In the video, John discusses a number of ways that companies can reach the growing mobile audience. This includes QR Codes, NFC, Geofencing, and more.

We hope that you enjoy the video. Click this link to view it now on WhatTheyThink.com’s site >>

We absolutely think that they are a great way to make print interactive and measurable, and they can certainly help you reach the mobile audience.

However, we are always keeping our eyes open to other technologies that could disrupt the way that people consume information and communicate.

Ladies and Gentleman, Here Comes NFC

Before we discuss what NFC is, we’d like to demonstrate it to you. Here’s a video that I recently had the chance to film with our CEO John Foley, Jr.:

An Overview of NFC

NFC stands for Near Field Communications. To put  it simply, it is wireless technology that allows an initiator and a target to interact within close range.

Thus, NFC makes it possible for us to do what we did in that video — we could simply tap our NFC-enabled phone against the printed piece, which then directed us to the web.

That’s one of the big differences between NFC and QR Codes. With NFC, we did not need to open up an App first, and have it do the work of figuring out where the QR Code on the printed piece wants to send us.

The Mobile Buzz

Over the past couple of years, the mobile world has certainly been spreading the buzz about NFC.

Granted, the buzz about QR Codes has been much louder! And for good reason.

In order to use a QR Code, you primarily just need to have a smartphone. Anyone with a smartphone can download a QR Code reader App to start interacting with printed materials that have QR Codes.

However, you can’t just download an App on your iPhone today to use NFC.

The enablement of NFC primarily requires hardware changes. As of today, the iPhone does not support it. The same can be said for many of the other smartphones that are owned in the United States, as well as in other parts of the world.

However, that will change sooner than later. We don’t know when Apple will start supporting NFC in the iPhone. But when it happens, the usage of NFC will certainly take off.

More NFC Resources

If you’d like to read more about NFC, here are a few links that may help:

• NFCWorld.com
• NFC Forum
• @mBossed compiled a great list in this post >>

How Will You Be Affected By NFC?

The Wikipedia page on NFC lists a number of practical applications on how NFC could be applied to the “real world”.

A lot of the recent talk and news centers around how it will be a huge player in the mobile payment world.

• You’ll be able to pay for things simply with your mobile phone thanks to NFC
• You’ll be to access/present your account information for a loyalty card program thanks to NFC
• You’ll be to take advantage of coupons and discounts with your phone thanks to NFC

But it certainly goes beyond that.

• You’ll be able to register for contests by tapping your phone against a poster or flyer
• You’ll be able to watch a How-To video after tapping your phone against a product’s packaging
• You’ll be able to connect with people you meet by tapping your phone against their business card
• And more!

John Foley, Jr.'s NFC LinkedIn Card

Will NFC Replace QR Codes?

This is just my opinion — but I certainly do not think that a surge of brands using NFC will spell the end of QR Codes anytime soon.

For one, NFC is not going to work unless you are a extremely close to the target (1.5 inches, according to Wikipedia). Thus, I think that QR Codes will continue to be an effective way for people to make posters, signs, and other printed banners interactive.

In the end, technology succeeds if it truly makes life easier for customers and prospects. Is it easy-to-use? Is it easy to explain the technology to other people? Does it deliver an appropriate and compelling experience?

Those types of questions will always be ones that the technologies of the future need to answer. No matter what “wins”, it looks like we are all in for some excitement and changes.

H & H Graphics Group utilizes our Warehouse Management and Order Fulfillment software to provide a number of services to their clients.

They utilize a variety of our features, including:

• Inventory Management
• Online Order Entry
• Pick Tickets and Packing Slips
• Order Fulfillment
• Shipping Notifications
• Web-to-Print Storefronts
• Build-on-Demand Kits
• And more…

Of course, simply utilizing our software is only part of what H & H Graphics Group does each day when it comes to their fulfillment process. Another piece to that involves the marketing and sales efforts that they execute to bring on new clients.

I wanted to highlight one of the unique ways that H & H Graphics Group does this — with video!

