New Online Interface at PostcardsandInvitations.com Combines QR Codes and Direct Mail Marketing

Simpsonville, SC (PRWEB) June 14, 2011

Last week, Astonishingmail LLC debuted several new online features for its subsidiary website PostcardsandInvitations.com, making it simple for small business owners to create custom direct marketing pieces online and easily incorporate QR Codes into the layout.

QR Codes, or Quick Response Codes, are two-dimensional barcodes that may be scanned with a Smartphone to immediately take the viewer from printed material to online content such as a landing page, movie clip, or Facebook page right on their mobile device.

The result is ?interactive? direct mail marketing postcards, bridging the gap between the business? offline and online marketing.

?Just imagine how much more powerful your marketing message will be when you combine the proven impact of direct mail with the power of your social media and videos,? said John Welsh, founder and owner of direct-mail company PostcardsandInvitations.com. ?The novelty of QR Code invitations is hard to resist. Many consumers scan them just to see where they go!?

QR Code cards may take the viewer from a printed piece to the company website, Facebook page, online product demo, detailed product information page, event signup, special offer, even messaging targeted towards each individual consumer (with the use of personalized URLs). Any online content or document that can be viewed on a Smartphone will work with a QR code.

?It?s important to think strategically,? said Welsh, identifying some tips for successful QR Code campaigns. ?Consider what you are seeking in terms of a response to your direct mail, and your online content can provide supporting information or a call to action, or both. Are you seeking Facebook fans, event registrations, product inquiries, sales leads? The message on your printed card and in the online content need to make sense together.?

For example, a realtor with a hot new property might link her direct mail photo postcards to a YouTube video tour of the building and contact info. Asking for someone to donate to a cause? Take the viewer directly to a mobile-friendly donation page. A product video would be perfect for a new gadget, especially when paired with a request-for-demo form.

?Add a QR Code to any of your business marketing communications ? such as postcards or business thank you cards ? for an exciting dimension of interactivity, transporting the user to additional information and the marketer to higher response rates,? said Welsh. ?And it?s easy. Anyone new to the technology can first visit PostcardsandInvitations.com and watch our video explaining how to use QR Codes, or those already familiar can go directly to our website and get started today.?

Welsh?s direct mail company PostcardsandInvitations.com has an intuitive online interface to design professional small business postcards. Through the interface, add a QR Code directly into the mail piece to connect clients to online videos, signup forms, or product information. Upload your mailing list or purchase one online.

PostcardsandInvitations.com then professionally prints, addresses, and mails your cards the next business day.

?QR Codes aren?t just for business,? reminds Ginny Welsh, John?s wife and business partner. ?They?re perfect for adding interactive content to mailed birth announcements, baby shower invitations, holiday greeting cards, and photo postcards.?

About Postcards and Invitations

Postcards and Invitations, a subsidiary of Astonishingmail LLC, was founded by John & Ginny Welsh in 2010 and features some of the most advanced greeting card and postcard personalization tools available on the Internet. The company offers fast, easy and affordable greeting cards, invitations and postcards for consumers and business without sacrificing quality or customer service.

For additional information, contact John Welsh at 864-297-2771 or john at astonishingcards dot com, or write to him at Postcards and Invitations, c/o Astonishingmail LLC, 206 Asheton Lakes Way, Simpsonville, SC 29681

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Interactive Greeting Cards and Invitations with QR Codes Launched by Postcards and Invitations

Simpsonville, SC (PRWEB) August 09, 2011

There?s nothing in the world like the sound of a loved one?s voice. Integrating printed cards with the personal connection you get from a video by adding QR Codes to greeting cards and invitations is now more exciting than ever. PostcardsandInvitations.com has just released a new product that creates a more personal connection by combining traditional print with online content. By adding QR Codes with templates, their full line of greeting cards, postcards and invitations are more versatile and interactive. Postcards and Invitations is the first company to assist their customers in generating their own QR code, choose a design and insert the QR code in a 1-2-3 step process.

