Generate Free QR Codes Easily with SocialQRcode

SocialQRCode is a free service that allows users to easily generate QR Codes that, when scanned by a smart phone camera, direct people to a socially-designed Landing Page. From this page, people can “Like” a Facebook fan page, “Follow” a Twitter profile, “Share” and “Tweet” content or a coupon with their “Friends” and “Followers”, or even interact with your print advertisement by watching a supplemental YouTube video embedded in a Social QR Code.

Basically, this is a great site to generate a QR Code that is designed to promote social network sites or viral media. It is a great for those sites, but if you are looking for a QR Code Generator that just points to your website, check out this blog.

Underheard in New York: The story behind the project

The Underheard in New York concept is a spinoff of the snarky website "Overheard in New York."

It's the brainchild of a group interns from the advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty. The concept is simple, yet brillent: Four homeless people — Danny (@putodanny), Derrick (@awitness2011), Albert (@albert814) and Carlos (@jessie550) — were given their own prepaid cell phone, a month of unlimited text messaging and a Twitter account.

The goal was to raise awareness and give a peek inside the daily struggles and unexpected challenges of being homeless in a major urban city

I have to say that I think it worked. I have never tweeted or blogged about the homeless, and look… I have posted 2 blogs and about 10 tweets relating to this project. It worked on me!

Well done interns! !

Sources: Nydailynews.com, Mashable.com

Homeless Man Finds Daughter After 11 Years Apart Via Twitter

Daniel Morales, a participant of the Underheard in New York project, got a Twitter account about three weeks ago, documenting what it's like to be homeless - 140 characters at a time.

Wednesday evening he tweeted, "Hi thi is to let yo people know that in lookin eoq my daughter her name is sarah m rivera."

Morales also posted his cell number and a picture of his daughter at age 16, 11 years ago. Within about 24 hours, he received a call from his daughter.

"She lives in Brooklyn!" Morales said. "We are going to get together tomorrow, but we don't know where yet. I didn't even recognize her voice, but it turns out she is so close. It's too much, too much."

Congratulations Daniel and Sarah!

Source:nydailynews.com

More Information on The Underheard in New York project

QR Codes Can Be Cool

What Is a QR Code?

QR Codes can be artistic!

QR Codes can be added into design elements of your office or personal fashion.

QR Code Rug

QR Codes can be great advertising!

Packaging

Homeless and Tweeting

I found this article on cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com I found it so interesting that I just had to share it with you. This is just some of the highlights of the article. The entire article is posted here.

"Derrick Wiggins, 44, began his daily tweeting at 5:41 Wednesday morning, and it wasn’t about the quality of his French roast coffee or his favorite “American Idol” contestant.

It was to let his roughly 3,800 followers know that he had woken up safely in the New York City Rescue Mission, a drop-in shelter on Lafayette Street, and eaten breakfast there.

His next message, at 6:03 a.m., outlined his immediate plans: “It is going to be a cold day my plans are to minimize the amount of exposure to the cold by making use of the subway.”

Mr. Wiggins’s Twitter handle is @awitness2011, and the profile on his Twitter page explains that he is “tweeting from a prepaid cell phone.” It identifies him as “A native New Yorker and a Giants fan. Homeless.”

Mr. Wiggins is one of four homeless men who were given prepaid cellphones so that they could create a Twitter following, as part of a project started by three recent college graduates who are interns at the BBH advertising agency in TriBeCa.

“We had the idea to use social media to help out the homeless,” said one of the interns, Rosemary Melchoir. “One goal was to increase the interaction between homeless people and the community around them.”

Underheard in New York, whose goal is to “help homeless New Yorkers speak for themselves through Twitter."

Read Entire Article On Cityroom.Blogs.nytimes.com

Tips for Interacting with Customers Online

1. Thank Other Users - Take the time to thank your users when they interact with you online. Twitter example: when a user Retweets (RT) one of your posts, send them a direct message thanking them for the RT. Comment on articles that you find interesting or relevant and RT them.
2. Don't Focus On The Big Names- Stay away from the big brands, they usually have so many people vying for their attention that they can have a hard time keeping up. Focus instead on creating relationships with people who have common interests. They might just have a friend or contact that is in dier need of what you have!
3. Add Value David Mullen said this so perfectly on his blog, “There are lots of ways to provide value to your online connections. Share great industry news stories and funny videos. Point them to other smart people with whom you think they should connect. Have a point of view on issues or trends and let them know about it. If you work for Kraft, share a great recipe daily or links to nutrition news."
4. ASK FOR HELP. If you are having a problem on any of the main social sites, why not twitter about it. This is a great way to ask your followers for help. When I first switched to the iphone I reached out on twitter multiple times for help. Those followers began to interact with me on other topics and helped me begin to really engage users and find more followers.
5. Make Personal Stuff Work For You- It is true that people don't care what you are eating for breakfast, but if you are a heath club, your followers may want heathy breakfast recipes. . There is a difference between pointless personal information and information that is interesting and/or entertaining.

