Renegades Write the Rules: How the Digital Royalty Use Social Media to Innovate [Hardcover]

Amy Jo Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2012

Learn the rules to building loyal (and lucrative) digital followings

Renegades Write the Rules reveals the innovative strategies behind the social media success of today’s top celebrities, brands, and sports icons, and how you can follow their lead.

Author Amy Jo Martin is the founder of Digital Royalty and the woman who pioneered how professional sports integrate social media. In this book she shows how to build a faithful following and beat the competition clamoring for people's attention by continually delivering value - when, where, and how people want it. People want to be heard, to be involved, to be entertained, to be adventurous, to be informed.

• Reveals the winning strategies for using social media to achieve dramatic results
• Shows how to gain influence with social media that requires an unprecedented (and potentially uncomfortable) level of accessibility and ongoing affinity
• Filled with illustrative examples of social media successes (including Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Nike) that show how humanizing a brand through social media leads to monetization
• Explores how Amy Jo Martin and other successful entrepreneurs are becoming renegades by using social media to innovate their personal and professional lives

The book reveals one of the basic rules of digital media success: Humans connect with humans, not logos and creative taglines.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Q& A with Author Amy Jo Martin

1. How did social media become such a passion for you?

My desire to innovate, to do what hasn't been done before. There were no rules when I was experimenting and I found that invigorating.

2. Your high-profile clients like Shaquille O'Neal and Tony Hsieh have had huge success with social media. But do these strategies really work for lesser-known people and companies?

Absolutely, everyone has a personal brand. From students to mom-and-pop stores to the President of the United States and everyone in between. It's all about delivering value when, where, and how your audience wants to receive value. For example we have worked with A-List celebrities like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and high-profile brands such as DoubleTree by Hilton, but also small businesses like my mom's bed and breakfast, Copper Canyon Lodge in South Dakota.

3. You're constantly on the move. Was it hard to slow down and write a book?

I found myself writing in the most diverse locations--from boats to airplanes, at my family cabin, and on the elliptical machine. It was an amazing exercise in re-learning the art of focusing for lengthy durations of time. Our society encourages and rewards multi-tasking, but when it comes to sitting down and writing words on a page, there is no such thing as multi-tasking. The best reprieve is a simple "Ready, Set, Pause." If we continuously work toward training our minds to reset, we'll be ahead. The muscles we exercise when taking a temporary pause strengthen, and eventually the value and ROI of a four-minute pause can be condensed into 30 seconds. Every day my life managing director (a.k.a. my magical assistant) schedules an eight-minute "meeting" during which I have to stop working, put on my headphones, and listen to music from my "Innovate Your Life" playlist. The value in taking this eight-minute meeting has been unbelievable.

4. What's the most fun you've ever had with social media?

We held a Twitter hashtag battle between the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians during a game and positioned the fan bases to face off against each other for the sake of charity. For every use of a hashtag, one dollar was donated by the teams to their team charitable foundations. The amount of excitement, engagement and participation was incredible and unexpected. People who weren't even MLB fans were participating in the conversation just for the sake of the greater good. That was when I realized social media channels have massive greater good potential.

5. What's with the jetpack?

I just always wanted one. It seems like the original jetpack era was a time when people would look at jetpack believers and just shake their heads, dismissing that the idea could ever work. People would laugh at them. That's how I felt years ago when I'd advocate for social media in the boardroom and my superiors and colleagues would tell me it was just a fad.

From the Inside Flap

Renegades Write the Rules

Many books teach the mechanics of using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to compete in business. But few reveal the sometimes counterintuitive rules of creating true worth that is unique to the social space—you must continually deliver value when, where, and how people want to receive it.

