What is NFC?

NFC, Near Filed Communications technology, is a wireless technology which allows two-way communication between two nearby devices. NFC can be applied in paying for goods and services, ticketing, or information sharing between devices, based on Radio Frequency  Identification RFID technology.

What does this mean to you?

The NFC chips allow users to make mobile payments using their handsets. A key advantage of NFC lies in the security benefits. Data exchanged between two NFC-enabled devices can be encrypted using Advanced Encryption Standards (AES). This is especially important in terms of a mobile wallet, due to the exchange of personal financial information. Many NFC systems also use time-based tokens for security, meaning that the credit card number changes every few seconds.

This form of technology makes it much safer to use your handset over your credit cards in your wallet. We’ve all seen reports where unscrupulous employees slide unsuspecting customer’s credit cards in sliders that record the information from their credit card and use this information to create counterfeit cards.

There have also been reports of how the credit cards in your wallet can be scanned just by walking close to an individual.

Though the overall mobile payments eco-system is still in its early stages in the U.S., we are already seeing the first signs of adoption of payment technologies and networks. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon recently announced the creation of ISIS, a national commerce network, and Verifone, a worldwide provider of POS products has publicized plans to include NFC technology in all terminals later this year

Who Are the Players?

Apple

Apple is widely rumored to include the technology in the next version of its iPhone smartphone. The rumors started circulating after Forbes tech reporter Elizabeth Woyke said that the new iPhone will feature a NFC chip.

Google

Google introduced Wallet in September 2011, which allows people to tap or swipe their phones to pay for things. Google has built the NFC chip into the Samsung Nexus S offered on Sprint Nextel.

While several other companies, including credit card giants Visa and American Express, as well as mobile wireless carriers, have also announced plans to launch their own digital wallets, Google is the first to take its digital wallet to market.

Citibank, MasterCard, and Sprint are the initial launch partners for the service. What this means for users is that, initially, virtually the only credit cards that will work with Google Wallet are Citibank MasterCards.

Visa

Visa has teamed up with ANZ Bank to try NFC based mobile payment system. The system to be named, VISA payWave was integrated with a secure MicroSD card in an iPhone case and distributed among a number of employees in its offices in Australia.

Microsoft

Microsoft plans to include mobile-payment technology in new versions of its operating system for smartphones as part of an effort to narrow Google’s lead in handset software.

The integration of the new technology will bring together banks, credit card providers, telecom companies as well as phone manufacturers.

Too many people have lost their dreams this year. And the remaining few still standing hear more chatter coming out of Washington about taking away more of our freedoms through more regulations and taxes.

Yet we press on.

For me, this has been the year of living in survival mode.  Like the pioneers of the west, when danger threatened they would circle the wagons and stubbornly fight to protect their families and friends. I keep saying to those who struggle that when the economy turns around those of us still standing will be leaner and meaner with an efficient business model.

Even during these struggles there is still hope, which brings me back to Christmas.  The underlying theme of Christmas is the birth of Jesus Christ who brings us renewed hope of new beginnings.

Christmas is a time when we leave behind our differences; unite in a single purpose and share hope and joy. We set aside our internal struggles and look outwardly at those around us. It’s a time of year when we renew old friendships and build new ones. We extend our hand to those who need it.

We gather together with our families and friends and share our sense of well-being, success, or good fortune, forming deeper relations.  We live this occasion through the eyes of the children and friends as they excitedly open their Christmas presents.

For a brief moment in time, humanity seems to be a better place.

As we shed off 2011 and look forward to 2012 the heralded exchange, “Merry Christmas” has special meaning for each of us. For me, it means I hope you have a great time with your family and friends and may your new year be blessed with success in all of your ventures, personally and business related.

Merry Christmas!!

Those things are called a “Quick Response” code, or QR code. It is a two-dimensional bar code that was first introduced in 1994 by the Nippondenso Company of Japan. It was developed with the major objective of making the process of reading codes easier by scanner equipment.

