Amy Martin was known to thousands of Twitterers as the “Princess of Planet Orange” during her highly successful stint with the Phoenix Suns, especially after she helped Shaquille O’Neal join Twitter. Now Martin has founded Digital Royalty, her own digital sports branding company. Sportsin140.com caught up with Amy to ask her about sports on Twitter, marketing, the Suns, her new company and yes, Shaq himself.

How did you first become involved with Twitter?

I attended a digital media conference about 18 months ago and Twitter was a large focus. Previously, I had established a Twitter account very early on but listening to fans was my primary goal and hadn’t activated the account a great deal.

After the conference, I gradually started connecting with fans [to] see what I could learn from them and what type of suggestions they could offer. It was an organic process and fans were extremely receptive. I would experiment by giving away tickets, posting behind-the-scenes photos, throwing viral pep rallies, hosting tweet-ups and just spend a great deal of time listening. Hardly any athletes and very few sports teams were on Twitter [at that time].

You were known as the “Princess of Planet Orange” while you worked for the Phoenix Suns. What was that experience like for you? What were some of your responsibilities with the Suns?

Something that’s indicative of marketers’ success within social media forums is whether or not they have the ability and/or desire to “live the brand.” During my time with the Phoenix Suns, I was accessible to fans at all times. On occasion, I’d be up until 2 AM responding to direct messages and making sure my relationships remained strong. Fans wanted a peek behind the curtains and I was able to give them a different perspective, humanizing the brand. It was a very positive experience and generated a great deal of momentum.

How has Shaq’s presence on Twitter changed social networking for athletes and sports teams?

As we all know, Shaquille speaks his mind, he’s very clever with his choice of words and he resonates with many demographics beyond basketball. This is a unique situation. Through Twitter, we’ve been able to expose different aspects of his life and allow fans to get a better idea of human behind the Shaquille O’Neal basketball superstar. Shaquille has set the authenticity bar very high and become a best practice for the communication tool.

Not all athletes are comfortable with being this transparent, yet it has become expected by fans. It’s become a great case study for fan acquisition as well. People now have direct access to a celebrity that wasn’t really in their pathway before. Without even realizing it, fans are building a relationship with him. On countless occasions, people on Twitter have mentioned to me that they weren’t even basketball fans but getting to know Shaquille better (via Twitter) has sparked their interest in the sport.

You recently founded your own company, Digital Royalty. What can you tell us about it? What are your plans for the company?

Digital Royalty helps brands create their digital universe and become online royalty. We create digital road maps for brands which guide them in establishing an integrated network of traditional digital and social media touch points, all working together in digital symphony. Digital Royalty educates brands on how to expose and evolve their personalities digitally while navigating through the balancing act of being social with human qualities while wearing the ever-necessary brand management hat. Through proprietary measurement methods, their Return on Influence (ROI) is measured and depending on the specific objectives, it can then be monetized.

How do you see the sports industry using Twitter in the near future? What are some of the potential drawbacks to using Twitter from an organizational perspective?

An athlete now has the ability to speak directly to their audience. The “straight from the horse’s mouth” direct messaging is very powerful. It’s authentic. In some cases it can be a disadvantage because they’re exposing new aspects of their life and personality. Having someone that helps guide and build the strategy is important for athletes to consider because Twitter can be a very powerful tool.

Being someone that is immersed in social media and social networking every day, do you believe oversaturation exists in the current market? If no, do you think we will “get there?” If yes, what do you think organizations can do to guard against brand oversaturation?

The amount of clutter within all social forums is growing exponentially. Relevancy, creativity and strategy are three things that will help a brand from falling into the sea of sameness. Attracting the right audience for the right reasons and building a relationship with that audience is key. It’s not necessarily a “land grab.” Relationships take time regardless of where they’re being built.

As a prospective employer in the sports industry, what do you look for in an applicant? What advice can you give recent graduates just learning about Twitter, LinkedIn and social networking websites?

I think it’s important to realize that specifically with social media, a person has to be very passionate about getting involved because it doesn’t turn off. It’s not like you’re going to a job with regular business hours, especially with sports. The events take place at all times of the day. Fans will talk about their favorite team(s) whenever they want. You need to consistently be there to listen, respond and engage.

Students that are just getting starting their careers should fully understand the difference between how they use social media and what it can mean for a brand. Many individuals at the corporate level are developing a Facebook page because they feel they “need” to, which is the reverse of many students who have been using these forums from the beginning. Students have an advantage because they’re more familiar with the space by nature. However, most students have been using these outlets on a personal level so it’s necessary for them to understand what it takes to effectively manage a brand.

Students may not realize how much they know. Social media is most likely already a large part of their lifestyle. They’ve probably spent more time in the space than their potential supervisors; this can be a huge advantage.

This week we debut a new feature at Sportsin140.com: the Sportsin140.com interview series. Each week we’ll talk sports, Twitter, marketing and more with the sports industry’s leading experts and movers and shakers.

Our  first interview in the Sportsin140.com interview series is with Jim DeLorenzo, VP of Octagon Digital, the company behind Twackle. Read on to learn more about this interesting startup and how NBA and NHL teams are now using its services on their own sites.