In Renegades Write the Rules, author, founder, and CEO of Digital Royalty Amy Jo Martin shares her indispensable insight into this value-creation potential. Having pioneered how brands can be humanized and monetized, she demonstrates how social media has changed the face of how individuals and organizations innovate. Martin not only reveals the strategies behind the social media sensation of today's top celebrities, brands, and sports icons that she helped build, she also demonstrates how anyone (or any company) can build a loyal and lucrative digital influence. They can do this, she says, by bucking previous assumptions and embracing their inner renegade, and she shows them how, step by step, with the eight essential Renegade Rules:

Rule 1: Be the Media

Rule 2: Show Some Skin

Rule 3: Unmask Your Motives

Rule 4: Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Rule 5: Ask Forgiveness Rather Than Permission

Rule 6: Consensus Is the True Authority

Rule 7: There's a New ROI in Town

Rule 8: The Act of Good Can Be Scaled

In addition to the eight Renegade Rules, the book is filled with behind-the-scenes success stories from noteworthy celebrities such as Shaquille O'Neal, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Dana White, as well as iconic brands including Nike, FOX Sports, and DoubleTree by Hilton. As you will see, the people and entities in these pages have amplified their following exponentially and monetized their brands beyond what they could have accomplished with traditional marketing.

People want to be heard, to be involved, to be entertained, to be adventurous, to be informed. With Renegades Write the Rules you will learn how to apply the basic law of social media success: Humans connect with humans, not logos.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (October 2, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1118340515
• ISBN-13: 978-1118340516
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > Computers & Technology > Business & Management > Social Media for Business
  • #35 in Books > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Public Relations

More About the Author

Amy Jo Martin, a Wyoming native and Arizona State University graduate, founded Digital Royalty, a social media agency in 2009 to help companies, celebrities, professional sports leagues, teams and athletes build, measure and monetize their digital universe. In addition, Digital Royalty provides customized education programs through Digital Royalty University, which offers a variety of curriculums for social media, as well as personal and business innovation. The education programs blend strategic and tactical training for corporate brands, small businesses, sports entities and leagues, individuals, celebrities and athletes.

Amy Jo was named one of Forbes' five Most-Powerful Women on Twitter. She has more than 1.2 million Twitter followers (@AmyJoMartin) and travels the world to speak about personal and business innovation, the latest trends in social media, how to monetize various social platforms, how social media has redefined innovation and how to successfully build a personal brand by utilizing social media. Amy Jo is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, SELF Magazine and Sports Business Journal. She and Digital Royalty have been featured in top-tier media outlets including Vanity Fair, TIME, Forbes, The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN SportsCenter, USA Today, MSNBC and Newsweek.

The Digital Royalty client portfolio includes: Shaquille O'Neal, DoubleTree by Hilton, FOX Sports, SELF Magazine, Chicago White Sox, UFC, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Los Angeles Kings, Cleveland Indians, The NY Knicks, Tony Hsieh CEO of Zappos.com and author of the The New York Times #1 Bestseller, Delivering Happiness, Discount Tire, Monte Carlo Resort & Casino, and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for any Social Media Followers! September 29, 2012

By MSUZIQUE

Format:Hardcover

I found Amy Jo's book to be both innovative and inspiring. A must read for anyone wanting to create their own niche in the Social Media World. Amy Jo is a true leader and innovator in social media. Her views are a true inspiration, for anyone wanting to learn the true Social Media culture.Renegades Write the Rules: How the Digital Royalty Use Social Media to Innovate

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Renegades Unite! September 28, 2012

By Heidi Hanna, PhD

Format:Hardcover

I am so grateful for this book! I have had a social media allergy for years, painfully attempting to stay connected from a distance. I learned so much from Amy Jo Martin that I immediately began to use the techniques in her book "as if" someone might care. I mean, my first thought was "I'm no Shaq. Or The Rock. Or the CEO of Zappos. No one cares what I have to say." But, I decided to act as if they did. Thank goodness I knew what the magnitude of this platform could do if people started to care, because it's become an invaluable tool for helping me keep my mission and vision for the company strong in the midst of wonderful chaos!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable to read, but leaves you wanting more March 2, 2013

By Jeriann Fisher

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ms. Martin has enjoyed tremendous success using Twitter to connect with fan base for her clients who are mostly sports figures or sports franchises. She is known as "The Twitter Queen." Engaging fans through social media, mostly Twitter, has propelled her clients, who include Shaquille O'Neal, to tremendous success. Ms. Martin promises to explore both of these and more celebrity-franchise-as-brands in greater detail. I found Renegades Write The Rules highly readable but short on significant substance. As I read, although I was entertained by her stories of celebrities from the sports world who are her primary customers, I became aware that she was holding real information. For this reason, I feel her work falls short of being a definitive social media guide. Fans of sports celebrities might enjoy it tremendously.

