialbuzztv.com. We're headed down to Homestead this weekend to get her done with the NASCAR friends. It's the Ford Eco Boost 400 on Sunday. Really excited about that. So um stay tuned. Lots of buzz happening there. Uh follow us on Twitter for the play by play. I'm excited. Um NASCAR. Gosh, it's been forever and a day since I've been to a NASCAR race. Let's see here. We uh I was just about to do a time check, but I guess that's that's about all we got. Well, you know what that sound means? Uh that's a wrap for Social Buzz on Air. Big shout out to my buddy Dave Kerbin for joining us today. Check out his book, Likable Business, Why Today's Consumers Demand More, and How Leaders Can Deliver. It will improve your overall business and you as a business and brand owner. Check us out in Coral Gables this Tuesday and November 20th at the La Hoya Ballroom. It's the Social Buzz TV November Networker with our good friend LulieB.com, the mom entrepreneur. Make sure you're following the show, Social Buzz On Air, on Twitter and find us on Facebook, Social BuzzOn Air. My name is Sebastian, and I'm signing off here from the Latitude One Business Center in the Social Buzz On Air studio. God bless you all. Have a great weekend, and we'll talk to you on air next week.