QR Codes

QR Codes – Like Bar Codes on Steroids

Remember those pricing guns at the grocery store? The ones the stock boy had to use to put a little sticker on each and every can? Remember how blown away we all were when bar codes came out? How cool we thought they were? I mean, a couple of lines with some numbers at the top that you “scanned” with an infrared light and *poof* the register knew what it was and how much it cost. Grocery check-out lanes across America began to move faster and we cheered!

It was just the beginning. Bar codes are everywhere today. You can even scan them with your cell phone and do a virtual price check before making a purchase. Get ready for the next big change. It is happening all around you as we speak. Maybe you’ve seen them and just didn’t know what they were. I am talking about QR Codes. They look like this:

 

QR Code for Business

Try it Out! Use a Barcode Scanner App on Your SmartPhone to Scan My QR Code

 

Basically, QR Codes can do everything a bar code can do – times 1,000,000. (ok – not technically 1,000,000 but it makes my point).

As a small business owner, you can add a QR Code to your business card, website, individual web pages or print advertising.  A simple scan with a smart phone will allow your potential customer to see all the information in that QR Code AND store it on their cell phone AND share it with friends. So, instead of tossing out a postcard you spent tons of money to create and mail, they have it saved in their handy cell phone.

The information that you can include is limitless.

  • The QR Code on your business card could contain all the info on your card (name, address, phone number etc.) and, once scanned, is just saved with all their other contacts. No more lost business cards.
  • A QR Code on a mailer could be encoded with your web address, instantly taking the viewer to your website for more information.
  • A monthly newsletter to frequent shoppers could have a QR Code that included a coupon. Scan it and the coupon is in your phone until the customer stops by your store to redeem it.
  • You could even use a QR Code at the bottom of each product page of your online catalog. A customer could scan it and save it on her smart phone to show to friends and family at dinner.

The point is that QR Codes will soon be as ubiquitous as bar codes. Except, this time, you are ahead of the game! Call me and we can put our heads together to think of a creative way to use QR Codes for your business.