Twitter Example: Future Physique is a health club that shares health and fitness information and tips online.

• Bad Tweet: Just Saw an cyclist get hit by a bus.
• Appropriate Tweet: Just Saw an cyclist get hit by a bus. If you are riding a bike for a workout today, wear a helmet.

• Bad Tweet: Eating Grapefruit, Granola and Yogurt for breakfast, ummm.
• Appropriate Tweet: Eating Grapefruit, Granola and Yogurt for breakfast, I blogged the recipe for you to try. It helps jump start my metabolism in the morning. Link

5 Quick Tips Online Presence Success

Google Search: What is an online presence

#1 Result:

AGOF defines An online presence as an entity of HTML pages that can be reached via a joint address (URL)…” Ten years ago, people thought an online presence meant having a website, but today, just having a website is simply not enough. A company must have a presence online that includes a multitude of ways to contact your customers.

Social networking sites have proven an invaluable tool for creating a strong multi-channeled online presence. These sites increase your websites ranking, helping to move your website to the top of the search engine results pages.

Todays consumer does not just use the internet to obtain information, they use it to interact with your company. Today it is as important for businesses to interact with customers online as it is for them to answer the phones. Companies are turning to social media to solve customer problems, release and respond to the press, and ultimately control their message online. To find out more about interacting with other users appropriately online, check out this Quick Tips Blog.

Unfortunately there is not one formula for online presence success as every individual is unique. Playing the online presence game requires time, dedication, knowhow and some really handy tools. Don’t be afraid to ask for outside help if you feel entering this world too overwhelming. There are many experts that can help you get started the right way! They can train you on the basics and set you up for success.

Here are some things that I think everyone should know about the online presence game.

1. Start with the Big 4- Twitter, Facebook, Linked In and Myspace. These are the four main social sites. Focus on these to start and add more as you learn more about working these social sites.
2. Plaster your website URL on all your social sites. This creates backlinks for your Internet site. The greater amount of links you have got directed for your website the higher up your website should appear in the major search engines results pages.
3. Start a Blog to Write related articles or post to a blog that links back to your site. As we discussed earlier, backlinks, backlinks, backlinks. A blog can be as simple as you want it to be. It doesn’t have to be a huge time-consuming task to manage a blog. One article a week relevant to your industry can do wonders when incorporated into a social media campaign. If you truly feel unqualified to build your blog, invest the money to have someone do it for. It will be worth the investment.
4. Monitor and Respond- Make sure that you check your accounts a minimum of once a week.
5. Tell EVERYONE- Do you have a check out counter at your physical location? Put up a small poster with your twitter URL. It can be as simple as this one below. Mention it on your voicemail, have staff mention it to patrons, do anything and everything to let people know you are online and on these social sites.

I sincerly hope that these tips helped you get a better idea where to start after your website is launched. I know it can be overwhelming to jump into the online world, but don't be too worried, we were all newbies once in our life!

Sources/ Helpful Links

http://www.agof.de/glossary.194.en.html

http://www.nichevolumes.com/website-advertising-tips-and-techniques-to-extra-web-page-visitors/

Magic Announce Full Sail University Amway Center Partnership

Orlando, FL (via PRWEB) February 18, 2011

Orlando Magic and Full Sail University are proud to announce their new partnership, which includes opportunities for Full Sail student and staff collaborations inside the new Amway Center. Content from Full Sail University will appear on Magic TV during Orlando Magic home games and special events, as well as on OrlandoMagic.com, the team’s official website.

The partnership includes content created by Full Sail students, graduates and staff, including motion graphics, graphic design and custom video content featuring Full Sail branding located throughout several areas in the new Amway Center.

Read More On PRWEB About Full Sail University and the Amway Center.

Digital Portrait- Rough Sketch

This is a quick sketch of a portrait I did of Monica Nielsen. It was an idea I had pitched that was turned down, so I didn't put any finishing touches on it. Don't be too critical in the comments, please!

It was completely composed in photoshop by Nichole Wheat

Show Me My QR Code

I am having a blast with my QR Code. I printed it out and stick it up everywhere.

Here is a photo of my QR Code on my car and on @JoshuaTree321 with it on his forehead!

Show me where you can put my QR Code!

Print out the QR Code Below and Stick it somewhere! Take a photo of the Code and send it to NetMktWiz@gmail.com.

The best photos will be posting in up and coming blogs with a link to their website, blog or twitter account!

Free advertisement for you!

IGENAPPS: A Great Tool For Business!