What is Twackle? How does it integrate with Twitter?

From a high level, Twackle aggregates sports-related content off of Twitter and creates sports-focused feeds that we surface in the Twackle interface. In other words, if you look at the general NBA feed on Twackle, it reflects the messages being sent at that time through Twitter about the NBA. We also provide a native Twitter integration to allow Twackle users to respond back to any message straight from Twackle (and have their messages also surface in their Twitter stream). Another component that users really seem to like is a module that tracks the most tweeted/twackled URLs for each Twackle feed, and then displays the top 10 (i.e., a human powered, Digg-like recommendation engine for sports).

Why did you start Twackle?

Our goal with Twackle is to create an online communications channel that enables fans to more easily discuss the sports-related content they find online with fellow fans. When we began development late last year, we realized the enormous amount of sports content flowing through Twitter, both in the form of tweets and the URLs embedded in them. Unfortunately, we felt it was difficult for the average fan to find and manage all of this sports content, so we create Twackle to help solve that issue. The fact that Twitter has exploded since then has been great for Twackle, and made us look smarter than we really are.

You recently partnered with the Phoenix Suns to provide a custom Twackle feed for their website. How did this partnership come about?

The Suns really were one of the first professional sports teams to take advantage of Twitter and the ability to speak directly to fans. Early on, we reached out to the Suns to let them know about Twackle and the ability to create Twackle functionality on the Suns’ website, which you can see at the Suns website.

By integrating Twackle, the Suns are able to capture all of the conversations about the Suns flowing through Twitter, and port them to the Suns’ official website, which, along with the Twackle functionality, helps make the Suns’ site that much more compelling and engaging for their fans. The early reports are that the fans really like the service, and we actually launched similar integrations with the Washington Capitals and Orlando Magic last week. Other teams should be coming online soon.

What plans do you have for Twackle in the future?

At this point, we are really focused on continuing to improve the functionality we make available to users, and pushing out with additional team partners. We have some really exciting things planned that should be rolling out over the next month or so.

Why do you think the sports industry is taking to Twitter at such a fast rate?

First, I think that a lot of people in the sports world feel that they maybe missed the boat with Facebook, and don’t want the same thing to happen with Twitter, so they are really trying to get out in front of it. Second, for teams, Twitter provides an easy and efficient way to communicate directly with your hardcore fans, and then have these fans further spread your message, in a manner that is more efficient than other channels. Finally, specifically with respect to athletes, Twitter fits into an athlete’s daily schedule better than other online forms of communication, such as blogs. For example, athletes usually do not have the time to devote to crafting blog posts, but any athlete can quickly send a tweet from their phone while heading to the game.

What is the main benefit for an athlete or sports organization that maintains a Twitter presence?

The ability to connect directly with your fans.

What is the biggest misconception about Twitter that you’ve encountered?

The notion that I find myself having to dispel is this idea that people only use Twitter to send messages like “Going to the store to buy bread.” Clearly, some people may use it for that type of content, but I think the real power behind Twitter is that it has become a real time content (including news, links, etc.) distribution tool and communications channel.

What negatives, if any, does Twitter present from a marketing standpoint?

One problem right now that needs to be addressed is the proliferation of fake celebrity/athlete accounts. My understanding is that Twitter is working on a verification process, which will be helpful. Of course, another easy way to address this is for the athlete to actually start tweeting for real.

Do you think Twitter and other social networking websites represent new avenues for marketing for sports franchises? Why or why not?

I think without a doubt that they do. As I mentioned, Twitter (and other social networks, although possibly to a lesser degree), allow sports franchises to communicate directly with their fans. Not only is this direct marketing effective with that fan, but as a fan retweets messages from the franchise, the network effect essentially enables the fan to market on the franchise’s behalf.

What athlete or sports team do you most want to join Twitter? Who do you currently enjoy following now?

I’m a huge NY Jets fan, so for personal reasons, I would love it if the Jets had an official Twitter account that we could surface on Twackle.com. As far as who I follow, I like to focus on setting up Favorites on Twackle so I can follow whole content areas. Right now, I have the myTwackle section on Twackle.com set up with general feeds about the NY Jets, NY Yankees, and Duke Blue Devils, and then I include specific Twackle feeds for some of the NY area papers.

The NBA’s usage of Twitter continues to make headlines. This week, Slam Magazine writer and NBA.com contributer Vince Thomas writes about Twitter’s explosion among NBA players, Timberwolves.com beat writer Jonah Ballow interviews Mavericks owner Mark Cuban about NBA players tweeting before games and Arizona Republic writer Paul Coro examines the Phoenix Suns’ digital brand marketing plan.

Here’s the Sports on Twitter news roundup for Wednesday, March 25:

Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press reports on University of Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez’s Twitter usage. Rodriguez is just one of a handful of prominent NCAA coaches using Twitter to interact with fans.

Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports on Phoenix Suns digital guru Amy Martin, aka the “Princess of Planet Orange,” and traces Shaq and Steve Nash’s adoption of Twitter back to Ms. Martin.

Finally, Bob Young, also of the Arizona Republic, notes the rapid increase in the number of professional athletes on Twitter and mentions the Villanueva incident as a possible tipping point for athletes and Twitter.