100 Free or Near Free Green Marketing Ideas

The one thing you can’t afford to cut during economic downturns is marketing. This is the time when you must reach out to pick up new customers, cement relationships with old customers and brand your company. But if you have a green business conventional marketing may make you think twice. Can you really send out flyers? (even if it is on recycled paper) Does promoting your business in newspapers sound a little like sponsoring the destruction of millions of trees?

Here are some very cool gentle green marketing ideas that will help bring in customers and secure your brand as truly eco-friendly while saving you a bundle in marketing costs. The first few are exclusively using the power of the internet for free marketing strategies, the rest are ways to pull in customers without using conventional, wasteful marketing tactics.

1. Twitter…its free, you can nurture a local following, are you a business to business company Twitter to exectweets reach the decision makers in major companies.

2. Facebook page… its free, set up a fan page, offer facebook specials, link to your website.

3. Co-market with other businesses on social media …its free and you can expand your market tremendously by sharing info on other business facebook, myspace, blogs, websites and twitter pages.

4. Produce a youtube.com channel its free , post interesting, funny, informational and educational videos with links to your website.

5. Blog..its free 1 hour a week invested can bring you thousands of customers.

6. Offer classes (customers pay just enough to cover your costs)….its free educate your customers sometimes this also helps to make people comfortable with higher prices if they understand the complexity of your business.

7. Throw a party in the park….it almost free….in the midst of natural green, invite customers to hang out on a regular basis have samples, little mini workshops, and games get other businesses to donate prizes as a way for them to co-market or get several businesses that are related but non competitive to co-sponsor the park parties maybe one every 3 months or what ever makes sense for your business if its a seasonal business.

8. Press Releases have you ever noticed how many of the news stories on local channels are actually advertisements for local businesses? Make it exciting and newsworthy you may get free marketing!

Well there you go…no waste, low or no cost….and great ways to stir up business!
More great ideas, tomorrow…….the list will grow to 100 …10 per day for 10 days check it out at http://www.greenbizplan.wordpress.com