Are you one of the many magazine readers who have been scanning up a storm while flipping through the pages of favorite publications? According to Nellymoser, a mobile marketing firm, the use of their QR codes by magazines has spiked by 228% over the last year.

QR code to view our packages.

What does this mean for the publications? “It’s clearly a great opportunity for the print industry to keep up with the ever-increasing use of technology,” said Online Marketing Strategist Caroline Melberg. “Since 40% of mobile phone users have smartphones – and that number is increasing – the use of QR codes will most likely continue to grow.”

BizReport.com reported on the findings, sharing that 2011 saw a major increase in the printing of QR codes. “In 2011 almost 4,500 QR codes appeared within ads and editorial of the U.S.’s top 100 magazines. The year started off with 352 codes in Q1. It grew to 1,899 in Q4, which is 439% growth,” reported Helen Leggatt of BizReport.com.

So if printing QR codes in a magazine has a positive outcome, is it better to add more codes per issue, or will that overwhelm readers? The information showed that the more QR codes that were added in a magazine, the higher the response rate.

“QR codes are a powerful business tool because their results are very measurable,” said Melberg. “It’s very simple to use a QR code creator that allows you to track the results to see how many readers are scanning the code. You can test the effectiveness of your ads by comparing their numbers to one another to see which ones have the highest response rates.”

Do you think QR codes are helpful? Do you think they will have longevity in the online marketing world?

Google+ is getting a lot of attention right now due to the “rivalry” between Google and Facebook, which is heavily partnered with Microsoft.  Social Media Strategist Caroline Melberg feels that the site will be beneficial at some point in the future, but it might take some time. “I think it is a bit too early for most businesses to jump into Google+ as the jury is still out on how participation will ramp up, but if it happens like I think it will, Google+ will become the first real social-business networking site,” said Melberg.

While it definitely is a “social” site, it looks like the aspect that most people are missing about Google+  is that it’s really a play into cloud computing, making document sharing, calendar sharing and file sharing across all devices easier.

Back around 1997 or so, when Bill Gates was testifying in his antitrust lawsuit with Netscape (remember them?) he said that Microsoft Windows/Office was on the verge of obsolescence at any given moment because in “the future” we won’t install software on our computers or even require a computer – just an Internet enabled device.

Everyone thought he was nuts at the time, but he was right – and the future wasn’t 50 years down the road…it is happening now.  By the end of this year, smartphones will account for 50% of all cell phones in the US.  ”The cloud” has entered popular vernacular, and of course, the tablet market is going strong as well.

Melberg has recognized Google for upping the competition. “Not only does Google see the social opportunity, they are taking it one step further by integrating connectedness with their current suite of business applications, making sharing large files a snap,” said Melberg.

Long term, Facebook may find Google+ to be competition.  Shorter term, Microsoft (Office, Windows), Apple (App store), companies like YouSendIt, and cloud back-up/storage companies like Carbonite, DropBox, etc. have more to worry about.

Google needs to work a few bugs out yet and to launch business pages. Google+ also needs to be made available to their business-level premium customers, who pay $50/year per user for Google apps, which includes email hosting.  Once that happens, and business people start to see how easy sharing files and calendars is, as well as learn about Google’s extensive list of business applications that compete with Salesforce CRM,  etc., expect Google+ use to explode, just like hosted gmail premium has exploded in the business community already.

Bottom line, we’ll be keeping a close watch on Google+ to see how it develops for business.

The old saying, “a picture is worth 1,000 words” has new appeal as social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have made recent moves to make photography and photo sharing a much larger part of their offerings.

Now, Google is jumping on the bandwagon with the new Business Photos from Google. In conjunction with Google Maps, you can now highlight your business by signing up to have it photographed by a Google photographer. The picture will then show up on your business’ Place page in a 360-degree panoramic view. Business owners can also upload their own pictures to their Place page as well.

Currently this is available in certain cities in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, France and the UK. Click here to see the list of where it’s available.

