Creating your own quick reader or QR code is actually very simple. I have been creating a YouTube video every week for the past few weeks and in an effort to drive traffic to my channel, I created a QR code and am having them printed on business cards. I can then hand out those cards as I ride up the chairlift with other skiers interested in my Top 5 Ski Areas of North America video series.
A QR code is simply a 2-dimensional bar code that translates into text. You could make a QR code for your name but it is more useful to make one for your website. In my case I looked at the URL for my YouTube channel and dropped it into a QR-Code generator that I found doing an Internet search. I didn't feel the need to add a logo in the middle or anything fancy like that but had the option if I desired.
Once I had the QR code, I saved it as an image file and can now add it to any number of places. I originally thought about making my own business cards and picked up some Avery printable sheets that could be separated into 10 cards per page. Unfortunately my color laser printer jams with thick paper and so I had to print them using my ink-jet printer that I really only use as a scanner. The ink tends to run when it gets wet and so it is not something I want to carry around in my jacket pocket on a snowy day. Instead I went to Vistaprint and had 100 cards printed inexpensively.
Today I spent my morning skiing at Snowbird and handed out a few of my sample cards that I created. When other skiers find out I am making videos they are interested in watching them and having a QR code makes them easy to view. As the QR code is for my channel and not a specific video, I don't need to update the cards every time I release a new video. In a few weeks, I'll be able to see if they help drive any traffic.
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