You’ve seen them everywhere. Little blocks of pixilated black dots with intertwined random shapes, inside a thin black frame. What are they you ask? They are QR CODES. Yeah…that says it all, right? Probably not, so let me explain. ‘QR’ stands for ‘Quick Responce’. It is the modern day equivalent of a bar code used to transfer information like names, numbers, addresses or other communication information to your cell phone and stores it in your contact list or takes you directly to a website using your phones browser. Pretty neat huh? Absolutely! First introduced in Japan (where most new stuff comes from), QR Codes are quickly overtaking the market in the U.S. We are seeing them on everything from magazine covers to bus benches. The way they work is quite simple. First, you must have a cell phone with a camera. If you don’t have one, you are truley outdated and should sprint, (not run) to your nearest cell phone provider store and pick one up! Next, you must install a reader into your phone. You can do so by using your phone’s browser to visit trusted website like www.i-Nigam.com or www.optisan.com, which have the most updated software for I-phone and other smart phones on the market today. (If you have a Nokia or other type of cell phone not supported by these sites, you can visit www.QRstuff.com for a list of other websites that you can download these readers for free). Once you have downloaded the reader, now you are ready to scan! Each program works just about the same way. You open your reader and it prompts your camera to turn itself on. You click on the picture button and it captures the image on your phone’s screen. Depending on what the QR code contains, you will either get contact information, a website URL or even a text message instatly sent to your phone containing marketing information for that company. You can also store the QR code for later retreival.
For the end user it’s just another leap into the future or communication. But for the businesses using it, it’s a new marketing tool that opens up a whole new set of doors to gain more market share. Companies can put them on their employee’s business cards with contact information, n website to create browser bookmarks, t-shirts, vehicle graphics, even billboards! The possibilities are endless. And because the codes are all generated under the same standard global specifications, you can market your company internationally and be able to transmit the same message all around the world.
Now that I’ve gotten you all excited about this new opportunity, here is how to create your own QR Code. Since the technology is failry new to the U.S., code generation is being offered at no charge. Even the code readers can be downloaded on various website for free. There are several sites that will generate these codes for you. My favorite is www.QRstuff.com. They offer an array of possible options to include in your QR Code and the process is very easy. Just type the information into the fields of your choice and the QR Code generator displays a sample of what your code will look like. Once you have entered all the information you want it to contain, you can have your code e-mailed to you to use at your discretion. A word of advise, once you receive your image, save it in the highest resolution possible. If you don’t have a way to alter resolutuion, have a graphic designer do it for you. It’s crutial for the code to be clear for it to work. Also, make sure that your QR Code is printed no smaller that .5″ x .5″ to ensure that cell phone camera’s can pick-up on the image. For other ideas and guidelines on how you can use QR Codes to properly market your business, visit www.mojomediamiami.com to get all your questions answered.
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