The QR Code carries information in both vertical and horizontal direction, thus allowing the QR Code to carry a considerable amount of information compared to the ordinary bar codes. In fact, each QR code can hold up to over 7000 characters or about 4300 letters/numbers. The typical one dimension barcode get wider as more data it has to encoded.

Due to its unique structure, QR-Codes can store many different types of data, such as a website address, contact information, videos, phone number dialing, sending SMS, bookmarks, and much more.

This ability makes QR codes an easy and affordable way to create an affordable online marketing campaign for your products and websites. Many of today’s brick and mortar stores are using these codes inside their stores to drive traffic to their online presence maximizing their marketing strategies and creating a positive interactive experience.

QR codes are scanned by smartphones, such as iPhones, android phones or Blackberry phones. To “read” a QR code one must have a QR code reader installed in your smartphone. As of yet, QR readers do not come preinstalled. However, there are several apps out there that can be downloaded for free. Pick a QR barcode reader that works best for your needs. To find a reader for your phone, check out the list compiled by mobile-barcodes.com

Check the compatibility between your phone and the reader. Not all phones are compatible with this technology so be sure to check your phone manual as well. Pay particular attention to the download instructions. There are various methods of delivery to your phone, some require you to download to your computer then transfer the app to your phone using either a Bluetooth connection or USB connection. Others download directly to your phone.

Once the QR reader has been installed, open the app and find a QR code that interests you. They are everywhere, from store products to newspapers to magazines. Even Home Depot takes advantage of QR codes’ ability to inform you about their products.

Hold the device with the camera pointed toward the QR code. To assist in reading the QR code, your app will display either four corners in your viewer or an actual frame. Make sure the QR code is aligned within these guides. Follow any and all onscreen instructions. Some cameras may require you press the photo capture button or other feature to begin scanning.

It does not matter from which angle you take the picture. The software will automatically read the code and open the information on your phone.

Enjoy.

If you would like help in developing a QR code campaign, please feel free to contact us for more information.

For more on QR Codes, read:

1. Using QR Codes in your Internet Marketing
2. 5 Tips for Effective Marketing with QR Codes and Mobile Landing Pages
3. QR Codes and Mobile Marketing: What you Need to Know

If you still have questions, we can help you establish your online marketing campaigns using QR codes.

During this progression I have spent most of my time educating others as to what these new technologies have to offer and how it can benefit them.  Some people have a difficult time envisioning new concepts and how it can apply to them. Others catch the vision and passionately run with it.

QR Codes are not just a fad.

Consequently, any chance I get to address an audience I try to educate them about one of the latest technologies to hit the U.S., QR Codes.  Just as social media has developed into a viable medium, QR Codes are at that infancy stage. Given time and appropriate planning QR Codes will become a fantastic tool for mobile marketing.

When the first wave of social media hit the scene, people were clamoring about social media being the next “End all to be all.”  Every search about “social media” would bring up a list of so called experts that were more than willing to show you how to capitalize on this new medium.

As social media began to mature we have figured out how to benefit from this new medium. In fact, my background has been in the printing business. I was a firm practitioner in traditional marketing practices. Since I started developing my own social media strategy, I no longer promote traditional methods, but use this new social medium exclusively to promote my business.

I believe we are on the same path with QR Codes that social media went down and its development will be even bigger than the meteoric rise of social media. What do I base this on? Smart phones and tablets use QR Codes to access online content.

Smartphones to Outpace PCs

Studies have shown that Smartphones and other browser-equipped phones are expected to grow to 1.82 billion by 2013, compared to 1.78 billion PCs. Currently Mobile devices share of overall web browsing is 4.36%,  which is a 430% increase over the last two years.

Mobile payments for digital and physical goods, money transfers and NFC contact-less transactions will reach $670 billion by 2015; nearly triple the current value of $240 billion.

With the rapid proliferation of the mobile market one would think that businesses would be climbing over their competition to take advantage of the benefits that QR Codes have to offer. But, surprisingly, less than 6% of businesses are doing any type of mobile marketing at all. The percentage drops to less than .05% for companies doing less than $10 million per year. *

Now Is the time to set aside our preconceived notions that QR Codes are just another passing fad and jump on the band wagon while it is still in its infancy. Look around, QR Codes are everywhere.  Even Home Depot is using them. Pick up a plant and try to find directions or more information. What you will find is a QR Code that will take you to a website with more information on the plant.

