SAVE OVER $1,000 by shopping downtown merchants this Black Friday Weekend with special coupons from over 65 local downtown Portland businesses!

A very special BLACK FRIDAY COUPON BOOK will be handed out this Friday, November 18th from 11-1 p.m. in Monument Square in Downtown Portland.

These exclusive coupon books are FREE and limited to the first 500 people who show up during this special promotion!

Look for the Local Thunder SANTAS — they will be handing them out!

The Black Friday Coupon Book contains amazing deals from downtown merchants that will be valid only Black Friday, Nov 25th, through Cyber Monday, Nov 28th.

See additional coupons, and discounted gift certificates from downtown merchants and restaurants at www.PortlandMaine.com.

Brought to you by Local Thunder, Portland’s Downtown District, and 94.9 WHOM.

FMI, contact Anton Kaufer at Local Thunder 207.347.4810.

“As Maine Goes So Goes The Nation”

While the MaineEntrance.com is in beta testing mode Maine merchants may post coupons free of charge with the advantages of paid listing features. Upon requests merchants may hire us to post coupons for a small monthly fee.

Using some traditional methods and adding new technology enticing frequent visitors the coupon marketplace proves to be an addictive place to go for Mainers and Maine businesses. Subscribers at MaineEntrance.com have the option of email and twitter (http://twitter.com/MaineEntrance) alerts and in the near future text alerts with accurate deliveries. People can share coupon offers by email or by their favorite social network such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Yahoo360, StumbleUpon, and many more.

MaineEntrance.com brings buyers and sellers together using innovation and never seen before incentives. We need this now more than ever and finally merchants can grow without spending a dime.

About MaineEntrance.com

MaineEntrance.com Launched January 5th, 2011 in Brewer, ME it features coupons posted by Maine businesses and categories from almost all industry types. It gives buyers and sellers a powerful connection locally that those giant marketplaces just cannot compete with.

To join as a coupon contributor (aka merchant advertiser) visit http://maineentrance.com/my-acount/

For more information on ad rates visit http://maineentrance.com/advertise/
Contact Information

Izaak J. Nason
admin@maineentrance.com
MaineEntrance.com
888-246-0972 ext 1

Like many people who reach a certain point in their careers, Heather Chandler was looking for something different—not just a job—but something that motivated her to get up and take action every day. With a personal interest in environmental issues, she’d worked most of her career in nonprofits including positions with Maine Business for Social Responsibility, Sweetser and AmeriCorps. She was in the midst of exploring a new path, traveling in the Northwest, when she stumbled across a green education guide, complete with discount coupons.  The discovery sparked the idea to start one in Maine. “I fell in love with the concept,” she says. “It made so much sense. It brought together so many of my interests and experiences and seemed like a perfect fit.”  Initially advised that a guidebook like this may not take off in areas with fewer than 750,000 people, Chandler believed that Maine was different.  “Everything in Maine is regional. Community is not just about the town you live in. I believed we could do it here.”

It took a year and a half to research the viability of putting such a publication together on the evenings and weekends while she continued to work a full-time job. In a definitive moment, she left her job and put all of her efforts into publishing the SunriseGuide with a small team in Portland. “Once I got the courage to jump off that cliff, it all sort of came together,” says Chandler. “I created a business plan and brought on my first sales employee to sell the coupons and ads. That was a nutty summer. I was working 14-hour days and had no life.”

Every business decision Chandler made, including how to publish this Guide, considered the impact on the local community, the employees and the planet. “It would have been less expensive to print our Guide with an on-line printing company or out of state, but we are committed to practicing what we preach,” says Chandler. “To ship the biggest expense of our operations out of state would completely undermine what we are about.”

Organizing and creating the SunriseGuide presented its own set of challenges, but with typical perseverance, Chandler outsourced the graphic design and did all the writing herself. With her technical writing background, Chandler had a knack for distilling the information into easy-to-use sections, creating a “one-stop” shopping handbook on everything that is green, sustainable, organic, and natural in Maine. “I found it to house an amazing wealth of information, beyond what I thought it have…and so colorful and inviting,” says reader, T. Eddy. “There were some stores, restaurants, and information that I had not heard of before…extremely comprehensive. I felt like I finally had my hands on the most definitive guide for sustainable living information in our area!”

With its 5th anniversary edition just printed, the SunriseGuide has grown to include businesses from southern to Midcoast Maine.  The $20 Guide contains nearly 300 coupons (almost doubled from last year’s edition) worth more than $8,500 in discounts.

