The Generator blog

The inside scoop on the very latest marketing, design and community trends, and how to plan your business to take advantage of the changes. Please feel welcome to comment — we value your insights and feedback!

How will the iPad change the web game?

It seems like just yesterday that every commentator with a keyboard was announcing the imminent death of Apple. But the last five years have brought a turnaround that is unprecedented in the history of this planet we live upon. Now, Apple is one of the wealthiest, most successful, and most respected businesses in the world — and it's all riding on Steve Jobs' ability to keep innovating.   Even, and especially, when he's on a roll. And boy is he on one now.   The iPhone...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 1:18 PM | 1 comments

A cool new ecommerce device

Mobile e-commerce? No monthly fees? Text and email receipts? Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus! As someone who builds complex web sites for a living, there is no doubt that the most complex (and most in-demand) feature of any modern site is e-commerce. Unless your company is primarily an e-commerce company — and therefore you tackled the web sales thing on Day 1 — e-commerce can be a very costly, time-consuming and complicated discussion.   Yes, there are a myriad of options...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 10:14 AM | 1 comments

MySpace, we hardly knew ye

Today, NewsCorp — the owner of media giants FoxNews, The New York Post, Times of London and dot com giant MySpace — announced a staggering $203 million loss for the previous quarter ending June 30. This is down from a $1.1 billion profit they took a year ago.   The incredible part of the story, though is why they took the loss. In a report published by the Los Angeles Times, MySpace was the culprit, tagging the once darling social networking icon as "troubled."   This has...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 3:30 PM | 0 comments

"I would love to..."

This morning, I visited one of my favorite web sites, 9rules. (9rules is, at its core, a site that collects quality blog links, sorts them into logical categories, and posts links in a consistent way.) Anyway, I clicked on a link called Sponsor Giveaways: Creativity Prompt, Creative Cards, Simplify 101," and discovered a blog by a woman named Ali Edwards. Edwards is focused on the thriving self-made art movement (scrapbooking, phtography, etc.), where the winner gets a workshop session...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 9:19 AM | 0 comments

Are book covers "bad"?

Seth Godin opines (I think) that book covers are stupid, unnecessary and a waste of money. [ Link ] But I don't know of anyone who has ever complained that their favorite book has a cover — except when it is poorly designed and/or manufactured. Clearly, many customers are willing to buy songs without artwork. But does that mean they wouldn't want the artwork if it were included in the sale? But the issue, to me, is opportunity. Opportunity to communicate with the...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 8:52 AM | 0 comments

The times are changing — so we are, too

When we started Generator, we wanted to provide a full-featured web-based system that would give artists and authors the tools to run their own business. We targeted the middle class, believing they were the most under-served, and most likely to embrace the world of independence. We also felt that, with the tools and the know-how, artists and authors would be empowered to pay us to help them market their sites. Instead of paying massive fees for services, that had no connection to sales, we...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 10:20 PM | 0 comments

The Echo aftermath: Spinning logo vs. Flaming logo?

Last week, Echo — the web community company that put Nashville on the map — went dark. Echo's owner, Ticketmaster, decided to jettison all but eight Nashville employees and move what was left of the operation to their Los Angeles office. At the end of the house-cleaning, only about 50 of Echo's 300 clients/artists/authors remained on their roster. Full 190 of them were evicted by Ticketmaster. Since things have been unraveling at Echo, we've had the opportunity to meet with several...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 9:17 AM | 0 comments

One price, multiple formats

This morning I was cruising through one of my favorite blogs and saw a great post about something I've been feeling for some time. Mike Hyatt, who is the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, talked about his company's decision to expand the number and type of formats they make available to customers who have purchased a book. Their new program, called NelsonFree, is being experimented with on two titles. But I predict it will quickly expand to many others. Authors and artists will...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 9:45 AM | 0 comments

Goodby Echo: Lessons learned

EchoMusic could be accurately labeled the company that started it all. Eight years ago, Mark Montgomery started what at the time was a web design firm over on Nashville's Music Row. His small shop focused on a growing niche: artists who needed some of the help big labels provided, but who did have a big label deal. At the time, these were cast-off indies who had decided to take matters into their own hands (and pocket books). Echo got things moving by designing CD packages and arranging...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 10:03 AM | 2 comments

5 things you can do to increase web traffic

While speaking at the Christian Independent Artists' Summit today, a registrant asked a pointed question that I thought deserved some good, straight answers: How do I get people to my web site? So, on that note, here are a few good ideas. 1. Email Email is the single most powerful and cost-effective marketing tool out there. Research indicates that for every dollar spent on email marketing, you get $47 in return. That's a good ROI by any measure. Use email to tell your hardest...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 12:05 AM | 3 comments

Does print matter anymore?

