Amber Hills Properties  Z & R Ventures, Inc. Watford City, ND

For those who don’t live in and around the Bakken, it’s difficult to understand what it’s like here in the Williston Basin.  A few years ago, Watford City and Williston were like a lot of North Dakota towns:  quiet. 

There were a few stores on Main Street, a Walmart and a some family-friendly restaurants that you didn’t need reservations for. Some people were still oilfield workers, others farmed and ranched.  Back then, you could buy a house for less than $100,000.  If you wanted to rent an apartment in Williston, you could get it for $300-$500 a month.

Thanks to the exploration of the Bakken shale, fracking and the high-paying oilfield jobs that followed, however, those days are behind us.  Fast food businesses are paying employees $15/hour and Walmart is paying $17/hour and still having a tough time hiring. Rent an apartment in Watford City or Williston now and you’ll pay $2,000 or more.  Hotel rooms are non-existent.  Home prices are skyrocketing.  Oilfield workers are living in their cars despite earning six figures a year. 

Big money is being made in “man camps”, which offer full-service lodging for oifield workers. These man camps provide a room for sleeping and up to three meals a day for those staying there.  With laundry facilities, game rooms, televisions and other basic amenities, man camps are a popular option for these workers.  For the people who purchase land around the Bakken and put up these man camps, the money to be made is significant. Rooms rent for an average of $150 to $200 per night, and empty rooms are rare.  

 But that’s not the whole story. Somewhat more “traditional” rentals in Williston, Watford City and surrounding North Dakota towns are bringing huge returns on investment. Manufactured homes built to suit 8 people rent out for over $13,000 every month. Put a 2-bedroom trailer house on a property with utilities and you can receive tenant income of $4,000 a month or more from oilfield workers who value having a little more privacy than man camps offer.  People who invest their money in Bakken housing now can make it back quickly and then start earning straight profit within a few months. 

If you were to identify one of the biggest revolutions in the way we communicate, it would have to be this: email. Long before people were surfing the Net or texting, email was being used within organizations to share information, and it’s still being used today. There are few people over the age of 12 who don’t have some form of email account, and most people have more than one for business or personal use. (One guy in our office has a plethora of accounts addressed to “Bob”. No Bob, Robert or otherwise actually works here.)

The way you utilize email for your energy business can be a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal. (And can be a thorn in your side if it’s not done right.)

Here are a few rules to remember:

• Have an email address that is professional. “ILoveHugs” or “KeggerDave” isn’t going to capture the attention (at least in a positive way) of most of the clients you’re hoping to connect with. Use an email address that speaks for and about you and your business.
• Start your email off right. Include a greeting to the person to whom you are sending the message. If you know them well, it can be “Hi Jim”; if you don’t, a more formal “Hello Jim” is likely more appropriate.
• Write, don’t text. Texting is a no-no in professional business and marketing communications. When you are writing to a client (or a potential one) you are marketing yourself to them, so let them know that you can spell “you are” instead of the including “U R” in your message.
• Use a professional signature line. You should always have an email signature line at the end of your correspondence so that people know who you are, what you do and how to reach you. Kat Neville’s article in SMASHING Magazine has a few good hints on what to include (and what not to.)
• Read before you send. Whether you’re shooting off a quick message before you run out the door or have just created the next great American novel in digital form (another no-no) you need to proof it. Read it out loud, as you’re not only likely to catch typos, but also pick up on any duplicate statements, negative tones, or other messaging you might not want to convey.
• Verify to whom you’re sending your email. Don’t send it to 50 people if 3 will do because, and this is just being honest, it looks like a major CYA when you do. And if you’re responding to an email, make sure you look at exactly who it’s addressed to. You may think that your hastily typed response calling your customer a nincompoop (or worse) is only going to a colleague when, in fact, it’s destined to land in that very customer’s inbox … and that can cost you more than a sale.

Have any questions? Feel free to email me.

If you just want a laugh, check out these stories of disastrous email mistakes.

The state of Montana is known for a lot of things, including its world-class fly fishing, exceptional beef and grain production and energy development. But in a state whose population just topped one million, you wouldn’t think that it would be a hot bed of politics.

