Book Review- 33 Million People in the Room: How to Create, Influence, and Run a Successful Business with Social Networking

My book report is on the book: 33 Million People in the Room: How to Create, Influence, and Run a Successful Business with Social Networking by Juliette Powell. This book is basically a “How to” guide on integrating the internet phenomenon known as “social networking” (SN) with your business. For those who are looking at in advancing in their career, be it a cook, or even a musician, this book would also be a helpful tool in learning how to use social networking to your advantage. By integrating SN with your business, you will increase the following: 1) exposure- (see chapter seven) which the author refers to as “social capital”, 2) feedback- (see chapter six), whereas social networking helps create a “feedback loop” which is the cycle of online communication between the consumer and company, and 3) Distribution and Capital (see chapter 9), where the book talks about using consumers as a source for production and distribution.



As you read this book, you will see that Ms. Powell focuses on some key points in how SN can help your business succeed: 1) Authenticity (how authentic and useful is the company’s product/opinion), 2) consumer production/distribution (what better why to help spread the word of mouth/distribute your company’s product then by the consumer themselves), and 3) communication (makes communication between the company and consumer more accessible for both parties).


The author uses several examples of “success stories” where individuals used SN to their advantage or power. The main example that was detailed in the book was Barack Obama and his 2008 presidential campaign. Due to Barack Obama’s heavy use of SN (websites, discussion forums, etc..), he was able to handily defeat his opponent (John McCain). The book also writes about Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia), Gary Vaynerchuk (founder of Winelibrary TV.com), and Sarah Lacy (magazine reporter), and how their interaction with SN helped further their career or business.


This book is mainly geared towards anyone who is looking to use SN to help further their career, improve the visibility of their business (or even self), or those interested in writing about the SN phenomenon in today’s society. It would also be useful for those who may already be heavily involved in social networking, and wants to start their own business, or just getting into the workforce. Corporations would also find this book useful if they wanted to improve or help their brand name. Personally speaking, I would like to start my own website design company in the future, and I found the information provided in this book very useful. It does help that I already have divulged myself into the SN trend, as I already use facebook, linkedin, myspace, twitter, and youtube.


Some of the strong points in this book include that the author was very detailed in explaining the different areas of SN, and usually provided concrete examples to back up their explanations. For example, in explaining the different SN-related websites, she provided the website and its main target, along with the amount of subscribers. Another strong point, is that anyone can read this book, as the author writes this book as if the reader has never used SN before. Finally, another strong point, is that the book provides a website:


Juliette Powell | 33 Million People in the Room


which provides supplement information, including a blog/forum, which allows readers to interact with the author and other readers directly. While there were no apparent general weaknesses with this book, I do feel that the author could have discussed how not use SN, perhaps a “what not to do” section or chapter, which would help the reader avoid those possible mistakes. Other than that, I do feel that this book was a very helpful and informative book, that anyone will find useful.