There’s a new kid on the social media block, and her name is Pinterest.

Pinterest advertises itself as “an online pinboard.” The demographic is largely female, and its content is certainly wedding/food heavy. If Pinterest were a party, it would be a bridal shower, bachelorette party, or even a book club.

Lately, we have clients that call us with the idea that they MUST get in on the Pinterest party. However, you, my valued client, may not be very Pinteresting.

Now, before you go off in a huff, have a listen. There’s nothing inherently wrong with not being Pinteresting. We can’t ALL be ballerinas, or surgeons, best selling author,s or even a world class chefs. We each have our own strengths, and we can’t ALL be Pinteresting.

So, what does it mean to be Pinteresting? Generally speaking, it’s when you can offer an item that people will find unique, lovely, enlightening, charming, sexy, scary, or beautiful. Something that catches the eye and makes people say “I want that!” Sometimes, being Pinteresting means that you can offer a tutorial on something that people will want to copy, learn or share, (and here’s the important part,) that they have NEVER SEEN BEFORE, and is accompanied by a GORGEOUS photo.

To be more specific, a recipe for Rice Krispy Treats? NOT PINTERESTING.
A recipe for Cadbury Creme Eggs salad? PINTERESTING!

A recipe for apple pie? NOT PINTERESTING.
A recipe for caramel apple cheesecake bars? PINTERESTING!

Now lets translate this into something that you can equate to your business situation.

Do you own a unique boutique? You might be pinteresting. Pin one or two of your MOST unique items, along with items from OTHER stores so you’re not only advertising for yourself, but you’re also participating in the community.

Do you own a salon that does truly amazing updos that you regularly photograph? You’re probably quite pinteresting. Post some of those updo photos on pinterest along with a tutorial. You’ll be very popular.

Are you an electrician? A plumber? Are you a mechanic? Sorry to say, there’s a VERY good chance that you’re not pinteresting, but that’s ok. You might be the life of the Facebook party! Hang out on your fan page and offer people brilliant tips like “always use your parking break, it’ll take stress off of your transmission!” Blog your heart out, and network like crazy on LinkedIn. Those are more appropriate venues for you. Better still, contact a reputable digital media firm and have them work up an advertising campaign utilizing television and the internet. That’s where you’ll do really well. You have a LOT of other options out there, but Pinterest may not be one of them. Just like fixing a car, leaky pipes or faulty wiring,  when marketing a business there are tools you should use, tools you could use, and tools that just aren’t right for the job at hand. Use the right tool for the job and everyone is better off for it.

We can’t all be the life of every party, and maybe on Pinterest, you’re never going to be the popular kid, but if you stick to what works for you, and don’t get distracted by the latest internet fad, you’ll achieve long term marketing success and get a much bigger bang for your advertising dollar.

Still can’t decide if Pinterest is the right fit for you? Why not come down to our free 2012 Pinterest Summit on May 16, 2012. More information

I’ve written books, produced a toyline, and dealt with the mass production process in Hong Kong, and all of these projects ultimately ended up with my needing to get the word out about each of these products. In most of these ventures that meant that somehow, I had to get the public’s attention on a shoestring budget. I’ve gone through an almost endless number of tactics to do so, and, short of skywriting, I like to think if it’s out there, marketing-wise, I’ve done it.

Now when a new marketing tool comes around I’m hard pressed not to give it a go. This is both to satisfy my entrenperial spirit, and because I also feel it’s my duty to our clients to have some first hand knowledge about every single angle there is to digitally market their brands. If I’m not willing to take the risk with my own capital, I’m not going to suggest that they risk theirs. So, when the financial figures from the App Store from Apple become impossible to ignore, Generations Beyond decided to jump in and see what it was all about.

It’s my goal with this series of blog postings to let you in as to what was involved in each step of the way to get our app released, updated, and eventually what brings it to it’s ultimate success. With that, I present to you Generations Beyond’s first app “I Got A Guy”.

I Got A Guy is an app that makes it easy to refer people you trust to others you trust. While I can certainly hop onto Facebook and post an update about needing a plumber. That would probably lead to me getting referred to some guy who’s a buddy of a buddy of mine that I went to high school with 20 years ago who I havent talked to since High School but for some reason is on my friends list. In short, might as well open the phone book and throw a dart. Think of “I Got A Guy” as your ultimate contact list, it’s social media with social integrity. It’s the people you know who get things done right, the list of people who you would refer to your own mother… and with the click of a button, now you can.

