What’s A BarterMom To Do?

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Jane Darling Moreno

My daughter, who had moved across the country to Victoria, B.C., was performing last year at the prestigious Salsa Congress, in New York City. The event was being held in a high end hotel in the heart of the Broadway Theater District, where accommodations were not only expensive , but hard to even come by. It had been over a year since I had seen my daughter and I was determined to go to New York and see her perform.

What’s a BarterMom to do?”

My daughter, Michaela, second from left, with her dance team

First, I started sourcing out barter accommodations near where the event was being held. I found one small condo located not too far away, but when I didn’t make a firm commitment it was scooped. Then I found a motel in New Jersey. That was going to be a good hour or more through New York traffic to get to the event. I had to nix that.

Finally I happened upon a luxury 3 bedroom condo on barter overlooking the harbour and within an easy commute to the venue. Through a reciprocal exchange I was able to get restaurant certificates within walking distance of the dance event, and even tickets to a Broadway show. The price for everything, even in barter dollars, was quite high. However, it was doable. Now, how to find the money to get to New York and cover my expenses while I was there? That is the challenge every barter member faces. Of course we could crack open our wallet, but once you become a barter member you quickly acquire a lifelong aversion to using cash for any purchases, but especially for travel.

Vacation at exotic locations? Stay in luxury resorts usually financially out of reach to the average traveler? Barter members love to use their barter dollars to travel. However, a common complaint is that such things as airfare and sometimes meals are not available for barter when they travel outside of their local exchange. To some this dampens their enthusiasm. To the seasoned barter member this is just another challenge, and a chance to prove their resourcefulness.

Every year I process hundreds of travel requests for members . Sometimes it is for a business trip to a nearby city. Sometimes it is further afield to visit friends and family. It is also not uncommon to book business owners into hotels near a convention they are attending. And then there are the members traveling for pleasure. I put them into fishing and hunting resorts, quaint Bed and Breakfasts,RV rentals, camp grounds, luxury Caribbean resorts and even Disney World.

Often members ask for meals and airfare which are difficult to include in their barter vacation package.But this does not stop the savvy barter member from getting airfare and meals covered, nevertheless.

HOW DO THEY DO THIS? HERE’S HOW:

1. When making a travel decision always include in your plans non-barter members who can make a contribution towards the final tally.

2. Find a travel property on barter which is beyond what your fellow travelers could normally afford; for example a luxury timeshare in an exclusive resort. Your barter broker can assist you in your search.

3. Book a condo with additional sleeping quarters for your guests.

4. Determine what the actual out of pocket cash cost will be to you for airfare, or gas if you are driving, and such things as booking fees and even meals.

5. Offer your guests the opportunity to enjoy this luxurious travel experience for a fraction of what they would normally pay–you will pay for the resort ( with your barter dollars) and they will give back to you an agreed upon cash amount which will cover all or part of your out of pocket cash costs.

tip--Buy a timeshare condo with your barter dollars, making sure there is room for guests. You can then enjoy all the added benefits timeshare ownership brings. Your barter broker can source a wide variety of properties for you to chose from. Even purchasing with barter dollars there are some amazing bargains out there these days.

tip–When you are traveling on barter you will have the most success when you choose a destination from among the already listed properties and packages . While I wanted to be right at my daughter’s venue, by being flexible I landed a stunning condo only a twenty minute drive away.The more flexibility, the more chances of success. When my children were young I always looked for an already listed hotel with a pool or beach, within driving distance, so we could all pile in the car and have a carefree trip. With such options as swimming, jumping on the beds and saving all the soap samples, I knew my kids would have a fun time where ever we ended up staying .

Isobel and I set off for New York! (Johanne was camera shy!)

Drawing upon my many years of experience traveling on barter I was able to keep my wallet in my pocket for my entire trip to New York. Two close friends accompanied me and their contribution covered the cash booking fee for the luxury condo, the tickets to the event, the gas for the trip , and even the tips for the meals….And with the cash surplus I picked up a beautiful pair of dance shoes! BONUS!

The view alone was worth the trip !