The number of advertisers has also increased from 150 to 230 this year. “For us, this is the most successful advertising approach that we’ve tried and I consider it to be very cost effective,” says Jason Wentworth of Washboard Eco-Laundry in Portland.

The SunriseGuide also contains nearly 65 pages of short articles and resources about green living. Chandler explains, “I’ve always loved community bulletin boards, which are the grassroots communication tool of any community. When I go to a new town, the first thing I look for is one those coffee shop bulletin boards to try and find out what’s going on.” In reflecting on the Guide’s theme this year, Chandler says, “that is really what the SunriseGuide is to me—a community bulletin board in a book.” She points out that so many of the businesses listed are so small they don’t often have an advertising budget or even an online presence. “You may not see them anywhere else,” she says, “so many people love that they discover cool new businesses in the Guide that they never knew about before.”

The Guides can be found through local retailers by going to: www.thesunriseguide.com/buy-the-book/local-retail-stores.html

Student groups, church groups and nonprofit organizations also sell them as a fundraiser. Not only do these groups get to keep a share of the book’s proceeds, but their involvement fosters community building and education about sustainable living, further strengthening the core goals of the SunriseGuide in the very communities it works to support. To date, more than 32,500 copies have been sold.

“We’ve been getting some really great feedback,” says Chandler. “One woman told us that reading the Guide changed her life. She found her carpool buddies, a CSA farm share, and learned how compost. To think that it is having an impact on people’s lives—that is what warms my heart the most.”

To learn more about the SunriseGuide, go to www.sunriseguide.com

Never before has there been a “one-stop” shopping handbook that connects Mainers to helpful local information on everything that is green, sustainable, organic, and natural. Now, in celebration of its 5th anniversary, the SunriseGuide has expanded its offerings from southern ME to the Midcoast area for the first time. Readers will find nearly 300 coupons (almost doubled from last year’s edition) and more than $8,500 in savings in the best of what’s healthy, local and green in Maine.

Other coupons include natural food stores and co-ops, massage, yoga and acupuncture services, green home improvements, natural pet care and garden pest control, as well as Date Night or Girls’ Night discounts for arts and cultural events.

Developed by a team in southern ME who spent the first year criss-crossing the state seeking out the best resources, the SunriseGuide was designed to be a “community bulletin board” connecting like-minded people all around Maine to eco-friendly products and services. The SunriseGuide is set up in easy-to-use sections, on topics such as:

• Food & Dining
• Travel & Transportation
• Home & Garden
• Weatherization & Efficiency
• Health & Outdoor Living
• Community & Culture
• Style & Personal Care

The SunriseGuide covers everything from the greening of Maine’s restaurants and grocery stores and advice on where to deposit hard-to-recycle items to do-it-yourself energy savers and eco-friendly holiday party ideas.

“It provides a perfect example of how to combine a frugal lifestyle with greener living,” says Monica Bidwell from Portland. “I think many people are under the impression that you have to be ‘well-off’ to make more sustainable choices. By providing both valuable information AND money saving coupons you’re allowing people to see that that’s not necessarily the case.

Indexed by advertisers and by region, Mainers can now do their holiday shopping strategically with coupons that apply to businesses near their homes and when they travel. At still only $20, the SunriseGuide pays for itself in discounted savings from the coupons and makes the perfect holiday gift. For those who prefer to shop locally, using or giving the SunriseGuide this season provides Maine businesses with incentive to stay and flourish. SunriseGuides are available at many local businesses like Whole Foods and Coffee By Design or can be found at specific locations by going to: www.thesunriseguide.com/buy-the-book/local-retail-stores.html Learn more and find out where to pick up a copy at www.thesunriseguide.com

###

For Immediate Release

Portland, Maine – A new Portland company, CouponEvolution.com, has taken the clipping out of coupons.

CouponEvolution.com launched on Thursday, July 8, allowing consumers to search deals in Maine and New Hampshire. Unlike many other coupon websites, CouponEvolution.com features coupons from locally owned and area businesses. The website can be accessed directly from a desktop computer or any internet-capable mobile device.  Each interactive coupon features buttons that allow the consumer to print, email, text, or share on Twitter or Facebook. A Google Maps icon also links directly to each business location for easy access to directions.

The evolutionary feature of CouponEvolution.com is how they have changed the way that coupons are redeemed. Consumers simply send a deal they like from CouponEvolution.com via text message to themselves, or a friend, and present the coupon on their mobile device at the business to redeem the coupon.

For more information, please contact Jason Dye at jdye@couponevolution.com, or via phone 207-370-6013 ext. 501, or visit www.couponevolution.com.

###