How to Learn Business Networking with QR Codes

May 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

business networking with QR codesSince the beginning of Social Media like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Zynga, coupled with actual networking events, learning how to connect with clients and other businesses has never been so complex. Many people are unsure where to start with digital networking whilst others struggle to walk up to a potential lead and start conversing. The best way to increase your understanding of building your own business network and improve how you network is to immerse yourself in the whole process. If you then want to increase your chances of business networking then using a QR code software can really lend a helping hand.

Before we begin you need:

schedule of events
Business cards
LinkedIn Account
QR code
Twitter Account

Top Tips for The Business Networking Event

  1. Find out about networking events in your area. Begin with free  events first and register your interest.
  2. Visit squarecode.biz  and register for an account.  Create your first QR code and add something interesting about you and your business so that when people scan the get clear sense of what you do for a living.
  3. Introduce yourself. This may seem like an obvious thing to do but breaking the ice and approaching a prospective client can be difficult. Think of strategies to make this easier. A simple ‘Hi’ and a firm handshake is a good start but this is also an opportunity to break the ice by getting someone to scan your QR code.
  4. Be positive and show genuine interest. Some networking events provide details about who is attending prior to the event. Find out about your prospective clients on sites like LinkedIn and About.me. This is also a good way to strike up conversations as you already know something about the individual.
  5. Have a your 60-second ‘elevator pitch’ ready.  At the end of your mini page invite them to scan your QR code this not only strikes up conversation but also puts you as an expert in your field or at least someone is at the cutting edge of technology.
  6. Do swap business cards and remember to add a note about the person on the back of the card as you may forget who they are.

Top Tips for Keeping Connected

  1. Send leads an email telling them that you have enjoyed the chat and include something you promised you would send them e.g. a link to a website you found useful.  this is also great opportunity to ask if they have scanned your qrcode and their thoughts about this type of technology.
  2. Email the same contact a week or so later to share an article from your blog or do something similar to maintain the contact – keep it related to your discussion.
  3. Register with LinkedIn and find people you recently met.  Send them a message explaining your interest in meeting them recently. Being able to recognize an attendee is powerful,  so connecting LinkedIn before the event is also very good.
  4. Register with Twitter and tweet about interesting ideas, links and other relevant content relating to your business and interests. This way people will see that you have interesting things to share and are en expert in your field.

Did You Know?

1.  the use of QR codes has literally exploded in the US and Europe. Add one to business cards, flyers, other printed material to provide opportunity for people to connect with your online content

 

Filed Under: Business Networking Tagged With: , , , ,

Building your Business Network with QR Codes

May 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

What are the best way of staying connected with people and get those people interested in you in the first place? When you meet people, it’s good practice to follow up with email and LinkedIn or Ecademy request to connect. This will definitely help you improve your connections – but will this be enough to connect? A quick way to encourage people to want to connect is to use QR codes in your business networking. Here follows  a few tips on how to exploit the use of QR codes to build your business network.

TIP 1.  Create a Code on a dynamic QR code service such as SQUARE:CODE and print on your business cards.  this means you can change the content people see when they scan your card. This is not only cutting edge, and an effective means of networking but also a bit of fun.

TIP 2. When you talk to people,  Some dislike exchanging business cards as they tend to go to many different networking events. As you are using a QR code business card this means you have a topic of conversation namely the Code.

TIP 3. Always be helpful to others without thinking about the reward. The reward may not come straight away, but it will help you socialize and build your network with time.  By leaving behind your business card this will encourage people to want to contact you after the business networking event has finished.

TIP 4. Always spend time on building your network. If you are not a celebrity, then you cannot build a network without giving the time that it needs.  The QR code can’t solve all your problems but you will certainly be a topic of conversation.

TIP 5. If you really want to build a strong network, then you have to contribute positively to that network. Provide value by talking relevant and keeping your talk shorter.  For example keep changing what people see when they scan your QR Code to retain their engagement and them talking about you and your company.

As mentioned earlier in the post, using this type of tool will not solve all your problems when it comes to connecting with people at business networking events but QR codes can certainly lend a helping hand in linking you, your company with innovative technology.

There are lots of other ways of exploiting technology at your business networking event, everything from moulding your business card to suit delegates at conferences and other events, using social networking to engage people before and after and so on. QR codes are only one solution and one opportunity.