This year, well before the New York Salsa Congress, my buddies were ready with their wallets open, to ante up for another fun filled weekend of dance. Their wallets will have to open wider, though—my daughter is performing in Australia now!

The Real Estate “In Your Jeans” Cash Conversion (bartergal.com)
How Did Barter Find Me? Chapter One (bartergal.com)
The ” In Your Jeans” Business Trip Cash Conversion (bartergal.com)

Filed under: About Bartergal, Barter Deals, confused about barter? | Tagged: accounting, barter, barter gal, barter network, barternet, bcommerce, Business, Business and Economy, business owner, Business Services, Customer, ecommerce, Entrepreneur, financing, International Business and Trade, International trade, irta, itex, montreal barter, nate, one world barter, online marketing, ottawa, ottawa barter, small business, toronto barter, trade business international, tradebank, travel, vacation, viatrade | Leave a Comment »

Yes You Can!

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Jane Darling Moreno

When I approach business owners to do a barter analysis and determine whether or not barter can benefit their business, I often am told:

Barter is all well and good but what I really need is cash—cash to cover my overhead and to pay my staff.”

In fact, barter can help acquire and maintain reliable and qualified staff . Barter can create some real excitement at the office. Suddenly your employees will be able to elevate their lifestyle and access health benefits that previously were not available to them.

FIVE WAYS YOUR STAFF CAN BENEFIT FROM BARTER

1. AWARD STAFF WITH BARTER BONUSES AND COMMISSIONS. Business owners are often challenged to both acquire and maintain good staff. Often there is no way that a small to medium sized business can compete in the job market with big corporations or government departments. By awarding staff with barter dollars, either by way of an incentive or as a top up to their salary, they can engage and maintain quality staff. Such awards to staff can be a legitimate tax deduction* for you and if the staff choose their purchases wisely it can make a big improvement in the lives of your employees.

2. USE YOUR BARTER DOLLARS TO PROVIDE AN INFORMAL BENEFIT PACKAGE FOR YOUR STAFF. In any barter exchange you will find a variety of professional health solutions available for you and your staff to choose from. Depending on your region, you could have dentistry available, chiropractic treatments, massage therapy, acupuncture, eyeglasses, and many professional therapists. The list goes on. Such health benefit purchases for staff can be a legitimate business expense* for your company and are often not taxable* for the employee. This is a win win for all.

3. Health and medical claims , whether the treatments are paid for using barter or for cash, are processed the same way. You submit a claim, including the receipt, and the insurance company will refund you all or a sizable portion of the treatment cost in cash. If you or your staff already have benefits you can STILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR BARTER HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, GET A RECEIPT, AND TURN THAT IN TO YOUR INSURANCE PROVIDER FOR A CASH REFUND. Therefore, you can use your barter to provide a fully tax deductible benefit to staff, even if they already have coverage through their spouse, and they can turn that benefit back into a non-taxable cash bonus*.

4. BARTER CAN FUND YOUR STAFF EVENTS. A common way that members reward their staff is the summer BBQ or the Christmas Party.Using your barter you can have a spectacular staff event which employees will look forward to and appreciate year after year. You can cover everything from the hall to the catering to the decor and the door prizes.

5. KEEP YOUR STAFF FULLY BOOKED AND ENGAGED DURING DOWN TIMES. The rent is paid, the stove is fired up, or maybe the equipment is leased and the truck loaded. Your business is staffed and …..where are all the customers? Almost every business has down times and seasonal slumps. Nevertheless the overhead must be paid and the staff salaries have to be covered. Constant layoffs and lack of sufficient hours can lead to an inability to keep good staff. What better way to keep them motivated than to give them barter jobs during those slower times . If you are in the hospitality industry your staff will fight to serve barter customers. The orders are usually larger and the tips bigger. But no matter the industry, barter sales are typically less stressful to staff . Everyone wins!

Can you use barter to help cover your overhead and your staff ? Yes you can!

* Business owners and their staff should always seek professional tax advice when making allocations regarding barter sales and purchases.

