Today, I spoke with Juliette Powell, who is an author, blogger at the Huffington Post, and entrepreneur. We talk about her new book on social networking, how Obama’s social media campaign was successful, more about which social networks you should register for, networking strategies and more.
How did you come up with the title “33 million people in the room”? What was your source of inspiration?
Amy Neidlinger at Financial Times Press, my publisher, came up with the title based on a story in the book that illustrates Reed’s Law. In the story, I describe 2 people who meet for a business lunch. Each has a smart phone with a world of contacts – phone numbers, email addresses, social networking profiles. Each device connects the two people at the lunch and their extended network of friends and associates, both online and off. Let’s say that between the 2 lunch partners, and all of the contacts in both of their phones, you have a network of 25 individuals.
According to Reed’s Law, the amount of possible connections and subgroups within your group of 25 people in common (2 to the power of 25) is an astonishing 33 million+.
The inspiration behind the book came from successful people in my life like Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. I noticed that many of the same patterns emerged in their thinking and in the ways they do business. Because they are both friends and we’ve worked on projects together, I’ve been blessed with a unique opportunity to connect dots that I wouldn’t necessarily have noticed otherwise. In each case, social and cultural capital were leveraged and amplified. Eventually that potent combination and a lot of vision and strategy led them to exponential financial capital. 33 Million People in the Room goes over tools and techniques that you and your business can apply to begin to do the same.
Can you go over the Obama social media campaign? What did they do right and how did it help Obama score the presidential seat?
There are free excerpts of my book’s overview of the Obama campaign’s successful online and viral strategy at juliettepowell.com (where I go into more detail).
Here are a few key points:
- Building on Howard Dean’s online campaign strategy four years later, Obama managed to effectively connect his inner and outer political support systems to coordinate and harmonize the two circles – think of the spokes on a bike wheel connecting the hub to the outer rim. Barack Obama successfully engaged with supporters at all levels both online and offline and that engagement was reflected at the polls.
- Obama understood the Internet’s vast capacity for networking and the possibilities for virally spreading a message, as long as that message was considered meaningful, authentic and valuable.
- He also understood the value of not only giving people something to believe in, but empowering them to actually do something about it. With that in mind, Obama set out to harness the power of social networks and viral communication and to bring his campaign to the masses.
- Obama leveraged pre-existing tools on popular social networks to provide supporters with a place to congregate and share opinions and comments.
- Obama understood the old political system with precinct captains and ward-heelers and knew these roles could now coordinate their activities through social software.
- With platforms like MyBarackObama.com and a variety of tools across other social networking sites, Obama could further engage with people who ordinarily wouldn’t don’t go out of their way to get involved with politics in an environment that was more familiar to them.
How many social networks should someone belong to? What about for company’s?
It all depends how much time you have on your hands. The 3 social technnology sites I use most for business are Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter (for micro-blogging). The applications I’ve chosen for each are limited to those that allow me to update my profiles, stay in touch with friends and colleagues and keep them in the loop with respect to my new business developments- all in one quick posting. In other words, my Twitter posts (tweets) automatically update my Facebook and Linkedin profiles. My blog at juliettepowell.com automatically updates Facebook and Linkedin. The best part is that I can do all of these things on the go using my smartphone.
For entrepreneurs and business people who don’t have a lot of time, explore the sites where your community of friends, colleagues and clients already live and only use applications that work on multiple sites and can save you time & energy. Who has time to throw snowballs? To maximize your time using social networks and increase your impact, check out the sites and applications already used by your peers and choose the ones that can be most useful for your business needs.
What are your top 3 social networking career tips?
- Find and connect with people who can add value to your life and career and make sure you add value to theirs. Pick your people and interact with them both online and off.
- Go to conferences and meet-ups then follow-up online. Blog about events and people you’ve met as well as their ideas. Join discussion groups and share your own authentic and unique voice.
- Comment on other people’s highly read postings and sign off with an embedded link to your site.
What is the difference between cultural capital and social capital?
In very simplified terms, it’s the difference between affecting the people in your life (social capital) and the ability to affect people outside of your own extended networks of people. You can always influence those closest to you. In the context of my book, cultural capital is about affecting the culture at large and how it affects you. 33 Million People in the Room is a practical guide that takes readers through steps to building social and cultural capital and how that can in turn lead to higher financial capital for you and your business.
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Juliette Powell is a media entrepreneur, a community catalyst and the author of 33 Million People in the Room : How to create, influence and Run a Successful Business with Social Networking, (January 2009, Financial Times Press). Drawing on first hand experience as a social media expert and co-founder of The Gathering Think Tank, an innovation forum that connects technology, media, entertainment, and business communities. Her consulting services have been employed by corporate, government and new media organizations, including Red Bull, Mozilla, Microsoft, Compaq, Trump International, the United Nations, the Department of Justice, Paltalk, Rocketboom and Nokia.