Even museums are using QR Codes. You will find them conveniently placed next to a painting, giving you more information on the painting and artist.

The psyche of a Mobile User

Have I piqued your interest? Before you run with this new found vision, careful consideration must be given to applying this new technology. For example, the surfing habits of a mobile user differ from that of a Pc user.  Whereas a PC user will surf for information, following a trail until they find what they are looking for, mobile users search the internet with a degree of urgency. They are action-oriented searchers. 9 out of 10 mobile searchers have taken action as a result of a smartphone search. They want results now and if you can’t give it to them, they will go somewhere else.

Additionally, the screen resolution must be taken into consideration. Currently, a typical PC monitor has a screen resolution of 1024 pixels wide. As the prices of monitors continue to drop, screen sizes continue to grow.  I have a Mac and a PC with 27” monitors at 1920 pixels wide.

In contrast, a typical mobile phone’s screen resolution ranges from 320 x 480 pixels to 480 x 800 pixels. So, a typical website can be difficult, if not impossible to view on a mobile phone.  To create a favorable viewer experience both mobile displays and PC displays care must be planned out.

To learn more, view the following:
5 Tips for Effective Marketing with QR Codes and Mobile Landing Pages

Questions, comments, do you agree or disagree?

*Marketing in the Moment: The Practical Guide to Using Web 3.0 Marketing to reach Your Customers First by Michael Tasner

Fortunately, there are several options to consider when making an informed decision:

1. WordPress.com is free, unfortunately they do not give you any real options to monetize your blog.
2. The largest benefit of hosting your own blog is the ability to install plugins, everything from SEO to shopping carts and email collecting.
   1. I currently have 11 plugins installed on my blog, all of them offering additional functionality.
   2. You will have to purchase a domain name that is renewed yearly. Godaddy.com is what I use and recommend.
      1. I recommend you purchase it yourself. Then you will have control over your own domain name. I have had disgruntled clients who transferred their websites to my care and have had a very unfortunate experience trying to switch their domain name over to our servers.
      2. If you decide to let the new hosting company purchase your domain, I recommend that you have your contact information, especially your email address, listed for the account. That way all communications will go through you. Believe me, this is a huge factor when you decide to transfer your domain name to a new hosting company or when it is time to renew your Domain name.
      3. Hosting your blog on your own website will cost you money.
         1. If you want a professional looking site you will have to hire a professional to design a site for you.
         2. Or you can choose from a rather large selection of themes that are free.
            1. i.      For a more distinctive look, you can purchase a theme. Depending on the complexity of the theme you will pay $65 and up.
3. Installing a theme is a simple matter of searching and having your blog install it.
4. d. Additionally, WordPress.com and WordPress.org software have access to their own themes. They may not be compatible with each other.
5. You will have to pay a monthly fee for hosting

The 2 biggest problems of switching to a blog on your own Website is:

1. Transferring you posts to your new site
2. Losing all of the links to your posts

Moving Your Posts

If you are moving to a self-hosted blog using the WordPress.org software, you first need to obtain appropriate web hosting and have your WordPress.org blog/site up and running before transferring your content.

1. In the old blog, go to Tools → Export and download the XML (WXR) file to your computer.
2. In the new blog, go to Tools → Import → WordPress and upload the file you downloaded in step 1. Make sure that you choose the option to Download & import file attachments.

Videos uploaded to WordPress.com cannot be moved through the import process. However, you can continue to use the existing videos through VideoPress plugin, which provides an easy way to manage and embed videos hosted on the WordPress.com service.

Redirecting your posts

Redirect yourblogname.wordpress.com (as well as all of your permalinks) to your new domain name can  be accomplished through upgrading your WordPress.com blog with Site Redirect. This is a one-time charge of $12.00. Once upgraded, you enter in the old domain followed by the new domain. Just follow the prompts.

