Saturday, June 13, 2009

Collective Soul: We *Met* on Twitter

World I Know


Ok...I admit it. I didn't know much about Collective Soul
until today. Probably the most I knew was my familiarity
and appreciation of the song in the above video. However,
I am so bad with music, that had anyone asked me before
today whose song that was, I wouldn't have been able to say.

I had heard of Collective Soul, but just had never made the
connection between their name and any of their music.

So, why in the world am I writing a blog entry about them?
Well, there once was a man from Nantucket...

Actually, there was no man, it was totally machine that bears
the responsibility for this meeting. A machine that brought
me to a website that I have become acquainted with, and have
spoken much about in the last several months - cue dramatic
music - TWITTER.

You find many things in ye ole land of Twitter. Some good,
some not so good, and some things really great. Some of my
favorite people in the world I would dare say come from my
meeting them on that website. It has expanded my world in
ways I would never have imagined that first fateful day and
tweet.

So. To start with, my association on Twitter in regard to
Collective Soul started innocently enough. Someone must have
referred to them somehow, or some way (you quickly learn with
Twitter that it is difficult to remember how these "tweet
affairs" begin) because I went to their page.

My habit with going to pages of those I am not all that
acquainted with is to check the time line (the stream of
tweets) and the bio. The one thing I remember seeing when I
went there was "WE FOLLOW BACK." In the land of Twitter
when it comes to "celebrity" types, that is not at all a usual
occurrence. If I am going to follow first I am either going
to have a real interest, or I am looking for someone who
at least wants a two-way street (whether or not it is ever
used is a different story, however, I like when it exists).

Some people have said that Collective Soul "gets it" because
they follow back and engage with those that follow them.
From what I can get of my experience so far in "social media"
is that there are so many opinions about what is "right."
I have learned not to pay too much attention. However,
what I have noticed is that my "if it works, it works"
attitude works in Twitter as well as anywhere else, and what
seems to be working for Collective Soul is that in how they
are giving attention, they are getting attention (and for a
famous *person*, the fact that it is a positive all round is
a plus for me. Why can't positive things be newsworthy for
a change? A conversation for another day, perhaps).

I seriously doubt I am the only one taking the time to
discover them more fully because of the way they are
approaching their promotional efforts, and one of these
things in particular is a contest that I found out about at
http://bit.ly/twittercelebrity.

It is a contest that gets people to do exactly what I am
doing right now - spending time talking about them in a
blog. Of course, then, I will share it with others, and
if I am lucky, I could be a winner in their contest.

It sounds pretty cool to me, and they seem like pretty cool
guys. They may have me fooled, for all I know, maybe they're
good actors, besides singers, but that's OK. If you read
anything of mine, you know everything for me is about
perspective, and the one thing that I have felt strongly
about since joining Twitter is that when I feel good about
someone and what they are doing, and I can help them what
they want, I want to do it. If I can get something
from it, too, that's great because who doesn't like a win/win
situation. (My feeling about this is along the line of my
previous entry about the art of the sale and using one's gut).

The nice thing about all of this is whether or not I win one
of THE prizes, I still get to get the word out more about me,
provided anyone is listening. LOL, OpenPressWire claims
it's my "15 minutes of fame." That is, provided, of
course, anyone is paying attention when they tweet about
this. If I happen to make it to the finals, that will be
a slightly different story, as there will be online voting,
and the writer of the most popular entry will be the one
who wins, which means more eyeballs (isn't it nice to be
reduced to a body part? LOL).

(I thank you for being on this page, and finding your way
to my blog, regardless of when or how or why you made it here.)

I believe everyone has something to offer, and finding
creative expressions of it is likely the biggest trick. I
personally think what Creative Soul has done is brilliant.
For starters, they now have at least one more fan who will
start to talk about, and support, their efforts. I know I
can't be the only one. (Today @garyvee posted a video that
is likely to be the effect that these guys are creating -
or at the very least hope to create. If you have a moment,
check it out http://bit.ly/O9m2Z).

The first prize includes two concert tickets and backstage
passes. Provided I win, and provided there is no provision
that prohibits me from doing it, I am letting you know that
my intention is to find a creative way to find a person to
go with me to the concert. If you are reading this, that
person could be YOU. I think it would be a pretty cool way
to meet someone from the "virtual" world.

Last, but not least, I have to include a few details to be
eligible. It's information you'll most likely want to
investigate if you are a fan, or want to get to know more
about them:

Collective Soul on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/collective_soul

Collective Soul Blog
http://www.collectivesoul.com/blog/

Collective Soul Website
http://www.collectivesoul.com/news/

New 2009 Tour Date Information
http://www.collectivesoul.com/live/

PS In case I haven't made it clear by what I
have written, I highly recommend you check
these guys out. Maybe they won't be for
you, but if you haven't *met* them yet,
there's no way to tell for certain, is there?

4 comments:

Maria Christensen said...

Yes, but eyeballs are GREAT body parts. ;-)

Great post!

Elizabeth Alraune said...

Thanks for taking the time to find your way here, to add your comment, and find me on Twitter. I look forward to connecting with you. The best part of all of this is getting to meet some great people that I probably never would have.

And, yes, I agree, "eyeballs are GREAT body parts."

Anonymous said...

I've met the guys from CS a few times, via the "meet and greet" times before shows-they really are that human! They love their fans, remember the people they've met before, and are really down to earth guys.

I still like the Monkees music-it's happy music! I just no longer think they're the best band in the world, now that I know they didn't write their own music (for the most part) and didn't play their own instruments (again, for the most part).

Elizabeth Alraune said...

Tracy6167 glad to hear the guys from Collective Soul are human...I had some doubts (but you put them to rest, LOL). Seriously, though, it is comments like yours that have me wanting to help, and make posts like this :-)

The best part? I get to meet new great people like you. Always love meeting Monkees fans, too :-)

Thanks for connecting on Twitter.