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January 15, 2013 Written
by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews
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From the desk of Bob Meyer...
01/15/2013
IRTA
Completes Another Record Year
Annette Riggs, President of the International Reciprocal
Trade Association, reports that 2012 was another productive
year for IRTA and UC, as both organizations surpassed their
numerous goals for the year.
Riggs says that IRTA and UC will continue to pro-actively
advocate for both the barter and complementary currency
sectors; she looks forward to another fruitful year in 2013
filled with creative new initiatives that will benefit
members� business and the commercial barter industry in
general.
For the complete story,
click here.
ITEX
Brokers Board Meet In Seattle
In a couple of days, on January 18, the Board of Directors
of the ITEX Brokers Association (IBA) will be meeting in
Bellevue (WA). The IBA Board is elected by its members and
consists of seven members � two brokers from three regions
and a president. The group initially gathers alone for a
day, prior to the following day�s meeting with ITEX senior
management.
For more info on ITEX,
click here.
Happy-Meal Toys Exchanged For Books
During 2013 and 2014, about 15 million non-fiction books
will be provided to kids in England through the nation�s
1,200 McDonald restaurants. The reading literacy program
will be promoted for five weeks at a time, over the two-year
period. It�s estimated that only one in three children in
England now have books in the home.
Global
Media Ad Spending Hits $519 Billion
Media ad spending, worldwide, grew 5.4% to just under $519
billion in 2012. This growth rate is expected to continue at
the same levels through 2016 topping out at $628 billion.
How To
Shape Your Leadership & Corporate Culture
An excellent 43-page booklet, �Neuro-Networking: How
Neuroscience Will Make You A Better Networker,� by Dave
Kinnear is available on Kindle Press for $2.99. In the
e-book, Kinnear explains how to build authentic networking
relationships through trust. It can be ordered through
Amazon.com.
Changed U.S. Listing Information �
MerchanTrade
345 Owen Lane, #125
Waco, TX 76710
Ph: (800) 867-5552
Fax: (254) 772-5188
E-mail:
info@merchantrade.com
www.merchantrade.com
(Previously in
Hewitt, TX.)
All
back issues of "From the Desk...� can be accessed by
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See you next week. . .) |
Time For Your Company�s
Annual Barter Check-Up!
Just as an annual physical check-up is a good idea for optimal
health, so is the idea for an annual look at your company�s barter
efforts. For a few minutes of your time, the following tips will
give you valuable ways your trade exchange can help you make 2013 a
more profitable year. Test yourself by looking at how the last few
months have gone.
o
Yes
o
No Have you aggressively used your exchange this year to build
new contacts and enlarge your customer base?
o Yes
o No
Are you staying in touch with your trade exchange broker on a
regular basis to find out what�s new and available, as well as to
communicate your particular desires?
o Yes
o No
Have you analyzed your company�s marginal cost of doing business?
(Day-to-day overhead is already covered by your regular cash
business. It is fixed, regardless of whether or not you barter.
Therefore, it shouldn�t be used to figure the cost of your extra
barter business.)
o Yes
o No Do
you treat your barter customers as �A-list� clients because they
make a significant, very profitable contribution to your bottom
line?
o Yes
o No Do
you spend a minimum of 15 minutes a day (90 minutes a week) thinking
of ways to incorporate barter?
o Yes
o No Do
you have a file or folder for planning your barter sales and
purchases?
o Yes
o No
Have you filled out your business work sheet? One column for
expenditures paid with cash, the second column for those acquired on
trade.
o Yes
o No
Are you employing your exchange�s advertising and promotional help
whenever possible? (Remember, it�s not what is advertised, but how
often it is advertised.)
o Yes
o No
Are you using your trade dollars for perks, incentives, bonuses, and
special occasions when showing your appreciation and recognition?
o Yes
o No
Are you using a trade purchase request form? It provides your
exchange with an authorized purchase order, so a salesman from the
exchange can confidently call on a new company (non-member) and sell
them on joining the exchange with your business in hand.
o Yes
o No Do
you suggest to your present vendors that additional business be paid
with trade dollars?
o Yes
o No
When trying to crack a tough new account do you use the greatest
close there is? Tell them they don�t have to pay you in cash.
