Archives for October 2011

How To Create QR Code For Mobile Phones: Video Demo

October 31, 2011 by Louisa Chan 1 Comment

What are these boxes and squares? They are called QR Codes. They are used to store and communicate information. They connect products in the offline real world with the online internet/mobile world by giving you real time relevant information.
So you may see something with these codes in the product packaging, on a tag, on a menu or stationery and when you scan them with your phone, they bring you relevant and updated information through your mobile devices.
We have talked about how to scan a QR code and what they are used for in previous post. We have also seen how to create QR codes. This post just helps make things a little clearer by showing you how to do it via a video demo.
Grab your coffee, this is a less-than-5-minute video and then go create your code!

How To Create A QR Code

And with that, you now have a functional QR Code.
If you have any questions just post them at the comments below or post them at the Louisa Chan’s Facebook Page and I will be responding with either a video or a blog post. Alternatively, you can connect with me here.
For more regular helpful resources that save you time and give better productivity, feel free to join us at Louisa Chan’s Business Page. And if you like, you can also get a free report on how you can Master Social Media In 5 Simple Steps Using An Hour A Week.

How To Create QR Codes?

October 27, 2011 by Louisa Chan Leave a Comment

How To Create QR Codes

OK so QR codes have been making its appearance in shopping malls and restaurants around Kuala Lumpur. It is no longer referred to as the funny looking square with little dots but people actually call them by name now – Kuala Lumpur, we have come a long way!
If you have not read my previous posts on QR code, or wonder what they are and why you need them, here are the links to my previous posts: My Niece’s Nintendo Has QR Codes / 2D Barcodes and How To Scan A QR Code Or A 2D Barcode.
Now if you want to create a QR code, here’s how you can do it. Follow me closely: Step 1: See the diagram below? Look for the little blue “d” at the top right corner [it should appear on every page on my site]. Click on that.

Step 2: That will bring you to Diagram 2. Congratulations! You have just created a QR code! You will also have the URL [delivr.com/something] for the page. A URL is the address that will bring you to the said page. From here, you can Facebook or Tweet the URL to the page you want your visitors to go to.

Diagram 2

Step 3: To create a QR code that will lead visitors to a specific page, just sign up for your own Delivr account. Once you have signed up you can key in the URL of any page you want your visitors to land on after scanning the QR code. Thenpress go.
And that’s it! You can download and save the QR code as well as the URL. You can then use either the code of the URL to bring visitors to your destination. To see if this works, take out your phone, scan it [if you do not know how to do this follow the post above – it has steps for you to follow] and test it.

here are many sites that will help you create QR codes, some can be fanciful and play with colors and images. Some will allow you a transition page [they bring you to an interim page and encourages you to like a Facebook page before finally bringing you to the destination]. You will have to decide which one you want to go with and stick with that.
I have shown you how to create a QR code but you will need to know what to do with the code to make the most out of it. A few things to note though; you want your readers to know what to do with the code that you generated.
1 – Tell your visitors how to use this “thing’ called QR Code. Not everyone knows what QR codes are and how they can make use of them. Tell visitors step by step where to get the QR decoder, what to do next and what to expect.
2 – Have a plan: where do you want to bring them to? You can safely assume that people who scan this will be on their mobile devices, so don’t bring them to a web site! Especially not one that has flash or your visitors won’t be able to see a thing! You need a mobile friendly site.
Alternatively you can your visitors to a squeeze page, a YouTube Channel or a mobile landing page? The QR code can even show up your contact details.
3 – Test Your QR codes: I have seen lots of QR codes on magazines and printed material that do not bring me anywhere. Test your QR codes before you send them for printing.
4 – How does this QR Code Technology fit into your total marketing strategy? A stand alone QR code will be a novelty for a while, but you want to use the codes and bring about a desired action. What that is depends on your marketing strategy. Have you worked that out with your marketing agent?
5 – And just one more thing, you will want to track the analytics of your code. How many times have they been viewed and clicked? What tweaks will improve your performance?
Now that you know How To Create Your Own QR code, you can implement it, but do note the pointers above.
I hope you find this post useful. If you have any questions just post them at the comments below and I will be responding with either a video or a blog post.