Democrat Brian Schweitzer has been Montana’s governor for almost 8 years. Overall, I’d say that Montanans have liked him (although secretly I believe that we’re all tired of the bolo ties and blue shirts) but in a state in which most elected officials are term limited, his administration will soon come to an end. And boy, there were a lot of people who want to replace him—there were 15 republicans, democrats, independents and libertarians who entered the fray.

Some were able to raise some pretty substantial cash to back their run. Prior to the primary, I was far from making a decision as to who I would vote for, but there was one candidate who captured my attention and demonstrated how some planning, perseverance and creativity can, at the very least, get you noticed in a crowded field.

I saw my first Jim O’Hara sign on a drive from Billings to Bozeman last year. It was a hand-painted plywood cut out of a courthouse with a simple message beneath it. As my travels expanded across the state, so did my sightings of these unique billboards. Although perched on poles in fields, and lacking the traditional “slick” look of campaign boards, there was something about these homemade signs that intrigued me.

I started researching who Jim O’Hara was and learned that this Chouteau County commissioner had been planning a run for the governorship since the mid-2000s. I also learned that it was he who had painted, cut and constructed each of these signs—a total of 70 of them, one for each of the state’s 56 counties and some extras for those with the highest populations.

Energy marketers can learn some valuable lessons from O’Hara, whose fundraising has not been as great as other candidates, but who has garnered national attention for his efforts:

1. Think ahead. Although the energy development industry is fast-moving, you need to plan your efforts today, tomorrow and in the future.
2. Work with what you have. You may not have the deepest pockets in the Bakken, but you can make the most of your marketing budget by using those things that are available to you. The side of your vehicle, our business cards and your website are just a few of the things you can look at maximizing to promote your brand message.
3. Be authentic, and you’ll be unique. O’Hara happened to love the architecture of courthouses, particularly the historic ones across Montana . He used that appreciation as the basis of his brand in his campaign. Allowing your brand—and your corresponding marketing efforts—to authentically reflect who you are will set you apart from your competition.

As for O’Hara, he won’t be our next governor.  But I do know that he’s caught my attention and that of voters across the Treasure State.

UPDATE: See the CBS News story about Jim O’Hara here.

Particularly in light of the recent USA Today furloughs, there are some who have loudly cried that print is dead. Others have cried that with the advent of Pandora, iTunes and Spotify—not to mention Sirius—radio has bitten the proverbial dust. And nobody, according to these same folks, ever watches TV. It’s all, “they” say, about digital.

Hm.

Let’s talk some realities. Yes, digital is a huge, and ever-growing, part of marketing. I cannot fathom any company in any industry that should not have a functional, content-rich, well-developed website. But I’m here to tell you that there are very few companies out there who couldn’t benefit from some form of so-called “traditional” marketing.

Enter “tradigital”.

As marketers, part of our job is not only to come up with creative ads that catch the attention of your target audience, but also to have a strategy behind them to make sure that every one is maximized. And that means looking at all mediums available to determine which will work best and how they should work together.

That may mean running a series of newspaper ads that incorporate a QR code linking readers to a website. On that website, there may be a video to watch (perhaps the same spot you’re running on TV at the moment), a game to play or a white paper to read. You might also find a link to Facebook where, in turn, a special offer or promotion could be waiting to be found. And maybe that special offer means that you deliver a piece of direct mail right to their door as well as an email to their inbox. What’s on that mailer or in that email? Another online link—and perhaps this one links your customer to a webinar or invites them to a locally based event.

You may think that it sounds like one big circle…and you’d be absolutely correct. In today’s market there are so many options to choose from that using just one is rarely a good idea.

Multi-faceted, integrated marketing consisting of traditional and digital media will likely be far more powerful and extend your reach when compared to executing via a single media alone.

Ask yourself: are you doing tradigital integration in your marketing efforts? And more importantly, are you doing it right?

If the answer is no to either one of these questions, you need to rethink your strategy. Because traditional media isn’t dead, digital media isn’t going away and failing to take advantage of both of them could risk the lifeblood of your business.

You’ve heard about marketing, right? I mean, people have told you that you need to market your business, market your products, market your services. They’ve told you it’s crucial—without it you’re sunk.

And technically, they’re right.

But have you every stopped to wonder “What exactly is marketing?”

Okay, let’s start out with a definition of sorts. According to the American Marketing Association, marketing is “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

Let me guess. You just said “blah, blah, blah…” didn’t you? Don’t worry—I did, too. So let’s talk realities.

