PokéCraze Shade #1: Become an Uber driver and advertise Pokémon catching trips. – Help people not to Pokémon Go and drive by offering to drive for them. You don’t have to be an Uber or Lyft driver to advertise your expert services on Craigslist, but it will help your image if your potential customers know you’re an approved driver for one of those companies.
PokéCraze Shade #2: Incubate eggs for Trainers. – Hatching a Pokémon Egg in Pokémon Go requires the trainer to walk with the egg, just like in the main Pokémon games! However, when Pokémon Go says you need to walk, you need to actually walk. In real life. The way the game tracks steps prevents players from simply hopping in a car and driving to hatch the egg, and some of them require a tiring 10 kilometers of walking before they’ll hatch into rare Pokémon. Advertise your services as a Pokémon Egg Walker on Craigslist or Facebook.
PokéCraze Shade #3: Use GearBubble or Cafepress to create Pokémon Go themed items to sell. – These two sites allow you to create and sell products online without any upfront costs. Just upload your Pokémon Go-themed design, create products with them online, and sell!
PokéCraze Shade #4: Buy a used Roomba and incubate Eggs for Trainers. – Why walk when you can force your robotic slave to move for you? Bring Roomba with you, set up a make shift “cage” for it, and charge trainers to let their phones ride the Roomba to hatch eggs.
PokéCraze Shade #5: Organize Pokémon catching tours for small groups. – If you have experience as a tour guide, this is a great way to boost interest in your services! Pokémon Go is all about exploring your town, so take groups tours that visit both cultural- and Pokémon Go-points of interest. As an expert on both, provide your customers with great knowledge.
PokéCraze Shade #6: Take small groups of kids on Pokémon Go expeditions – This would work best if you have experience with children. Charge to take kids on Pokémon Go adventures (while babysitting them). Not only can you help kids grow into awesome Pokémon Trainers, but their parents would be ecstatic to have some free time without feeling guilty about leaving their kids bored at the house! Dress up as a Pokémon Professor to make it even more fun.
PokéCraze Shade #7: Create a Pokémon workout and sell it. – Pokémon Go is already inspiring millions to get up and go. With some creativity, nice graphics, (and hopefully credentials, Certified Personal Trainer?), you could make a great fitness plan focused around playing Pokémon Go.
PokéCraze Shade #8: Sell water at your local PokéStops and Pokémon Gyms. – This one’s simple: it’s summer, and it’s hot. Go to the Trainers in their natural habitat, usually PokéStop-saturated parks, and set up shop with bottled water. If it’s cold out, bring hot chocolate or coffee!
PokéCraze Shade #9: Buy bulk Pokémon Go team badges on Etsy or Ebay and resell them. – Buying in bulk online will not only save you money, but it will save your customers the hassle of having to pay for shipping and wait for a single badge. Wear your wares and make sure Pokémon Go trainers know what you have! If you have a store, keep them up front near the register.
PokéCraze Shade #10: Wear a Pikachu (or other Pokémon) suit and charge for pictures. – This is best implemented in a busy, populated area. Aim for an area downtown with lots of PokéStops on a Friday or Saturday. If there’s an event happening, like First Friday, that’s even better.
PokéCraze Shade #11: Bake Pokéball cookies and sell them. – Bring the sweet treat to trainers at PokéStops. They’re festive and delicious! If you have a restaurant, make sure they’re advertised out front.
PokéCraze Shade #12: Level up a trainer in Pokémon Go and sell the account – We don’t endorse this, as it breaks Pokémon Go’s terms of service, but too many people are making money for us not to mention this. Be warned, you and your buyer could lose your Pokémon Go accounts for this. Why would someone buy a Pokémon Go account though? The higher your trainer level, the rarer and more powerful the Pokémon you’ll get. But, leveling up your trainer requires time, knowledge, and a lot of effort. Collect rare Pokémon with CP over 1,000 and get beyond trainer level 15 to have an appealing account to sell. Try eBay and Craigslist!
PokéCraze Shade #13: Create and sell a local Pokémon newsletter and map – Create a map of your local area with every PokéStop and Gym. Ask local businesses to help sponsor your newsletter in exchange for prominently featuring them on your map!
PokéCraze Shade #14: Create and sell a Pokémon Go hack and cheat guide. –There are a ton of cheats being exploited to make Pokémon Go as efficient as possible. Did you know you can trick your GPS into thinking you’re anywhere in the world? Find more cheats and hacks, put the copy in a pretty package, and charge a nominal fee. It might also be kind of you to include a disclaimer if any of your “cheats” will result in consequences.
PokéCraze Shade #15: Make T-shirts for the different Pokémon Go teams and sell them. – Pokémon Go has three distinct teams that every trainer choses at level 5. Design these shirts and sell them, either nearby PokéStops, at local markets, conventions, or online!
