2-D codes for Dating

These cartoons amused me! Using 2-D codes for ‘reputation management’ in a social environment!

Tags: 2-D Codes, reputation
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Will digital save print?

You would think that digital has started to slowly strangle print. But, digital could well be its saviour. This article explains why this might be the case.

QR codes and 2D Data Matrix come to the rescue of print | printweek.com | http://ow.ly/pWus

Tags: 2-D Codes, digital, print, QR Codes
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Keeping it simple is easy to say but difficult to do

Focus on the outcome

Several years ago when working for one of the world’s largest software companies, I was having a conversation with a colleague whose background was software development but who was now in marketing. He was extolling the virtues of the latest version of the company’s software development tools.

It was interesting to a point, and I pointed out that I was probably not the best person to try and excite about the details because I was far more interested in what the tools did rather than how they did it. He was shocked at my attitude. I remember the look on his face. His expression looked as though I had just blasphemed. How could I work in that company and not be interested in the nuts and bolts of the ‘how’ of the software rather than the ‘what’ of the results of using the software?

The advertisements of the time for that product had a theme of moon landings and a line which went something like “Just imagine what could have been done in 1969 when getting those now famous Americans onto the moon if they had this product“.

The problem with that campaign was that most people who would be using the software were not trying to get astronauts to the moon. Most software developers wanted to do far more basic things in their daily work lives and do them slightly faster than previously possible. The launch of that version of the product was a flop and it took them another two to three years with the launch of a new version and more down to earth ambitions for the product to take off (if you’ll excuse the pun).

This story is commonplace in businesses which have technical products. Often, the technical people become wrapped up in splendid details and features but become detached from why their customers would benefit from them. That’s basic sales and marketing knowledge but it is surprising just how much it continues to happen.

Last night I ran a presentation at the Hull Digital networking event about 2-D codes which is a technology that enables people to scan a code on, say, a poster using their mobile phone which then might take them to a mobile web site, or which will dial a number for them, or send a text message.

This is all very well, but I focused on the opportunity that the technology represents rather than the technology itself in my presentation. 2-D codes happen to be good at connecting offline marketing (e.g. an ad in a magazine) to online resources (e.g. a mobile web site). But the opportunity which is more interesting is, for example, that of enabling two different companies with different specialisations in marketing to work together in partnership to offer clients new solutions.

This is approach is far easier for people to comprehend than an approach which talks about features. I know you need people who are good at understanding the features of a product or service. I couldn’t do my job without a team of expert web developers who know how it works. But clients don’t care too much about the ins and outs of a product. They just want to know if you can help, what the outcome will look like and when you can do it by.

It’s simple to understand, but often people forget to do it and end up losing opportunities to help their clients and to gain new ones.

Tags: 2-D Codes, business, developer, digital, focus, hull digital, marketing, mobile, networking, QR Codes, sales, technology
Posted in business, sales, technology | 4 Comments »

Why do you need 2-D codes

This week I am doing a short talk at the Hull Digital networking event about 2-D codes. Here is my slide set for you to download, comment upon and share. Click the link below to go to the page where you can download the slides. You will PowerPoint 2007 or the compatibility add-in if you have a previous version of Microsoft Office.

Why do I need 2-D codes? Free download http://ow.ly/l81m

Tags: 2-D Codes, digital, hull digital, marketing, microsoft, mobile, networking, QR Codes
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A Digital Community

Networking is an important part of what I do to meet prospective customers and partners. Jon Moss organises a networking group called Hull Digital which meets once a month in the city. It’s an interesting mix of people who either work or who are interested in the all things digital. Later this month, I will be doing a presentation to the group about 2-D codes.

Here’s a short video of interviews with some of the group members from the meeting in July.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE5OvOofV4A]

Tags: 2-D Codes, apple, digital, hull digital, jon moss, networking, video
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QR Codes Don't Connect Offline to Online

2-D codes are far more important than you may think

QR Codes don’t connect offline media to online media. They are far bigger than that. 2-D codes, QR codes, Microsoft Tag, Nokia Point & Find are talked about in articles I read and articles I write in a very tactical way.

‘Where can you use them?‘, ‘How can you use them?‘, ‘What do they do?‘. These are all valid questions which people ask now while people become aware of them in the world excluding Japan, which has been using the technology for a while.