Filed under: confused about barter? | Tagged: accounting, barter, barter gal, barter network, barternet, bcommerce, Business, Business and Economy, business owner, Cash flow, Customer, deal, ecommerce, Entrepreneur, financing, ims, International Business and Trade, International trade, irta, montreal barter, nate, one world barter, online marketing, ottawa, ottawa barter, revenue canada, tax savings, tbe, toronto barter, trade business international, tradebank, tradebank international, viatrade | 1 Comment »

5 Ways To Monetize Your Barter

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Jane Darling Moreno

“Monetizing“–It’s all over the net these days and the terminology has made it into the mainstream. I was talking to a personal coach recently who told me that she specializes in helping professionals monetize their life. She takes them from simply being an expert to turning that expertise into actual money.

I found what she had to say to be very valuable for many reasons. Foremost, however, was because I realized that this is what I already do for my clients. I help business owners use barter to gain extra business that they wouldn’t have otherwise. And then I help turn that barter business back into cash.

For the last 20 years I have called this nifty thing that I help business owners do “cash conversion”. People would kinda look at me sideways when I dropped the phrase which is barter gobbledegook to them. So then I would have to explain it. But it seems that what I do has a name for it that people are now recognizing . It is called monetizing. Fine by me!

So what does “monetizing your barter” mean?—it means using this new found and often easily acquired barter money to buy something which will result in new fashioned money.You pay only the incremental cost of your product or service to start on this road .”

Business owners barter their goods and services for various reasons. Bartering to get more new fashioned money should not be the only reason. However, it is an easily achievable goal and should never be overlooked.

If you are unable to arrange a one-on-one barter with a business owner, you should seriously consider joining a barter exchange—if you are not already a member. When you are a member of a barter exchange you can accumulate barter dollars through sales of your products and services to business owners. These dollars are deposited into your account and you can use them to purchase from any member in the exchange.

The exchange operates like any other payment processor ( for example, paypal or a merchant credit card processor) and outside of the actual barter transaction you need only pay the exchange the payment processing fee. However,unlike paypal or a merchant credit card service, a barter exchange will work hard to drive sales of your product or service and provide ways for you to spend the resulting barter dollars.

Here are 5 ways to Monetize Your Barter:

1. The best and easiest way to monetize your barter is to use the barter dollars that you earn to BUY ADVERTISING for your company.This will drive new, regular customers to your business who will increase your sales volume. Your business will become more profitable and have an added resale value through an the increase in equity that added sales brings.

2. Another common way to monetize your barter is to BUY SOMETHING WITH YOUR BARTER DOLLARS THAT YOU CAN TURN BACK INTO CASH through your normal sales and distribution channels. This does happen with the barter exchange arena, but seldom can you find this in a one-on-one barter. Example : Cottage Resort member who qualifies for toolinventory purchase. In a barter exchange there are often members with excess inventory and liquidation items that they need to move, perhaps due to time sensitivity issues. You can scoop these with your barter dollars and resell them for actual cash.

3. PAYING FOR SOMETHING THAT YOUR BUSINESS ALREADY USES on an ongoing basis already is a common way to monetize your barter . In it’s purest form, you find a product or service that you need for your business, and you arrange with the supplier to trade your goods and services for their goods and services, one-on-one. I did this myself and it can be effective. The reality,however, is that this situation does not always work out. This is because you would need a full time team out there on the look out for trading partners. And you would need a referee available to handle any disputes should one party feel that it wasn’t a fair trade. But once you are a member of a trade exchange you are able to use the exchange to earn dollars from one member that you can then use for what you need from another member.This guy does a really good job of explaining the process. And if you can use the barter dollars to pay for things that you need to buy anyway, you have monetized your barter dollars.

4. The old adage, PAY YOURSELF FIRST, applies in the barter world as well. Why are you in business anyway, if not to make money which ultimately lands in your own pocket? A friend of mine said that if you are not making a living then it is just a pass time. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with bartering for personal expenditures. Both Revenue Canada and the IRS have ruled that a barter transaction is to be treated just like a regular cash transaction. So you may ask,”Why should I then barter?” And I will always say” If avoiding taxes is the only reason you would want to earn money, then why are you getting up in the morning and going to work?” Barter made it possible for you to be able to get these goods and services by sending you extra business that you would not have otherwise and you are only paying the incremental cost to produce your product or service plus the exchange payment processing fee, if the barter was through an exchange.

