Category: Marketing (Page 2 of 2)

Baron Ryan is an entertaining TikTok creator that is breaking boundaries on what you can achieve with one person and an iPhone. His sketches seem inspired by the Wes Anderson cinematic aesthetic, and he packs social commentary with humor that will make you ponder.

This video of him having a contemplative chat with his reflection in a train window is a great example:

I sometimes close my eyes and imagine a hotel and behind every door are all the people I could have been and lives I could have lived, infinite beginnings.

I’m alredy nostalgic for people I’ll never be.

But in the end, you gotta have mercy on yourself, even if you don’t do everything you’ve set out to do in life.

At first you want your dreams to be real. But you realize that some dreams are nicer as dreams. They can be there and you open those doors and live those lives anytime you like on the other side.

Besides, a memory and a fantasy both live in the head.

Baron Ryan

If you’re in a rut with any creative endeavor, or need a new vantage point, this book is an excellent compass. Packed with micro-chapters of every possible step on the journey to creating a song, painting, novel, design, web site–anything, this book will help you realize those eureka moments in the shower, or long gazes at inanimate objects, or stumped lacked of progress are just part of the process. Great read, void of fluff, straight to the point: The Creative Act: A Way Of Being by Rick Rubin

Perplexity.ai, touted as “where knowledge begins” is a research engine that utilizes AI and natural language predictive text to answer questions. Similar to Google SGE, it cites sources (with direct links) and has a “follow up” chat section. Unlike Google though, there is a paid Pro version that allows you to top into a “smarter AI and more Pro Search” and generate images for $20 / month. (I haven’t tried that.)

What’s welcome about Perplexity.ai is the clean interface and lack of ads. With your “ask anything” prompt, you can then choose a “Focus” setting of:

• All (Search across the entire interent)
• Academic (Search published academic papers)
• Writing
• Wolfram | Alpha (Computational knowledge engine)
• YouTube
• Reddit (Search for discussions and opinions)

Another cool tool is the Library, which stores all of your sources and allows you tap back into them for the answers. You can also group your searches in to Collections and then create Secret or Shareable links to them.

If you’re looking for a unique break from Google and give your searches a collective stronger purpose, the Perplexity.ai free version is worth a spin.

The theme of this year’s Pennsylvania Apartment Association APARTogether conference was AI. With the event taking place at Valley Forge Casino Resort, I figured it would be great opportunity to use DALL-E Open Ai imagery and show George Washington leading a state-wide community of apartments, infused by a gambling theme!

Included with ChatGPT 4.0, DALL-E is one of many “text-to-image” AI tools that brings imaginative visions to life. Before these types of tools, if you asked me to create an illustrative graphic with a Founding Father standing amid a bustling array of apartment towers, I’d likely juggle several stock art photos, vectorize them and try to create a cohesive color, levels and saturation level to each layer.

Speaking of gambling, text-to-image tools feels like a slot machine at times, and the results of your query (like a bet) leading to fantastic rewards. Even if you don’t like the results, they often provide inspiration to create something even better.

If you consider yourself an artist in any capacity, this video is for you: “Making Art In The Age Of Content”

Some highlights for me:

➡️ “The most modern form of art: Create something to serve the algorithms in an attempt to make it go virile.”

➡️ “There is no way to have a daily process that’s repeatable with guaranteed results, but these platforms encourage that and they force you to have higher output and open up the chances that something is going to take off.”

➡️ “The democratization of self expression is what turned everything into a competition.”

➡️ “No matter how much you put your heart and soul into something, it’s just as disposable as everything else on any given platform.”

➡️ “The algorithms exist, even though it’s not their intention, to continue to perpetuate a divisiveness between real artists and content creators.”

This was a great presentation from Patreon CEO Jack Conte at SXSW. He speaks of striving for deeper connections opposed to more connections, and the relentless chaotic pursuit of chasing algorithms within social channels. His history of social media in the beginning alone is fascinating, especially if you lived through it in the late 90s and early 00s. So much has changed for the creative artist that is looking to promote their works.

The extreme “death of the follower” seems true on Facebook and Instagram. But on TikTok, the ability to toggle between followers and “For You” creates allows for two unique feeds offering the best of both worlds, and presents an powerful outlet for artists. Their works can seep into the “For You” feed as expected, potentially suited content that can transcend.

Focusing on gaining followers only can be a zero sum game. What percentage of your followers are truly the ones that purchase and promote your brand, opposed to the obligatory occasional “like”?

Starting Out With The Ridiculous

For the Big Game this Sunday, I wanted to reveal a fantastical way that Taylor Swift could make her grand entrance into the stadium. Using Fliki.ai, I described a few different scenes, chose background music and opted to have the narration spoken and included as captions. The results were a mix of hilarious, highly accurate and entertaining. The Taylor Swift imagery looked remarkably like her. Even the correct team colors were represented for the fans’ jerseys and hats, with distorted versions of their logos.

What Is Fliki.ai?

With Fliki, you can turn products, text, blogs, Powerpoint presentations and flat out any idea into a videos with AI voices. With the free version, you can create 5 minutes of credits per month with a watermarked output. The paid Standard and Premium accounts allow for Full HD 1080p videos and a wealth of more options for voices, imagery, video clips, stickers and music assets.

This is a great tool for creating content for social, promotional videos, educational videos and corporate presentations. Creation is blazing fast and editor is simplistic and intuitive.