CNN News, the Wall Street Journal, and other respected business anaylists agree customers are reducing their spending of discretionary funds. Purchase transactions are down "across the board" of all segments of commerce due to uncertainty in future economic trends. On the street, shopkeepers report fewer people shopping and spending less per visit. More and more businesses are going out of business as their cashflows dry up. How are the survivors keeping their doors open?
They are getting creative, adapting to changes in the marketplace. . . in other words, bringing their marketing techniques into the 21st century. They are using the Internet to reach new markets and reduce cost of reaching their clientele. They are automating services and chores, again to reduce overhead costs. The wisest of these are using BARTER to increase sales, conserve cashflow, reach new markets, move old inventory, gain a competitive edge, and the list goes on.
One-on-one trading of goods and services was the first form of commerce before there was any form of currency. Cavemen traded when Og discovered he could make great spears but couldn't hit the side of a cave wall. He offers Nol, who doesn't make a good spear but can hit anything moving at 25 paces, a deal. Og keeps Nol supplied with great spears, Nol keeps Og supplied with dinner every night. Voila! Barter was born. The limitations of one-on-one barter are that two people (or businesses in our case) must have a need for each other's product at the same time and at an equal value. The occurance of matching need and value are seldom found so currency was developed as a common medium of exchange.
Along with the evolution of the Internet a new form of bartering developed. Computers allow companies to network their bartering and begin trading with any other company within their network or "barter community". Today hundreds of Barter Exchanges are located in virtually every corner of every state as well as worldwide. These "trade exchanges" bring together buyers and sellers. They use a "credit and debit" basis much like a bank. Members sell their products or services for a "barter credit" to others within their barter community. According to the IRTA (International Reciprocal Trade Association), the medium of exchange is a "trade dollar" and equal to one dollar cash. As trade dollars are earned, they are used to purchase from other participants within the trading network. Therefore, participating in an organized trade network creates new markets and cash savings while the Barter Exchange records and provides monthly statements of sales and purchases and the annual 1099's.
The bottom line is Barter Exchanges are a dynamic marketing tool that conserves cashflow and increases sales while allowing businesses to purchase many of their variable assets at their costs of goods, rather than using their cash. The IRTA points out there is no magic, no tax avoidance, in fact virtually nothing different than the transactions that take place in the cash economy. Barter is simply a new market, generated through a different method of payment.
Rod Phillips is a full time barter expert and marketer in southwest Missouri. To learn more and to receive Rods free barter newsletter please send your request directly to Rod at rodrphillips@yahoo.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rod_R_Phillips |  |
