QR Codes...It's hip to be Square!

Wow, did I just date myself!  You've seen them...heck, unlike me, you may have had one and used it for a few years now.

What is a QR code? QR stands for Quick Response. Per Wikipedia, it is a type of barcode,  a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached.  You see them all over the place and I have known, more or less, what their purpose was, but never really put much thought into getting one for my business, since I admittedly came pretty late to the technology party.

This Sunday, I will be vending at my very first show of the year, the Sykesville Art & Wine Festival, here in Maryland...all you locals come on over and see me, ya hear? Since I signed up as sort of a spur of the moment thing, I didn't have time to get any new cards or marketing materials printed, so wanted to create some homemade labels, etc. to add to my existing business cards and for packaging.  I came across some little 1.5 inch square labels I purchased some time ago but never used.  On the package cover was a sheet of labels with neat rows of the ubiquitous black & white squares.  After I "googled" QR codes I chose a code generator.  What the heck!  A few short minutes later, I was the proud owner of a little square of my own!

Yes, it says Melismatic Art Jewelry, can't you tell?!

Okay, all I have to do is print this on those little square labels.  Meh.  They looked sort of boring.  I had decided that I was going to add these to the back of some older business cards I have that just have my Etsy shop, but also wanted to add them to my little kraft paper bags I have been hoarding for shows.

I wanted to fancy it up a bit, so went to PicMonkey and played around with the collage function and added text and some clip art.

I went a step further and made up some other labels for other packaging, just to have on hand.

Just as an FYI, the code generator I used (Smartytags.com) gives you an account and tracks your 1st 500 scans for free.  Not sure if it is a service I want to pay for, but this will give me a chance to see if it boosts sales or traffic.

Of course, then I had to download an app on my iPhone to be able to scan the codes myself.  I needed to be sure mine worked!  It did!

The cute square labels are from Avery, product code 22805.  They also have fun round ones! Avery.com has templates for creating your labels, but I just used MS Word (mailings, labels).

It will be interesting to see if this actually garners any new interest or hits.  I would love to hear from you!  Have you utilized QR codes in your marketing?

***Breaking News!! The winners of Sue Kennedy's gorgeous lampwork beads for the May Component of the Month Challenge are:  Suntsa, Shaiha and Carolyn's Creations! Congrats!***

Melissa Meman
Melismatic Art Jewelry
Art. Life. Love.