Remember to leave me a comment or feedback and if you find this helpful and feel free to click “share“!

Why Do I Need A .mobi And A .com When I Can Do An Automatic Redirect ?

October 15, 2011 by Louisa Chan 1 Comment

Mobile Sites For Mobile Devices
Here’s one design of a mobile site.
Would you prefer this to the one before [design captured here]
Why do I want to have two different sites and not have the website automatically redirect mobile users to a mobile view so in effect you will only need to remember www.SynergyMarketingPro.com and not have to also know about m.SynergyMarketingPro.com or www.SynergyMarketingPro.mobi?
Very good question! I am glad you asked.
Mobile Blogs and Not The Same As Mobile Sites
What do I mean by that?
If you view www.SynergyMarketingPro.com on a PC or a laptop, you will see the full site, the “normal view” as it were.
If however, you view www.SynergyMarketingPro.com through a mobile device, you will see my blog posts as the homepage – optimized for mobile phone viewing. I did not do a screen capture here but if you view it on your smart phone you will know what I mean.
You will still be able to see the rest of the pages of the main website and you will have the option to view this site in a full view [non-mobile friendly] so you will see the exact same thing as you would if you were using a PC. But you will need to expand the fonts in order to read!
But that is not a mobile site. I just configure my website so it shows you my blog posts in a way that fits mobile screens (when I detect that you are viewing from a mobile device). My blog posts are an important part of the site. And I want mobile users to be able to read those in a a mobile friendly way.
A mobile site on the other hand does not need to have any blog posts. I am assuming you are on the move, in a rush and will not have the luxury to sit down and read my post in font size 7!
That is why you will not see a lot of text, nor video on the mobile site. It is meant to be simple, light weight so it loads fast and the content must be streamlined and focus without a lot of options or distractions so you are not confused. But a mobile site must have certain key information about the business.
What Is A Mobile Site’s Function? A mobile site’s function is to show up on mobile searches, to give you key and relevant information about the business and to direct you to the main website for more deatils. That way you can check out details when you are back home seated in front of your desk, ready to read.
And What Does A Mobile Blog do? It allows viewers to consume your blog post on their mobile devices and to direct them to your mobile site for more key information like contact details, services, operating hours etc.
So although technically I can easily automatically redirect all mobile users viewing my website to the mobile site (so I will not have to promote my mobile site), I have decided not to – at least not for now. Because I want readers to have access to my blog posts.
Technology is not the issue here, rather it is how you use and incorporate the different technologies into your marketing plan that requires careful consideration.
I want to let you decide how you want to consume my content because you know what you need at that particular moment. At the mobile site you have the option to get quick, clear answers to your questions or you can click and move right back to the full website for details and more leisure reading of the blog posts.
I hope you find this post useful. If you have any questions just post them at the comments below and I will be responding with either a video or a blog post.
Remember to leave me a comment or feedback and if you find this helpful and feel free to click “share”!

How Does Your Website Show Up On iPhones and iPads (Mobile Phones and Tablets)?

October 10, 2011 by Louisa Chan 1 Comment

Mobile Site For Readers In The Mobile World
So you’ve paid to have a a great website designed with flash videos and everything nice. Then while waiting at the cash counter, you pulled out your newly bought iPhone4S and decided to look up your own website.
Lo and behold, you see maybe half the screen after 3 minutes of loading and buffering.
Websites Are Not Mobile Ready
Now that is not uncommon.
Websites are not designed to show up on mobile devices in optimum time.
That is why it can get expensive to browse websites on mobile devices.
And your flash videos are not going to play on iOS so your iPhones and iPads will not be able to see those video content.
So what do you do?
You need a mobile site, not a smaller version of your web site but a site designed for the mobile users in mind. More people expect you to have a mobile site for fast navigation and ease of use. Mobile sites are not static brochure pages but a way for you to interact and engage with your prospects and clients.
This is not what you want.
You want a complete new design of a site that has the mobile users’s experience in mind.
Let’s take a look at this next image; that is a mobile site designed with the mobile user in mind.
It loads quickly, has everything you need at one glance, and with easy navigation.
Of course you can make it look fanciful and colorful with logos and graphics.
I prefer to keep it simple because having images will take extra time to load not to mention it taking up my precious online real estate.
But you certainly can have logos and images to improve the aesthetic look. You just have to bear those factors in mind in your design so it does not fill up the page nor take too long to load.
So Is Your Web Site Mobile Ready?