Marketing is essentially this: everything that makes your target audience want to buy your product or service, and ultimately makes them feel satisfied about what they purchased. Oh—and makes you money along the way.

The next question then is, what makes good marketing, and where do you start when you’re looking to start—or build—your business?

1. Know your audience. If you don’t know what your potential customers want, there’s no way to give it to them. You need to know their problems before you can give them a solution. Is budget a concern? Are time constraints an issue? What do they like (or not like)? Find out what they need and why. Need an example? Check out this article about why you have to think differently when marketing to women, or this one about the unique aspects of marketing to the Amish.

2. Evaluate what you offer. You might think that what you bring to the table is the best thing since sliced bread, but there are a lot of other businesses out there who are thinking exactly the same thing. Part of good marketing is knowing what makes you different, and what makes you better. If you can’t see a difference between you and your competitor, then your customer won’t either.

3. Have a plan. Good marketing requires a good strategy. Where is the right place to sell your product or service? Who is the right person to talk to? What’s the right story to tell? What’s your budget? Who in your company is going to execute which component of your marketing plan? These are all questions you need to be asking yourself. (What shouldn’t your marketing plan be? This article tells you.)

4. Execute well. If you’re asking someone to buy what you’re selling, then you’d better look like you’re worth investing in. Start with basic tools: a decent website with good content and functionality, proper sales materials and a professional email address. And unless you’re in IT, a haircut.

The fact is, marketing is always changing and always evolving, but starting with these four basics will help get you on the right track.

Targeting consumers? Check out this great Fast Company article: Marketing From The Other End of the Funnel.

Google’s hint at an over-optimization penalty could swing the pendulum back to focus on great content.

Focus too much on gaming Google and you could get burned.

That’s what Google’s Matt Cutts appeared to hint recently when he said people who over-optimize their sites could be punished, sent to the principal’s office or have their Gmail privileges revoked.

OK, maybe not that extreme. But Cutts signaled during a panel discussion at SXSW that Google is preparing to release a bolder, smarter Googlebot with a third more cleaning power.

Even as it continues to dominate the search market, Google continues to try and improve its relevance. In this post on Search Engine Land, Barry Schwartz offers this transcription of the comments from Cutts:

“What about the people optimizing really hard and doing a lot of SEO. We don’t normally pre-announce changes but there is something we are working in the last few months and hope to release it in the next months or few weeks. We are trying to level the playing field a bit. All those people doing, for lack of a better word, over optimization or overly SEO – versus those making great content and great site. We are trying to make GoogleBot smarter, make our relevance better, and we are also looking for those who abuse it, like too many keywords on a page, or exchange way too many links or go well beyond what you normally expect. We have several engineers on my team working on this right now.”

Feeling a little uncomfortable, energy marketers? After all, you’ve attended webinars and done hours of Internet research, so you think you’ve figured out what you think are tricks to improve your rank on Google. You’ve bolded enough words to make your home page look like it has the measles, stuffed enough keywords on every post to choke your bandwidth and back-linked from every site imaginable.

And content? Oh yeah, that. Welcome to the casualty of SEO. We’re so good at writing for the spiders that we’re practically spinning silk out of our backends.

Maybe (gasp) we should remember the humans.

As Lisa Barone said here, start wooing the user instead of the bot. Her SEO philosophy sums it up perfectly for me:

“SEO isn’t about taking a crap page and making it rank. It’s about making a killer page more findable.”

In short, focus on content first and then carefully create a good SEO strategy to help bring the humans to your site.

The bots will understand.

As an energy marketer with limited resources and time, it’s tempting to lessen the priority placed on customer relations.  Eric McKirdy will tell you otherwise.

Once you’ve met the brand ambassador for Ask.com, you suddenly get a better idea of how to treat people as an energy marketer. You understand even more how to value customer relations, how to make them feel important and special.

Because, during these difficult times, refocusing your efforts to promote and protect your brand could help to extending your longevity as an energy marketer.

As a recently named brand ambassador for Ask.com, Eric McKirdy says companies can’t afford to let go of intensely personal customer service.

Correct me if I’m wrong. But as far as search engines go, I don’t see anything like that from the Big G.

