When it comes to small business marketing, a new tool is QR Codes. These little boxes are starting to pop up in newspapers and magazines. In Camden Maine, QR codes are being embraced by small business owners in their marketing toolkit. Brian Hodges, the economic development director for Camden is leading the way for the local small businesses.

QR codes are images are essentially hyperlinks that smartphones can scan with the right application. Once an image is scanned the phone’s Internet browser is directed to a website. For instance, on a Starbucks cup of coffee, a QR code — short for “quick response” — might bring smartphone users to the company’s website for a special coupon.

Some downtown businesses have stepped up. The gift shop Once a Tree uses them on its business cards. The Smiling Cow gift shop, which is closed for the season, posted two of the images in its window to direct off-season customers to its website. Some local real estate businesses put them side-by-side with their listings.

“QR codes are perfect at bridging the offline with online,” Hodges said at a free seminar for small-business owners on Wednesday. “These are a mystery to some and old hat to others, but it’s basically a bar code to the Internet.”

Hodges unraveled the mystery: Basically, businesspeople just need to find a free QR code generator online and type in the Web address they want the image to direct people to. Voila. Then the business can make stickers with the image, print it on business cards or display a QR code in their store front.

“The sky is the limit,” Hodges said.

In Camden, Hodges is working on putting together a walking tour of historic landmarks. If the town can install small placards with QR codes, it can direct people to more information about the places without spending a ton of time or money on huge signs with lots of information.

The idea seemed to catch on with the nine business owners attending Wednesday’s seminar.

“I’m a troglodyte when it comes to social media. I have no young employees to help me either,” said Janet Blevins, the owner of Knight Equestrian Books in Edgecomb, who came to learn more about how the codes work. “It takes a lot of time to do social media, like Facebook, but this I can do easily.”

For her, it’s difficult to sell some types of books without explaining their benefit. For instance, she has a new book by a horse trainer who thought of a new training method.

“I’ve never sold a copy without talking to the person,” Blevins said. When she does talk to people, they want it. Her idea is to put up a QR code by the book that could link to a YouTube video of the particular training method to show how it works, in action.

Libby Schrum, who is the owner of a start-up furniture-making company in Camden said QR codes will be especially helpful to her because she has no storefront and relies on Web traffic to her site for sales.

Mike Leonard is just starting up his business too. His ambitious plans for QR codes included wrapping them all around his car.

“Anyone who sees me driving can scan it and go to my website,” he said.

The seminar is the first of its kind for Camden, which co-hosted the course with Women, Work and Community. But Hodges expects to do more workshops like the QR one to help local business owners navigate new media and other issues.

 

To view this article by Heather Steves in the Bangor Daily News click here. This has been quite an eye opener for me, as I was thinking  that they wouldn’t apply in my business. Yes I was wrong, yet again 🙂 I can see how these little squares can give me another edge  in marketing my small business…. at least I’ll look like I’m up with the latest, what about you?