QR Codes - Why? Why Not!

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Have you noticed these funny looking codes more often lately?   These codes are the newest way to transfer information at the speed of light!  They are are actually called QR Codes (Quick Response Code).

When you scan or read a QR code with your iPhone, Android or other camera-enabled Smartphone, you can link to digital content on the web, activate a number of phone functions including email, IM and SMS as well as connect the mobile device to a web browser.

QR Codes are popping up everywhere.   Magazine ads for stores like Wal-Mart and Target.  On billboards and wine bottles even!  The potential for QR codes is limitless.  You can create one in a matter of seconds and have that QR Code on ads, fliers, business cards, brochures, signs, on vehicles, invoices, name badges, etc.

Quick Response codes and other two-dimensional codes are expected to achieve widespread use this year – and for good reason.  Consumers want immediate access to what's relevant and QR Codes are making that possible.

Bar codes are linear one-dimensional codes and can only hold up to 20 numerical digits, whereas QR codes are two-dimensional (2D) matrix bar codes that can hold thousands of alphanumeric characters of information.  There’s no limit to how, or even how much, you can share with QR codes.

QR Codes could link to:

• Contact information for your company as well as specific employees
• Landing page to any company site
• Marketing information for your product or service
• Directions to your business location
• Videos and Links
• An explanation of a Company process or procedure
• Valuable coupons and special offers
• Consumer Tips as they relate to your industry
• Customer feedback forms
• Endless possibilities

As I mentioned, you can create a QR code yourself.  There are a number of sites for generating QR codes and they’re all free.  An Internet search for QR code generator will offer many choices.

I used Google to create the QR code above, it took me about 10 seconds.  And when scanned; that QR code will take you to my Facebook Business Page.  Try it!

Another benefit to using QR codes is their ability to help with SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  Web objects such as images, music clips, and videos add valuable content to your social graph.   QR codes enhance both your search engine and social media optimization.   Now you can increase traffic to those searchable objects to further optimize them by encouraging more sharing.

In order to scan a QR code you have to install a QR Code Scanner app on your smart phone.   I have the QR Code Scanner Pro app on my blackberry.   It was a free download.  I have been told the QR code reader app that works well on iPhone is i-nigma and for the android, try Barcode Scanner.

The potential for QR Codes is limitless.  What’s most exciting is how they take what social media is doing well now, bringing people together with technology, and extending it to enhance the experience.

According to a recent article in Social Media Examiner, "The next generation of bar codes will hold even more information – so much that an Internet connection will not even be necessary.  The content will be effectively embedded in the code."

It’s amazing to consider where this can go.  How about you?  How can you use QR codes in your business communication and marketing?

Set Yourself Apart from the Competition

How do you set yourself apart from the competition?  What makes you the person anyone should do business with?  Being able to answer these questions is crucial to your success this year.

When trying to create your competitive edge it's important to take some time to look at your competitors.  Identify them, rank them, analyze them.  Then take the time to create your competitive edge list:  the unique and positive differentiators that make your products or services special.

When you identify your competitive edge, you are well on your way to building your brand and growing your business ... or making an already-strong brand even stronger.   Establishing, and even honing, your competitive edge will help every aspect of your business.

So how do you become clear about your competitive edge?  It starts with taking some time to sit down, pen and paper in hand and write down your business summary.  A business summary is a brief outline of who you are, what you do and what you offer.   This is defining your business; taking the time to know how you want your business structured.  When you are clear about your business summary it will become easier to promote it.

Take a look at who else is in your industry.  Taking a little time to evaluate your competition can provide you with invaluable information that can give you that competitive edge.  Be sure you compare an apple to an apple, but you might ask yourself, "Are my services and fees in line with the competition?"   And more importantly, is the value you offer to clients superior to the value you see your competition delivering.

Now, you can develop your competitive edge.  Create that plan by answering the following questions ... How can you deliver everything the competition offers and then some?  What can you do to stand out?  Why should someone do business with you?  What will you do to provide more value?  How can you think out of the box?  What resources and technology will you utilize to establish a competitive edge?

It's about creating a business worth owning and attracting customers worth having.

Launch your day right

I have often said the way you start your day is the way you will spend your day.  When you get out of bed with a "I don't want to" attitude dragging yourself around to get ready you will certainly not feel ready to handle anything that the day brings you.  And when you leap out of bed with a start panicked and rushed you will be on edge all day too.  But if you could launch your day in a positive and energetic way, just what could you accomplish?