Click here to watch a delightful video showing the benefits of using Business Photos from Google.

To apply or to learn more, click here.

While Google has been offering “street view” business photos for some time, this new Business Photos service is taking photography from Google to a whole new level.  What will Google tackle next?

Referral Key grows your business through referrals. On this site you give and receive referrals and you can get rewards for referrals you give. Mashable says: “The concept of this service is solid and if referrals can generate significant amounts of revenue then it makes sense to sign up…it could pay off big time as well.”

You might recognize requests coming via Referral Key – the subject line of the invitation e-mail asks, “Are you accepting new clients?”  We completely agree with Mashable on this one – the concept of the service is great.  What we’ve seen happen in practice, however, is different than what we believe the real value of the site could become.

For instance, we’ve received numerous requests from people we don’t know to join their referral network.  A true “referral” network, in our opinion, would contain business people you know and would trust to refer within your network.  As more and more requests come through from people we’ve never met, the value of the site is diminished.

Another issue with Referral Key is that when we do accept an invitation from someone we actually know, Referral Key sends us an e-mail inviting us to connect with all of THEIR connections – regardless of whether we know them or not.

LinkedIn, on the other hand, offers the same capabilities to build a referral network (minus the rewards piece), while maintaining network integrity by allowing us to indicate when we receive requests from people we do not know.  LinkedIn was designed to connect people who know each other, along with a mechanism for “punishing” those who abuse the system.

While time will tell with Referral Key, our recommendation is to stick with LinkedIn and develop a strong presence there (instead of trying to participate in too many similar sites and diminishing your effectiveness on all of them).

Use the “Introductions” feature to your advantage to refer people within your network and to receive referrals to business people who can help your company grow.  LinkedIn’s recent IPO and influx of cash will help them innovate, and we expect to see them grow significantly in terms of users as well as features that they offer.  With over 100 Million users, LinkedIn does it right, and is still the strongest professional business networking site around.

Next Steps:  Make sure you are getting everything you can from LinkedIn and using it to it’s fullest potential.

Once you know that’s the case, evaluate Referral Key.  Determine if there are a significant number of potential referral partners or prospects using the site that you can’t reach on LinkedIn.  If so, begin using Referral Key on a limited basis in tandem with LinkedIn, and test your results.

Remember, while the sites are free to participate in, your time invested has a value associated with it.  Make sure you’re investing your time wisely and that you are making strategic decisions about your use of social media, and you’ll have a much greater chance of seeing the returns you are looking for.

Is there a secret to making a video go viral online? Sometimes it’s because of humor, and other times it’s simply because it involves a newsworthy topic. But what about the idea of using a weird form of shock value to grab attention? That’s just what Nokia has done in one of their latest advertisements – it’s a “disturbing” video, according to the Star Tribune, that will most likely leave you confused.

Watch the video.

If the doll head turning around to face backwards made sense to you, what did you think about all of the loose doll legs flipping around?

Yes, the internet and social media sites allow you to effectively reach your target audience, but who is this ad trying to reach?

Tell us what you think — is the “disturbing” video actually an effective ad? Or do you feel like you just wasted your time watching a weirdly-haunting clip?

The next time that someone asks if you would like to pay with cash, credit or check, just pull out your smart phone. No, you won’t be making a call for this one. Google is developing a new feature called Google Wallet, which will allow users to charge virtually any transaction to a credit card by using a smart phone.

So how does it work? It’s actually similar to the PayPass feature that you’ve probably already seen on many credit card kiosks. Just tap your phone on the reader and your phone sends payment, and, at some merchants, offers and loyalty information.

Google insists that the new feature will be a secure way to pay, and Google Offers can get you deals at the places you shop by automatically syncing to your Google Wallet.

Check please!

Earlier today, Caroline Melberg of Small Business Mavericks and the Social Media Incubator gave a beneficial presentation at a morning event for the Wayzata Chamber of Commerce. Caroline explained how quick response (QR) codes can be used as a valuable and measurable business tool.