A more detailed post is listed here

Once these steps are accomplished you are now good to go. Happy blogging!!

If this is still confusing or you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself, just contact me for a very reasonable quote!

Creating Effective Marketing with QR Codes and Mobile Landing Pages

So, you have read all the buzz about QR codes and what they can do for your online marketing. You have even found sites that can create the code for you. Now you are ready to slap that puppy on every printed piece you have, as well as placing it on the outside and inside of your business establishment. For more information on QR Codes, read previous post “QR codes, bridging the future with today.”

Before you begin, may I suggest you step back and take into account the following recommendations that will help to make the mobile viewer’s experience positive.

Create a mobile landing page
A mobile landing page is similar to any other landing page in that the goal is to produce a specific action by offering highly targeted content and a strong call-to-action. In the case of a mobile landing page however, there are some other design and development factors that are specific to handheld devices, such as:

Mobile Page Design
By the very nature of QR codes, your website will be viewed by a smartphone that has a display resolution ranging from 480 x 800 to iPhone 960 x 640. The Droid Pro comes in at 320 x 480.

To give you a better perception, below is how my website looks on these devices.

Android Phone

Apple iPhone

iPad

If you want to provide a positive experience to your mobile viewers you need to make certain that your landing pages are properly designed for handheld display and touch-screen interaction. If your site is too difficult to view, your viewer will move on to a site that is more suited for mobile viewing.

You’ll also want to consider the bandwidth limits for many users on 3G and 4G and networks, and ensure that your pages are coded lightly for quick download and minimal data usage.

Provide an easy way to connect with your company
Once they arrive on your mobile landing page, the goal is to get them to interact, whether that is to sign up for a newsletter, connect with your social media or purchase your product. To make the appeal even more enticing,  add an additional incentive for taking the steps for interacting.

Track your results
With any campaign it is important to track your marketing efforts. Create QR Codes that can be tracked. Then use Google Analytics to track the results from your different campaigns. By tracking your campaigns you will be able to determine which campaign is more effective, allowing you to focus on what is working and what is not.

Mobile-Specific Content
Reading styles are different on the web compared to printed materials, and that’s especially true for mobile web pages. Viewers on mobile devices are scanning for information, looking for that one nugget of gold. They do not spend a lot of time reading information. As a result, content should be simplified, making it easy to digest. Which means that some of your content will probably need to be rewritten for mobile-friendly reading.

Touch-Screen Interface
When designing for the mobile web it’s important to bear in mind that many of your users are going to be on touch-screen devices, particularly if you’re targeting visitors on tablets or smartphones like iPhone and Android. It’s important to make sure that any interactive page elements (submit buttons, form elements, links and navigation) are sized appropriately for a touch-interface.

Mobile Landing Page Design Services
With the ever-changing nature of communication, it gets harder to stay on top of where all this information is going. In my life, I have seen communication go from the rotary phone to bulky cell phones. Then the internet opened our life to the desktop, to laptops, and now that information is traveling through iPads and smartphones.

Each of these devices have presented its own challenges to get your message out to your audience.  The mobile wave is only going to increase in size and scope. Contact us to see how we can help make the transition to leveraging the mobile web in your future marketing efforts a smooth transition.

What disheartens me is when I run across people who tell me they are not creative. I usually respond   that we are all born with an innate ability to be creative, you just haven’t discovered your gift yet. Most people are capable of achieving levels of creativity well beyond what they think they are capable of.

Watch children as they play and see their level of creativity. They have great imaginations. The problem is that this creativity has been suppressed by education and life lessons. All you need to do is let it come back to the surface. You will soon discover that you are surprisingly creative.

Yes, I do recognize that occasionally individuals come along that show an incredible ability. As a whole though, the difference between most of us mere mortals is the effort put in to develop our creativities.

I heard an expression as a child that just stuck, “a boxer doesn’t win the title in the ring.” It takes a lot of work and preparation to be successful in any endeavor. The same is true for anybody who has decided to explore their creative side.

