Description

Have you seen those little funky blocky on posters and signs? Those are . In this video, explains what they are, how you use them, how you create them FOR FREE, and whether you should add them to your marketing mix. These little guys have a high “cool factor” and many companies have embraced them. But will they drive traffic and customers to your site? Find out. Watch it now!

Transcript

Note from Eric: Below, you will find a word-for-word transcript of this video. I provide this as an aid for the hearing-impaired and for those who might just want to read it rather than watch the video. This conversational style is not reflective of how I write. Be nice! This is with ericspellmann.com. And today we’re going to be talking about . I’m always being asked “Eric shall I go get a QR code? Someone told me that if I get a QR code I’ll get all sorts of business.” Well, let’s find out.

First let’s find out what a QR code is though. A lot of people have no idea. Basically, you see that little thing above me? That’s a QR code. It looks like a funky bar code in a cube shape. And basically it is a funky bar code. But it’s a barcode of a URL, a web address.

That’s all it really is! When a proper scanner works, it turns it into a long URL so that you don’t have to type it which is really what it’s for. It’s meant to save typing. Really you just hold your smartphone up to it with the right app on it and it will scan it and you can go to a website. That’s all it is.

My favorite app to scan these things is RedLaser. The reason I like RedLaser is number one it’s free. And number two I can use it to scan real too! So for instance I might be at WAL-MART. And I hold it up and I scan a barcode and it will tell me how much it is at every other store! So I can find out if I’m getting a good deal or not. I use RedLaser all the time. But it will also work on .

So the big question is how can I make one? Well first of all don’t pay someone to make your QR code. You can do it for free. My favorite site is qrstuff.com. You can go there, type in a web address and it will give you the QR code. You can download it, you can print it, and you can put it on something. If you really want to make one of these, qrstuff.com is my favorite site.

The key is to wait for people to scan it, and that’s where we get into the next slide, which I’m a little nervous to even show you. Should you make one? NO! There is no reason to make these things. I just don’t like them.

Well I tell you what. There is one reason you might want to make one…

No, I take it back. Just kidding.

There is no reason to make them. I hate these things and they do not bring you any benefit whatsoever. So let me be crystal clear. I do not believe are valuable in the least. And let me explain why.

Basically you have to make people work to get advertised to. Think about it. Let’s say you make a QR code. And so you put it up on a poster in a building or in an airport. So someone sees that QR code.

So they have to pull up their phone and hopefully they have an app on it. They will understand so maybe they have RedLaser and maybe they know how to use it. So they sit there, open RedLaser and they hold it up and they have to line it up to take a picture of the QR code and then boom!

It simply takes em to a website where you are advertising to em. Seriously?? People are not going to do that. It’s too complicated! And remember, I’ve been preaching this on every video I make. Everyone on the internet has ADD and they are lazy. Convincing people to take all that extra time just to be advertised to, it’s not going to work.

I’m not a big fan of and some of you must be wondering “Eric do you have any stats to back that up?” Yes! And that’s because some of my customers have tried them. They’ve gone out there, paid a huge amount of money for a QR code where you can actually make em for free.

They put em up and when you look at the statistics, they hardly got any return on them whatsoever. Less than 1%! And it wasn’t even worth all the expense. So, I’m not a big fan.

As always if you have any questions on this or maybe you disagree with me, go to my facebook fan page on this by going to ericspellmann.com and by clicking on the little facebook link. Give me a chat or shoot me an email. I’ll be happy to talk with you that way too.

You can also see all the videos that I have done by clicking on the videos link on my website. And don’t forget I have a sister site computertips101.com, where you can learn all sorts of basic things about your computer or maybe your parents want some videos on how to use their computer. Totally free, I’d be happy to help. I am with EricSpellmann.com; I’ll see you in cyberspace.