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QR Code Affiliate Program: make money selling qrcodes

May 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

QR code affiliation program

The use of QR codes in industry has exploded in the past 18 months. This is because:

  1. Smart phone sales have increased significantly both in the US and Europe
  2. Mobile advertising revenue has skyrocketed across the globe
  3. People have changed the way they interact with products in their daily lives and are more likely to interact using their smart phones.

These reasons provide amazing opportunities for marketeers to make money selling QR codes as the market calls for them right now.

There are many QR software online they can provide a range of features that would benefit businesses and therefore be easy to sell to.

Before you decide which company’s  QR code affiliation program you will sign up to consider the following key points as this will help you make the final decision of what you need in order to sell codes effectively and to make money whilst doing it.

1. QR Code Software Flexibility

Businesses need a unique and flexible system which enables  them to track and create codes quickly and easily so they can focus on their marketing campaigns. They also  need  a complete and flexible control over how they communicate with customers via their codes.

2.  Automated QR Code Marketing

The best systems will ensure that the company can create codes and schedule a series of marketing messages such as promotions, demonstration videos, latest offers, advertise new and up and coming events –  and they should be able to do this in advance. This is an effective way to automate your QR code marketing efforts.  this would also mean a huge benefits to businesses and therefore an easy way to sell qrcodes

3. Advanced QR Code Management System: analytics, tracking & reporting

are good QR code software should enable a business to measure their return on investment by  by analysing how well their different products/campaigns are performing using some sort of advanced analytics. The best qrcodes software also should have an advanced tagging system  to allow companies to find and chart the number of times their Codes have been scanned. This enables them to respond to their customers’ interests as campaigns or products develop.

4. QR Code Branding: include a Call to Action on every message

if you have selected a QR code affiliation program that allows businesses to brand all messages with  their logo or advertisement which is displayed on every message consumers see when they scan the Code. This branded logo could be your company logo, advert or other Call to Actions.  if this logo was “tappable”  that would be even better as it would be a direct line from scanning the code, tapping to you online products and services.

If you  research these top four key points before selecting which qrcode affiliation program you should choose, then you will have  made a good start. There are very few affiliation programs that are worth looking at,  if you look close enough you will find those that offer in the region of 15-20%  commission on each sale.

Best of luck it in finding the right qrcode affiliation program!

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QR Codes at Business Networking Events

May 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Invented by Denso-Wave in 1994, QR-Codes or Quick Response Codes are a form of 2-Dimensional barcodes that contain digital data which when scanned with a cell phone can display information stored online. The idea behind using these codes is to make communication more effective by connecting the real world with the virtual world.

QR codes are a great way of sharing different information at different times but they are particularly useful when at a business networking event.  But first how do I create one of those codes?

QR Code for Your Business Cards

Step 1

Visit SQUARE:CODE and create an account. Decide what you would like to link to the code, for example:

URL to a website e.g. LinkedIn
Text message
Phone Number

You do not need any knowledge of coding to produce your own Code, just select the content type, add a URL and press “OK”.

Step 3

Add the newly created Code to your business card.

QR Codes at Business Networking Events

Why are these codes useful at business networking events?  Take a look at the  60-second video below, it really showcases the benefits of using QR codes for networking. They are not only good to capture the imagination of delegates, share information about people networking, but also enable delegates to find out more about each other. QR-Codes are ideal to use as ID-badges on networking events. Participants can scan each other’s Codes to find out more about their colleagues. A great ice-breaker.

So, next time you decide to plan a business networking event, why not use QR codes to help break the ice share information with the different people and stay ahead of the game.

Details about SQUARE:CODE – QR Codes You Control

Control your QR Codes with SQUARE:CODE. Schedule your updates in advance over a day, week, month or year so your customers get the right information at the right time. Complete control, even when you’re not around.

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How can QR Codes and Social Media help my Personal Branding?

May 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you have not started using Social Media and QR Codes to help your personal branding, you need to start doing it at the earliest.

The best check to run through your personal branding campaign is to compare all your profiles and see whether they are updated or not. Moreover, you should ask yourself whether you are happy if a potential employer checks your social media presence. Most of the people are not ready to let potential employers see their Facebook walls. The problem is that they have no personal branding strategy and are not paying any attention to its importance. This is where QR Codes can really help creating strong personal brand.