Lately I have been looking into creating my own app for iphones. I think it would be a great marketing tool. Plus, I am really excited about paring it with my QR code.

My plan is to create an app and point a QR code at it! I feel this will be a effective way to get users of iphone access to my app since they need a smart phone to use a QR code!

I wanted to share with you my findings on apps!

I came across this app that is set to be released in the first quarter of 2011 called IGenApps. It is a new way of creating and generating mobile apps. iGenApps will allow you to make your own apps without knowing how to do any programming! I love the internet but I have no desire to spend hours searching the web for tutorials on how to make apps or paying someone a ton of money to create one for me.

This app is designed for personal and business use and appears to have some great features.

It allows the user to choose from a variety of screen types such as:

-Horizontal Scrolling Screens

-Coverflow Screens

-Gallery Screens

-Simple Lists

-Sorted Lists

-Description Lists

-Category Lists

-Event Lists

-Calendar Screens

-Details Screens

-Map Screens

Users can also create links to:

-Email Addresses

-Phone numbers

-YouTube Videos

-Websites

-Physical Addresses

This links that you will create will interact directly with the other iPhone Apps like the Phone, Mail, Safari, Google Maps and YouTube Apps.

Users can also select from 3 different Menu Screens which are:

-Menu with icons (9 icons max)

-Menu by tabs (5 tabs max)

-Menu with buttons (6 buttons max)

Until the app is released, I won’t have any feedback for you guys, but here is what their website says about the app. “Sounds simple? Well its even simpler than it sounds. You're probably wondering, 'what's the catch?' How can it be so easy and so cheap to develop an iPhone App? iGenApps is basically a tool that will walk you through the creation of a Web Application that will look and feel like any other Native iPhone App. After creating your first App, you will obtain your own web address which you will first access through the Safari. You can then Add it to your Home Screen and that's it! You can then share your web address with your friends, colleges or clients so that they can also use your new app.”

There is no information about how much this app will cost, but as long as IGENApp keeps it affordable for a majority of the users, it will probably be a pretty successful app. I am going to be keeping an eye on this!

Contact Information

Facebook

Website

Deck.ly Ruins Micro-Blogging

The new update to Tweetdeck v0.37.2, known as Deck.ly is ending the era of Micro-blogging. No longer does a user have to use creativity to compose a tweet, he or she can ramble on and on, ultimately burying the message they are trying to convey.

One of the things I love about tweeting is trying to figure out how I can fit my thoughts, feelings and emotions into 140 characters. It is short, sweet and to the point. I can get my point across fast and users can quickly decide if they are interested.

Do you know how hard it would be to interact with a large number of users when I have to take longer than 5 seconds to read their tweets? Bottom line is that I don't interact with longer tweets; I just don't have the time. I don't retweet them, I don't click their links, they appear too long and I skip right over them.

The internet generation is full of attention deficiet users, which is one of the main reasons 140 character limits is so successful.

Do you think twitter would have grown so rapidly if it wasn't such a simple concept?

Leave a comment below or tweet me @netmarketwiz with your opinion. What do you think about longer Tweets?

How Do You Wear Your QR Code?

I WEAR MINE IN THE BACK!

TAKE A PHOTO OF YOU WEARING A QR CODE AND TWEET ME @NETMARKETWIZ (link in the side bar)

I was sooooo geeked the other day when my fiancee came home with a new shirt for me. He had donated blood and gave me the t-shirt. I quickly noticed the QR Code under the Florida Blood Centers Logo. I have been keeping an eye on QR Codes for a while now, finally they are starting to be used like they should be. EVERYWHERE!!!

QR Codes are going to revolutionize the way businesses design advertising materials, campaigns and internet marketing strategies. The days of out dated information are over.

Monica Nielsen gives us a great example of what I am talking about in her blog. She states, "How many times in the last five years have you had to change business cards? Think about how much your contact information has changed. A simple remedy is to design a business card with a QR code on it. This QR code could point to your contact information which you can update as it changes. No longer would old email address and phone numbers keep you out of touch! The money a company could save by not having to re-order business cards every year could be significant!"

I agree Monica! I am loving the new sylish QR Codes!

Click to read the rest of Monica's blog

QR Codes: What Are They And What Do They Mean To You?

A Quick Response (QR) code is a two-dimensional code (similar to the bar code system) that can be scanned by smartphone cameras to automatically pull up text, photos, videos, music and URLs.

These codes are revolutionizing the way Americans interact in their offline world with online resources.

An example of a QR code is the one in the upper right hand corner of my blog. This is a QR Code generated by JumpScan This mobile-friendly Code allows me to point you the user to my social networking information in a snap.

These codes have been around since 1994 when invented by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave. They are already popular in Japan, consumers in the United States are just now beginning to take notice.

Relevant Links: How To Use QR Codes for Businesses?