Creativity has brought every change or benefit to our society, some by accident, some by a well thought out plan, but all have been accomplished through a lot of perseverance. Thomas Edison responded to comments of him failing over a thousand times to create the light bulb was, ”I have not failed. I’ve just found 10000 ways that won’t work.”

The Fear of Failure

We are becoming a nation of complacent people. For years we have heard that it takes so little to rise above the ordinary. It has now come to a point where we are not even trying anymore.

A recent CBS News/New York Times poll revealed that 64 percent of Americans are “perfectly comfortable” with coming up just short, 43 percent are content to try only once rather than try, try again, and an overwhelming 95 percent admitted that after falling down, they now prefer to stay down.

How many adults are afraid to try to think “outside the box?” The fear of failure and its embarrassment has paralyzed a generation into mediocrity. If we would look back through history we would find many courageous leaders who failed miserably, yet they got back up one more time.

People look at Steve Jobs and see his success at Apple and aspire to be like him. Yet, they are not aware of the road he had to travel to get there. Babe Ruth is legendary as the Homerun king. He was also the strikeout king.

Failure is one of the best teachers. Most of what I have learned has been from evaluating my failures and determining how to do it right the next time.  With the business market as volatile as it is, I am constantly re evaluating my business model and trying to find new ways to think outside the box.

How to develop your creativity

As I said before, developing your creativity takes work, just like developing any other skill. But, I can’t think of anything I enjoy more than developing new projects or ides. It is my lifeblood, my passion.

Below are eight tips that will help you develop your creativity. Some of these ideas came from an article I read by Robert Harris title, “Introduction to Creative thinking.”

1. Be Curious

Ideas are everywhere. Look at life through the eyes of a child and ask questions. Ask questions of everyone. Ask the same question of different people just to be able to compare the answers. Look into areas of knowledge you’ve never before explored. My biggest tool is the internet. You can find answers to every question that has been asked.

2. Suspend criticism

Many new ideas, because they are new and unfamiliar, seem strange, odd, bizarre, even repulsive.

Thus, it is important for the creative thinker to be able to suspend judgment when new ideas are arriving.

3. Surround Yourself with Positive Thinkers

One word of caution, be careful who you tell your newly formed ideas to. Most people will call you crazy or ask why you would even think that. That is why it is important to surround yourself with positive thinkers, people who will challenge you in positive, constructive ways.

4. Challenge the Status Quo

Curious people like to identify and challenge the assumptions behind ideas, proposals, problems, beliefs, and statements. Many assumptions, of course, turn out to be quite necessary and solid, but many others have been assumed unnecessarily, and in breaking out of those assumptions often comes a new idea, a new path, a new solution.

5. Perseverance

Most people fail because they spend only nine minutes on a problem that requires ten minutes to solve. Creativity and problem solving are hard work and require fierce application of time and energy. There is no quick and easy secret. You need knowledge gained by study and research and you must put your knowledge to work by hard thinking and protracted experimentation.

6. Make Room for Failure

If you hear someone saying they never fail you can pretty much know that it is because they have never tried.  It is better to try and fail than to never try at all. Just make sure you get right back up and evaluate what went wrong, choose a new heading and keep going.

7. Take risks

It is human nature to be reluctant to try something that we are unfamiliar with. We are afraid of the unknown. Every Sci-Fi movie out there always shows one individual, who out of fear of the unknown, shoots the harbinger of peace from another planet, jeopardizing our planet. Do not be that person!

8. Just Do it!
Be willing to take risks, explore new ideas, experiment with new techniques. The only way to succeed is to try. Pushing yourself beyond the limits is the only way you will ever find out how much you are capable of growing.

Do you find these tips helpful? What do you do to stimulate your creativity?

Yet, quietly, without notice, one-by –one you begin to lose your clients. You justify it as just attrition.  However, the bleeding continues and the question why is never posed. Stop, take a breath and ask yourself:

Why are you losing your clients?