By leveraging the use of Codes you can not only help to keep your social profiles up to date, but  also link to different social profiles at different times. Create a QR Code on SQUARE:CODE – QR Codes You Control and add the image on your business card and any other printed material like leaflets, handout and so on. This is where the fun begins as you can set up a series of messages that will reveal themselves at different times of the day week or month.

With the rise of social networking and social media, employers are looking at your profiles before hiring you. If you have not branded yourself the way you should, your resume will not carry any weight. The potential employers will throw your resume to trash if they are not finding you online. Your newly created QR Code will help you in linking to any of your Social Media profiles, just create a series of updates and off you go!

By adding a code on your business card and other professional publications you are able to direct people to precisely the correct social media tool such as Twitter and Facebook LinkedIn and so on. You can control of the code from the SQUARE:CODE exchange and therefore share different content in different times. This will make your personal brand stronger and stronger.

Filed Under: QR Code for Business

How Can QR codes Help My Business?

May 1, 2012 By 1 Comment

QR-Codes are two-dimensional images that can contain information such as URLs, contact information (like vCards), automatic Tweets, and other information that the creator of the code intended to produce.

These codes are designed in a special way using QR-Code generators. The QR-code generators can be easily found on the web. Most of them are free to use and are simple web scripts.

QR-codes can help your business achieve increased growth and momentum. If you can find innovative ways of using these codes, you will not only be creating interest but will also be marketing your business at the same time. You can use Social Media and QR-Codes together to get most out of both. For example, create codes that will take potential clients to your Facebook page. People using their camera phone to scan these codes will be directed to your Facebook pages so an ideal way of spreading content could be to print QR-Codes on T-shirts, stickers, business cards, badges and posters that have these codes printed on them. You can distribute this material at conferences to encourage conference delegates to visit your fan pages or add a QR-Code in company newsletters, shop windows and so on.

You can also direct people to other Social Media networks such as Twitter, Ecademy and Delicious. If you can spread material containing your QR-codes, you will actually be helping your Social Media Campaign. You would already know that successful social media campaigns could change your fortunes. The QR codes can turn your dull social media campaign into an interesting and eventually successful social media campaign.

When you are promoting your products offline, you can include QR codes on the printed material. This will allow the audiences to scan the image using their mobile phone and directly populate their shopping cart for that particular product. They will not even have to enter URL and then go to the cart. Because the QR-codes can contain URLs, you can easily tweak them to point to the particular item in your shopping cart. This way, you will be giving Quick Response to the people making decision to buy a certain product after seeing its printed advertisement. You will not give any time to the potential customer to change mind and therefore, you will increase your sales.

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Top 5 QR Code Questions: stats, popularity and CTAs

April 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

QR Codes (or Quick Response Codes) are two-dimensional barcodes. They have been around for a while, but it wasn’t until smart phones became commonplace that they have really taken off as a marketing tool.

If you want to find out about why people scan, how to get people scanning then read our Top 5 QR Code questions.

 

Top 5 Questions about QR Codes

 

1. What is the point of using QR codes?

More than 80% of people use their mobiles as their “second screen” to find information on the web. However entering URLs on a tiny keyboard is hard work and the longer your URL, the less likely people are to get it right. Offering a QR code directs people to precisely the right message, regardless of the length of the web address.

2. How popular are QR codes?

QR codes have been huge in the far east for years. They are now commonplace in the USA and Europe, particularly in the UK where in 2011 the number of people scanning QR codes skyrocketed and 2012 will “become the year of the QR code”.

3. Are QR Codes really catching on?

The use of QR Codes by both businesses and consumers exploded at the end of 2011. For instance, did you relaise that 70% of people are more likely to remember an advert with a QR Code then one without? This is because a consumer engages with the advert that has a QR Code on it – it becomes an interaction.

4. How many people scan QR Codes?

Some QR Code campaigns have had hundreds of thousands of interactions. This depends how widely the code has been shared, but the following will make a significant difference to your campaign:

• use clever Call to Actions! Make it clear that they will benefit in some way from scanning your code.
• Ensure that the messages people see when they scan changes often.
• Add clear CTA text to your printed QR code which quickly explains what a user will spot when scanning, or how often you want them to do it.

For more ideas about QR Code Marketing download this White PaperL

“6 Steps to Successful QR Code Marketing”.

5. What sort of Call to Action should I put next to my client’s Code?

You can entice someone to scan your code in many ways. The best way to get people interacting with Code is to describe what they need and how they do it. Remember, many people know how to scan codes today. However to ensure that they know what to do you could for example include text such as this:

“Scan me with a free QR Code App, find one in your app store”.
“Scan with a FREE App from www.2dgo.org”
“Download I–nigma from your App Store to scan this SQUARE:CODE.”