5. MONETIZE YOUR BARTER BY GAINING NEW CUSTOMERS that you wouldn’t have otherwise and use those new customers to expand your marketplace. When I was in the advertising industry I regularly bartered with business owners to gain accounts in business categories that I did not yet have . I then went to other businesses in those categories now filled by barter clients and was able to land significant cash sales. Since getting into the barter exchange business I have seen that concept expanded upon. I have seen contractors land cash business when they do a barter contract and place a sign on the lawn of their barter customer. I have seen SEO engineers and website designers get cash spin off when they do a barter deal. Invariably, if you do a professional job and treat the barter customer as you would any customer, the barter leads to cash referrals. I have lost members who said that they got so many cash referrals and spin offs that they had to stop bartering all together. They were now booked solid and did not wish to expand their business further. In fact, my first question to a new prospective barter member is ” can you handle more business?”…….because that is what barter is all about. More sales and more referrals. If that is not a goal that you have , and it is not the goal of every business owner, then DO NOT BARTER!!

I know that there are many ways to monetize your barter, most of which fall into the categories above. However, I welcome any contributions that you may have!

Filed under: confused about barter? | Tagged: accounting, barter, barter gal, barter network, barternet, bcommerce, Business, Business and Economy, business owner, Business Services, Cash flow, ecommerce, Entrepreneur, financing, ims, International Business and Trade, International trade, itex, montreal barter, nate, one world barter, online marketing, ottawa, ottawa barter, revenue canada, small business, tax savings, tbe, toronto barter, trade business international, tradebank, tradebank international | Leave a Comment »

Ida’s Mink Coat

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Jane Darling Moreno

Charlie’s company, a monthly local shopping guide, was a founding member with my first barter exchange, Barter Connection Inc. He bartered advertising in his shopping guide to our members who wanted to target consumers in the Ottawa area.

Charlie was a big bear of a man, and crusty to boot. He had big bushy eyebrows and a very generous covering of grey hair on his head. Years of enjoying the offerings of his customers’ dining establishments had endowed him with a sizable girth. In looking at him, and even in knowing him for all the years that I did, you would not take him for a softy.

Over the course of a few years Charlie had built up quite a balance in his barter account, despite using his dollars regularly for personal and business related expenditures, like dining out, travel and printing. Since the smallest sale he made to his advertising customers, even then, going back 15 or so years, was about $800, he could really earn dollars quickly.

One day I was over picking up a cheque from him–those were the days when they wrote cheques and the business owners fully expected me to drop over and pick them up!!–and I met his partner in life, Ida. She was a very sweet soul who appeared to be in her fifties and who didn’t have much to say but had a beautiful smile. It turns out that the reason that she didn’t have much to say was that she had recently suffered a stroke and was having problems communicating.

Soon after my meeting with Charlie at his place of business he started to show up from time to time at my office ,with Ida in tow, just for a visit . Those were the days when people did that. Just showed up. For no reason other than to say hi.

He told me in confidence that he had to bring Ida with him everywhere because he couldn’t ever leave her by herself. So Ida always came with him and bestowed her beautiful smile upon everyone in our office. We all got to know her well and enjoy visiting with her.

One day Charlie showed up by himself . He had arranged for someone else to stay with Ida so that he could make a special visit to our office . He had big plans, he said, and he was counting on using the balance in his barter account to see those plans through . His whole demeanor softened as he told me of his plans . He was no longer the crusty bear of a man that I knew him to be as he described his twenty year union with Ida that had yet to be sanctified . It was clear that she was the light of his life and that she meant the world to him . And finally he had decided that it was time that the world knew that as well.

His plans were to buy Ida a stunning engagement ring and prepare a magnificent wedding and honeymoon all without her knowing anything about it. On the big day he would get down on his knees and gift her with the diamond ring and lead her before a gathering of their friends and family who had been notified in advance. Afterwards he would whisk her off for a whirlwind honeymoon abroad.

And why was he telling us of his plans? Because his plans were to use the barter dollars left in his account, and maybe if that wasn’t enough, to also ask us for an advance, so that he could make all of this happen.