In the video above, Mike Williams – a Publishing and Fulfillment Consultant at H & H Graphics Group – demonstrates some of the main features and benefits of their Fulfillment operations.

I think that this is a great way to tell a company’s story about a process that may not always be easy to comprehend.

Over the past few weeks, our development team has been hard at work on some big enhancements for iFlyMobi product.

In case you don’t know, iFlyMobi is an application that makes it very easy to build mobile websites. As the number of smartphone owners continues to grow, we think that companies of all sizes and types must take steps to reach the mobile audience.

I personally think that iFlyMobi rocks. And I’d love for you to feel the same way too.

Give it a try today!

We offer a 14-day free trial to let you experience the tool first-hand.

Below are some of the recent enhancements that have been added to iFlyMobi:

Organize the Layout of your Mobile Home Page

Our team has been taking steps to provide iFlyMobi users with more flexibility on the design and layout of their mobile websites.

We have recently released a feature that makes it very easy for our customers to control the sort order of all of the links on their mobile website. This includes Pages, External Links, and Blogs.

Learn how to use this feature today >>

Connect a Blog/RSS Feed to Your Mobile Website

There is no doubt that inbound marketing and content marketing continue to be hot topics among folks in the world of communications.

It certainly has proven to be very important for companies to have dynamic content on their website.

The same applies to a mobile website!

Thus, we have delivered enhancements that allow users to easily connect a Blog/RSS feed to their mobile website. Once they’ve made the connection, they can customize the name of their Blog, and then let our system do the work of updating the mobile website with fresh content from the Blog each day!

Learn how to use the Blog/RSS feature today >>

And More!

These are just a few of the powerful features that our iFlyMobi users can take advantage of.

Check out our Learn More page now to see what else you can do to reach the growing mobile audience!

On March 28th, 2012, I will have the opportunity to speak at the Bob Lamb Conference Center in the Arkansas State Chamber offices.

The presentation will touch on two of my favorite topics – mobile and technology! However, the focus of this presentation is a bit different than what I normally speak on. The title is “Get the Most From Your iPad for Your Governmental Relations Program“.

Event Summary

Joining me at this event will be Dena Woerner, who is the Vice President of Grow Socially.

We will be providing attendees with an overview of strategies and technologies that they can use to improve the success of their governmental relations programs.

We will share a variety of Apps and other tools that can help people maximize the benefits that their iPad can provide on a daily basis.

Event Details

Title: Get the Most From Your iPad for Your Governmental Relations Program

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 28, 9:00 – 11:30

Where: Bob Lamb Conference Center, Arkansas State Chamber offices

RSVP: Mary Dandurand (501) 223-9188, dandurand1@prodigy.net
 

To do that successfully, having the right technology in place is certainly a major piece.

Here are three ways that a Warehouse Management software solution could you reach your goals:

Automatic Reorder Point Notifications

When it comes to the Marketing Supply Chain, a warehouse should ensure that they have enough inventory on the shelves at the right time for the right products.

To keep that process running smoothly,  the customer should be notified immediately when inventory is running low. Also, the timing of the notification must not come when stock is at zero; rather, it should be a calculated process that gives them time to make a decision on a reorder quantity.

Warehouse management software can help to automate that for you!

It can:

• Automatically calculate how much stock is needed to maintain supply for a period of months
• Instantly generate email notifications and reminders to the customer and warehouse management
• Provide real-time reporting and updates to prevent unnecessary backorders

Better Fulfillment with Automated Picking

A warehouse management system should automate the inventory picking process. Rather than relying on the pickers to select products from locations that they determine to be the best fit, a Warehouse Management system should properly determine and present the ideal locations that should be picked from.

A manual location-picking process can be inefficient, risky, and a time-waster.

Real-Time Inventory Counts in the Order Management System

For a marketing supply chain to flow perfectly, there must be a mechanism to share data easily throughout each step of the process.

This certainly should include presenting real-time inventory numbers to the Sales Reps or other users that placing the initial orders.

