SVA Forum

amber_missy

OK - so I'm now at the point of designing my business cards...

I was going to put a QR-code on the back which links to a v-card that gives anyone scanning it the opportunity to get all my contact details (name, company, phone, e-mail and website), onto their phone without having to type it all in.

What do people think?
- Is it a waste of space (should I use the space to duplicate something that's already going to be on the website "why use a VA" / "how can a VA help")?
- Should it link directly to the website, which has more info, including the contact page anyway (but this would still involve typing the info into their phone!)
- Do people even use QR-codes in the UK? I know they're big in places like Japan/USA/China and I get the impression they're growing in the UK, but I don't really know if anyone other than geeks (including myself), even use them?

Thank you!
Tracey x

PS. If you don't know about QR-codes: http://www.qrstuff.com/qr_codes.html tells you about them and their "home" page enables you to make your own...

caroline · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:33 am Post subject:

They are definitely popping up more and more, but to be honest I never use them (I know you can for example scan a cooking programme and download all the ingredients to your phone for example or scan a poster on the underground to take you to a product website etc). I tend to always think I'm going to get spammed with loads of info... And for the less technically minded, I'm not sure they'd know how to use them!

Maybe do a poll and see if people do use them? Is there a cost involved in setting one up? Can you track if people access it?
_________________
To support SVA please donate to: http://tinyurl.com/37urec

amber_missy · Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 2:14 pm Post subject:

I don't imagine you can track it, but if you use http://www.qrstuff.com/ then there's no cost in setting it up.

I could look into a poll for if people would use it. Thanks. :)

caroline · Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:42 pm Post subject:

I guess the question then is "How do you know if it's working?"

The only way I can think of is either doing a poll or having 2 sets of business cards you give out and seeing which gets the best response? Seems a bit cumbersome though!
_________________
To support SVA please donate to: http://tinyurl.com/37urec

amber_missy · Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 12:23 am Post subject:

It just does the same job as the media it's from; it just saves the person the hassle of typing all the details into their phone (first name, surname, company, phone number, website, e-mail, etc.,)...

I see it as the business card that really does the work - and the networking/method of getting the business card to the person is the hard-work...

The same is true if you put it on the "contacts" page on a website. They still have to get to the website somehow (the hard work), and they can either scan the screen and save all your info to their phone, or just pick up the phone and dial the number...

But, if they just dial the number, they might not save it straight into the phone and it gets lost as "outgoing call" - the QR-code will make it easier for them to save it so they have it in there again if they need it.

Laura1 · Star Poster Joined: 19 May 2011 Posts: 131

I think the only way to track whether it is working is by installing Google Analytics on the site. Not sure what the 'referring' site would be listed as, though? This seems to explain it: http://www.qrstuff.com/blog/2011/05/01/using-google-analytics-with-qr-codes - sounds pretty do-able.

My personal thoughts are in favour of QR codes, I think it might show you're a step ahead of the rest, a bit techy and i think potential clients will like that, especially in our industry.
_________________
Laura :)
virtual receptionist | virtual assistant see more

amber_missy · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 11:56 am Post subject:

That's really useful - thank you! :)