Here are a few key points from Caroline’s presentation:

- Have a goal or a plan for your QR Code that integrates with your overall marketing efforts

- Link your QR Code to a landing page that is optimized for mobile viewing

- Make sure to measure your results so you know what’s working best

Want to see more of Caroline’s presentation? Take a look at the presentation here:

A big “thank you” goes to the Wayzata Chamber of Commerce and all of those who were in attendance this morning!

If you have any further questions about QR codes and how they can help your business, contact us to find out more!

This week the Star Tribune reported some dirty little secrets – literally DIRTY – about the germs and bacteria that you can find in some unexpected places. The paper reported on a British study from last year that found “mobile phones harbor 18 times more bacteria than a flush handle in a typical men’s restroom.”  Does that make you want to use the speaker-phone feature instead of holding your phone against your face?

In the same article, another item is mentioned for being filled with germs – and this one will make you think twice about eating in the car.  “…a steering wheel has 700 different bacteria per square inch compared with a public toilet seat with 80 different bacteria per square inch.”

Read the full article.

The next time you’re at the store, you might want to grab some anti-bacterial wipes or hand sanitizer – to go!

Social media is an incredibly convenient communication vehicle and a powerful business tool as well. One of its greatest features is its accessibility. You can Tweet, text or post from just about anywhere – at home, at the mall, in the car – as long as you’re not driving! As the Star Tribune reported today, law enforcement is taking distracted drivers seriously in a one-day crackdown as part of a statewide campaign in Minnesota to stress the dangers and reduce crashes for drivers.

Reporter Tim Harlow points out that texting while driving will make you eight times more likely to be involved in a  crash than a driver who is not texting.

“According to the Department of Public Safety, driver distractions account for 20 percent of all crashes and result in 70 deaths and 350 injuries statewide each year,” reported Harlow.

If jeopardizing the safety of yourself and others isn’t enough, how about having to cough up $300 for being a “distracted driver”? This fine isn’t just for texting – eating, applying makeup, reading a newspaper or magazine are all reasons for law enforcement to pull you over and give you a ticket for being a distracted driver. Even talking on your cell phone, while it is still legal in Minnesota, can result in a ticket if you are driving dangerously (swerving into another lane, etc.) or are distracted from driving.

Read the article.

If it is an emergency and you need to use your phone or do another task that would distract you, find the nearest place to safely pull your car over.

Are you willing to risk your life and the safety of others just to send a text?

What does it mean to be a “social authority” … I speak often about having social authority online – that is, becoming a recognized leader in your industry or area of expertise utilizing social media tools such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other interactive sites to do so.

I was speaking with a potential client not long ago, and he expressed the idea that he couldn’t be a social authority, because there were other businesses owners in his industry who had been around longer than his business had, and so he felt that he didn’t quite “qualify” to be considered an “authority” on his subject.

When I explained that being a social authority doesn’t mean he is the only authority out there, but that he has a perspective and way of approaching his profession in a way that will uniquely resonate with the clients his business is designed to serve the best – and that that makes him an “authority” or a leader in his industry, it started to make more sense to him. But as always, it needs to be true and with integrity — no fakes allowed!

Social media is a means for business owners to convey their unique voice, to differentiate themselves from their competitors, and to stand out in a crowded marketplace by increasing top of mind awareness with their ideal clients and customers.  As I mentioned in an earlier post about social authority, using social media strategically in this manner also can improve where your website ranks in the search engine results.  Now, what you do everywhere online affects where your website will rank online. 

The most important benefit of becoming a social authority in your business – and the reason I’m so passionate about this subject – is that it improves your bottom line business results.  We were thrilled to be featured in yesterday’s Star Tribune article highlighting the results that our clients have achieved by strategically implementing social media using our social authority strategy, and demonstrating true ROI for their businesses as a result!