Social networks like Facebook are huge these days, but can they bring in business? Juliette Powell, author of "33 Million People In The Room," discusses Facebook, theorizes about the ROI of social networking, and explains why it can be risky to ignore social media.
Social networking has evolved from a teen diversion into a powerful business tool. With a savvy social media strategy, small and midsize businesses can attract new customers, grow sales pipelines, burnish brand image, cement relationships with existing customers, and more. In her new book, "33 Million People In The Room," author and social media expert Juliette Powell reveals patterns and practices of successful business leaders who have harnessed the power of social networking to enhance and extend their business. In a discussion with bMighty, Powell shares her perspective on Facebook's privacy policy, claiming online identity, and how to quantify ROI for social media.
Don't Miss: Making Social Networks Work For You
An excerpt from Juliette Powell's "33 Million People In The Room"
bMighty: Who's the audience for this book?
Juliette Powell: For this book, I did a series of interviews and talks and came to the realization that the capabilities of social networking were not well understood. People were aware of social networking, but not of the implications. You can throw up applications and use different social media platforms to forward your business, but entrepreneurs and SMBs were really clueless -- they didn't understand how social networking could be integrated into their business model.
The way the Obama campaign used social networking was a real turning point. Regardless of what people think of his policies, the way the campaign used social networking made people aware of the possibilities, and that has expanded the market a great deal.
bMighty: In the book, you use anecdotes, like the Sarah Lacy-Mark Zuckerberg kerfuffle at SXSW, to illustrate different aspects of how social networking works. What's an anecdote that didn't make the final cut that's relevant to businesses owners?
Juliette Powell: I've been very fortunate in that the stories in the book are based on people that I know. Obviously, I couldn't integrate every story. One thing I learned from my work with Cirque du Soleil was about the value of investing in relationships. We talk about the value of building face-to-face relationships and then using social networks to reinforce them online. But one thing I observed with Cirque du Soleil was that everyone there felt like they were part of a family, not just a business. That created excitement; every person with the company felt they were part of something much larger. That's a key element in any business initiative whether you use social networking or not. People need to feel valued. You can't count on the value, but you can invest in those relationships, and social networks are a way to do that.
bMighty: Does the current recession make social media more or less important for businesses?
Juliette Powell: Using Cirque du Soleil as an example, they not only create a sense of family within the company, but that extends to the people who go to the shows and the programming on Bravo. When I interviewed the founder, Guy Laliberte, he said that's the key to their success. And despite the downturn, his shows are growing -- even tickets $100 or more. People come and experience that sense of family; it's a place they can invest in to be reminded of the extent of human potential. That's all part of the branding and perception of Cirque du Soleil.
bMighty: There's a cyclical quality to social networks. First there was Friendster, and now Facebook is on top. What are the triggers that lead to these shifts?
Juliette Powell: There's always a competition between openness and a need to control it. We see that with Facebook's privacy policy right now -- at the end of the day, how Facebook responds to that issue will augment its popularity or kill it while it's literally in its infancy.
Now Friendster was not a platform that encouraged application development. That's important to Facebook's success. Everyone and anybody can test out the ground and build a Facebook app. That's a fundamental shift in our society -- the tools are in our hands, and they're proliferating. The underlying technology itself is being used on multiple levels -- the most interesting part is to see how we'll evolve with it.
