How to Incorporate Pokemon GO Into Your Business
If you've been on social media the past few days, between political commentary, civil unrest, cat pictures, and ads, you may have noticed the latest social phenomenon - Pokemon GO
The website explains, to play the game, a user must "Get on your feet and step outside to find and catch wild Pokémon. Explore cities and towns around where you live and even around the globe to capture as many Pokémon as you can. As you move around, your smartphone will vibrate to let you know you're near a Pokémon. Once you've encountered a Pokémon, take aim on your smartphone's touch screen and throw a Poké Ball to catch it. Be careful when you try to catch it, or it might run away! Also look for PokéStops located at interesting places, such as public art installations, historical markers, and monuments, where you can collect more Poké Balls and other items."
As with EVERYTHING that garners public interest and captures the attention of the public, "experts" are already throwing out ideas on how to take advantage of Pokemon GO to help real estate professionals grow their business. "Talking point....way to meet new people....way to engage the public...blah, blah, blah".
Before people look at me as the cranky old man on the block screaming "get off my lawn" to all the social media gurus running around my yard looking for Pokemon, let me put out a disclaimer: There's nothing inherently wrong with Pokemon, Snapchat, or any other at-first-child-focused & potentially-time-sucking platform for business - may you meet some new people or maybe even garner a new client? Sure. But if you trip on a curb, spill your coffee on the person in front of you, and they turn to see your REALTOR pin on your lapel, you may be able to turn it into a new client, too.
My point is this, and this alone: stop chasing the shiny new thing. Fish do that. Right before they get hooked, descaled, and grilled. Real estate agents also do that, right before they waste enough time to drive themselves right out of business.
Pokemon GO is the insignificant speck at the top of the pyramid. It's right on top of Snapchat. What it's NOT is the foundation. It's NOT the place you should be spending your time. Especially on a platform such as this which is based on nothing beyond nostalgia and an opportunity for people to spend some more time each day staring at their phone (and taking more data from you to be used for God knows what). If you have an insanely successful business running on autopilot (hopefully not Tesla's), then sure, go ahead and screw around on Pokemon GO to see if widening the net catches anything. But if you're looking at this as a new marketing avenue to spend a large chunk of time? Just stop it.
Facebook...twitter...instagram...snapchat....periscope....Pokemon GO. There's a new platform coming out every day, and every day more people are making a living telling you why you should be using their services to learn about the latest bell & whistle. The problem is, too many people are focusing on the bells and whistles to the detriment of their foundation. Good old fashioned hard work, networking, client follow up, and all the things that so many successful people have built their livelihoods on.
So when it comes to Pokemon GO, my advice on how to best incorporate it into your business?
Follow these 2 easy steps:
1) Dont
2) Repeat step 1
Your real estate business is not a game of Pokemon. When it comes to strategies for a successful marketing plan, you certainly don't "gotta catch em' all"
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