 

For more ideas and Q&As about QR Codes see SQUARE:CODE – QR Codes You Control.

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QR Codes: the avatar of Augmented Reality

April 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Growth of Mobile: Stats and figures that will shock you!

Big companies like Ralph Lauren, Audi, McDonalds (Japan), Pepsi, Google, Best Buy, Starbucks are relying more and more on QR Codes to reach out to consumers. Take the photograph of a QR Code and you can scan it on your smart phone to decrypt loads of information about the company and its products. This has led some people to call QR Codes the Paper Hyperlinks.

Do you know who developed the first mobile phone system? How large the first mobile phone was? Or that the first smartphone was released way back in … 1992? How many people lose their mobile phones each year?

This video from Sybase, an industry leader in managing, analyzing and mobilizing information, highlights the complexity and the recent explosion of mobile technology around the world, with facts and figures that will shock you!

For more, visit: http://www.Sybase.com

Over 80 per cent customers associate QR Codes with coupons and special offer packages. These coupons can be tied to sales campaigns offering discounted prices that reach the maximum number of consumers. This can lead to greater overall profits.

Businesses can share meaningful content with their customers, generate interest in their products and make people tweet, blog or rave on Facebook in order to reach an even broader audience. QR Codes can be used to generate this kind of PR publicity and word of mouth. Try them out today and see what you can accomplish for your company.

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Which are the best QR Code Generators for QR Code Marketing?

April 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In order to benefit from a QR Code marketing you need to generate it first. There are a few resources online like Kerem Erkan, Kaywa , delivr and GoQR. Let’s review some of them as under:

Kerem Erkan’s website is interactive but to a novice it may look a bit confusing at first. Whereas other sites let you generate Codes, no questions asked, Kerem Erkan is a blog cum QR Code Generator containing ads and links to resource pages. Erkan is a mobile app developer and specializes in QR Codes and there is a whole section ‘About Me’ providing an anime like photo of himself. Where is the QR Code Generator? Yes, at the bottom of the page if you scroll down. The web page does look cluttered with a calendar on the right side which is puzzling to someone used to the simplicity of other QR Generator sites. Then there are buttons for a World Community Grid and Downloads but almost no content on what the downloads are for or what the relevance of the World Community Grid is. There is a need to combine the various elements of the web site and create some harmony and interactivity as the plus point of Kerem Erkan is its generosity. This is not just a QR Code generator but a whole lot more. The only problem is with presentation and organization of the content. So if you are to move forward and exploit all possibilities of QR Code marketing read on.

Kaywa is a cute website with a Japanese sounding name that lets you generate a QR Code first off; no questions asked (don’t forget the form). Kerem Erkan’s form for QR generation is much more detailed and interactive but Kaywa is all about simplicity. The Kaywa homepage is very interactive and uses cartoon slides for guiding customers through the process of generating QR Codes and their uses.

Delivr.com is also similar to Kaywa but is less interactive and has no advanced functions. It is a minimalist site with a black and white background. The most interesting is GoQR which offers QR Codes for all sorts of applications, SMS, Phone, URL or VCard. It also lets you download codes for your T-shirts, mugs, business cards and badges. It is visually appealing, simple and informative. You can also download related software and read from a detailed page on API documentation.

Therefore the specific use of the QR Code needs to be identified when using in business. This means that if you are to profit from your QR Code marketing you need to consider your options first and how you will use them. While NFC is more current in banking, QR Codes can be used to share content that is free style and meant for public use. Unlike NFC, you don’t need a sensor to read a QR Code, a host of QR readers like Qrafter for smart phone are available online. Here, we can learn from the Japanese who limited their use to freely downloadable consumer-friendly data like nutritional information, videos, air tickets at check ins. The basic idea was to facilitate the consumer not protect information. Their visual appeal is a reason for popularity. QR Codes are also good for tracking purposes. There is success in limiting QR Codes usage to consumer facilitation, marketing and advertising and not for secure information processes where cyber crimes are a real possibility. In March 2011, Google announced it was phasing out QR Codes with near-field communication and removed the QR Code from its Google Places dashboard.

Filed Under: QR Code Marketing Tagged With:
http://www.qrcodesoftware.biz/