Print matters. There, I said it. But the fact is, most marketers are lemmings. They follow what they perceive to be the flow. It's called the Wisdom of Crowds — or, not everyone can be wrong. Tell that to Hitler's Germany. Ah, but I digress. Print matters. There, I said it again. Print has staying power. It takes real talent to do great print design, whether it be an ad, a package design, or even just a simple post card. People touch and feel print. They smell it. They study it....
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 7:02 PM | 0 comments

What now?

As the entertainment business literally falls into 2009, there is now no doubt that the old retail sales model is gone. As we had been predicting for three years, too many customers (and most of them heavy volume buyers) simply prefer the ease of digital delivery over physical goods. Yes, there are still those who prefer CDs, but with retail sales down over 30% from this time last year (which was down over the previous year), there's just not enough up side to keep retail in the game...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 9:55 AM | 0 comments

What can we learn from Rivals.com?

For the last six years, I and two partners have been publishing VandySports.com on the Rivals.com network. Now, many of you have no idea what Rivals is, but those who do know what a big deal this is. Rivals.com was the very first web network to sell premium subscriptions to their content. Their first go around went belly up about 12 years ago, and the new owners bought it out of bankruptcy. As fate would have it, they moved the headquarters to Nashville, my home town. Last year, Rivals was...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 8:32 PM | 0 comments

Why should I pay for a custom web site?

As the web expands into so many different little niches, it's tempting to just stick with the free world and not even try to build your own, private, custom web site. Let me just say that for many, that is a good decision. It makes no sense to design a half-*ssed custom web site -- and if you don't believe me, ask someone who has. MySpace, Facebook and all the other free social networking sites are powerful, albeit entirely generic, web options for any artist, author or business. And make...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 10:00 PM | 0 comments

What's a web site for?

It sounds like a goofy-simple question, but it's the first question you must ask and answer before you start the process of creating a new web site. Unfortunately, most clients don't really get to the bottom of this question until their new site is well underway. The web is a Rubics Cube of options. Unlike a print ad, in which your options remain limited to layout and design, the web has multiple dimensions. Sure, design and layout matter. In fact, design is fundamental to a good web site...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 10:02 AM | 0 comments

Diversify! It's not just for the stock market anymore.

This was, by any estimation, a wild week. With the stock market taking its worst dive in history, and governments all over the world trying to get more involved in everyday commerce, volatility is at an all-time high. It can be unsettling, can't it? Today, Paul Resnikoff at Digital Music News wrote another very insightful article about how artists need to prepare for the future. The key, he believes, is to diversify — just as guys like Jim Kramer of Mad Money are preaching to...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 5:26 PM | 0 comments

Change your latittude/attitude

These are tough times for the publishing business. And while the blogs and web sites like to extol the spirit and opportunities of the independent artist and author, the realities can be daunting at best. It's not so much that there are limits placed on what indies can accomplish anymore. The problem is, there are limits placed on anyone without capitol. When I worked on the client side of the business, we had all the stuff we needed to make a run at success. We had back office...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 9:38 AM | 0 comments

Flights to Memphis...

This evening I was checking my Gmail, and I noticed something very unassuming at the top of my mail In Box window. It was a simple line of text that said this: " Memphis Flights $49 - Memphis-Flights.Ask.com - Great Deals On Cheap Flights To Memphis If You Book Here Online!" Now, that link may have been there before, but I never noticed it. What's interesting about this? Well, I have been in some lengthy Gmail conversations with three of my Memphis-based partners...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 11:57 PM | 0 comments

Get more lines in the water

This month, Apple announced that they had become the largest music retailer on the planet in any format. That includes CDs, btw, which is an ominous sign for the music business. The reason is simple: With Christmas fast approaching, all of our moms and grandmoms will be buying their first iPod. Those who have iPods will be looking to move up to iPod Touch or the iPhone. With iPhones selling at a rate of a million per month, and Google waiting in the wings with their new multimedia phone...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 5:42 PM | 0 comments

Six dirty little secrets the record companies don't want you to know

Most of us here at generator spent most of our careers working at and for major record companies. People would often ask me if working for a record company was fun. I’d always say, “I get to wear whatever I want, listen to music all day, talk about music all day, go to fancy parties, get any CD I want for free, go to awards shows on an expense account, become friends with famous, creative and otherwise interesting people…and they pay me! Who wouldn’t like that job?” When I started at...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 12:39 AM | 0 comments

Why web design is different from print

I once made most of my money designing print materials. CD packages, book covers, print ads, posters and fliers. Occasionally clients would ask me to do things out of the box, but usually those things tied directly into print products they had already designed and simply needed reconfigured. About three years ago, I started seeing the handwriting on the wall for the print world. The most obvious sign was when we did our taxes that year and discovered that our income on marking up...
Posted by mike@generatornetwork.com at 6:35 PM | 1 comments