It usually boils down to two things:

1. A misunderstanding that slowly festers
2. They feel you no longer care

Your clients are busy people, just like you, and anything that complicates their lives will cause a slow festering sliver. At first they won’t notice it, but as it gets rubbed, bumped or touched enough, it becomes an outright pain. And when it becomes enough of a pain you look for whatever you can find to remove the irritant.

Your client’s perception of you will live or die by the way you respond to their emails or phone calls. When your client becomes unhappy with you, they will start looking elsewhere. Instead of confronting you, they prefer to get another opinion and that usually leads to them going elsewhere.

Rather than confront you, your client would rather just go somewhere else. It is just human nature. People usually do not want to have to deal with confrontation. With the cost of acquiring new customers it would make more sense to keep the clients you already have.

With the cost of acquiring new customers, it is easier to resolve problems before they leave. Acquiring new clients can cost five times more than retaining current clients, and the average company loses a staggering 10 percent of its customer base each year, according to the American Marketing Association.

I believe that the pull of acquiring new customers is so alluring that often times we take our existing customers for granted. They are the heart and soul of our business. So what do we do?

It’s the Little Things Matter

Back before the internet was such a invasive part of our lives, I used to send a thank you card to my new clients. Thanking them for their business. I used to receive birthday cards from some of my vendors. One company we used to order office supplies from would always put a few pieces of hard candy in with the order. Phone calls were returned the same day.

These are all little things, but the message was big, “we were thinking of you.”

8 tips on Developing Customer Loyalty

1. Be Creative
It’s all about making your clients feel special. You can accomplish this by asking them, what they do like, what they don’t like. Keep in touch with them on a routine basis. Give them solid tips on how they can improve their business.

2. Send Your New Client a “Client Welcome Kit”
Make your business stand out, especially now that you are fresh in their mind.  Create a package that will let them know that you care. Put your brand name in front of them on a daily business.

Offer a rewards program. Offer a frequent purchase card (like your favorite restaurant offers), or a run a special through foursquare.  Try to personalize your reward program so that you give then something they want. Make it easy for them to keep purchasing.

3. Always Promptly Return Telephone Calls
Nothing is more irritating than having a problem that needs immediate attention and your support does not return your phone call for a couple of days.

4. Communicate Clearly and Frequently
You know the terms and procedures that are used in your industry. Chances are your clients have no clue. Talk to them in language that is clear to them. Keep in touch, let them know what you are doping and when.

5. Step it Up a Notch
It seems most people only do enough to get by these days. If you want to become invaluable step it up a notch. Raise your bar and see how your clients will sing praises about your company.

6.  Go the Extra Mile
There are times when a client will ask the impossible of you, like needing a marketing piece designed for the following morning’s meeting and it is 4:30. If your client knows that you will pull them out of the fire occasionally, then your value will increase.

7. Follow Through on Your Commitments
When you make a promise make sure you follow through on it. They may not say anything immediately, but your client will not forget.

8. Show Your Client That You Appreciate Their Business
Offer a rewards program. Offer a frequent purchase card (like your favorite restaurant offers), or a run a special through foursquare.  Try to personalize your reward program so that you give then something they want. Make it easy for them to keep purchasing.

We all have had clients that always wanted us to go the extra mile and never appreciate your service.  You wonder why do they even use your service? How do you deal with these types of clients?

QR codes, bridging the future with today.

We’ve all seen those commercials about what the future will bring us. Some seem so far-fetched that they couldn’t possibly really work. I vaguely remember the commercial about a family member pulling an empty ketchup bottle out of the refrigerator (who would put an empty bottle back into the fridge?) and using the built-in scanner on the fridge to order a new bottle.

Well, the fridge isn’t ordering products for us yet, but that same technology has finally arrived. Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones, QR codes have hit the scene and are taking over the way we will market our products.

A Quick Response (QR) code is a two-dimensional code that can be scanned by smartphone cameras to automatically pull up text, photos, videos, music and URLs. While QR codes are just beginning to take off in the U. S., they’ve been actively used for over a decade in Japan, where they were invented. These codes have become the latest way to direct people to online resources, additional information, and special product offers.

