Why Pokémon Go could be a waste of time

If you don’t know what Pokémon Go is , you’ve probably been disconnected from the world until now. If you’ve just discovered it and want to get up to speed on the subject, I recommend this guide recently published on Emezeta with tricks and everything you need to know (an impressive job). Pokémon GoPhoto rights by Fotolia Contents [ hide ] 1 How to attract customers with the help of Pokémon Go 2 Take advantage of the short term or trust in the long term? 3 How to react when a Pokémon Go-type mega-trend emerges How to attract customers with the help of Pokémon Go A couple of days ago I saw a report on the subject. It was about local businesses in London that were buying gadgets from the in-game store to increase the presence of Pokémon in their business . With this little trick they manage to attract hundreds of players every day which makes them multiply their daily income. This is basically what many shops, bars and restaurants now do to attract customers who are fond of the game. I’m not saying that this tactic isn’t profitable, because it seems to be more than profitable for those who are applying it. What I do know is that this trend will have limited effectiveness in the medium term . Once a sales tactic works, everyone will copy it. From that moment on, it will stop working as it did before. Look at what has happened with TV ads, Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, etc. I’m not saying that these channels aren’t useful, but it’s no longer worth doing it any old way . Before, you got it right the first time. You put out an ad on TV without having to be too creative and people bought your product. With Adwords and Facebook Ads, it’s basically the same. Only the best, the most experienced and those who show the most perseverance in gradually improving their ads achieve the desired effects. The rest dismiss it as a channel that doesn’t work (although with a greater investment of time it could). Take advantage of the short term or trust in the long term? Pokémon Go is literally turning out to be a gold mine for many (especially for the owner of the Nintendo brand Niantic). Maybe it’s not too late yet and you have a couple of weeks where you can make your local business profitable with the trick mentioned above. It may also be that you’re already arriving too late. In these cases I like to apply Warren Buffet’s investment philosophy : always with a long-term view and solid values. Even in the Internet bubble on the stock market (I lived through it when I was 18, losing an unknown amount of money because I never dared to do the calculations) he didn’t go crazy like others and probably stopped making a lot of money, but he bet on what had always worked for him. If you look at the growth of my blog you can identify the same pattern. I have never applied aggressive SEO strategies to gain ground in the short term. The growth has been organic for more than 6 years now. I am not saying that it is bad to do SEO (quite the contrary for online businesses it is essential) but if you have time there are alternative ways. It is clear that few are willing to wait that long and it is perfectly understandable. How to react when a Pokémon Go-type megatrend emerges Having a long-term philosophy like Warren Buffet’s is not the only way to react to these kinds of megatrends. You can do just the opposite and be successful at it. Let’s analyze the recent trend. When Pokémon Go arrived you basically had two options: React immediately to be one of the first to profit : this behaviour is risky because you assume the cost of the pioneer who has to find “the trick” to profit from the trend. You may even invest money without getting a single cent. If you are right, you have the great advantage of benefiting for as long as possible because you were one of those who bet from the very beginning. The greater the risk, the greater the possible gains (or losses). I am not telling you anything new in this regard. Don’t go crazy and watch the trend evolve : news changes. A trend can’t last forever. Just look at what happened with Second Life . It was a fad very similar to what we can see today with Pokémon Go. I’m not saying it will go away, but the effect will probably not be as strong forever. You have to wait for the moment when a stable situation of use is generated. That’s when you can estimate the real potential of things. With Periscope, I let a year go by until I decided that it was time to try my luck. This doesn’t guarantee success, but probably after Quondos One , which consists of doing 100 Periscopes in 100 days, I might have a more concrete idea. Time will tell if Pokémon Go is another Second Life. Given the history behind it and the large fan base that already exists, I suspect that it will not be forgotten so easily. There will surely be new opportunities for businesses that could go beyond the offline (which are already emerging). Time will tell. You don’t have to focus solely on specific megatrends, but rather have a strategy in place for how you want to react when this type of opportunity arises . Am I a pioneer betting on everything or swimming or am I more guided by the prudence of a Warren Buffet? Everyone will have to find their own way. I already have mine (or so I like to think).