Ms. Martin's book is not broken down into chapters. She presents rules. There are eight of them in the book as subject headers. She has rules like Be The Media, Show Some Skin, Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable. One of the things Ms. Martin does well in many of her examples is juxtaposition and she does this to illustrate these rules, contrasting successful and not-so-successful branding. Although she mostly uses the phrase "social media", she mostly means Twitter. Most of her illustrative examples are outlines of Twitter campaigns with a minor mention of Facebook every now and then.

Ms. Martin makes a convincing case for success in social media marketing requiring a management team willing to engage and alter some of their thinking. She offers kernels of wisdom, such as considering ROI not just to be "return on investment" but also "return on influence".... Over and over she makes her case for the most successful campaigns coming from brands where upper management embraced the concept of employing social media (and she means Twitter) to exchange ideas with customers.

The book lacked specifics for my tastes, the reason for that becomes clear when one gets to the end of the book. This book leaves you wanting more and Ms. Martin is ready to offer that in her online university, Digital Royal University! Here one can take classes in such subjects as The Art of Social Media Event Activation and Emerging Platforms. This entire book appears to be an advertisement, albeit a highly enjoyable one. Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Team Renegades September 28, 2012

By Chelly

Format:Hardcover

I thought I had a pretty firm grasp on social media before reading this book, but after reading it I realized there was so much more I needed to know. Amy Jo is the perfect teacher and she's got the best possible experience to back it up. Her words are inspiring, her stories engaging, and I could not put it down. She doesn't hold anything back and she teaches us that in this day and age, it's irresponsible NOT to use social media for your self and for your brand, which is why EVERYONE should be reading this book. Everyone has something to gain from it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars INSPIRATION & INNOVATION September 28, 2012

By Jesse

Format:Hardcover

This isn't your step by step - how to - social media guide. This is a holistic view of what social media is and what its capable of. Amy's concepts are powerful. She is a master-innovator of her craft and generously shares her insight in this book. I strongly recommend this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and fun - from a survivor from the front lines of social media wars October 2, 2012

By HockeyFan

Format:Hardcover

The thing about social media is that there's too many "experts" out there. The catch is, how many can share and prove real success stories?

Renegades Write The Rules was so entertaining to me - as a social media pro, because Amy Jo has been there and shares the stories from personalities you already know!

There's also a very heavy dose of business sense in the Renegades book. If your boss looks for ROI like mine does, you need to buy this book. Buy the boss one, too. I did!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars @AmyJoMartin & #TeamRenegades ROCK! October 1, 2012

By John R. Ricker Jr.

Format:Hardcover

All I can say is Thank You for writing this book AMY! I wish you would have written it way sooner because of my many misgivings about social media it has been real struggle for me. I have learned so much from "Renegades Write The Rules" and from following @AmyJoMartin, @DigitalRoyality and #TeamRenegades that I started using the techniques hoping that I get really good at it so that maybe in Amy Jo Martin's next book "Renegades WROTE The Rules" I might get a @Ricker_LVDGC mention. Thanks again Amy!!

5.0 out of 5 stars Amy Jo puts together a unique "business-log" December 23, 2012

By A. Dimaio

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

...(as opposed to a travel-log) through which anyone wanting to know and feel what it is like to think and execute a successful social media initiative. The inside look into a number of really smart campaigns isn't about checklists, but attitudes which engage and empower. After reading her book, follow Amy Jo and you will be able to see how social media can work in your business that those that you work for.