On the scanner side of things, apps that can scan codes are available for most smartphones. Simply search your app store for “barcode reader,” or “QR code scanner,” and you’ll find several to choose from.

Using QR Codes

QR codes are opening unimaginable innovative ways to connect information to people. They can be as small as a half-inch, up to large displays on the outside of your storefront. Because QR codes are so inexpensive, you are really only limited to your imagination as to how you can use QR codes.

Turn Foot Traffic Into Web Traffic: The most obvious use of QR codes is to drive people to your company’s Website. But simply sending someone to your Website’s homepage isn’t necessarily the best place to send people. Instead, build a simple, mobile-friendly page that is specifically designed to the message that relates to your ad.

Build Up Social Media Followers: Rather than sending users to your own site, why not connect them with your social media profiles? Sending them to your Facebook page or Twitter.

Business Cards: Place a link to your company’s Website or social media presence in a QR code to build immediate brand recognition.

Print Advertising: Many advertisers are finding that using QR codes in ads are a good way to bridge the gap between print and online. Unlike other print ads, those containing QR codes can be measured for their effectiveness.

Even the Red Wings are using QR codes

On marketing materials: You’ve got fliers, brochures, programs, handouts, whitepapers and countless other materials in your media kit. Add QR codes to direct viewers to your message.

The Detroit Red Wings have added QR codes to their marketing pieces to drive fans to watch videos. Fans are actually using QR code bar scanners on their mobile devices to access these videos, and sticking around to enjoy it.

“In tracking this effort, the Wings have found mobile devices to be the #1 viewing medium fans are using to see videos accounting for an overwhelming 22% of fans viewing linked videos nearly 2,000 times all the way through. We’re very excited at the possibilities this technology provides our team in giving more access and we’ve only just begun to tap into the capabilities it provides us in both marketing to our fans and giving them exactly what they are asking for in terms of access to their team.

Moving forward, we’re looking to create exclusive video content that is complimentary to stories included in the magazine, create opportunities for our advertisers to include offers in their ads via QR codes and put our fans in the driver’s seat when it comes to giving them information on the Detroit Red Wings.” (http://mashable.com/2010/02/10/red-wings-qr-codes/)

In storefront windows: You can use this code reward those who scan it with a discount on their purchase or even a free item. Use it to encourage social interactions, such as, Foursquare check-ins, point to your Yelp profile, or your Facebook account. You could even use a QR code to generate Facebook-likes.

You could print stickers and temporarily add to signage within a store to promote a new product or an upcoming special event.

For freebies: If you really want people to pay attention to your QR codes, make them good for something fun. Give them something small to thank them for their patronage. Simply create a custom QR code for the freebie you want to offer. You could even get creative and hide the QR code inside your store.

Things to Remember

Like any new technology, you’ll want to keep in mind that QR codes — and the apps that scan them — are still unfamiliar to most people.

Never assume your customers will know what to do. Make it a point to spell out how to scan the QR code, and help instruct customers on where they can grab scanner apps.

Also, remember that QR codes should provide some kind of value to the scanner. It may be easiest to direct QR code scanners to your website, but that’s likely not the most engaging place to send people. Invest in creating special landing pages for your QR codes.

Have fun with it. QR codes here to stay. The sky is the limit as to how you can market your business. Maybe even put a QR code on that futuristic fridge.

What do you think? Are you currently using QR codes? If so, how are you using them?

PS  And I’d love it if you could share this with all your friends by clicking the Facebook share button on the top of the page.

We are living in uncertain times.  Our financial markets have been hit hard, gas and food costs are spiraling out of control and our national and world economy is moving at an agonizingly slow pace. The word that best characterizes our current economic condition is “uncertainty.” Almost three years ago, our Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, in a speech to Congress, cautioned that the U.S. economy faced “numerous difficulties” and serious risks in the road to economic recovery. It seems everywhere you turn, businesses are pursuing different approaches to weathering current economic challenges. However, there appears to be two irrefutable facts:

1. It took years to get into this mess so, it is going to take us years to get out of it.
2. Businesses will have to take action of some kind to survive.

