4-12-2013
Just finished a great book by Amy Jo Martin called "Renegades Write the Rules" and if you're working to maximize your social media performance, this book has well earned "favorite" status from me. Amy Jo Martin is the founder of her company Digital Royalty which specializes in social meeting strategies for stars (many of them from the sports world) like Shaquille O Neil, the Phoenix Suns, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
One of the great takeaways from the book is her urging us to try to either get into social media for the first time or improve our social media performance by erasing our fears and be willing to share part of who we are. Amy says: "You can either own your brand or live in fear" and she lists many real-life examples of those who have owned their brand in a big way.
In Rule One, which she calls "Be the Media," she chronicles the great case study known as Shaquille O'Neal and how, with her help, he became one of the strongest forces in social media. From his "Random Acts of Shaqness," and his "hide and tweets," to announcing his retirement on Twitter, Shaq has embraced all of the elements of "his audience" in a BIG way and the size and loyalty of his audience proves it.
Rule Two is what she calls "Show Some Skin," and she delves deeply into how social media creates a deep opportunity to connect with our audience. The great example here is Dana White who heads the Ultimate Fighting Championship and how he dropped his private number on the Twitter world and created a loyal bond that no form of paid marketing could ever replace.
Amy is a terrific communicator and her relentless passion for the topic of social media and innovation is crystal
clear in the book. That's one of the most appealing traits of "Renegades Write the Rules" and why it gives you specific takeaways that you can take back to your organization. I was particularly taken by her priority on purpose and passion along with your specific skill set, driving what she calls "royal bliss." Martin chronicles how Twitter played an important role when the earthquake and the tsunami hit Japan in 2011 by not only being part of a "community" but also by helping humanity. Because of Twitter's great value and exposure, millions of people began helping others by disseminating important information and donating money to aid the Red Cross effort.
The fact that she touts more than just social media tools and drives the discussion to a purpose in what we do makes the book more than just a great tutorial.
This book is so good that in fairness to @amyjomartin I don't want to give away all of the "secret sauce." There's a few people like @fredjacobs and @lorilewis that have really helped me grow my passion and curiosity toward improvement in social media. In particular, it's about the deeper understanding it gives us about our audience. I add Amy Jo Martin and her #teamdigitalroyalty to that list and I look forward to the day I hear her speak in public.
You can order a copy of her book HERE
Buzz Knight is the Vice President of Program Development for Greater Media and he can be reached at bknight@greatermediaboston.com. Knight was named among ?Best Programmers? by Radio Ink Magazine in 2007 and 2010. He has served on the programming subcommittee of the National Association of Broadcasters(NAB) and is currently a member of the Arbitron Radio Advisory Council and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) COLRAM Committee.
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