Notes on printing squares.
What makes a QR code fail on paper, and what to do instead.
QR codes for real estate: the sign, the flyer box, and the sign that outlives the listing
The buyer who stops at your sign wants the price, the photos, and whether it is still available. Where the codes go, what they should open, and the reuse trap every agent hits.
QR codes on direct mail: what gets a postcard scanned, and how to know which list worked
A postcard gets a few seconds between the mailbox and the recycling bin. What the code needs to say, where it should lead, and how to split codes so the results tell you something.
Do QR codes expire? Only when something outside the code does
A QR code is a printed pattern and cannot expire on its own. What stops working is the service in the middle, the page at the end, or the data inside.
Static vs dynamic QR codes: what you actually give up with each
A static QR code holds your link. A dynamic one holds someone else's link that forwards to yours. Everything else, good and bad, follows from that.
The shop that sells at 3am
Your door is locked for two-thirds of the week. The people walking past it are not asleep, and right now they get nothing.
The wedding invitation that RSVPs itself
Three codes on the invitation: the date into their calendar, the venue into their maps, the reply into your spreadsheet. Nobody has to find a pen.
Fifty Google reviews without asking out loud
The reason most businesses have nine reviews is not that customers are unhappy. It is that asking is excruciating and nobody does it twice.
The back of your business card is blank. It is the most valuable space you own.
Two codes compete for it and they do different jobs. One makes you reachable today, the other makes you remembered next quarter.
You don't need a website. You need four QR codes.
A website you never update is worse than no website. Here is what to do instead if you run a real business and have never wanted one.
The tradesperson's three QR codes: van, board, invoice
A phone number on a van is the most mistyped thing in business. Three codes fix the three places work actually comes from.
How to know which poster worked, without analytics
Print the same offer in four places and you learn nothing. Change one word in each code and your inbox does the counting for you.
The café's five QR codes, and where each one goes
Five codes, five surfaces, about twenty minutes of work. The menu one is the famous one and it is not the one that earns most.
Can QR codes be any color? The contrast rules that decide it
Yes, almost any color works. But scanners do not see color at all, they see one brightness threshold, and that changes which rules actually matter.
The quiet zone: the white border your QR code can't live without
That empty margin around your QR code is not padding. It is part of the code. Here is how much you need, and what quietly eats it after you download the file.
How big does a QR code need to be? Print sizes that actually work
Everyone says 2 cm. That number is right about half the time. Two quick checks give you the real minimum for your print job, before the file goes out.
Why your QR code won't scan (and how to find out which part broke)
Four different things can break a QR code, and they need four different fixes. One test tells you which one you have, before you reprint anything.
Why QR codes fail on paper
A code that scans on your monitor can be unreadable on a flyer. Three reasons, and what to do about each.