Some forward thinkers are suggesting it is time to think outside the box.  Unfortunately, most of their solutions are to make money telling you how to make money. I say it’s time to “burn the box.” It is time to take some inspiration from the Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez, who landed on the Yucatan peninsula in 1519. He had one objective…seize the greatest treasures hoarded by the Aztecs. Cortez convinced 500 soldiers and 100 sailors to take these riches from one of the most powerful empires of its time, an empire that was in power for over 6 centuries. Cortez was able to accomplish such an incredible feat by convincing his men that there was no turning back. He convinced his men to “burn the ships,” leaving no retreat.  He stated “If we are going home, we are going home in their ships.” Times were tough back then. The lure of riches and wealth would drive a man to traverse the expansive oceans, risking great peril, to die for a chance to obtain riches. Almost 500 years later we realize that these times are just as tough. I believe that not only do tough times call for tough decisions, but it calls for a different mindset. The old rules just don’t apply anymore. Again, I say, not only is it time to “burn the ships” it is time we “Burn the box,” leaving no escape routes. The only direction is forward. It is time to change our approach to how we market our business.

The Death of Traditional Marketing

Traditional marketing concepts are slowly dying out

• Magazine subscriptions are declining
• Yellow pages are being replaced with online search
• Newspapers readership is on the decline
  • 24 of the 25 major newspapers are recording declines in circulation
• TV commercials are being ignored
  • 14% of TV viewers trust the ads on TV
  • Only 18% of TV ads are generating a positive Return on Investment.
• We Tivo all of the shows we want to watch so we can fast forward through the commercials.
• Our postal mailbox is stuffed with junk mail

I have personally witnessed the decline in the news media in Michigan. A few years ago I went back to school to get my degree as an Internet Professional. I was actually able to help support my wife, Patty, and I by delivering newspapers at night. During my tenure as a paper boy, I witnessed the Detroit News and Free Press join their home deliveries together. Subscriptions continued to fall so dramatically, that both papers ended up dropping home deliveries to Friday through Sunday only. The Ann Arbor news built a multi-million state of the art facility, only to close it down four years later. The Ann Arbor publication can only be viewed online. And now we have the internet, the information superhighway, to complicate matters even more.

• Our email inbox is littered with spam
• Online marketers have realized that we are no longer paying attention to all of the ads on websites. So, they are resorting to using flying whiz bang graphics to catch our attention.

We have reached a point in time where we are agitated by the complete assault on our privacy. From the time we wake up, to the time we lay our head on our pillows, we are inundated with 3,000 ads a day. People are getting so jaded by advertising that they are tuning it out.

Long Live New Marketing!

I am old enough to remember the business model used in typical brick and mortar retail stores. When my parents had a problem we would enter into a retail store looking for a solution to our problem.  The sales person would be able to offer a solution. This solution was based on his expertise on his products.  The sales people would inform of our options, we would make a decision on this information purchase our solution. Boy, have times changed! When was the last time you walked into Wal-mart and tried just to find someone who could even tell you where a product is? But I digress. With the proliferation of the Internet into our lives, the typical consumer has become better informed. We walk into a retail store overloaded with all of the facts and figures about which product is best. If we even go into a retail store. Unless I need something immediately (believe me, when I want something, I don’t want to wait for it) I buy everything online. I am not alone. The eMarketer website states the 2011 projection for online sales will be 165.6 billion. People are still buying products from websites. The question is, are they buying from you? So, how do you get them to your website and turn inquisitive people into buyers?

A shift in your Paradigm

I suggest you start by changing your way of viewing marketing strategies and decide that you are going to “Burn the Box.” The shift in your paradigm comes when you realize that spending money to take a shotgun approach to marketing no longer works. It is time to commit to going forward. Leave no retreat. Put the past behind us and embrace a new approach. If you have decided it is time to “burn the box” stay tuned to my upcoming post, where I will begin to unfold a strategy that will help you to go confidently forward during these “uncertain” times.

Part 2: Internet Marketing 101: Using Your Blog to Generate Traffic