Synopses & Reviews
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 spaceyou 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.
Synopsis
Achieving social media success isn’t as easy as it may seem. The same tools that plucked Perez Hilton from obscurity can drown others in a sea of sameness, even big celebrities or brands. But there are secrets to social media success. Savvy celebrities like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, brands like Nike, and sports icons like Shaquille O’Neal are employing these secrets every day to build loyal, lucrative followings. Anyone can emulate their strategies to replicate the success of these digital royals, but only if they accept one premise: people are most entertained and inspired by other people, not clever giveaways, cool logos, or creative taglines. Succeeding is not about volume (because friends, fans, and followers don’t directly translate to profit), it’s about influence. And gaining influence cannot be contrived. It requires an unprecedented (and potentially uncomfortable) level of accessibility and ongoing affinity. That’s because being relevant in today’s world has everything to do with the personality behind the brand—whether the brand is a product, company or individual. Traditional marketing and PR are less and less effective because they are merely creative forms of monologue that don’t engage people in real relationships. Only dialogue adds up in the digital age by reinforcing your connection with real people every day. But how do you build a faithful following and beat the competition clamoring for people’s attention? The overarching answer is straightforward: continually deliver 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. The only difference between today’s digital royalty and everyone else is the innovative way in which the royals meet those common needs. In a spirited style, Secrets of the Digital Royalty pulls back the virtual veil to reveal the unconventional strategies behind the social media success of today’s top celebrities, brands, and sports icons, and how you can follow their lead.
Synopsis
Learn the rules to building loyal (and lucrative) digital followingsRenegades 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.
Synopsis
Praise for
Renegades Write the Rules"Ever wonder what the early Western settlers were thinking? They were trailblazers willing to risk everything to explore the new world. Social media is the new frontier, and Amy Jo Martin is handing us the GPS needed to navigate this new order. If you are selling, marketing, or branding, Renegades Write the Rules is the book you'd better be reading."
Rob Palleschi (@RobPalleschi), global head, DoubleTree by Hilton
"Renegades Write the Rules tells the story of trailblazing, of the in-the-moment sparks that drive innovation and change. At a moment when we have so much to learn from each other, Amy Jo's grounded voice and passion for social media provide a catalyst to engage, connect, and capture our collective capacity to empowerand provokea movement that can move us forward, together and as individual creative voices."
Steve Nash (@SteveNash), two-time NBA MVP and president, the Steve Nash Foundation
"Social media has completely transformed the way we communicate, allowing us to reach out to people affected by cancer more effectively. Amy Jo Martin's innovative new book serves as a valuable resource for people using social media to change the world."
Doug Ulman (@LivestrongCEO), president and CEO, Lance Armstrong Foundation
"In many ways, Amy Jo Martin has changed the game of how businesses and brands approach the incredible medium that is social media. She's a masterful social media strategist and a true trailblazer, and will continue to be an innovative presence throughout the tech industry."
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (@TheRock), actor and entertainer
"Twitter is the greatest marketing tool in the history of the world and Renegades Write the Rules demonstrates how we're only limited by our imaginations when it comes to social media."
Dana White (@DanaWhite), president of UFC
About the Author
Amy Jo Martin is founder of the social media consultancy Digital Royalty and Digital Royalty University. She's the former director of digital media and research for the NBA's Phoenix Suns. She pioneered how professional sports integrate social media and planned the first-ever professional sports Tweet Up with Shaquille O'Neal. Martin was named one of Forbes' Best-Branded Women on Twitter with nearly 1.2 million devoted followers (@AmyJoMartin). She is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, and you can visit her Web site at www.amyjomartin.com.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Tony Hsieh ix
0 The Renegade Way 1
Rule 1 Be the Media 19
Rule 2 Show Some Skin 33
Rule 3 Unmask Your Motives 51
Rule 4 Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable 69
Rule 5 Ask Forgiveness Rather Than Permission 91
Rule 6 Consensus Is the True Authority 111
Rule 7 There’s a New ROI in Town 133
Rule 8 The Act of Good Can Be Scaled 149
The Next Chapter 171
Appendix A: Digital Royalty’s Core Values 178
Appendix B: Lessons Learned 180
Notes 183
Acknowledgments 185
The Author 189
Index 191
To my Dad, my mentor renegade.
I’m forever grateful that you took me straight to the top of the double black diamond that day and made me skip the bunny slope.
And to you, Mom, thank you for your constant empowerment. You’re the most positive person I know. I love you both.