Sure, Google is huge. It encompasses a Texas-sized portion of the Internet, giving you every opportunity to find what your friends had for breakfast in 1992.

But as Eric will tell you, bigger isn’t necessarily better.  Sure, much like other top-tier search engines, Ask.com uses algorithms and all the usual search mumbo jumbo to find your answers. And if that’s not enough, it relies on an army of qualified experts to help find the answer you need.

But Eric is intent on taking the customer service to even deeper, more personal level.

“Everyone who takes the time to write deserves to be made to feel like an insider by the time they’re done,” he says.

Take this excerpt from an impassioned comment by an Ask.com user, unhappy about not finding the traditional Jeeves icon, forever tied to the company formerly known as Ask Jeeves:

How dare you, how DARE you remove the Jeeves motif from the site! No words can express the acid and venom I feel for this decision. EVER HEAR THE PHRASE IF IT AINT BROKE, DON’T FIX IT?!?    The parties who changed this Jeeves motif out of the site, I feel bad for them. Your eternal souls are in dire jeopardy. I’ve never seen such a travesty in all history. The Geneva Convention is calling.    IMMEDIATELY bring lovely Jeeves back on the site. IMMEDIATELY.

And here is Eric’s response (which I found to be brilliant):

Dear Burt,

Our customer support team forwarded your message to me, and as we are all slightly concerned about your blood pressure, I thought I’d better interrupt my dinner and answer right away. I’ll come right to the point, Burt: Jeeves is alive! He’s alive, and he is just waiting for you to pay him a visit.

Yes, although he was removed from active duty many years ago, there are still a couple of ways you can find him. First, on our homepage (www.ask.com), you can click “Themes” in the upper right corner and select the Jeeves theme, which will put our favorite butler right back where you and I know he should be. Second, you can visit him in London without leaving your living room by going to http://uk.ask.com. Either way, Jeeves is, I’m sure, eager to see you again.

If I can be of any further assistance, I do hope you’ll let me know.

Best regards,

Eric

Ask.com Brand Ambassador

When you break apart Eric’s response, notice how it accomplishes some key objectives.

1.     “Thought I better interrupt my dinner and answer right away.” The customer immediately knows how important they are.

2.     It’s personal and funny.

3.     Most of all, his response emphasizes the unique selling positions of Ask.com

As an energy marketer with limited resources and time, it’s tempting to lessen the priority placed on customer relations. But as more than 100 million unique visitors using Ask.com every month will tell you, emphasizing customer service won’t necessarily deplete your resources and will help you thrive into the future.

And one more thing about Burt, the Ask.Com customer, incensed about the loss of his beloved Jeeves.

He just wrote back. He opened up about himself, much happier than before and closed with this statement.

“In all seriousness, I hope you and your site well, and will use it more

often. But if you bring Jeeves back to his rightful throne of glory, I

think you will be bringing more “luck” and fortune to your site Toodles!

Winning one customer at a time. If “Burt” means that much to a multi-gazillion dollar company, how much do your customers mean to you?

Professional writers are here to speak up for words, often undervalued, kicked to the curb by executives and often scorned in favor of eloquently designed logos and graphics.

“We’ll handle the writing ourselves,” you’ll say, because you think it can be done better and save money in the process.

Better think again.

Words matter, and if not done by a professional, could end up costing your company even more money.

Nothing against a well-designed graphic that accurately represents your energy company. But don’t overlook the importance of words and why you should trust a writing professional.

The top 8 reasons to leave your copywriting in the hands of the experts:

1. Professional writers know Google: Getting your message to the right audience means knowing how to get search engines to notice you. It’s one thing to read one or two website articles on SEO and it’s another to be trained on how to blend your message with the right words needed to make you stand out on Google.

2. They know how to get the right tone for your company. If they’ve done their homework, the payoff will come in your copy, where every word reflects who you are.

3. They get the big picture. They know that the words in a FAQ are just as important as a brochure or website for your energy company.

4. They offer a different perspective. Professional writers are on the outside, looking in. They notice things and we’re not afraid to question when necessary.

5. Professional writers are under oath to spell words correctly. With many words, a simple typo or omission of one letter changes a common word to something unsavory.

