Do you have a QR code for your website?
I never thought about getting one until yesterday when the tree surgeon arrived to check out the tree that threatens to lift the house.
When he parked his car in my drive I couldn’t believe it! A PR savvy tree care company displaying their QR Code not just on his car but, so he told me, on all their vehicles (rear and either side)!
That’s it. I had to get mine. Here it is:
I’m not quite sure how useful it is to publish my QR code on my blog, but I could certainly stick it on my business card.
If you cannot wait to get your QR code, here are two websites that generate them for free:
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
http://quikqr.com/
The second one also has a review of QR reader apps with download links for your smartphone.
What are you waiting for? Get yourself QR Coded!
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s a great subject to investigate, Max. I heard about those codes when I was last at home (back in New Zealand), and while I haven’t seen any on cars yet, I have seen a couple of business cards sporting the black and white.
Isn’t it funny to watch ourselves? We’re planning to carry around a card to give to another human, that has information on it that the other human cannot read, unless they have a smart phone to interpret . . . Another division between the haves and the have nots coming up, I see.
I can see the uptake of smartphones given another boost if this thing takes off. Now let’s see them bring the price down a little.
Anthony
Anthony Smits recently posted..Why is Achieving Success such a Mystery?
Anthony,
One of the things I discovered about the QR codes on my business card was that they didn’t work. Ooops.
The challenge is: testing, testing, testing. Hmmm, how do I test if I don’t have a device with a QR Code Reader app?
I am sure you remember the price of mobile/cellphones way back when. Nowadays you can get them virtually for free with £10 of connect time.
Give it some time and we’ll see smartphones coming down significantly in price with the development of the next step. What that will be, obviously no one knows yet.
By way of illustration, I bought my first laptop in 1987, second hand, for £1800 (about $2,700). It was a great machine, but any tablet device today is a supercomputer compared to my Tosh with its orange plasma screen and 2 floppy disk drives (which at the time was far superior to an equivalent IBM PC).
We’re still only at the start of this age of information lark.
Max
Pretty cool Max!
I’ve only recently started noticing these QR codes and took the time to find out what they were just last week.
Thanks for the post!
You are welcome, Lesley.
The more I investigate, the more intriguing the possibilities opened up by QR Codes get.
Max
Max,
I guess it’s not a passing trend. Seeing it on your business card…it raises curiosity and it saves curious cats from having to type in an url…anything that’s convenient is bound to last.
Plus, I think the fact that there’s also an assumption that there will be a deal behind the code, which is not always so. But don’t you want to find out???
Thanks for the post. I may have to look into this!
Louise
Louise Mandar recently posted..Ways to Deal With Stress and Stay Productive
The curiosity aspect work a treat, Louise. But… the QR code on my biz card did not work.
Cool, isn’t it. I’ll have to investigate what the minimum size is for it to work with a smartphone. And other technical problems.
But the idea is great.
Max
Hi Max
Have seen the code displayed in the corner of the screen on some TV programmes, mostly on the cooking programmes I watch.
Don’t know much about the code so will follow your link.
Dee
Dee recently posted..Subscribing to email lists
I saw more of them in a free newspaper today on my way to the London Lunch. Definitely worth looking into closely, Dee.
I think the possibilities here, too, are endless and only limited by the limits of one’s imagination.
Max
Hi Max,
Yes, I am starting to see more and more of these QR codes. Just yesterday I saw one on the wall of the local supermarket.
Things are evolving all the time, huh?
Good post.
Gary Simpson
http://www.internetbusinesscodex.com
Thanks, Gary.
Evolving? More like mutating given the speed of change. It’s awe inspiring especially considering that the IBM PC was only born 30 years ago and morphed into the ipad 2 by now.
We are only seeing the beginning of it this brave new world.
Max
Max,
Being that I work from home and spend a lot of time there because of the family, I never use my old cell phone. Which means, I’m completely not ‘with it’ when it comes to the latest phone technology (never thought I’d say anything like that before…makes me feel old). I’m sure these QR codes don’t even work on my phone.
I’m going to wait and see if this is just a lasting trend or not, before I jump in.
But good for you for staying ‘with it’ and staying young!
Louise
Louise Mandar recently posted..Ways to Deal With Stress and Stay Productive
Hi Louise,
Thank you for the compliment, especially about staying young….
QR codes are big and will eventually rule. There is no doubt about it.
And no, I don’t have a smartphone either (you need a smartphone with camera for them to work) and my ipod does not have a camera. But I still use them. I just printed a new set of business cards with QR codes for this URL and my Big Videos For You.
Off to my first networking meeting today with my new card. Even if no one has a smartphone there (and I know that at least some of them will have one), at the very least, it’s going to arouse curiosity. Isn’t that all we want.
(As I can’t insert an image here, I’ve updated the blog post with an image of my biz card.)
Now, to come clean, today’s meeting is an IM meet up. So no clients to be had there. but in ten days time, I’ll go to a local business meeting. I wonder what that will do for me?
Max
Hi Max
Interesting but I don’t know what it is really used for but I will have to go and visit those sites and find out. Never heard of it before.
To YOUR success
Sue
Sue McDonald recently posted..Do Not Buy Leads
Hi Sue,
Well, check out my replies to the comments above and below you and you’ll get a pretty good picture (no pun intended).
Max
Hi Max
What is a QR code?
Richard
Richard Moloney recently posted..Why I Hate Flat Pack Furniture
Everything you always wanted to know about QR Codes and were not afraid to ask, Richard:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_codes
Now if that does not date us,…
Cheers
Max