Charlie was a barter guy since the time barter was first invented, so I needed to do little more than give him a few pointers and make a few calls and he did the rest. Soon I was processing a transaction for a one carat diamond ring (that doesn’t happen too often but somehow the jeweler member came through for Charlie), and then all the trappings for the wedding itself, the hall, the rooms for out of town guests, the flowers, the limo, the catering, the photographer and many other things. At one point I had to extend him some credit because his tribute to his bride-to-be had eaten through all the barter dollars in his account.

I can’t even remember if we were able to get him the honeymoon in Europe . It was just too long ago, and if we did get it for him it would have been through one of our affiliate exchanges, known as a reciprocal . I know it happened though.

We regularly process barter transactions in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we are working at many projects at a time . So I was not really following Charlie’ s project any more than anyone else’ s . So I didn’t really know when this private family event transpired or when the happy couple would be abroad on their honeymoon.

Therefore, when Charlie called me a few months after that flurry of barter account activity I thought it was to tell me about how the wedding went . Instead he called to tell me that Ida had died and he wanted to drop by with some things to offer to get his account up to date . His voice thickened as he recounted the details . He recounted that as he slipped the one carat ring on Ida’s finger there were tears in her eyes. At the altar despite her inability to speak she was able to affirm her commitment to him . After the beautiful ceremony and the lovely reception, all paid for from his barter account, they flew off to Europe . The actual country and city escapes me now. It was there in Europe, three days after he slipped the ring on her finger that she died peacefully in her sleep from a massive stroke.

I am afraid I still tear up when I recall hearing about this for the first time . Although Charlie was very shaken up he expressed his gratitude that we were able to help him give Ida that special day that could never be taken away from either of them . He missed his partner terribly, but she was in a better place now .

Weeks later Charlie showed up unannounced at our office with a bundle under his arms . He had that soft expression on his face that I had come to know meant that he had Ida on his mind. “Jane”, he said, ” With Ida gone it’s time for me to retire. I gave Ida’s diamond ring to her daughter but I have something else that I can use to clear up my overdraft with you. I have this beautiful ranch mink coat that I had custom made for Ida before her stroke and I would like to trade it back out.

Ida loved this coat and said that she had never had anything so beautiful and so valuable in her life. She was like that, always so appreciative of whatever I got for her. I paid over six thousand dollars for it and I would like this coat to go to someone who will love it as much as Ida did.”

We put the fur coat up for sale in our trading post and within days it was sold to a member who enjoyed it for a few years and then I saw it come across the trading floor again as it was traded to a member living in the United States .

Where is Ida’s coat now? I don’t know, but I like to think that someone in barterland is wearing it, and spreading love and comfort just like Ida did–even to crusty old Charlie.

Filed under: Business Owners Talk About Barter | Tagged: accounting, barter, barter gal, barter network, barternet, bcommerce, Business, Business and Economy, business owner, Business Services, Cash flow, Cheque, Customer, ims, International Business and Trade, International trade, irta, itex, montreal barter, one world barter, ottawa, ottawa barter, tbe, tradebank | Leave a Comment »

Why NOT Bartering Can Be A Costly Decision

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Jane Darling Moreno

There is a terminology often used in financial services called “opportunity cost” Wikipedia defines this as:

..a key concept in economics, and has been described as expressing “the basic relationship between scarcity and choice“.^[2] The notion of opportunity cost plays a crucial part in ensuring that scarce resources are used efficiently.^[3] Thus, opportunity costs are not restricted to monetary or financial costs: the real cost of output forgone, lost time, pleasure or any other benefit that provides utility should also be considered opportunity costs.

Did that help you understand the concept? My guess is that it did not. Let me try to put this in layman’s terms that the average business person who is trying to run a profitable business and not bother with fancy titles after their name can understand.

As a Certified Trade Broker I am sensitive to the opportunity costs of my business owner barter members who are in a vulnerable position due to the time sensitive nature of their product or service. It is my role to make sure that their losses from forgone output are minimized.

What is a time sensitive product or service? This is a product or service that sells within a time frame or has a best before date. I will use the hospitality industry and the advertising industry as examples.