As Soon as the Alarm Rings...

Spend your first few seconds in bed and allow your body to wake up.  Stretch, wiggle your toes and welcome the morning.  Then allow your mind to wake up!  Don't get out of bed until you can think about at least 3 things to feel grateful for.  Maybe it is something exciting you have planned for the day.  Maybe it is the blessing of your loved ones, or the security you feel waking up in your warm bed.  Maybe it's even that cup of coffee you're going to have in a few minutes.  Whatever it is big or small, those thoughts will lift your happiness level.  Making a regular habit of starting your day in a state of gratitude will dramitically change the way you spend your day.  It will have a positive effect on you and your ability to be at a higher level of performance throughout the day.

Now ... Get Up!

Taking 5 or 10 minutes to embrace your day can be powerful, but don't stay in bed too long!  The longer you lie there, the less you may want to get up and your thoughts might wander past the gratitiude and energetic thoughts to the more mundane tasks ahead.  So before that starts, rise up!  Get vertical and make a cup of coffee, take a shower, feed the dog...

Drink...

I started drinking a glass of water each morning ... before my coffee ... a few months ago and it made such a big difference.  It made me feel more alert.  And studies show how we tend to cut off our water supply after dinner and the morning is a time when our bodies are dehydrated.  Dehydration causes  fatigue, which affects your mood.

Move It

Exercise.  Movement in the morning is so important.  Do you get out of bed just to sit on the couch or at your desk for an hour?  Some of us sit all day as it is, so moving around in the morning can really help you feel more limber throughout the day.  And they say the number one way of chasing away a bad mood is exercise.   A workout at the gym is great, but even just a few minutes of movement—a fast walk, for example—raises energy and reduces tension.  Some morning yoga stretches (I love my Wii Fit) can be a great way to start. 

Self Analysis

If you do wake up feeling anxious or a sense of dread and you can't seem to turn that around, why is that?  Try to pinpoint what's causing it.   Did someone say anything the day before?   Do you have a meeting today you wish you didn't?   Was it the dream you were having when the alarm went off?   If you can figure out why you're upset, that's halfway to feeling better.

Be Kind and Thankful

This isn't exactly news, but generosity and gratitude are both big contributors to happiness.  What can you do for someone else today?   Do something nice for a stranger or friend and see if you don't feel better about yourself.   Remember those three things you're grateful for?  Why not write them down each morning and create a gratitude journal?  It would be a great thing to read around 2 or 3pm when energy starts to dip down.   It seems so simple, but counting your blessings just has a way of making you remember the sun is shining.

Laugh at Yourself

The best comedians point out the mundane aspects of life—relationship strife, a boring job, a closet full of too-tight clothes; they exaggerate those circumstances, and give us a perspective we can laugh about.  Look at your own life and try to appreciate the absurdity of what doesn't go exactly according to plan (the diets, the men, the buzz cut).   Stop taking yourself so seriously!  Acknowledging how little control we actually have over what happens is sometimes a most freeing gift to yourself.

The Bucket List

In 2007, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman starred in the movie "The Bucket List."   It's a story about two terminally ill men who escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die.   It was a funny and poignant look at living out your dreams.   But why wait like most people, until you retire or face death to write the list?  Why not live every day from your bucket list?

If you didn't know, a bucket list,  is a list of all the goals you want to achieve, dreams you want to fulfill and life-experiences you desire to experience before you die.  Why is a bucket list so important?  Because I believe it helps us to want more, experience more and live more with a greater purpose.  Without defining the goals we have for our lives we can get too caught up in the everyday mundane tasks of our lives and forget to plan for more fun and excitement.  We might neglect reaching past our own limits.  Without a bucket list we not learn how to think big.  You know you have heard it before, "If you are going to think, might as well think big."

Taking the time to create a bucket list for your life will help you to think bigger and bigger!   Thinking big means going big!   And I don't think a bucket list should be written as part of your "personal race against time".  It's not a morbid task.  It is a positive proactive optimistic plan for YOUR life!  Your bucket list contains all of your personal triumphs yet to be seen.

I also think we should add new goals to our bucket list all the time.  There should never be a time when we stop imagining and planning how we can live out our purpose.  Imagine if every High School Senior was asked to start their Bucket List as part of their graduation requirements?  Wow

All it takes is a pen and a piece of paper to get started and maybe a quiet spot for 30 minutes.  Think about the things you would love to try, the places you would love to see, the experiences you want to have in the course of your lifetime.  Who are the people you want to meet, help and inspire?  Don't worry about how or when right now, just imagine.   Think without limits, without fear.   What will you do with the life that has been given to you?

