Celebrating the Service Economy in Minneapolis: An Unlikely Partnership Launches a Community into Action

Minneapolis, Minnesota (PRWEB) March 29, 2013

Local startup Heroic (http://www.beheroic.com/) teams up with CRAVE Restaurants to celebrate the hardworking service economy in Minneapolis through a campaign called “Who Do You Love?” (http://www.beheroic.com/whodoyoulove). They are seeking recommendations from the public to discover little-known experts, artisans, and local craftsmen. The first 100 participants win a $ 20 gift card to CRAVE restaurants, and one will win one-year of free house cleaning.

Heroic is a newly formed community in the Twin Cities and is a free place for friends and neighbors to share recommendations of local service providers, like painters, carpenters, and mechanics. Who Do You Love is inspired by co-founders Dan Linstroth and Reed Robinson’s discovery of a little-known bike mechanic working out of his basement in Minneapolis named Sam Reinert.

“I discovered Sam through a recommendation from Reed and he blew me away with his service,” says Linstroth. “He’s an absolute expert, provides incredible customer service, and charges a neighborly price.”

By making this connection, the two friends began wondering how many people like Sam exist in the Twin Cities of other crafts. Who Do You Love was born, and they’re seeking word-of-mouth recommendations from the community to uncover more experts, just like Sam.

“These are the hardworking, honest people that make our neighborhoods run,” adds Linstroth. “They are the soul of our local economy and deserve to be recognized.”

Heroic is encouraging people to share by offering a limited number of Gift Cards to CRAVE restaurants and the chance to win one-year of free house cleaning.

“CRAVE was very generous in showing their support for this idea and Happy Earth Cleaning Company, another fantastic service provider, chipped in the incredible cleaning offer,” says Linstroth with excitement. “We’re very grateful for their participation.”    

The Who Do You Love campaign emphasizes the core of Heroic,“which is friends and neighbors sharing good old-fashioned referrals,” says Linstroth. “We want to facilitate this age-old, word-of-mouth behavior online while helping people like Sam get discovered.”

The service provider of the winning recommendation will also win prizes from Heroic. Professional photos and video plus a free premium upgrade on the site are all meant to celebrate the winning expert from the local service economy.

About Heroic

Heroic (http://www.beheroic.com/) is a free place for friends to share recommendations of favorite service providers. A personal referral from a friend or neighbor is the best source of information. Heroic is also free for service providers and will be incorporating a premium version in the future. The company is currently available in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul market and features service providers in 150 categories, all crowd-sourced and user-verified through personal recommendations. The company was founded by Justin Barrett (CEO), Ethan Otterlei (CTO), Reed Robinson (CPO), and Dan Linstroth (CMO).

Who Do You Love, Video [1:11] – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OBQYkPQffs

The Heroic Story, Video [1:08] – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc7FtxCjjYY

Sam’s Story, Video [2:59] – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIp_tOqqOjA