1.  goo.gl - Often used as just a url shortener, once a short url has been created, simply copy and paste that short url into your browser and add ".qr" at the end.  Presto, chango... you'll have a QR code you can use.  (Pro Tip:  The URL can be changed to modify the size of the qr code... ie:  Change the 150 value in this url to 250 and see what happens: http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=qr&chs=150x150&choe=UTF-8&chld=H&chl=http://goo.gl/PVdLt)

2.  qrcode.kaywa.com - This QR code creator will allow you to not only generate a QR code for your website/landing page/web form/etc., but it will allow you to encode a text message or just plain text into the QR code itself.  Best part?  It's a FREE service.

3.  qrstuff.com - This QR code generator will allow you to create a VCard (Outlook Address Book Contact Card) that can be downloaded right into someone's cell phone.  It also has the ability to create a paypal buy-now link out of a QR code if you sell products/services using paypal.

4.  zxing.appspot.com/generator - Want to encode a geo location?  Use this QR code generator.

5.  delivr.com/qr-code-generator - This QR code generator will allow you to send a tweet when you scan it.

6.  goqr.me - Use this QR code generator to have the person scanning  it automatically call you at the number you specify.

QR codes only need a select few data points to be read, which means you can create a custom QR code for your business.  There are even companies that specialize in creating custom QR codes, such as: http://www.customqrcodes.com.

So what are you waiting for?  Use some of the above resources and start creating your own QR codes.  Bonus points if you put one on your business card.

Where can you get a free QR code reader at?

Well... it depends on the type of phone you have.  Here are some options for you:

Android

RedLaser Barcode & QR Scanner
QuickMark Barcode Scanner
QR Droid

iPhone

ShopSavvy Barcode Scanner
Quick Scan Pro
QR Reader for iPhone

Examples of QR codes in action

If you look around, you'll find QR codes in magazines, on websites, on business cards, etc.

What types of data can you store in a QR code?

There are essentially several types of data that can easily be stored in a QR code.  When I say "stored" what I mean is that when the QR code is scanned, it can provide several different types of data to the person that scanned it.   QR codes can provide people with:

• A Website URL
• Whatever text you want to display
• A sms (text) message
• A phone number
• A contact card they can easily add to their cell phone.

Next Steps...

Now that you know what a QR code is, download a QR code reader on your smartphone and start looking for them.  You'll be surprised at where you find them at.

]]> http://brianjambor.com/what-is-a-qr-code/feed/ 0 http://brianjambor.com/nam-libero-tempore-cum-soluta-nobis-est-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nam-libero-tempore-cum-soluta-nobis-est-2 http://brianjambor.com/nam-libero-tempore-cum-soluta-nobis-est-2/#comments Sun, 19 Feb 2012 00:06:00 +0000 brianjambor http://www.elegantwordpressthemes.com/preview/Influx/?p=36 Have you ever wondered how most companies are consistently following up with you once you've indicated you have interest in a product or a service? Do they have 1,000 monkeys composing hundreds of thousands of emails a day to personally respond to each request for more information? Odds are, they use an auto responder, and if you aren't using one in your business, you should be because they can make you a whole lot of money...]]> Have you ever received an email newsletter from someone? Did you ever stop to think about when they created that newsletter? If they emailed it to you through microsoft outlook, maybe they had it saved as a draft, then emailed it to you, or maybe they used an email auto responder.

Email auto responders allow you to cue up several emails at once and systematically send them out to prospective clients/customers. Here's how they are typically setup:

Step 1. Load your list
Once you've selected your email auto responder vendor, you'll need to load in a list of your contacts. Most email auto responder services have import tools to help you upload all of your contacts (Including their email addresses) into their system.

Step 2. Create your email series
Many auto responder services have a WYSIWYG (Acronym which stands for: What you see is what you get) email builder that allows you to compose an email similar to the way you would in microsoft outlook, or gmail. Some auto responder services even have template libraries that give you a custom branded look and feel to the emails that you send out.

Step 3. Activate your auto responders
Now that you have your list imported, and your emails setup, you're ready to activate them. Once activated, the list of prospects you have will receive each email according to the sequence and timing that you setup originally. This may look like the following:

Day 1 - Email 1
Day 3 - Email 2
Day 5 - Email 3
Day 7 - Email 4
Day 9 - Email 5

Typically most entrepreneurs have several lists... They have a list of prospects, a list of clients, and a list of advocates/affiliates. You may even have additional lists for people based on what their interests are, or what they recently purchased. Their are positives and negatives to using auto responders, but we'll leave that for another post.

