How to Draw Geocache Tourists to a Business

Do you want to be on the cutting edge of marketing and promotion? One of the relatively new hot activities out there is Geocaching, also called the Global Positioning Stash Hunt. Individuals and organizations participate by stashing things at various places, and encouraging others to find those things. If you play, and if you take something from one of these places, then you are encouraged to leave something for the next person to find.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• A GPS unit
• Item(s) to stash at a given location
• A weather- and time-resistant container for your objects

1. Buy a GPS unit, from $100 to $1000, depending on the type that you choose.
   Check the Internet at Amazon and BestBuy, for example, and you
   will find a whole range of possibilities. You may also check at boat supply stores as well as stores that sell camping supplies.
2. Place your cache, and enter the waypoint, or location of the cache, in the format of longitude and latitude for others to find. To do this, you use your GPS to indicate the position. The problem is that you can get different readings on different days, so you would want to take at least three readings—more if you have the time and inclination—on three different days, coming from three different directions. Once you get your three (or more) readings, average the latitude and longitude information to get as close to the actual location as possible. The closer you are to broadcasting the correct location, the more easily geocaching tourists will find what you stash away.
3. Know your particular demographic. This means being aware of the group of people most likely to buy your product, and, in this case, the type of people likely to be hiking, biking or otherwise making their way to your particular stash. What will they be looking for? What kinds of things would they need?
   
4. Decide on which product or teaser item might best be stashed. Only your
   imagination can restrict you at this point. Suggestions include coupons,
   gift certificates, small items of value with your company logo on them, booklets or brochures. Do not put food items in your cache, as some food will spoil while animals, with better noses than ours, may easily seek out and destroy such a cache. Respect local laws when placing caches, and do not stash anything illegal or harmful.
5. Choose a good waypoint. Don't make it too easy, as that would make it
   vulnerable to anyone who might happen along. But don't make it too hard,
   as you're looking for possible customers and clients, and you want them to be well-disposed to your product once they find your stash.
6. Promote it. Upload the location of the cache onto Geocaching. There, you can note the location, and describe your cache with as much detail as you like. In all, this is nothing new from the typical PR or marketing angle; this just gives you another area in which to promote your business! Take advantage of the surge in the popularity of geocaching.
7. See eHow's other articles on the topic in order to be clear on how the game is begun and how best to participate.