Will the millions and billions of mobile users want to wait for your page to load or will they go somewhere else?
Are you reaching out to mobile users – who are increasing by the seconds or are you being left behind?

It is no longer a luxury to have a mobile site but a necessity – if you want to tap into mobile users. Mobile sites have been shown to increase page view, conversion rate and therefore sales. Even if your business does not have a website, you need a mobile site, because by 2014, mobile users will be the norm.

A native mobile site: m.SynergyMarketingPro.com hope you find this post useful. This post will explain why you need a .mobi and a .com when you can do a redirect form your website. If you have any questions just post them at the comments below and I will be responding with either a video or a blog post.
Remember to leave me a comment or feedback and if you find this helpful, feel free to click “share”!

How To Have New Clients Without Advertising – For Medical And Healthcare Establishments

October 3, 2011 by Louisa Chan Leave a Comment

Social Media for the Medical and Healthcare Professionals

Prospective patients and those who are planning to come to Malaysia for Medical Tourism are using Google to search for clinics and medical centers before they make the trip to the clinic.
A probable scenario would be for the “e-patient” to whip out his tablets (Samsung, iPad or HP) or mobile phone and start “Googling’ for clinics in a certain location.
Research shows that one in three searches has a location or a post code attached to it. In this case, patient may search for “clinic” and a location say “Bangsar” (that’s an affluent township in Kuala Lumpur).
This is probably what it will look like. The first to show up may well be paid advertisement with Google. These are the ones with a highlighted background and the word “Ad” at the top right corner. These appear first as search results.
Then we have the Local Search results. These are given a free online Place Page by Google and they look like this.

Figure 1

These local listings have a lot more information than the organic listing e.g. link to website, tab to call phone numbers, and an entire online page.
Next comes the organic search results of the clinics listed with Google. They do not have the little red teardrop icon and are not linked to any map or tab to call numbers. They look like this:

Figure 2

People are using search engines to look for information besides checking for recommendations with friends. Hardly anyone I know use Yellow Pages hardcopy or online.
It is interesting to note that listings of local business centers are showing up even without the owners’ knowledge – yes sometimes businesses are not even aware that they have a Google Local Listing. And it is a pity because they have not made use of the free online asset that Google is handing out to them!
Google crawls the web and scraps relevant information of businesses and puts them into these local listings. These are sometimes not accurate and very often incomplete. As a business establishment owner you will want to.
Make sure that your clinic/medical center/hospital is showing up

Make sure that it is showing up on the screen “above the fold” that is without your visitor having to scroll down the tiny mobile screen
Hopefully your listing is showing up on Page 1 in the top few places

An equally important question is to ask if your medical center’s listing is populated with accurate and relevant information. This is so that your prospects find what they are looking for and will want to visit your center and not that of your competitors?
If we look back at Figure 1, and we click on the first listing, “Polikinik Bangsar”, we will be greeted with something that look like this (at the time of this writing):-

Figure 3

It has very little information.

So even if some of these clinics are showing up on local searches, prospective clients or patients cannot find much information and they will likely go somewhere else, in search of other medical centers or hospitals.
They may search for the Malaysia Medical Association or Medical Council and hope for a list of medical centers. And this is what they will see when they Google for the “Malaysia Medical Council” on Google Local Search.

Figure 4

While the medical professional has stayed away from actively advertising or canvassing, their clinics, medical centers and establishments are already listed on Google Local Searches – by Google.
The concern here is to optimize your online listing given by Google so you have a constant stream of new patients. You will also want some good patient reviews as social proof.
You can start owning your online listing today and see more visitors coming to your centers. Additional Resources
For the complete report on how Social Media can help medical establishments get more clients without advertising, just download the report here: Social Media For Medical Professionals (http://www.LouisaChan.com/social-media-for-medical-professionals).
Article originally published on the Malaysia Medical Resources.

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