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!

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 10:00:25 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 10:02:09 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 5:26:07 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 9:38:19 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 11:57:00 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 5:42:52 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 12:39:16 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 6:35:41 PM | 1 comments