When the hotelier or the publisher wakes up in the morning, whatever room remained empty or whatever ad space was not sold yesterday is a lost opportunity never to come around again.

When combining this situation with the low incremental cost of bartering the products and services of hoteliers and publishers it is essential that members of those industries maximize their sales opportunities before the window closes and is lost forever. And barter therefore becomes a very attractive option.

There are many other industries with a similar situation. Here is just a partial list:

Hotels, B&Bs, Resorts,Advertising,Publications,Seminars and Courses, Fitness Clubs,Events–anything where tickets are sold,rentals of any kind–you name it,anything that requires “bums in seats” ( as we old folks used to say), so that could be restaurants, seminars,trade show booths.

Also any product which is quickly becoming obsolete or outdated falls into this category.If they are sitting on a pile of stuff that is going to become outdated or obsolete soon, then the incremental cost it took to produce each item is moot—the 40% ceiling I usually recommend for incremental cost to produce can be thrown out the window. I mean , even if their original cost of sale was 89% if it is sitting in a warehouse not turning back into something the business owner can use to grow their business it needs to be moved and fast!!!

I have just given a few situations. I welcome any added examples and be sure to send them to me in the comment box.

If you look at the list above you will see that all of the examples have 2 things in common–they have a low incremental cost and they are time sensitive. If you still are wondering what exactly I am talking about you would not be the first. You can always drop me a line and I will analyze your particular situation and give you an honest evaluation of the suitability of bartering your products or services. You can reach me at 877-799-3301 or jane@oneworldbarter.com.

Filed under: confused about barter? | Tagged: accounting, barter, barter gal, barter network, barternet, bcommerce, Business, Business and Economy, business owner, Business Services, Cash flow, Cheque, Customer, deal, Eastern Canada, ecommerce, ims, Internal Revenue Service, International Business and Trade, irta, itex, Marginal cost, one world barter, online marketing, Opportunity cost, ottawa, save, small business, tax savings, tbe, toronto barter, trade business international, tradebank, tradebank international, viatrade, Wikipedia | Leave a Comment »

The Real Estate “In Your Jeans” Cash Conversion

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Jane Darling Moreno

The real estate “in your jeans” cash conversion is really straightforward and it really works out nicely if you are scrambling to put together the cash to buy another property.

This is how it works—you list your property for sale with one of our members who is a real estate agent. You negotiate the commission with them as usual. However, the real estate agent offers to charge you in barter dollars for their personal portion of the commission, after the brokerage is paid their portion Their portion is typically 2-3% of the total commission .

When the sale closes the real estate agent will receive their commission as usual in cash . They will then process a transaction whereby they take payment of their commission in barter dollars. The barter dollars leaves the members account and gets dropped into the real estate agent’s account. At the same time the real estate agent cuts a cheque back to the member selling their property. This cheque can be for a very sizable amount and can really make a difference to the bottom line.

This same kind of cash conversion can be done if you are using a real estate agent to buy a property. They can also barter their commission on the buy.

And this is all perfectly legal. Both the IRS and Revenue Canada have ruled that a barter transaction is to be assigned the same value as a regular dollar transaction and treated accordingly.

Monday in bartergal land

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Jane Darling Moreno

It’s Monday and I like to start the week off by doing a review of some of the deals I am working on or orders on my desk. I do a little prioritizing and make sure that the urgent requests and time sensitive deals are handled first. So here it is Monday, and what have I got on the go??

Well, a top priority this week is to market one of our cottage resort* members.They have just listed a million dollar property with our real estate agent members and they are going to have to have about $25,000 in their barter account should that deal close (for how a real estate barter deal works and how this resort could pocket up to $25,000 cash from the deal, check out this link.) I told them that, based on their stellar credit with us ( all of our members rave about the resort!), I could float them about $10,000 on the deal and after we take into account their balance in their account we would need to come up with about $10,000 in bookings before the real estate deal went down.