But something has always been missing when I think about how I could use them in the business I work in to generate revenue. By their nature, 2-D codes are simple to set up and pretty much free to use. The value our business would get from them is in developing mobile web sites for clients, of course. But, my business is a digital agency. We don’t do print.

But this morning, I had a meeting with a local creative agency I know through a business networking group. I was asking them for some quotes and feedback on some projects I am working on, when I started talking to them about 2-D codes. They had never heard of them. I explained what they were and that’s when it hit me.

The bigger picture for 2-D codes is the opportunity they represent to connect partners together to develop solutions for our clients. Not only do they connect offline media to online media. They connect service providers together too in new ways to provide new solutions and approaches to clients and their customers.

When you look at 2-D codes this way, you have the opportunity to expand beyond the limitations of your own business by working with other service providers. Suddenly, a potentially sceptical creative print company to our digital agency becomes a partner.

Of course, there is still some way to go before 2-D Codes become commonplace here in the UK, but working like this with them will make the technology more tangible for clients who increasingly want to reach their customers in ways which suit them and not ways which suit the company.

Tags: 2-D Codes, business, creative, digital, marketing, media, microsoft, Microsoft Tag, mobile, networking, Nokia, Point & Find, print, QR Codes, strategy, technology, web sites
Posted in business | 7 Comments »

People Like Lists. So Use Them.

People like lists. So use them.

When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments written on those stone tablets, he started something which has captured people’s imagination ever since . He started a fascination for lists.

Perhaps one in every ten tweets that I see on Twitter has a link to a list of some description. It might be a list for the top ten Twitter tools, or a list for the top things to do when looking for the best way to find new customers. It might be top tips for learning to how to be a better manager.

Why do people like them? Some of it is due to their easy access. People can read them quickly to learn new things and then decide whether they want to read more detail. Lists are easy to remember. They can be amusing. They can be serious. You only have to look on popular web sites like Amazon to see lists in action. Bestseller lists, music charts, video charts. There are numerous web sites that are dedicated top ten lists of just about any subject, item or product you can imagine. The list goes on.

A list is often passed around to friends and contacts too. People like sending lists to people with whom they share an interest. People feel happy to send them to their contacts because they are quick to read and easy to pass around.

For anyone who has their own blog or web site, then lists are a surefire method to attract new visitors to your site. You can use lists to show your expertise in your field. They are a good way to provide fresh material to your web site and to build mailing lists.

Lists can be incorporated into documents which visitors download from your web site in return for their email address. When you use this method, you can identify their interests to help you send them relevant news and information if you have a newsletter.

Promoting a list is important to get right. If you have no marketing money to promote the list, then make use of tools like Twitter, LinkedIn Groups and Facebook. Share the link to the list with your friends and contacts through email too. Let as many people as you can know about the list. If it’s a good list, they will pass the link to your list around.

I recently put together a list which was in a document and which could be downloaded from my blog in return for their email address. It was on a particular subject, namely ‘QR codes and 2-D codes’. I promoted it through specialist groups on LinkedIn as well as through Twitter and Facebook. As a result, traffic increased five-fold on the first day of the promotion on my blog and it continues to be a popular link.

So, if you want a simple and effective way to build your mailing list nd vistors to your web site, start thinking up a list on your area of expertise, place it on your web site and promote it. It’s an effective and cheap way to bring visitors to your web site or blog who share your interests and value your expertise.

Tags: 2-D Codes, amazon, business, Five, LinkedIn, lists, marketing, QR Codes, ten commandments, Tweet, Twitter, video, web sites
Posted in business, marketing | 4 Comments »

Free Guides

Here are links to my free guides. All you have to do is click on the link belowto download the guide or slide deck.

Here is the link to the form for the ‘Twenty Uses for QR Codes‘ guide.

Why do I need 2-D codes? Slides about 2-D codes, how they work, the problem they solve and the opportunities they represent.

Other formats of slides

Hull Digital 2-D Codes Presentation PPT slides - PowerPoint 97-2003 version.

Why do I need 2-D Codes? – PowerPoint  2007 version.

Tags: 2-D Codes, digital, hull digital, QR Codes
Posted in business | 1 Comment »