Do you know of any free business marketing methods?

[Carolyn Holzman]

OK, specific steps - are you listed in Google Places in your area?

When someone looks for "austin dry cleaner" and say you have a dry cleaner - does your business show up in the square map?

Go to Google.com - sign up for a Google account and put in your business information. You can even put a coupon in there.

There are tutorials that help you do it yourself.

Other opportunities - yelp.com - list your business and put in a coupon
twitter.com - start following people in your area and put up specials or coupons
thumbtack.com
merchantcircle.com

just to name a few

You can search for types of businesses similar to you - don't search by their names search by the name of their service or product - make sure you use your location in the search - and see if there are
sites like yelp.com that come up in the searches - make a note of them and register your business.

There's a lot you can do on your own. And then when you start to have a lot more business - you can afford to hire out and have someone work with you - (NOT the yellowpages or someone who promises a lot of business if you pay them) to build your presence.

Facebook is OK but there are many easier places to start and build your marketing plan on free - non-pay per click options.