Top Five Creative Ways to Use QR Codes

Top 5 Creative Ways to Use QR Codes

QR Codes, short for “Quick Response Code”, could be the next wave of the future. But just what are these digital doo-hickeys? Are they just another Universal Product Codes (UPC)? A strange logo? Part of a super secret government plan to track your every move? Nope, no sir, and thankfully not.
These funky codes can be scanned with your iphone, a co-worker’s blackberry, or that personality impaired tech guy’s android apparatus. Scanning a QR Code allows you to obtain instant answers and links you directly to whatever you may need.
So without further ado, here are our Top 5 Uses for the Modern Day QR Code Marvel:

Get Informed Picture this–You’re walking along a nature trail and you spot a really cool area with a sign post that has a QR Code on it. You whip out your phone, scan it, and instantly you’re able to gather information about the trail, the park, the flora and fauna of the location, park and trail history and other interesting spots to visit. Take that one step further and imagine you’ve traveled to a new city. Instead of following a crowded tour, you can self-guide yourself with the use of QR Codes you find along your journey. By doing this, you make your trip an adventure of your own rather than taking the route and pace that most tourists follow. The availability of acquiring information within seconds is something that QR Codes are incredibly efficient at and will be increasingly productive in the future.

Convert Someday to Right Now Most print campaigns leave money on the table. Even well intentioned buyers are likely to forget or lose the initial enthusiasm created by your campaign if it requires remembering to do something in the future. Our on-demand society already has a jam-packed schedule that makes even the most emotionally charged buyer difficult to reach unless you can give them a way to take swift action now. QR Codes can direct an otherwise passive viewer to take immediate action–make a purchase, register for an event, or take a survey. Ta-Da! Instant action.

Traffic to Websites Instead of posting a long website address that your audience is likely to forget by the time they get to their computer, place a QR Code on your printed piece. Whether it’s an advertisement, direct mail, business card, flyer, or exterior street signage, your potential consumer can immediately gain access to what your company is about, what you’re promoting, and you can nudge them to act now instead of the dreaded “maybe later.” And to top it off, you can track and analyze the results of your printed pieces. After all, if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it or repeat it. Marketing shouldn’t be guesswork.

Turn a Printed Catalog into a Storefront What if your customers could check inventory and purchase 24 hours a day right from your printed catalog? QR Code your catalog and they can! Coding your catalog doesn’t limit a customer depending on their time zone, company business hours, or their busy schedule. Not only does this help increase usability but also expands the productivity of your potential sales. So whether your shopper is an early bird or a night owl, the opportunity is there!

Make Smarter Real-World Objects Now that you know more about QR Codes, imagine all the other ways they can be used. Downtown Menu Signage, Window Shopping, Magazines and Newspapers, Product Packaging, Real Estate Signs, Techy T-Shirts and Merchandise, and Public Transportation Signage are just a few other ideas. Heck, beer and soda manufacturers are even toying with this concept by bridging the offline/on-line socialness of their beverages. You can use QR Codes on concert tickets for quicker admissions or create a QRCode scavenger hunt contest. The opportunities are boundless! You see them everywhere! Can you think up a new use?

Twurdy - A Web Search With a Readablity Index

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 Twurdy is search tool that automatically displays the readability of your search results for you. Twurdy uses a simple color-coded system to indicate how easy or difficult it is to read a particular website in your search results. There are three types of Twurdy searches; Just Twurdy, Simple Twurdy, and Twurdy with Pop. Here's how Twurdy defines the three search types:

Just Twurdy - searches using Twurdy's basic algorithm with medium speed and medium results.

Simple Twurdy - searches using Twurdy's simple algorithm for fast speed but less accurate results

Twurdy with Pop - searches using Twurdy's most complex algorithm which includes looking up the popularity of words within the text. It has a slower speed with more accurate results.

Applications for Education

Twurdy could be a useful resource for teachers trying to find reference materials appropriately matched to their students' reading abilities. It could also be used by students to help the refine searches to match their abilities.

5 Rules for Creating Great Presentations from Nancy Duarte

With over a quarter million presentations under her belt, including notable ones like Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, Nancy Duarte reigns supreme as the world's most sought-after presentation expert. Recently, Nancy paid a visit to HubSpot in preparation for her appearance as keynote speaker at 2011 HUGS, and shared a bit of her wisdom on what sets apart great presentations from average ones.

Nancy Duarte's Five Rules for Creating Great Presentations

Face it. Most presentations are not great. Many of us have come to rely on tools like Powerpoint to facilitate meetings and convey ideas—yet more often than not, we fall short.  

How in the world is a slide this going to inspire action?

Great presentations can and do inspire change. They make meaning. They move people. 

Use these five simple but powerful rules to elevate your next presentation from mundane to magnificent.

RULE #1: Treat your audience as king. 

Like any good content, great presentations focus less on the author and more on the audience. Don't just throw together slides that force your point of view on the audience; design slides that meet THEIR needs. What does your audience want? What unites them? What incites them? What can you do for them? Why should they adopt your view? And finally, what steps do they need to take? Don't forget that the last slide is the one they'll most remember, so take extra care to be very clear on that final page.

RULE #2: Spread ideas & move people. 

Don't just share your ideas or your data; make meaning. Don't focus solely on changing minds; put some effort into changing hearts. Powerful imagery and though-provoking video are excellent tools for connecting your audience to your message emotionally—which after all is how humans ultimately make decisions, and what separates man from machine.

RULE #3: Help them see what you're saying. 

On average, half your audience will be verbal thinkers, and half will be visual. Cater to both by brainstorming graphics that will effectively communicate your words. Then apply a consistent look that helps attract, not distract your audience from your message.

RULE #4. Practice design, not decoration.

Nancy rightly points out that 90% of the creative process is actually destructive. You create a slide—and then slowly but surely see what you can peel away. 

Do you have one main point? Consider using just a single word on a slide to convey your core message. Want your audience to remember several ideas? Don't plop them all bullet-style on a single slide; reveal them one at a time, creating story, and share an example or anecdote to illustrate each one. Have an image or quote that accurately expresses your idea? Let it! Don't be afraid to remove everything else from the slide, and let that one powerful image say it all.

RULE #5. Cultivate healthy relationships with your slides—and your audience.

Too many of us "hide" behind our slides. We overload them with text and complicated diagrams, hoping they'll reduce the communication burden—when actually they increase it. Reduce the amount of text on your slides as much as possible. Put all of the details in your notes, and practice like crazy! Get in the habit of using slides only as 'digital scenery' and connecting eye to eye with your audience. Remember: the Audience is King.

You can hear Nancy share more wisdom in person at the 2011 HubSpot User Group Summit next month where she'll be the lunchtime keynote speaker. Better yet, consider attending BOTH the Inbound Marketing Summit—where you'll hear from folks like Guy Kawasaki, Dan Heath and Chris Brogan—and HubSpot User Group Summit, so you can meet Nancy in person AND up your overall inbound marketing game. The two events are back to back in Boston this fall.

In the meantime, take a moment to ponder Nancy's Golden Rule: Never deliver a presentation you wouldn't want to sit through yourself.