Without getting into a history lesson, BARTER has come around (again) as a highly enjoyable, efficient and popular way to break into a new exchange relationship and trade goods, services and resources without the use of greenbacks. Friendships have also founded bartering in the form of "favors" to eliminate that whole sticky money exchange. Bartering is everywhere that two people seek to fill needs. So many industries use bartering and partial-bartering to leverage acquisitions as a means to a great end- and if you explore it correctly, EVERYTHING IS BARTER-ABLE!WHY BARTER
- To remove spending $$, barter gets you more for your business (or personal life)
- A great extension of your acquiring power
- By bartering, you can afford to think outside of your business plan to fulfill needs to grow your business (ie. acquire a better website that's normally out of your budget in exchange for your specialty service)
- A powerful way to promote yourself to the community without advertising + a great relationship builder (exchange based on trust and communication)
BARTER AS AN ICE BREAKER
Though not everyone is into the idea, your breaking the ice with someone to approach bartering may open a whole new channel of business just by introducing your concept. More and more businesses are subscribing to this form of trade as a form of "partnering" with other resource groups where seeking out and connecting with another business in this level may become a highly lucrative and financially fulfilling experience for you and your marketing.
There is no better way to "audition" a vendor than to try them out yourself. But because we have grown skiddish to explore vendor services without referral or reference, the business community trends on counting on YELP (unreliable and often corrupt opinions) and other review sites for gospel. Old school doctrine says that "the best way to build a real opinion about someone is to know them yourself!" Through barter, you have a first-hand way of learning about that person or company as the direct receiving end. Barter encourages more communication between the two parties in order to get to the right deal. If all goes well, what you get out of it is a new trusted ally, a vendor and a trading partner.
COMMON TRADE
If you go into the home page of Craigslist, you'll see a large barter community trading everything from copper wire for hair services to office cleaning for dental insurance. If I have something, chances are, someone out there has something I need and is willing to barter for it. National leaders themselves barter all the time. With the diminishing power of greenbacks + the rising national debt, governments are resorting to the barter system to acquire resources, services and labor.
BUILDING THE RIGHT BARTER RELATIONSHIP
With today's information access, it doesn't take long to learn about whom you are doing trade with. So finding out who's got the right goods and who's got the public credentials to exchange with is a process just like any other shopping experience. But a successful barter means knowing your products/services value for exchange + getting an idea what you are willing to give up to get "that" thing. In the end, bartering means two (or more) parties getting something they never thought they could afford- and creating a bridge on top of that is always a plus!
Produced and written by: IMWORX.com
Great article, Len..very true that we are in a time where the value of the dollar is diminishing, which leaves many business owners, particularly smaller business owners, looking for a way to acquire the resources needed for their growth. What better way than bartering? Clearly it's an exchange that has worked successfully for many for a very long time, and no doubt will continue to work for many years to come. Thank you much for sharing this information!
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