10 easy things musicians can do to go green to celebrate earth day…

Earth Day Marketing In 10 Easy Steps

I was recently at a workshop led by Environmental Lifestyle Expert
Danny Seo – a best-selling author & media personality. The room was
filled with industry and corporate representatives, product consumers
and music fans. Obviously these people were interested in learning
how they can live a more eco-friendly existence and chances are, your
fans are interested as well.

While every day should be considered Earth Day, April 22nd is the
official date when the media and your fans will be hyper-aware of
green initiatives and activities–all month people will have green on the brain. Do your part by adding some eco-
friendly promotions to your marketing plan & up coming gigs and you
can help save the planet and grow your fan base.

What’s your issue? Global Climate change is driven by
deforestation, air pollution, corporate control of resources,
agribusiness, etc. It’s all connected, and there are Environmental
Organizations that can help promote your efforts. Choose your
issue, and become an Environmental advocate starting this Earth
Day.

Here are some things you can do:

• 1) Ask local environmental groups to have a table at your event.
  It’s easy: just Google non-profits in whatever city you plan to be
  in. Give them a quick call and ask if they’d like to set up an
  earth day table. They’ll be thrilled for the opportunity! It’s a
  chance for them to spread the word, recruit new volunteers, and
  maybe even new members. For you: they will promote your
  concert because they want people to come and learn about their
  issue.

• 2) Register your event at Earthday.net, and go there to find out
  what’s already going on in your city

• 3) Ask your fans to pay an extra $.25 or $.50 per ticket and let
  them know that it will be donated to an Environmental Group.

• 4) Carbon offsets—ask you fans to offset their carbon emissions by
  going to Native Energy. Offset your own carbon emissions while
  you’re there, and include that in your press release!

• 5) Ask your fans to sign an Earth Day pledge to become more eco-
  friendly. Have them include their email & text address so you
  can keep in touch with them about important Green initiatives &
  support each other’s efforts.

• 6) Get eco-creative with your swag. Give away compact fluorescent
  bulbs—they are highly efficient and use one fourth as much
  electricity.

• 7) Multimedia—show a short video at your concert or on your
  website. A lot Environmental Groups these days have short,
  powerful videos that let people quickly know about the problems
  and solutions. This is an easy way to get a strong message out
  to a lot of people, and ask people to take action. Check out
  Youtube for some short videos that you can put on your website
  from Dogwood Alliance or Gulf Restoration Network.

• 8) Solar panels—rent solar panels to power the stage for a day!
  Check out Big Frog Mountain or Sustainable Waves for more
  information on solar stages.

• 9) Organize a call-in day—calling decision makers is one of the
  most powerful ways to make change. We know that when we make
  a phone call to an elected official or to a Corporate Executive that
  they are listening. It takes a minute—you can hand out fliers and
  ask everyone to call before they leave!

• 10) Press—let the press know about your efforts! A little media can
  go a long way and many media outlets are hungry for Earth day
  stories. Draft up a short press release, and send it around to
  local media stations and to local, regional and national
  publications. People will be psyched to hear about your efforts.
  Who knows, maybe you’ll inspire some others to do the same.

Starting this Earth Day, you can educate and promote social
action, and change the world one gig at a time. To find out
more check out Dogwood Alliance, Rainforest Action Network, or
check out the Business Ethics Network website for a list of
Corporate-sponsored campaigns.

Stay tuned: Next month I’ll be writing about environmentally friendly
musicians, what they’re doing and how you can get in the mix. If
you’re already doing something Green, let me know and maybe I’ll
write about you!