QR Codes, or Quick Response Codes, are two-dimensional barcodes that may be scanned using any Smartphone. The scanning of a QR Code immediately transports the greeting card or postcard recipient to online content such as a YouTube video, a Facebook page, a Vcard, or even dial a phone number automatically. The uses are almost unlimited and is the perfect marriage between traditional greeting cards and invitations and the exciting and interactive content of the online world.

?Just imagine how excited your friends will be to receive a birth announcement that includes a QR Code to connect them with an adorable video of your new baby,? said John Welsh, company founder and owner. ?This new technology can be used to enhance any postcard, greeting card or invitation. You can link the QR Code to a map, if you?re sending a party invitation. You can link it to your Facebook photos, if you?re sending a Christmas postcard. The possibilities are unlimited,? he continued.

When creating an invitation using the intuitive online design software available on the Postcards and Invitations website, it is surprisingly easy to add a QR Code. ?From our How-To Video that shows how to create a card, to our easy 1-2-3 Step Process for adding the QR Code to the template, it has never been easier for our customers to create memorable and exciting postcards and invitations,? said Welsh.

Some of the many uses for interactive cards are for photo Christmas Cards, birth announcements, baby shower invitations, graduation announcements, graduation invitations, party invitations, birthday cards, birthday party invitations, moving announcements, wedding invitations and thank you cards. Friends and family will have fun getting a beautiful printed photo Christmas card with a YouTube video greeting from the entire family that sent the card.

About Postcards and Invitations

Postcards and Invitations ( http://www.postcardsandinvitations.com ), was founded by John & Ginny Welsh in 2011 and features some of the most advanced greeting card and postcard personalization tools available on the Internet. The company offers fast, easy and affordable greeting cards, invitations and postcards for consumers and business without sacrificing quality or customer service. For additional information, contact John Welsh at 864-297-2771 or john(at)postcardsandinvitations(dot)com, or write to him at Postcards and Invitations, 206 Asheton Lakes Way, Simpsonville, SC 29681

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QR Codes Turn Headstones into Interactive Memorials - Living Headstone?

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) May 27, 2011

Cemetery headstones have not changed appreciably in the past 5,000 years? until now. Quiring Monuments is pleased to introduce an innovative new approach to memorialization.

For more information watch our new ?Living Headstone ?? Memorial Video.

Today our mobile population has further increased the separation of families worldwide. What hasn?t changed over the centuries though is our desire to keep the memory of loved ones alive for generations yet to come.

Quiring has created a new type of headstone which connects people regardless of where they reside. Our ?Living Headstone?? memorial blends the timeless traditional value of granite headstones with the newest technology available, to provide an interactive ?living? memorial legacy for future generations. "Each grave in the cemetery holds unique stories that are valuable to our society both emotionally and historically,? says owner David Quiring. ?Living Headstone?" memorials will unlock and preserve these stories for future generations."

With the use of QR codes on headstones, Quiring makes it possible for friends and family to create, edit, and publish ?archive sites? or Web pages to commemorate their loved ones. Similar to a personal Facebook page, a ?Living Headstone?? archive site contains information you and friends can add about your loved one, such as: an obituary, family heritage and history, photos, video and audio clips, comments by friends and relatives and even a map to locate the memorial in the cemetery.

A QR code on the headstone acts as a link which enables users of smart phones and mobile tablets to scan and automatically connect to a personalized website. It can be viewed on the phone or mobile tablet as visitors wander through the cemetery or by simply typing in a unique web address into your computer internet browser. Although others may view the information, only visitors authorized by the family administrator can post information on the Web page.

This link can be applied to new or existing cemetery headstones, mausoleum shutters, cremation urns, garden benches or as an addition to a public memorial. In situations where cremated remains were previously scattered, a miniature memorial plaque with the digital link ? QR code is available for display in your home or garden or even on a field stone in a Green Burial Cemetery.

For more information please visit http://www.monuments.com.

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