By integrating those two pieces, or utilizing technology such as Web Services or other data feeds to share the inventory count, a warehouse can prevent frustration and confusion for all parties involved in the process.

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These are just a few of the ways that a Warehouse Management System can help your business to grow!

If you’d like to learn more, or perhaps see how interlinkONE’s software can provide those solutions to you, please let me know!

I’ve had the chance to work with them (along with the rest of the Grow Socially staff!) as they’ve gone through a rebranding effort that centered around their website.

Well, the folks at CLOV did something this week that absolutely impressed me. They found a very creative way to incorporate social media in order to say “Happy Birthday” to Dwane Wall, the President at CLOV. Here is the video that they produced and posted:

On March 15th 2012, our CEO John Foley, Jr. will be speaking during the Direct Marketing Day @ Your Desk virtual conference.

This event, which does not require any travel and comes with free registration, promises attendees “up-to-date, essential info about the hottest direct marketing topics”. And as I’m sure you would agree, mobile is certainly one of the hottest topics in the worlds of marketing today!

Click here for more details on the Direct Marketing Day @ Your Desk Conference >>

Details of the Presentation from John Foley, Jr.

Here are a few details regarding the presentation that John will be delivering:

Date: 3/15/2012

Time: 1:50 to 2:30 PM

Title: QR Codes vs. 2D Codes vs. NFC — How They Work, Why They Don’t and the Suitable Markets for Each

Description: QR Codes and other technologies that link real-world print marketing to the mobile web have been the hottest idea in marketing since DMA 2010, and it went from bake to broil when the U.S. Postal Service ran it’s “Summer Sale” on them last year. Now the USPS is planning to run another summer sale on 2d codes in 2012, but many marketers still have only limited understanding of the technology and viable options for implementing it.

Come to this grounded session to hear the realities of 2D code and NFC usage, including:

• What’s the difference between a QR Code, Microsoft Tag, SnapTag and NFC (which stands for Near Field Communications, and may be the next big thing on the horizon)?
• Which technologies are actually being used, and which are just hype?
• How are they being implemented?
• Who’s having success with them?
• What are customers actually responding to and what are they saying about it?
• What’s the future hold for mobile marketing?

Register for this event today!

The video below from Bloomberg does a great job of visually explaining both sides of the story. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!

Cloud Computing from Manta Media Inc on Vimeo.

Photo Credit

On a daily basis, I have the opportunity to engage with companies of all different shapes and sizes that provide inventory and fulfillment services.

Some of them are fulfilling thousands of orders a day for their company’s sales force; others are providing fulfillment services for their customers. Many of them are packaging and shipping marketing and sales collateral — binders, brochures, books, trade show displays, etc. — while others are fulfilling product orders that were placed by consumers.

But no matter what their situation might be, they nearly all face the same challenges.

Common Challenges in Warehouse Management

Companies that provide the service of managing inventory, a warehouse, and the fulfillment process often face the following questions:

• How accurate are their inventory counts?
• How can they monitor and improve their turnaround times?
• How can they automate their daily tasks?

A company’s ability to answer and accomplish those items is often directly related to the warehouse management software that they choose to use.

Succeeding with Warehouse Management Software

Many companies understand the importance of managing their warehouse inventory correctly, but too often they settle for simplistic programs such as Excel, Access, or Word documents to track their inventory flow.

While there are benefits to using these programs for specific tasks, they fail to add efficiency, consistency, and quality control to the process. This where the importance of using proven warehouse management software comes to light.

Not only can focused, inventory management software make organizing and tracking shipments and product output easier on your employees, but it can also help you generate valuable reports and analytics for your company and for your customers.

Also, by using an online software application, you can often get very close to a real-time inventory count situation, which should absolutely help to reduce unnecessary frustration in regards to backorders.

There are many other benefits that can come from fully utilizing an online, warehouse management software application.

If you are interested in how interlinkONE could help you out in that regard, register for a free demo of our solutions! Or, please click here to read more about our software.

Photo Credit