I cannot install Lion to a backup drive for my new Mac Mini

I just bought the new Mac Mini with an i7 processor last week. I wanted to format a backup drive for it. When I tried to use the Lion Recovery partition on the new Mac Mini, I keep getting an error message that says it's incompatoble with the current model.
I also tried to use the Lion thumbdrive I purchased from Apple to see if that can be used, but it also give me the incompatible message.
Is there a special version of Lion that's only for the new Mac Mini's?
Any help is appreciated!

Read this, it will explain it: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4905
Mac mini (Mid 2011), MacBook Air (Mid 2011): Use Lion Recovery instead of OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive
Last Modified: September 01, 2011
Article: HT4905
Summary
Learn about using Lion Recovery or the built-in OS X Lion recovery partition rather than OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive with computers released after OS X Lion.
Products Affected
MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011), MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011), MacBook Air (Mid 2011), Mac mini (Mid 2011)
Use Lion Recovery to restore Mac computers released after OS X Lion. If you attempt to use the OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive, a message will appear stating that you cannot install this version of OS X on your computer. This is correct behavior to make sure you install only the correct and most up-to-date version of Mac OS X on your computer.
Note: You can also use the Lion Recovery Disk Assistant on your Mac to create a bootable image to make sure you recover the correct version of OS X Lion. To use the Lion Recovery Disk Assistant, you need to have your own USB drive.
Additional Information
If you have a network connection, you should receive the appropriate version of Mac OS X when using the built-in Recovery HD partition on Macs running Lion.
Learn more about Lion Recovery.

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Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

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