PokéCraze Shade #16: Check Goodwill for Pokémon collectibles to resell. – You’d be surprised what you can find at thrift stores! With Pokémon coming back into vogue, nostalgic 20- and 30-somethings will pay big bucks for something Pokémon-related from their golden years.
PokéCraze Shade #17: Check local garage sales for Pokémon collectibles to resell. – Same logic as the tip above! Hunt garage sales for unwanted Pokémon-memorabilia: upcharge to collectors.
PokéCraze Shade #18: Create local maps with Pokéstops, gyms, and notable Pokémon – If you have a store, offer to give them out to trainers who meet a minimum purchase. If you don’t own a business, go to a busy area with plenty of PokéStops and Gyms to offer your wares.
PokéCraze Shade #19: 3D print real Pokéballs and sell them. – Keep them at the front of your store, set up a table at conventions, or bring them out with you to PokéStops and Gyms!
PokéCraze Shade #20: Make keychains of Pokéballs and team icons and sell them. – Customize your Pokéballs with Teams Mystic, Valor and Instinct insignias to make them special. Put them on keychains to make them practical!
PokéCraze Shade #21: Post daily Pokémon Go videos to YouTube and monetize the videos. – The key word in this tip is “daily.” If you aren’t consistent with your content creation, you may as well not do it at all. These videos can be a simple “Let’s Play,” intensive thorough strategies, or goofy skits. You could even do all three!
PokéCraze Shade #22: Create a daily Pokémon blog and monetize the blog with ads and affiliates – Write about Pokémon Go–often–and set up Google Ads and affiliates to earn money with views. Write what you’re good at. Funny stories, strategies, or just straight-up knowledge – just write.
PokéCraze Shade #23: Create social media accounts that post about Pokémon Go. Post a daily – Build up a big enough following and you’ll get offers to advertise companies on your account for cash!
PokéCraze Shade #24: Setup a “charging station” at a local Pokémon gym and charge for access – Pokémon Go is a notorious battery drainer. The app must be open and active to register anything, including incubating Eggs. Get a big, sustainable mobile battery or two with multiple USB ports and some charge cables. Set up a small table with a “Pokémon Go Charging Station” sign. Charge players by the minute to charge their phones.
PokéCraze Shade #25: Deck out your van to charge phones – Same idea as the previous tip, but use a car decked out in a Pokémon-theme to charge everyone’s devices!
PokéCraze Shade #26: Purchase used Pokémon games for Nintendo handhelds and play them. – With Pokémon getting popular again, some 20- and 30-somethings will want to get into the franchise again, but won’t have time to catch ‘em all. Same idea with kids—they may want to get into Pokémon, but aren’t skilled enough to complete a Pokédex and train their monsters. Complete a Pokédex (no easy task) to upcharge your completed game on Ebay or Craigslist. Purchase a used Pokémon X or Y; or a used Pokémon Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire game, both for the Nintendo 3DS. Advertise the game as a way for players to be ready for Pokémon Sun and Moon’s release in November, 2016.
PokéCraze Shade #27: Design posters with catchy Pokémon phrases and pictures and sell them. – Get creative and artistic! A copy of PhotoShop and some graphic design skills can get you far. Sell your creations on Etsy or Deviantart, or sell your prints at conventions or local markets.
PokéCraze Shade #28: Make Pokémon bumper stickers and sell them. – Customize your awesome designs into bumper stickers! Definitely focus on the three Pokémon Go teams; Mystic, Valor and Instinct.
PokéCraze Shade #29: Become a social Pokémon Go Manager and charge to drive business to local shops and restaurants. – Use your talents as a field rep to rep your local businesses! Charge them to pass out flyers and encourage Pokémon Go players to visit them with the promise of Lure Modules or a challenging gym.
PokéCraze Shade #30: Manage your local business’s social media accounts. – Put that Pokémon Go and digital marketing knowledge to good use! Help an out-of-the-loop business owner by creating Pokémon Go related social media content for them to drive traffic.
PokéCraze Shade #31: Make trainer clothes for cosplayers – Make clothes designed after the outfits you can choose from in Pokémon Go. Not only will cosplayers want to purchase the outfits, but a huge amount of people will too once Halloween comes around!
PokéCraze Shade #32: Make Pokémon Go car decals to sell. – You’re probably catching on that this is a great opportunity if you’re a graphic designer or artist. Design decals, focusing on the Pokémon Go teams, sell them on Etsy or at a local market.
PokéCraze Shade #33: Design Pokémon phone cases – This is especially feasible if you have experience with 3D design programs and have access to a 3D printer. (College students, we’re looking at you.) Get creative, but focus on quality.