Here is a list of several tools, both FREE and Paid that you can use to map out your perfect business plan. The tools are designed to help you get the most out of your strategy session, along with being very user friendly. As you can see if you scroll down the page, I've listed the benefits of each, along with their cost. Without further delay, here they are:

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How are you going to drive traffic or generate buzz about your product/services?

Once you have traffic, how will you capture it in the form of leads?

How are you going to educate, nurture, and qualify the leads you get?

At what point are you going to commit your leads to make a buying decision? If they don't buy, how will you keep in contact with them (Remember, timing in sales is everything!)

Once they are your client, how are you going to create an experience surrounding their purchase of your products/services to turn them into an advocate that not only promotes your business, but gives you referrals?

How will you turn those referrals into leads which you can educate, nurture, and qualify until you repeat the process all over again?

I've found that most entrepreneurs conceptually know about the perfect business model, some even pursue it, but many don't know what tools or techniques are out there to help them to accomplish it.

On this website you will find many tools and techniques to help you accomplish a perfect business model. I'll show you how to generate buzz/traffic for your business, how to capture leads with systems, how to consistently follow up with those leads, and how to turn them into advocates by creating an experience surrounding their purchase.

You'll find not only tools and techniques, but real world examples from successful business owners on how to accomplish your goals and dreams. As you go through the articles, tools, and techniques on this website, remember… Our Mission is Your Success.

All of the above tools are designed to do 1 thing, simply create buzz and drive traffic to you as a business owner. Tools are great, but they are designed with a specific purpose in mind. A system on the other hand, is designed to help you use the tools you have and create a workflow to maximize their effectiveness.

Imagine you're building a house. What tools will you need to get the job done? Surely you'll need a hammer and a screwdriver. Maybe you'll invest in a nail gun really get the job done quickly. Having a nail gun will help you get the project done faster, but what if you don't have the blueprints? What if you don't have the map in place to show you what goes up after the framing? Without a system in place to help you manage the project, you'll likely spend a lot of time with that nail gun putting up walls all over the place and while it may feel like you're getting work done, when you take a step back and look at the house, you'll find you're no where closer to having finished then when you started.

Systems come in many shapes and sizes, the key is that you have one. Systems are the underlying structure that helps you get the most out of the tools you decide to use to help you grow your business. There are follow up systems, contact management systems, accounting systems, fulfillment systems, social media systems, and the list goes on and on. How would a system work in a perfect business plan environment you might ask? Let me paint the picture for you:

Let's say you use a popular social media tool called hoot suite to create buzz about your company, your services, or your products. Once you have people interacting with you, maybe you invite them to attend a webinar where they can learn more about what you offer. You have a lead capture form that captures their contact information. At that point your system takes over and educates/nurtures them about your company, what you offer, and what they can expect by attending the webinar. The system alerts you or a sales rep to call the prospective client and qualify them prior to the webinar. The system records if they attend the webinar and executes follow up strategies accordingly, letting you or your sales rep know how to follow up with them based on their attendance and engagement in the webinar. Once they become a client, the system auto bills them and they are routed to a customer service sequence that encourages them to give you referrals and testimonials.

In the above scenario, you might use several systems to accomplish the entire workflow. You would probably use a contact management system, an email auto-responder system, a webinar system, (Including the webinar tool itself) and an accounting system with tools that let you create quotes, etc.

In evaluating systems to help you automate your business there are several things to consider. In other pages on this website, we discuss how to evaluate systems and tools to help you find what's right for your business.

Before you evaluate your own systems and tools, you should map out your business lifecycle. To find out what that entails, read our post about the perfect business model.

Now most entrepreneurs I know that get into business who are struggling typically don't have a marketing budget, they just spend money from time to time on the next newest thing (Mark is literally starving at this point). Now if you talk with Scott Martineau, it probably would have been more effective if they put that money in a tin can and burned it every month, but they did get some business out of their marketing efforts. The key to creating an effective marketing budget is consistency. How much you should put into your marketing budget depends on your business and what stage it's in. If your business is in a start-up phase, the budget should be more. If your business is in a high growth phase, the budget might be less. Again, the key to being effective is consistency. There are resources and ideas on this site on where you can allocate your marketing dollars, including what tends to be effective and not so effective. Your first take-away should be… avoid one of the 3 common business mistakes by paying Mark.

The second mistake most business owners make is they don't take advantage of the internet.