“I Got A Guy” started in August 2011 as a concept.

Total hours of labor to complete phase 1 of the build: 175 hours

Submitted to Apple: January 3rd, 2012

Approved by Apple: January 17th, 2012

Time to show up in app store after approval: 8 hours

Bug fixing and minor updates to version 1.1 in labor: 8 hours

Update #1 submitted to Apple: February 24, 2012

Update approved by Apple: March 1, 2012

In the coming weeks I’ll be sure to share any kind of additional analytics as we proceed on our marketing journey. For more information about the app please visit http://igotaguy.generationsbeyond.com

If you already have it, please feel free to rate us or give us a review! We’d appreciate it!

So much can be said about this incredible spot. I for one am inspired. For any small businesses or startups out there who thnk they can’t afford a video or commercial, this one features Dollar Shave Club’s CEO and Founder Michael Dubin. He wrote, shot and produced the entire commercial in his office/warehouse in one day. 90 seconds after watching, he got me signed up on a monthly plan.

Sure it’s funny, and sharable, but does it translate to profits? Well, Dollar Shave Club uploaded the video to youtube 4 days ago, since then they’ve garned over 2.5 million views and 30,000 likes on facebook. What would happen to your business with an extra 2.5 million eyeballs this week?

UPDATE – I was just notified that my new membership will not be able to be activated until May 15th. I guess things must really be buzzing around Dollar Shave Club’s offices. Congrats guys.

It’s been said that people remember:
10% of what they read,
20% of what they see,
and 30% of what they hear.

These numbers have been contested, but there is no arguing that the collaboration of reading, seeing and hearing raised the ability to interpret and rememeber information making kinteic Typography a useful tool in marketing. Combined with the fact of not needing actors, makeup, a set and a crew, a small business owner on a budget can use this tool as an effective way to create messaging on a budget.

Here is another example from the Generations Beyond lab!

So how does one counter, counter-culture? Well, it’s a simple case of marketing 101 – Knowing Your Audience.

Does anyone reading this remember the term “For-Shizzle?” For-Shizzle was a piece of slang brought into this world by Snoop Dogg. Initially, he was the only one to use it, but eventually it seemed like everyone under the sun was adding “-izzle” to the end of everything to give it a touch of “cool.”

The marketing 101 lesson here was that if Snoop Dogg was able to bring that term into the world, he was also very much capable of taking it out. And that he did. By slinging his signature catch phrase for the now largely defunct AOL in commercials with Jerry Stiller and Lee Iacocca, he took the cool right out of For-Shizzle. Once mainstream America heard those words coming out of Mr. Iacocca’s mouth, it was just about the last time anyone ever uttered the term in a non-ironic attempt at humor. By bringing For-Shizzle to the masses, and in particular, the older masses, Snoop had sucked the cool right out of it.

So, what would the perceived leaders of our culture have to do to take this knowledge and use it to their advantage? The answer is simple. Bring it to the masses. The surest way to kill a trend is with oversaturation, and surely as Lee Iacocca and Jerry Stiller were able to help Snoop kill off “For Shizzle,” that same demographic could be used as an invaluable marketing tool by our fashionably frustrated leaders. 

Generations Beyond’s proposed solution: Want to get kids to wear their pants around their waists again? Just throw Betty White in some sagging pants in the next awful Scary Movie trailer. Have her do a terrible rap and plaster it all over the airwaves. Invite the creepy old man from the Six Flags commercials to join the party. Within weeks, magically, pants will start to rise. No kid in their right mind wants to take his fashion cues from an elderly woman. The lesson? By knowing how your audience will react to marketing, both positively and negatively, you can achieve the goal you’re after. Now, if  President Obama or Dr. Cosby ned us for anything else, we’ll be here Monday through Friday, as usual.

Can you be a viral video marketer if you are not really marketing anything?

Stipulations aside, we’d feel remiss if we did not share this viral video marketing experience with you this month. Check out Take This Lolipop, sit back and “relax?”

Creator, Jason Zada claims “I just love Halloween” and that’s that. Write ups in the New York Times and Forbes coupled with tying into the holiday spirit along with everyone’s fears with sharing anything online certainly is helping this one make the rounds in a big way.

Bravo!