Rather, show them how to save cash when buying your product or
service by joining your trade exchange.
o Yes
o No
Have you reviewed your long standing accounts receivables? If
payments aren�t forthcoming, make arrangements to take products or
services as payment.
o Yes
o No
Have you approached a long-overdue creditor with a creative solution
to your company�s debt problem? Offer to pay your debt with trade
dollars.
o Yes
o No
Finally, are you realistic in your barter expectations? Since your
barter business is usually from 3% to 10% of your total gross sales,
are you objectively looking at the valuable service your exchange is
providing your company?
Using your trade exchange efficiently and regularly can make this
year your most profitable ever!
Is Your Trade Exchange Missing Out On
Valuable New Business?
If
your barter company�s listing on BarterNews.com isn�t current, you
are definitely missing out on new business. The web site
BarterNews.com receives heavy traffic � with over 150,000 page-views
every month. Entrepreneurs and corporate executives check the
thousands of articles, the weekly �Tuesday
Report,� and the �Contacts
Section� of our site. They use the latter to find barter
companies with which to do business.
Is
your barter company�s listing up-to-date?
To
keep your listing current is very easy. See the links below to (A)
update any changes to your company�s listing, such as new location,
phone number, web site or other information, and (B) if your company
has not been listed.
Here�s how to get on board:
To
make changes to your listing
click here.
For
new listings
click here.
Barter Can Play An
Important Role In The Building Of Your Assets
Both the value and the
borrowing power of a typical business can be increased if the
business owner takes action to increase cash-flow and reinforce its
predictability. And barter can play a major role in the enhancement
of business strategies.
If you�re so busy
earning a living on a daily basis that you don�t take the time to
focus on activities which can make your business more valuable, more
predictable and more manageable, here are some suggestions.
It's important to think
about the future sales price of your business and attracting the
best buyers, now-while you have the luxury of time to increase its
market value.
Today is the best time
to begin developing and implementing the strategies needed to build
the value of your business. It is the largest single asset on a
typical entrepreneur�s personal balance sheet. Use these 10
strategies to increase your company�s market value. In almost every
case barter can play an important role in maximizing the value of
these strategies.
1. Constantly contain
costs by
acquiring needed products and services whenever possible at your
lower marginal cost of doing business through barter.
2. Diversify your
customer base
by bringing in new business through your trade exchange.
3. Improve operating
efficiencies
by trading for equipment or services that increase company
efficiency, i.e. computers, phone systems, fax machines, and other
services.
4. Make the business
more recession-resistant
by continually broadening your base of customers. This can be
achieved by sustained advertising, through the efforts and
assistance of your trade exchange ... which then builds your
company�s name and develops a stronger image in the marketplace.
5. Use working capital
more
productively by taking advantage of every trading opportunity.
Replace cash purchases with barter purchases.
6. Encourage internal
teamwork
through the use of rewards, bonuses, and perks for employees ... all
or which are available on trade.
7. Improve profit
margins by
trading at your marginal cost of doing business. Your barter or
marginal cost of doing business does not include your fixed costs,
as these are stable and covered by your on-going cash business.
8. Increase sales
by developing new products or services. More barter sales mean more
cash-flow, thus more money for research and development of new
products and services.
9. Improve market share
automatically when barter sales are obtained.
10. Emphasize
non-cyclical products
and services by balancing out the boom and bust cycles of the cash
world. Adding barter to your arsenal is a counter-cyclical business
strategy.
Money-Making Reports Available From BarterNews
Services Costs Keep
Increasing ... Another Reason For Using Trade
Many stories about
deflationary prices have appeared in our nation�s newspapers and TV
outlets. All of which leads a person to believe that everything is
dropping in price. Not so.
Although big-ticket
manufactured items are dropping a bit, what�s really more important
for the entrepreneurial business owner is the cost of services used
on a regular basis. And those prices are not dropping, they are
increasing.
Luckily, many of these
services are available through your trade exchange, where purchasing
them on trade � at your barter cost � makes excellent sense in
today�s tight economy.
Bottom-line: Focus your
barter purchases on the increasingly costly services to get the most
�bang� for your trade dollar!
How To Get More Sales In
Hyper-Competitive
Restaurant Industry
Our street-smart restaurant
marketing report shows proven ways to rapidly boost your
restaurant�s sales & profits.
More-->
Every
barter company in the world is listed on our web site,
click through to our Global List
of Barter Companies.
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