But no sooner did I approve them for the real estate deal than they asked for a further $15,000 in case they decide to buy a wholesale lot of new tools (by the way, there is about $60,000 new in the original packaging tools in total available) . I can do the deal for them but it is going to mean a big push for the cottage resort so they can come up with the necessary $10K + $15K. Luckily, members can not only stay in the fully equipped year-round cottages on the lake, they can also enjoy three yummy meals a day and boat rental with bait. I can book in members from not only Eastern Canada, but also anywhere down the east coast of the US as those US guys in particular like to fish and hunt. Did I tell you I love my job?

What else is on my desk for today? Like anyone, my day fills up with fresh offers, requests and authorizations as the day progresses. But here is a sampling only of what I am going to start the day with:

I need to check back on my past weeks travel booking to see that the members enjoyed their stay and that everything went smoothly. I always have a sprinkling of members booked into local hotels or resorts or properties managed by affiliate brokers. Members appreciate hearing from me. They like to know that we are constantly monitoring the quality of our member travel properties.

Another thing I like to do is see if any requests have not been filled. I often have requests that I can fill but I have not been able to get hold of the listing member to let them know that they have an order.

Monday is a day that I set aside to review what members need to have their goods or services promoted. It could be because they are a seasonal service or product—like flowers when Mother’s Day is coming up, or a hunting lodge when hunting season is upon us. So I’ll post those offers. Or maybe their barter balance is low so I am going to push them a bit more. I tend to not just post offers on the trading floor but also send out personalized e-mails to members who may benefit from their services. For example,our home- staging professional is renewing her ad with a magazine, so she is going to need some barter dollars—I will send e-mails to our real estate industry members to offer her services on barter.

I’ll look at my calendar for the week and make sure I am prepared. Today I have a meeting with a member to get information about their event. They are offering marketing and sponsorship packages at their event to members. They have requested a face to face meeting so I’ll be dropping by today. These days there is less face to face meeting but I love to do this. There is nothing like the face to face meeting where we can get to know each other and hash out the best approach for a barter campaign.

I just listed a few things about my Mondays in this post. After all ….I actually have to do these things and not just blog about them.

* member has given permission to use their deal as a training tool for new members and anyone wanting to find out about how barter works.

Real Estate Agent Is Crazy Like A Fox! (bartergal.com)

Filed under: Barter Deals, what bargergal is doing today | Tagged: accounting, barter, barter gal, barter network, barternet, bcommerce, Business, Business and Economy, business owner, deal, Eastern Canada, ecommerce, financing, ims, International Business and Trade, irta, itex, Monday, montreal barter, Mother's Day, nate, one world barter, online marketing, ottawa barter, Real estate, revenue canada, save, small business, tax savings, tbe, toronto barter, trade business international, tradebank, tradebank international, viatrade | Leave a Comment »

Is There A Mr Bartergal?

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Jane Darling Moreno

Here I am as a platinum blond with Mr Bartergal, Julio Moreno. We like to hang out together, watching movies, making home cooked meals, and dancing the night away at one of our favourite dance clubs.

Mr Bartergal is not to be confused with Barterguy, my business partner, Norbert Paprocki. You can find out more about what he is up to at his postings….coming soon!

Filed under: About Bartergal | Tagged: accounting, Arts, barter, barter network, barternet, bcommerce, Blond, Business, Business and Economy, business owner, Cash flow, Customer, Dance, deal, Eastern Canada, ecommerce, Entrepreneur, financing, Folk, Human hair color, ims, International trade, irta, itex, Mother's Day, nate, Nightclub, one world barter, online marketing, ottawa barter, Performing arts, Radio, revenue canada, save, tax savings, toronto barter, trade business international, tradebank, United States, viatrade | Leave a Comment »

How Did Barter Find Me? Chapter One

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Jane Darling Moreno

A lot of barter professionals, when they decide to operate a retail barter exchange,were barter members originally. After bartering their own goods and services among members in an exchange and observing how an exchange works, and thinking of ways to improve things, they open up an exchange of there own. Boy, are they in for a shock!

Well, I actually was never a member of a barter exchange myself. I mean, I would have been, most certainly. However, there were no barter exchanges in my locality when I started my first business–A Val-Pak dealership that I brought to the area and which is still in existence. Now just admitting that I was around before there were any exchanges in the area tends to give my age away.