Most business owners I know now-a-days aren't online. At least, they're not online like they should be. Let me provide you with an example… How many restaurants do you know of that provide you with a copy of their menu online? Nearly all of them right?! Now, how many of those same restaurants have a email list where you can sign up for a coupon to get 15% off your order? Not so many. You see, most websites out there are nothing more than fancy yellow page ads online. When was the last time you opened up the yellow pages to look up something? I bet it's been years. The problem is, there is that same mentality when it comes to websites online. If you're in business, you need a website. The truth of the matter is, you need a lead generating website.

Business owners get websites built because they can generate more business. The truth is, only 1% to 3% of your website traffic will instantly convert into business/orders/clients. What happens to the other 97% - 99%? They go by the wayside. That's where taking advantage of the internet comes in. Not only should you have a website to promote your company, but you should make it a lead generation tool as part of your perfect business plan. So how does one turn a static website into a lead generation tool? With a lead magnet! A lead magnet is something of high perceived value with a low point of entry offered to your website visitors so they become leads. Other articles on this website go into more depth, but your second take-away should be… avoid one of the 3 common business mistakes by having a lead magnet.

The third mistake most business owners make is they don't consistently follow up

Many clients that I have tell me they get tons of leads. They admit that they get leads from the trade shows they attend. They get leads from their website. They get leads from Facebook, twitter, linked in, etc. They get leads from their existing customers in the form of referrals… but for some reason, their business just isn't growing and they can't figure out why. Did you know that most sales people quick trying to contact a lead after the 3rd try? It's called the "Three Strikes and your Out" rule. It basically goes like this: I'll call you once, I'll call you twice, but if I call you thrice and you don't answer or contact me, you're out of there! Sales people typically classify a lead as bad if they can't get in touch with the lead after the third try. Did you know that over 80% of the sales that are made, typically happen between the 5th and 7th contact with someone? Here's the chart:

If you or your sales people are letting leads slip through the cracks, then it's time to change. Most people need either a tool or a system to help them prevent these leads from getting labeled as "Bad". There are several systems and tools out there that you can use to prevent follow up failure such as a CRM system, a simple contact manager, an email auto responder, etc. Throughout this site, I'll go through the options out there and let you know what's available, but your last take-away should be… avoid one of the 3 common business mistakes by stopping your leads from falling through the cracks.

Unless you only have 1 client whom you do business with only once a year, you need a contact relationship management system (CRM). There are hundreds (Probably thousands if I had to guess) of CRM systems, each with specific features designed for specific needs. How can you know which one is the best for you and your business? Simple! We've found a Top 40 CRM Guide that you can download for FREE. Access it below...

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Have you ever heard of those mom-bloggers? You know, the moms that stay at home and blog and make 6 figures doing it? Have you heard of the gurus that leave on a 21 day vacation and while they were gone their business made more money than it had in the previous 2 months? Have you ever wanted to be financially free? You need a passive income stream, and here is how you build one...

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What fees are commonly associated with a merchant gateway you ask? There are several, so bear with me while I explain them...:

Setup fee - Most merchant gateways have some sort of setup/activation fee.  Setup/Activation fees can rage from $0 to thousands depending on your transaction volume.

Monthly minimum - Many merchant gateways have a monthly minimum fee they charge you.  This monthly minimum in some cases is waived if you meet minimum requirements for the number of transactions you process in a month.

The Rate - This is what most people evaluate when they are looking for a merchant gateway provider.  The rate is actually composed of a few pieces.  When you charge someone, typically a merchant gateway will charge you a percentage of the sale (anywhere from 1% - 3.5% and often they will charge you a flat rate as part of the sale.

Example:  2.3% + 0.15 per transaction.

When looking for a merchant gateway, keep the following in mind:

• Do they offer great customer service?
• Do they have anti-fraud tools to cover you from accidentally taking a stolen card
• Do they offer a competitive rate based on your business?
• Do they offer an online merchant gateway?
  (You'll want a merchant account that includes a "gateway")
• Do they offer technical support, and if so, what are their hours of support?
• Does support cost extra?
• How much is their monthly minimum?
• Do they have many customers in your same industry?
  (Often if they don't, you might not get the best rate)
• Do they offer an API so you can hook the transactions to outside systems?

I have worked with a few merchant providers over the years, and I highly recommend the following:

Bluepay.com
Payleap.com
Squareup.com (For mobile payments)

Both Bluepay and Payleap offer very low monthly minimums and moderate rates, great for a business just getting started.  Squareup is a mobile payment processor that allows you to take payments right from your cell phone.  If you attend a lot of trade shows and sell things there, I highly recommend Squareup.

A close third in the mobile payment arena is a device that was created by Intuit (The same company that makes quickbooks) called:

GoPayment

So do your due diligence, as there are thousands of merchant gateway providers out there.  If you follow the above guidelines, you'll choose a good one in no time.