Untitled.

(Source: thingsmakemehappy)

nevver:

Gorey

I grew up loving John Bellairs’s books! He was also my introduction to Gorey’s illustrations.

QR Codes Quicknote
Legibility

QR Codes are fun, they’re trendy, they’re easy to create and distribute. Folks are even getting creative by applying design aesthetic (something QR codes really need since they were originally created for industrial purposes).

However, we can’t forget some basics about QR codes that go a long way in terms of their legibility no matter what scanning app you may use.

1. Dark on Light: I’m sure some scanning apps can read these codes no matter what color scheme you use, but contrast is king, and for some reason I’ve noticed one or two readers that can’t read light codes on dark fields.
2. Keep it Short: QR codes, are simply the graphical version of some text. In most cases, it’s just a web address. This means, that the longer the text is, the more complicated the graphic becomes, and the noisier it looks. This makes it difficult for most scanner apps to read. Keep it simple, try shortURLs.
3. Border: Part of the QR code design standard requires a white border (or of a color similar to the background) around the code itself. This helps visually remove it from background clutter, and assists with readability. If you remove the border and drop it down on some dark background, your scanner apps will have issues.

Other than that. Have fun! I’ve seen QR codes with built-in logos, and personally have played with multi-colored codes (just remember dark on light!!).

(CC Image courtesy of burtonwood + holmes)

Leveraging Mobile to Market in the Moment

While working on a presentation for my startup to potentially present at tomorrow’s Mass Innovation Nights #MIN35 event, I was introduced to the article linked above. It originally appeared in Fashion’s Collective (www.fashionscollective.com).

The main point it discusses is that mobile is an action-oriented medium. So using it as a marketing channel requires thinking in terms of 5 key attributes of Mobile:

• Immediacy
• Mapping
• Interactivity
• Collectivity

Follow the link for a deeper dive, it’s a recommended read. Just remember what it’s saying, to use mobile as a channel, don’t simply make a mobile version of your website. Instead, think in terms of marketing campaigns.

Community Management

A pattern is emerging as I look at many small businesses out there. In order to maintain a tight budget, they try to keep marketing dollars to a minimum and engage more heavily in Community Management.

Instead of posting fliers and advertisements online or offline, they look to build up a social media army. In many cases, this army is used almost exclusively as a delivery channel for promotions and updates.

Take Food Trucks as an example. Almost all marketing efforts are used in the growth and maintenance of their Twitter & Facebook following, and oftentimes the only posts are about the daily special, and where they can find the truck that day.

The problem with this, however, is the “So I built an army, now what?” situation. Marketing should do 2 things to be effective: (1) build customer loyalty, and (2) expand the customer base. Neither of these are really occurring when all you do is mention the daily special. But that’s not to say Community Management can’t achieve these ends. Quite the opposite.

The real key is to foster positive discussion on your brand. In this way, the regulars are now sharing your message with their friends. And in this way, your regulars can engage with each other, helping solidify that nascent community you’re building.

Interaction is a two-way street, and this should be remembered when it comes to Community Management. Encourage discussion by offering incentives both online and off. Going back to the food truck, maybe they could encourage users to post reviews and give a value-add offer to the top posts (stop by with a friend tomorrow, and you’ll treat them on us).

These are just some things I’m thinking about…

(CC Image courtesy of Luc Legay)