Thursday, November 29, 2012

How To Include Signature In Reply Gmails

I thought one way of publicizing my book would be to include the link to the product in my signature in my gmails.  I was very excited to set it up.  First I went to settings:



And set up my signature...

Upon completion, I was ready to fire it up!  However, they weren't appearing in my replies!  It was only showing up in new emails I created.  I tried copy and pasting my signature into my email, but that wasn't going to do.  That's when I learned in order to include them in replies, you need to go to the LABS tab and enable it there.





Why google put it here and not in the settings, I have no idea.  It seems counter intuitive, especially for an Outlook user myself.  But now you know.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

How To Make A QR Code





Like me, many of you have probably seen one of those things above and wondered, what the hell is this??

That, my friend, is a QR Code.  A QR (Quick Response) code is basically a barcode for advertisers.  If you have a smartphone, you can download an app (I recommend something like QR Reader) and use your camera to scan any you see.  Often, these get posted on advertisements as a way for you to find out about the product by pointing your phone at it.  Upon completion of the scan, your browser in your phone will activate and point you to whatever the QR Code links to.

So why is this being posted here?  Well, recently, I've been trying to think of ways to market my book, and putting flyers in local businesses was one way of advertising.  However, posting links upon links is quite ugly on a flyer, and like anyone is going to remember a link that has nearly 100 characters in it.  That's why I researched how to create my own QR Code.  I did it, and now you can do it too!  Create a QR Code and link it to any website.   It's a great tool to mess around with and a QR code can be put on anything, websites, cards, posters, etc.

1) Find a QR Code generator. 
There are several QR Code generators online, but I personally used Microsoft's Tag.  It's really easy to use, and took me less than 5 minutes to do.  It also has tracking status and lets you know how many times your code has been scanned.  Neat!  Once you're in, click on create tag.


2)  Create Your Tag
Next, fill in the info and most importantly the website you're linking to.  I linked one of my QR codes to my blog.  I also left the 'Open URL in Tag app...' box unchecked, so users don't have to download the Tag app to view your QR Code






3) Download
After creation, hit the download button to get your tag.  I chose the QR Code one because it's the most common among other devices.







 4) Apply
After you're done, you'll have a nice image download that you can use anywhere!


In this case, I used it in my flyers:


It's so nifty, you could even scan it on this screen right now.  Overall, I think it's an easy process, and it's a great way for you to save space and help your users not worry about the hassle of remembering links.  It's perfect way to advertise online products.  They may have been out for a while, but I don't think many people know how easy it is to create one yourself.