Manager or Movement Starter? with Jen Dulski, head of Facebook Groups and Communities

When we talk about social media in the entrepreneurial world, we often immediately think of how to leverage those platforms for the benefit of our business. And it’s true—building a following on social platforms is a great marketing tool. Your followers convert to lists of email subscribers who you can then market to. It’s smart business to know how to use the platforms available and to stay relevant.

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But one of the bigger values that these platforms offer is the feeling of belonging. As Jen Dulski explains, social media platforms like Facebook provide community and a sense of belonging through the groups and connectedness it offers.

Jen is the Head of Facebook Groups which is used by more than 1.4 billion people to create and engage in communities that matter to them on topics from parenting to health to disaster response. She began her career as a high school teacher where she started a non-profit to help her students become the first kids in their family to go to college.

She was an early Yahoo! employee and led a business unit there as group VP and GM of Local and Marketplaces. In 2007, Jennifer left Yahoo! to become CEO of The Dealmap, a mobile, local deals site that Google acquired in 2011, making Jennifer the first female entrepreneur to sell a company to Google, where she then led Google Shopping and Product Listing Ads.

Jen is the author of Purposeful: Are You a Manager or a Movement Starter?, a book about how each of us can be movement starters.

In this week’s podcast, she discusses a couple main principles from her newest book.

Are you purposeful in what you do? Are you a manager or a movement starter?

Orindary people can create extraordinary movements, whether in social change or in business.

Small actions make a big difference (“Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference has never fallen asleep with a mosquito in the room.”)

How to navigate the criticism of who you are, what you’re doing, or how you’re doing things

Leveraging the naysayers to your benefit by building a team of allies and supporters or with a “bear hug” approach

There is power in a group of people, which can be started by one individual.

People value connection and belonging, and when they feel this way, change happens.

Jen’s insight and genuine passion for community building were refreshing to hear. We hope this week’s podcast gives you some great perspective on not only how to leverage the power of social media for the growth of your business, but also how to use it as a world-changing tool to bring people closer together.