Book/Movie Review: The Social Network

Book Report (Movie report this time around): The Social Network

This must come as a shock to everyone…me doing something involving a movie (I'm a movie critic on the side).  That being said, go with me on this one as a movie I saw this weekend actually fits really well into what we do hear, especially in terms of being the “Lawline Team”.

In ‘The Social Network’, we see how Mark Zuckerberg ended up creating Facebook.  We all would love Lawline to be as successful and profitable as Facebook is, and there are ways to make that happen.  The first way is to always be looking to do things better.  Like David is a fan of the 1% challenge and everyone finding a more effective way to do things, Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook as a hybrid between a website he drunkenly created to rank Harvard girls and the Harvard exclusive dating site that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss asked him to create (one of the major plot points of the film is whether or not Facebook is a stolen idea, as most of his co-creators, as well as the Winklevoss twins, ended up suing Mark).  He saw a better way to do things.  We should take that to heart every single day that we’re here.  If something isn’t working, try something new.  Always be looking for ways to improve.

Another big point that we can take from the film is how to work as a team.  Mark’s anti-social behavior only hurts him and ultimately ends up costing him millions of dollars.  Being friendlier and having better communication skills would have done both him and the site a lot of good.  In our cases, working together can only help us.  Making a sale for someone else, buying lunch for someone having a rough week, even just popping into another office to shoot the breeze for a few minutes, these things make the work environment better and lead to more sales.  When we’re happy, we sell, plain and simple.  As much as anything, remember how much time we spend with each other…we see each other more than our families, so a friendly work environment is essential.

The last point that I’ll bring up is this: don’t let your personal life affect your sales.  Mark essentially went down the path of creating Facebook because his girlfriend dumped him.  In our case, a bad mood often leads to a bad sales day, or week.  I’m guilty of this as much, or more, than anyone, and it’s an easy thing to correct.  Just look up something on the computer that amuses you, and center yourself.  If that doesn’t work, just get out of your seat and take a quick walk.  We’re here for 10 hours, we all need to hit the re-set button sometimes.  Just make sure that when you’re on a sales call, you’re upbeat and excited about our product, or else the prospect won’t be either.

Finally, a shameless bit of self promotion…’The Social Network’ is a great film, and everyone should go see it…and then read my review at www.awardscircuit.com!