6. Professional writers know how to edit themselves.

7. And just to make sure, most agencies have a multi-tier editing process to catch what could be embarrassing mistakes.

8. And most of all, they always remember that you are the boss, the last word on what are the best words for your energy marketing message.

Recently I was reminded of a quote attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci:  “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

When it comes to marketing, however, a startling number of companies continue to live by the code “More is better.”  From the monster truck “Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!” yell to the “But wait, there’s more!” exclamation on an infomercial, companies are cramming every product, benefit, testimonial and color ever associated with them is crammed into a :30 spot, a single print ad or webpage.  The result is visual chaos and mental fatigue.

Compare those ads (you know you’ve seen them…and maybe even created a few) with the Volkswagen ads of the 1960′s, widely regarded as some of the most compelling–and unforgettable–ever created. Created by DDB, they were simple in the extreme, usually incorporating a single photo and a message you couldn’t help but read. Headlines like “Live below your means,” “It makes your house look bigger” and “Think small.” One of the most brilliant was titled “Lemon”, and then went on to underscore the company’s commitment to detail by using a single “blemished” strip on the glove compartment as an example.

The simplicity of the VW ads did something that over-produced, overwrought spots will never do:  engage the audience by making the communication personal. And, 50 years after they were first created, they are still just as intriguing.

When you evaluate your own marketing, you need to ask yourself whether or not the “more” is getting in the way of the story you’re trying to tell. Are the graphics on your print ad so overwrought that the benefit of your product or service is completely missed by the reader? Is your site loaded with gimmicks, but lacking in depth? If you’re seeing more flash than feature, more chaos than communication, it’s time to simplify.  Here’s how:

1. Center on your audience. The way that you will approach consumers is likely to differ greatly from how you will target trade professionals. Trying to capture the attention of both will result in an overwhelming-and unsuccessful-mishmash of information and ideas.
2. Choose a single message. Decide what specific message you want to share in an ad, then stick to it. It may be helpful to make a list of the products, features or benefits that you want to promote to your target market, then rate them in order of importance based on the current season or market conditions. An ad that has been stuffed with every possible factoid about your business is an ad that will be ignored.
3. Cut, then cut again. When preparing the writing for your ad-whether in print, radio or television-you need to get to the point. A helpful hint is to write everything you’d love the ad to say. Then cut it by half. Then cut it by half again (and again, if needed) until you get to the heart of the matter. This doesn’t mean you can’t use some creativity; it just eliminates the unnecessary information that gets in the way of speaking to your customers.
4. Clear the clutter. Just as the writing can be superfluous, so can graphics be in print copy and sound and/or visuals in audio/video pieces. If your eye doesn’t know where to land, or if you are more focused on the music in the background than the message being shared, start deleting. As Volkswagen proved half a century ago, a single photo and clear writing can serve you better than all of the cool graphics in the world.

Following these 4 simple steps to add YouTube videos to your marketing efforts can make a big difference in your bottom line.

Do you ever think that what you’re doing is boring?  That day after day you’re doing the same thing, over and over?  Or that the job you thought might be so interesting when you were in school isn’t that much different than anyone else’s?

Well, with all due respect, you’re wrong.  At least, from another person’s perspective.  What you do, how you do it, what you think about it, what you’ve learned from it—these are all things that other people wonder about.  Whether your company drills for oil, welds pipe, mines coal, builds power plants or anything else, there are a lot of folks (and potential customers) out there who want to know more about it.

That’s where video can play a huge part in your marketing efforts.  Through them, you can tell your story, share your insights and promote what sets you apart from other companies within the energy development industry and its many related fields.

According to YouTube marketing expert Greg Jarboe, YouTube.com gets 800 million unique visitors a month worldwide.   Many of those viewers are watching content produced by amateurs on topics ranging from gaming hints and how to use various online tools to tax information, investing in the stock market or why you should attend specific conferences or tradeshows.

From a marketing perspective, these videos don’t just entertain or share information; they provide insight into the person featured and underscore why someone might want to do business with them.   So what steps do you need to take to use YouTube to market your energy-related company?