Not having a barter exchange to join suited me just fine, because what I like to do is create my own brand and my own market.”

You see it seems that the advertising industry, which is what I come out of, is prime breeding ground for barter exchange operators- to- be. And I got quite the experience, building up my Val-Pak business by trading for all kinds of things. I recall I traded for a side of beef, a freezer full of sea food and plenty of restaurant certificates. I got tile in my house and custom drapes on my windows. I even took a course to become a qualified travel agent so that I could help my then-husband in his travel agency(. By the time I completed the course I knew that that was not the career for me . That was before everything was fully computerized. Travel connections were completed and booked using a lot of calculating and paperwork. I could see my customers getting stuck somewhere because I didn’t fill out the paperwork or make the right calculation ).

It turned out that what I loved was this bartering thing. When you are building your business you need customers to get customers, and you need them in a variety of categories and locations. And they need to be in different social and professional circles and able to give you referrals from those different circles. So I found by making a barter deal I could then go and get a regular ol’ cash deal from another similar business. I had credibility in that marketplace. The only cost to me to barter with this business was the actual incremental cost of doing that one deal—for me the cost to produce that one coupon. Once the coupon went in the envelope with the other coupons the cost was the same for the envelope,the postage and the handling.

So the bottom line was that I could not lose. I spent a few dollars for the coupon, I got a new customer who would not have bought the advertising I was offering for cash and I had a chance now to go out and sell a coupon to a similar business in another area. Because the first thing they do is ask who I already had in their business as an advertiser the barter deals really jump started the credibility factor of my fledgling business. And on top of all this I could get some things that I needed or wanted and they only cost me what it cost me to produce the coupon.

The whole time I was doing these fun one-on- one barter deals, and building my business and fluffing out my Val-Pak categories with barter deals I had it in the back of my mind that I would some day, when I had nothing else on the go,open up a local barter exchange…. but that is a story for another day. I’ve got to get back to the barter trading floor.

CHAPTER TWO NOW POSTED!

Real Estate Agent Is Crazy Like A Fox!

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Jane Darling Moreno

People always tell me that barter is all fine and good but what they really need to pay their bills and put food on the table is cold hard cash. Don’t we all!

Well I could spend all day telling you about the various ways members have converted their barter dollars back into cash. However, right now I am just going to tell you about one little known cash conversion that is to me the ultimate dollar for dollar cash in your jeans kinda deal that I jump up and down with joy when I see go down!

What is that, you ask? That is the real estate deal cash conversion. And I see several of these beauties every year.See the thing is, many real estate agents have an irregular cash flow and also are constantly in need of new listings to keep the flow going. New listings mean double- enders, potential new listings from visitors etc. So a lot of the more savvy agents and brokers are really into the barter.

What Real Estate Agents barter is their personal portion of the commissions on the sale (and even the buy) of a property. How do they do that, you may ask. Well they process the transaction as usual and they receive their commission as usual. And then they literally cut a check back to the member in the deal and the member pays them in barter dollars.

Why would a real estate agent do this? Are they crazy? Crazy like a fox more like. Because, you see, they just got a customer from the barter exchange, at little or no extra cost to them, that they would NEVER have gotten otherwise. That listing has invariably led to all kinds of spin offs that are not even barter related. ….and the Barter Exchange that they belong to , in anticipation of the deal, has advanced them credit to see them through the lean times

Filed under: Business Owners Talk About Barter | Tagged: accounting, barter, Barter Exchange, barter network, barternet, bcommerce, Business, Cash flow, Cheque, financing, ims, one world barter, online marketing, Real estate, Real Estate Agents, Real estate broker, save, small business, trade business international, tradebank | Leave a Comment »

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HOW DO THEY DO THIS? HERE’S HOW:

1. When making a travel decision always include in your plans non-barter members who can make a contribution towards the final tally.

2. Find a travel property on barter which is beyond what your fellow travelers could normally afford; for example a luxury timeshare in an exclusive resort. Your barter broker can assist you in your search.

3. Book a condo with additional sleeping quarters for your guests.

4. Determine what the actual out of pocket cash cost will be to you for airfare, or gas if you are driving, and such things as booking fees and even meals.

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