COLLABORATOR creative

On April 17, 2017, Spencer X. Smith asked me if I would like to write a book with him.

The premise was that too many people in business didn’t ‘get’ social media because they were asking the wrong question; “What’s my ROI?” (Return on Investment)

The question really should be about ROTOMA (Return on Top of Mind Awareness). And so we wrote the book about it. Here’s an excerpt from the Introduction I wrote for it:

An Introduction—literally.

Nick Lombardino of Atlas Providers is one of those ‘Connector’ types Malcolm Gladwell wrote about in The Tipping Point. He knows, and connects, just about everyone who is anybody in Madison’s startup space with an open heart that expects nothing in return. He’s a pure ‘sharer’ for sure. So when I found myself needing to do a little bit of a professional pivot, the first person I called was Nick.

“Have you met Spencer X. Smith?,” he asked after a few minutes of small talk.

“No, I haven’t, but I’ve seen the guy’s work all over the place. The man is a social media monster,” said I.

And he is, plugged into every viable, valuable social media channel there is. He’s also another Gladwellian Connector / Giver. Nick gave me Spencer’s contact info, and I took it from there.

We met. I swam through an avalanche of Spencer’s hard-earned knowledge, and we immediately became fast friends. His point-of-view re: social sharing blew me away. The depth of his insight, so freely shared, was near astounding. Simply put, the guy’s a giver, with a heck of a lot to give.

When he later asked if I’d be interested in writing a book with him, the answer was an immediate ‘yes.’ The central concept, ROTOMA (aka The Return on Top of Mind Awareness) made sense to me instantly as an incredibly elegant explanation for the ‘why do it’ of social media. Every good salesman has long known that the best way to make a sale is to make a friend first. And that’s exactly what social media enables you to do—for FREE.

So here we are. ROTOMA has gone from ‘what if’ to bound book. Like any conversation with Spencer, there’s a lot here, and even more to digest….

Write what you know, and in your own voice. We both did—and really hope you get something out of it.

– D.P. Knudten, Madison, Wisconsin / August, 2017

Just five months later, and the book’s done and ready for readers. You can order the book directly from the authors (complete with free autographs) at rotomathebook.com or (with no autographs) via Amazon.com.

Early Praise for ROTOMA

“A book that starches the fluff from social media and helps managers allocate capital and find the unicorn among unicorns…ROI.” —Scott Galloway, Professor of Marketing, NYU Stern

“ROTOMA is brilliant! Being “top of mind” is the new imperative in our digitally cluttered world. Superbly written – equally insightful and entertaining. Valuable tips shared in the context of fascinating stories and case studies. Especially loved the ‘Personal Branding Power Hour. ‘Highly Recommended!” —Sandra Long, author of LinkedIn For Personal Branding: The Ultimate Guide

“This isn’t just a practical way to think about the return on social media, it’s also a spot-on accurate way to reframe your social efforts.” —Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs and WSJ Bestselling author of Everybody Writes:Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content