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• USPS – the Postal Service is now running its second campaign that uses a QR code. In this case, it is offering discounts of 2 percent to companies choosing to use their mailers with the barcodes printed on them. This benefits both the companies and shows that there is still a place for snail mail in this increasingly digital and mobile world.

• Coca-Cola – the soft drink giant placed a QR code on its containers throughout the 2012 Europe Cup soccer tournament, giving scanners exclusive videos from the tournament, as well as an easy way to obtain the free SmileWorld social app.

• Proctor & Gamble – PGMobile shopping trucks were launched last month by the beauty and home products corporation, distributing free samples as they patrolled New York City. Both the samples and the truck were emblazoned with quick response codes that could be scanned by smartphone users.

“QR codes are perfect at bridging the offline with online,” Hodges said at a free seminar for small-business owners on Wednesday. “These are a mystery to some and old hat to others, but it’s basically a bar code to the Internet.”

Libby Schrum, who is the owner of a start-up furniture-making company in Camden said QR codes will be especially helpful to her because she has no storefront and relies on Web traffic to her site for sales.

5 Common mistakes business owners make when using QR Codes and how to avoid them

1.    Not having a clearly defined campaign strategy.

2.    Not testing QR Codes

Pointing the camera of a smartphone or iPad at the Dubai World Championship's advertisement about Rory McIlroy caused the ad to come to life on the device with a video about Dubai, overlaid on images of real life captured through the device's camera. Users of touchscreen devices could touch a link to apply for free tickets for the championship.

Readers of USA TODAY can now use their devices in combination with a QR code scanning app – such as the free AT&T Code Scanner – to be redirected to additional interactive multimedia content.

URLs are out, and QR codes are in. With technology advancing daily, people want things instantly and effortlessly. QR codes do exactly that.

An article in USA Today laid out the process in three short steps. First, download a free QR code reader application to a smartphone. Many Android, Nokia and Blackberry phones come with QR code readers pre-installed.

QR code gift tags (image below) called Santa Tags by J. C. Penney will be available free from customer service at any of their 1,100 stores this holiday season. The QR code gift tags allow gift givers to scan a QR code, record a personal voice message and affix the tag to their gift. When their gift recipient scans the QR code on the gift they can hear the personal voice message from the gift give

free white paper, A Practical Guide to QR Codes for the Small Business Marketer.