Will you write a book?  Learn to play the piano?  Climb a mountain?  Speak another language?  Run a marathon?  Travel to India?  Fly a plane?  Take cooking lessons?  Drive a race car?   Come up with as many items as you can.   The items should be things you have not done yet.

Don’t stop until you finish listing at least 101 things!   If you find yourself stuck, chances are you are mentally limiting or constraining yourself.  So release the brakes and remember this is a list of everything you want.

But look past the wants and see the why's.  What will you discover about yourself when you take a look at not only what you want to but why you want to do it?  And wait until you see who you become in the process of achieving the items on your list!

The New Year

As this year comes to an end and the new year begins, it's time to reflect, complete, celebrate and most importantly plan.  It is time to envision what you want for yourself in 2011.

What do you want for your life this year?  I hope you are thinking in terms of more prosperity and abundance!

It's time to plan for success!  Create new habits of thought connected to new patterns of action.  What is your vision?  What do you see for yourself and your business?  What is worth working for?  Are you ready to live more positively?  more focused and energized?

Take a look at some key areas of your life.  Before you can write the plan, you must have the vision and set some goals.   Goal setting is a power play towards achieving success.

Did you know that effective goals setters usually suffer from less stress and anxiety, concentrate and focus better, show more self-confidence, perform better in all areas of their life and are generally happier and more satisfied with life!

There is such a HUGE payoff to setting goals.  It conditions you for success.  The process of setting and achieving goals, gives you confidence in your ability to achieve higher and more challenging goals later on.

So as this new year begins its approach, decide what you want to do with your life and what large scale goals you want to achieve.  Look at some key areas such as:

Personal Growth- how will you develop on a personal level?  How will you fuel your passions?

Career - Are you where you want to be?  Are you doing what you want to be doing?  How will you bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be professionally?

Education - What knowledge would you like to acquire or what area of study would you like to pursue?  What information and skills do you need to have to achieve your 2011 goals?

Family - How do you want your partner or family members to see you?  What impact would you like to make on those relationships?

Financial - What are your short term and long term goals regarding earning, saving and investing?  What are this years goals?  What are the goals for next 5 and 10 years, in your lifetime?

Physical - Are there athletic goals you want to achieve or do you simply want to be healthy?  What steps are you taking to get there?

Pleasure - How do you plan to enjoy life?  Yes, plan to enjoy life!  Ensure that some of your life and your goals are geared towards making yourself happy for no reason other than being happy.

Service - How can you make the world a better place by your existence?  What can you do to give back and help others?

As I write this, I am filled with excitement and anticipation regarding the new year and all it will bring.  What I don't feel is fear.   I made a decision a long time ago to no longer allow fear to cut me off from my own destiny.  I knew if I was going to live up to my own life purpose then I had to stop letting fear get in my way of my own success.

Fear is the reason why so many of us do not live up to our fullest potential.  Fear will stop the abundant and positive flow of energy that is trying to flow to you in your life, your work and your relationships.   Don't let fear interfere with all the goals you are going to be setting.   Instead of fear, tell yourself you will trust.  You see, trust is the antidote for fear.

Let's declare 2011 as the year of Fearless Living.  Isn't it time to take that leap of faith and create a life by design rather than by default?

Happy New Year!

Fuel Your Passion, Ignite Your Profits

Passion is something within you that provides the continual enthusiasm, focus and energy you need to succeed.  True passion does not come from those “feel good” emotions you get from external sources, it comes from within, an almost spiritual force.

The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek word entheos, which means “to be filled with God.”  When you are filled with spirit, you are naturally inspired and passionate.  Sometimes that passion expresses itself in a dynamic and energetic way and other times it expresses itself in a more peaceful and calm way.

Passionate people are enthusiastic about life and work.  They can’t wait to get up in the morning and get started.  They are eager and energetic.  They are filled with purpose and totally committed to their mission.  They enjoy what they do!

Create a plan for your business that incorporates the passions you have for life.  Let your Marketing Plan include people and places that you want to do business with.  Without identifying what you are passionate about,  you might find yourself  "a little asleep at the wheel."

Passion is a powerful tool for success and deserves to be an area you consistently work on.  Passion makes your days fly by!  It helps you get more done in less time.  It helps you make better decisions.  And it attracts others to you.