PokéCraze Shade #34: Babysit the kids of Pokémon trainers. – More 20- and 30-somethings have an excuse to explore out of the house, but they may not want to have their kids in tow in case Pokémon Go brings them to an unfamiliar area. Mention Pokémon Go in your ad on Craigslist or your local newspaper to catch the eye of these parent-trainers in need.
PokéCraze Shade #35: Create Pokémon Go desktop wallpapers to sell online. – Again, artist skills come in handy! This would work best if you can design multiple backgrounds and sell them in packs for a small fee. If they aren’t high quality and high resolution, don’t try to sell them.
PokéCraze Shade #36: Design Pokémon themed graphics for social media campaigns of PokéStops and Gyms – Try to notice businesses who are trying to market themselves as PokéStops or Gyms, but lack dazzling graphics. Show them some of your previous work and offer to make customized Pokémon Go graphics!
PokéCraze Shade #37: Drop a Lure Module at a PokéStop to attract Pokémon (and Patrons!) — This works especially well if you have a store in the vicinity of a PokéStop, but if your business is mobile this works as well. You could also charge a business who isn’t Pokémon Go-savvy enough to know how to take advantage of Lure Modules themselves.
PokéCraze Shade #38: Sell charged battery packs at PokéStops and Gyms. – Where there are Pokémon Go trainers, there are dead phones. Save the day by selling battery packs in locations convenient to players, like parks with lots of PokéStops. Make sure to have cables on you, too!
PokéCraze Shade #39: Make expert Pokémon Go training guides and sell to newbies. – Put your knowledge to work and write an in-depth guide to help out players new to Pokémon Go so they can quickly catch up to their friends! Make sure it’s organized in a way that’s easy to digest, with plenty of step-by-steps.
PokéCraze Shade #40: Create websites with Pokémon-related names and sell the URLs to the highest bidder – Snatch up any Pokémon Go related domain name while you can! Put them up for sale on eBay to the highest bidder when demand increases once companies try to get on board.
PokéCraze Shade #41: Write listicles about Pokémon online and publish them on websites that pay for them. – Try and make it as a freelancer by selling your Pokémon Go knowledge. Try Craigslist, Huffington Post, Thought Catalog, or a variety of other websites. Do some research to find out who’s in need!
PokéCraze Shade #42: If your store happens to be a Gym, publicize events. – Create an event focused around your Gym to attract trainers to your storefront. For example, advertise an event that diners can battle it out for control at the Gym to get trainers into your restaurant! The trainer who is the Gym Leader at 10pm gets 50 percent of his or her bill!
PokéCraze Shade #43: Specialize in Pokémon Go-themed Face Painting – You can go about this two ways: 1. Advertise your services for events, such as birthday parties or company picnics. 2. Set up near a heavily-populated PokéStop and hope the teenagers playing Pokémon Go will want to get their faces painted to look like a Pikachu. You never know unless you try!
PokéCraze Shade #44: Design Pokémon Go-themed Makeup Looks – Are you a makeup artist? Create unique, fun, but beautiful Pokémon-themed makeup looks! Get inspired by the Pokémon Go teams and advertise your specialization on Craigslist or Facebook. Girls-night-out Pokémon Go crawls are a thing, we promise.
PokéCraze Shade #45: Sell string bags with Pokémon Go designs – Drawstring bags are inexpensive and incredibly customizable—they’re literally a blank canvas. Make bags with the Pokémon Go team logos or other designs on them. Trainers love to rep their team or favorite Pokémon!
PokéCraze Shade #46: Sing about Pokémon Go – If you’re a musician who loves Pokémon, this will be easy for you! Grab that guitar, head to your local PokéStop, and serenade the Pokémon Go trainers with sweet songs about Pokémon. Hope they’re generous with tips.
PokéCraze Shade #47: Sing about Pokémon (On the internet) – Same strategy as above, but record your creations and upload them to YouTube. Get as many people to share your video as possible, and hope you get enough views to make some ad revenue.
PokéCraze Shade #48: Create a PokéGram Service – Help customers write customized Pokémon Go-themed serenades to deliver to the person of their choice. It’s old school, but so is Pokémon!
PokéCraze Shade #49: Enter a contest at a fitness site – If you’re already walking around substantially more because of Pokémon Go, consider betting on your ability to take a certain amount of steps on StepBet.com, or your ability lose a certain amount of weight on DietBet.com. This is personal, but Pokémon Go can help motivate you to get up and GO and win your bet–netting you a nice cash bonus!
PokéCraze Shade #50: Teach local businesses how to utilize Pokémon Go – Some businesses don’t want to outsource, but they’d love to learn how to help themselves. Advertise a “How to Use Pokémon Go for Business” guide on Facebook or Craigslist, or speak to local business owners face-to-face about what you have to offer. Charge to teach them what to do to get the most of the Pokémon Go craze.