1. Start with what you’ve got.  You don’t need a film crew or a thousand dollar camera.  If you have an iPhone and a laptop, you have the tools you need to begin.  Basic video editing software like iMovie can help you create, edit and title your videos.
2. Decide what you want to say.  To have content watched and shared, it needs to inform, educate or entertain.  Want to use your video as an HR tool?  Tell (and show) why they’d want to work for you.  Offering a new service?  Talk about it—and make sure to underscore WHY it makes a difference to your target customers.
3. Optimize your video when you post it.  YouTube has free tools you can use to search for keywords that will help your video be found.  Putting those keywords in your title, description and tags will boost optimization.   Here’s a video of Jarboe talking about how to do just that.
4. Share it.  Get it out through your website, blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts and pretty much any other way you can think of.  The more eyes you get on it, the more changes you have to share your message.

Following these 4 simple steps to add YouTube videos to your marketing efforts can make a big difference in your bottom line.  So…are you ready for your close up?

Check out “4 Tips to Improve Your Business Videos” from the team at Billings, Montana-based Align Video.

You may think that websites are for tech companies or folks who don’t really work for a living.  But for companies like yours, where people actually get their hands dirty, a website isn’t that necessary.  Or at least, a decent looking, properly optimized one isn’t necessary.

Well, I’m here to tell you otherwise.

A website isn’t about being cool.  It’s about being found.  Found by companies that you would consider giving up your first-born child to do business with.

You see, your cell phone, business card and truck decal can only go so far so fast.  A website, on the other hand, is working when you’re on vacation, out to dinner or snoozing in bed.  It’s talking to people that you’d normally never have a chance to, telling them all about you, your products and services and your experience. It’s your sales team, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

As I’ve worked with folks in the energy industry, I’ve seen countless websites that appear to have been built the day the internet was created and not updated since.  Sites that are poorly written, have low-quality pictures and links that don’t work.

I want you to open a new window on your browser right now and see what happens when you do the following:

1. Type in your service/product/industry and city.  (For instance, “Field Machining, Casper, Wyoming”.)  Do you see your company listed?  If so, where are you?  (The first listing?  The first page?  The second page?  Fifth page?)   If you’re not on the first page, you’re in trouble.
2. Now to go your site and look at it as though you’d never seen it before.  Does it look dated?  How recently was it changed or updated?  Do you have any form of cartoon icon?  If it’s old, has an unprofessional font or if there’s any waving cartoon flag, there’s something horribly wrong.
3. Finally, go to the site of your number one competitor.  Do they look better?  Do they look worse?  How much better or how much worse?  If there’s even a question, you need to do something about it.

Want to see a great site?  Visit ContRes.com—the site of Continental Resources.  You may be thinking, “Well, they have billions of dollars!”  And you’re right.  But the fact is, their site is a pretty straightforward one.  And your website can look and function just as well with a price that might surprise you.

For more great information about things to think about when you’re designing a website, read Seven Practical Tips for Planning a Website.

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Energy development companies should always remember there’s always a new approach to an old idea. 

In the day-to-day operations of your company, when you’re looking for new business and saving the customers you have, it may seem that your marketing efforts are lacking. That there’s no new way to tell your story or capture the attention of the people you’re trying to reach.

In those times, I want you to think of the quote attributed to the 1899 Commissioner of the U.S patent office, “everything that can be invented has been invented.”  Because when it comes to marketing (and pretty much everything else) he was wrong.

There are constantly new ways to bring new energy to your marketing efforts, whether you want to reach out to a new customer, recruit employees or make your brand, product or service more visible.  One of the most unique that I’ve seen in awhile was highlighted by Mashable’s business and marketing editor, Todd Wasserman.

Here’s a circuitous route to free advertising on Google: An Austin, Texas, firm will install QR codes on rooftops in an attempt to sneak into Google Maps. Phillips & Co.’s new proposition, called Blue Marble, offers a “space-accessible profile” for businesses, cities, schools — anyone who wants to raise their profile.

People have been adding QR codes to billboards, in-store signage and print ads for quite some time.  This company has just found a way to take it to a different level.  If you have a roof, they can help you advertise on it.

Now, whether or not this effort will ultimately be successful is yet to be proven.  As noted in Wasserman’s article, it will take about a year for the code to show up on Google Earth.  But the point is, there is always a new approach to any idea.

Click on the following link to read the full Mashable article:  Rooftop QR Codes Aim to Infiltrate Google Maps. Also, learn more about how QR codes are being used in marketing:  13 Creative Ways to Use QR Codes for Marketing