Spend more time doing what you love to do.  Discover and reconnect with your purpose for doing anything that you do.  Realize everything is a choice.  And when those choices are connected to your purpose that’s when your enthusiasm will build.

Here are some thoughts to explore:

How can you develop and maintain a passion for the most important areas of your life?

How do you know when you have a true passion and purpose for something?

When you express your passion and enthusiasm, you will become a magnet to others, who will be attracted to your level of energy.

Discover Your Best Self

This means something different to all of us.  But one thing remains true, in order to understand your life's purpose, you must first come to understand yourself.  In order to achieve success in life, career and relationships you need to discover your best self!  That allows you to live your best life!

Living your best life means understanding and living out your life's purpose.  It means creating harmony within all parts of your life.  It involves more celebrating and less worrying.  It's joyful not stressful.  Your best self thrives when you are living your best life.

It all sounds so easy doesn't it?  But how to get there?  How do we discover our best self?  First, we have to make the decision to look for her.  Then we have to make a commitment - a life long commitment to the discovery because your best self is not a destination - it's a journey.

To help guide your journey to Discover Your Best Self, consider the following as part of your road map:

Choose Happiness - Be happy for no reason.  Create a state of peace and well being that isn't dependent on external circumstances.  When you are happy for no reason you bring happiness to your outer experiences rather than trying to extract happiness from them.   Live from happiness, rather than for happiness.

Own Your Happiness - Accept that being happy is up to you and that you have the ability and the power to be happier by changing your habits.  Respond to people and events in your life in a way that supports your happiness.

Appreciate Your Trials - The tough times in our life often become the blessings in our life.  Those tough times make us grow up, it develops our character.  Your most difficult times in life are usually the foundation for everything good in your life.

Have a Thankful Attitude - Be grateful!  Appreciate what you have rather than complain about what you don't have.  Gratitude is your ability to show thanks.  Consider everything you have, everything you get to do as a gift.  It will allow you to receive more.

Have a Positive Attitude - Your attitude belongs to you and only you.  No one can make you have a bad day.  To be your best self - look for the best in others and in every situation.  Think in terms of possibilities rather than problems.

Stop Complaining - It won't fix anything.  Complaining is a garbage magnet!  All you do is call more complaining and negativity into your life.  You can not be your best self if you are always focused on negativity.

Make Peace with Yourself - You can only know your best self when you make peace with yourself.  We all have things in our past that didn't go so well.  Blaming yourself robs you of happiness.  Make peace with yourself, free up your energy and accept yourself for who you are.

Celebrate Your Birthday - Celebrate your birthday in a big way every year!  The day you were born was an awesome day and should be celebrated!  It is not just another day.  It is your day.  It is a celebration of life and life is a gift.  Express gratitude for it.  Recognize all the wonderful things that make you uniquely you on the one day a year that is all about you!

Don't Be Ruled by Guilt - We are not built for guilt.  Haven't you noticed how yucky you feel when you allow guilt into your life.  Our system doesn't handle it so well.  How much time do we waste on feeling guilty.  Instead of feeling guilty, make good decisions and have confidence in your ability to do so.

Do What You Love and Love What You Do - What makes your heart expand?  What makes your soul sing?  Don't allow yourself to be so busy going through the motions of the day that you don't pay attention to what truly brings you joy.

Spend Time With Yourself - How can you be your best self if you don't know anything about yourself?  Claim 30 minutes a day as your own time to be with your thoughts. Perhaps read a book or meditate.

Practice Forgiveness - To be your best self you can not walk around angry at someone.  Practice forgiveness.  You can't be truly happy until you forgive.  Feeling hatred, anger and resentment toward someone who wronged you is not a way of punishing them.  It is punishing you and holding you back.

Respect Your Body - Nourish it properly.  You can not solve all your problems by eating happy meals!  Energize your body.  Get out and move around. Exercise regularly.  Love your Body.  Stop looking in the mirror and pointing out all of the things you don't like and wish you could change.  Come to love yourself for who you are and stop focusing on what you aren't.

Filter Out the Negative - Learn to filter out negativity in all its forms.  Negative thoughts, negative words and negative people.  Surround yourself with people you admire, with people who believe in you and want you to be your best self.

Being yourself takes time, courage, commitment and faith.  It is a process of letting go of many false beliefs that we have picked up along the way.  To be your best self means ultimately to love yourself.  You are a wonderful creation.  You can be, do and have anything you want and I want only the best for you!