That’s exactly what Netta Marshall, a web designer and developer did in order to land herself a job at Instagram. Instagram is an organization dedicated to bringing a unique memory mosaic to each one of us through the act of sharing iPhone photos between friends.

On the Instagram website, they have a page to upload a resume, and we’re sure that thousands of people have done just that, but how many of them went beyond like Netta?

Netta created www.IWannaWorkAtInstagram.com to help her land the job of her dreams. On top of being a wonderfully graphic representation of her artistic and programming abilities, it showcases her passion and creativity as well. The site is clean and well designed. It’s friendly, but professional. It includes everything a prospective employer could want and more. THAT is what going beyond means to us at Generations Beyond. It means that in addition to covering your bases, you recreate the entire ball field from scratch and make it your own.

In a time when sequels and remakes rule the day, it’s inspiring to see Netta’s kind of creativity. We love to see that level of commitment and dedication in other members of our field and we’re looking forward to adding the next Netta to our own team. Of course, the next Netta won’t make a website, she (or he!) will have to find another way to go beyond. Luckily for us, and for everyone who enjoys watching great ideas unfold, that’s bound to happen. There’s always an artist out there reaching for their dreams, and with luck, a few of them will succeed.

So, take some direction from Netta, and stretch beyond what’s expected of you.

Until you go beyond, your dreams will always be beyond you, but once you do, they’ll be right there waiting.

I wanted to squeeze in this campaign from FX Networks new show American Horror Story before something from October knocked it out of it’s spot. Not much is known about the show which is already due to debut in a few days (surely part of their overall awareness or unawareness approach for this mysterious property)!

Somehow FX Networks actually got people to volunteer to have the sh*t scared out of them at any given time. Can’t imaging the legal hoops that had to have been jumped through, but this groundbreaking network got it done and Ill let you view, laugh, and share the awesome results as Im sure everyone at the network expects, enjoy my personal fav:

For a full youtube page of dozens of these scares from the show visit the official page at: http://www.youtube.com/user/americanhorrorstory#g/a

There are two bulls standing on a hill overlooking a pasture full of cows. The younger bull, eager, but lacking experience, says to the old bull “Hey, let’s run down there and f@#k ourselves a cow.” The old bull, who has spent season after season in this pasture, turns to the younger bull, chuckles, and replies “Nah, how about we walk down there, and f@#k them all.”

Now, anyone who’s ever heard me speak at a seminar, or who’s scheduled a consult with me, knows I’m a BIG FAN of analogies. They’re a great way to take a big and complex idea and break it down into something more manageable.  At Generations Beyond, not a week goes by without the phone at the studio ringing, and on the other end is a client who’s just “heard of a trick” or “found a great tactic” to increase their rankings within Google.

With the recent headlines  about Google’s “massive update,” and the way it punishes those it labels as “cheats,” (JC Penny is an excellent example of a company that was swatted down in the ranks for violating Google’s sense of “fair play”) we feel it’s a good time to reiterate the fact that Google does have a method to its madness. Google’s stated goal (aside from “Do No Evil”) is to sift through every corner of the Internet and find the most important, relevant Web sites and to deliver those results to the Google user. It’s simple, if your Google searches end up giving you irrelevant, or useless results, you’re going to stop using Google. It’s in their best interest to ensure that the people they label as “cheats” aka Black Hat Service Providers (or what some clients or “young bulls” in the story would consider providers of hot SEO “tips”) fail. It may not happen today, or even tomorrow, but sooner rather than later, the company that you’re paying good money to in order to “cheat” Google is going to be discovered and those “hot” tips will go ice cold in a hurry. A good rule of thumb for “tips” like these is that by the time they trickle down through the grapevine, it’s not going to be long before Google shuts them down.


This takes us back to our bovine buddies on the hill.  As the old bull in the story had clearly learned, slow and steady wins the race. Rather than rush out and try to steal a small success, it’s almost always better to take a steady and focused approach to your goal. In almost every facet of life, and certainly in every facet of growing your business, this is what will reap the greatest rewards. This is what our  philosophy relating to SEO is built upon. The slow, steady and quality growth of your website, with new, and quality content, is THE key to building a solid search ranking over time with Google. Sure, the young bull in all of us wants to run to the finish line and reap the immediate benefits, it behooves us (no pun intended) to take a step back, survey the pasture, and know that with experience comes knowledge, and a little planning, and a little finesse, will always garner the best rewards.