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May 30, 2000

In this week's report. . .

  • TAHO acquires BXI
  • Shaquille O'Neal trades on his celebrity status
  • Smart entrepreneurs and business owners utilize barter
  • Here and there. . .

TAHO and BXI Create Powerful Synergistic Union

BarterNet Tie-In Creates World's Largest B2B Barter Network

The cover story for the recent BarterNews magazine, now out on the newsstands, reports that TAHO Enterprises, a company affiliated with the Allan R. Hackel Organization (a 50-year old corporate barter company) has purchased Business Exchange International (BXI), the nation's largest trade exchange with 21,000 members.

According to Allan Hackel, the synergistic union is an ideal situation for both companies, and a very logical move...as both companies benefit from the agreement.

The union will provide BXI members with a wide array of top quality merchandise, travel, and media. In addition the BXI area brokers will have an opportunity to earn greater commissions, both on increased trading volume as well as the finder fees available when bringing in corporate barter deals to TAHO.

The acquisition by TAHO was quickly followed by attracting a venture-capital backed minority partner, BarterNet.com, which has quietly and quickly inked agreements with some of the most notable independent trade exchanges worldwide.

BarterNet has put together an ambitious game plan and has already built the world's largest business-to-business barter network (aggregate membership), although the integration of all of the exchanges has yet to be accomplished.


Homeboy Marketing Just Another Form Of Barter

Marketers refer to it as guerrilla marketing. But the MVP of the National Basketball Association and 7-foot center of the Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal, says his wearing of a Dunk.net shirt earlier this month (when TV cameras showed him accepting the MVP award) is "homeboy marketing!"

Label it what you will, most people spend $2 million to $3 million for a commercial, but with homeboy marketing it's different. O'Neal says it's a way of bartering for him...trading his time and celebrity-ness, while wearing shirts and hats that promote his tech-heavy alliances.

O'Neal, for example, got a seven-year stock option deal (instead of cash) for moving his Shaq.com fan web site from the Microsoft Network to Florida-based SportsLine.com in 1996.

He and his agent, Leonard Armato, have bartered for equity in Dunk.net, FreeInternet.com, Digex Inc., and Midway Games. High-profile barter endorsements, or homeboy marketing, it's all the same to O'Neal...a way to increase his wealth.


As Your Business Expands, Utilize Other Exchange Members' Services

Most entrepreneurs start their businesses with little in the way of financial resources. As a result, in the beginning they do virtually everything themselves. After all, every penny counts.

But as the business grows there's more work to do than hours in a day. And it doesn't take an owner too long to realize that there is a more effective use of their time than licking stamps and hand-delivering packages.

That's when the smart business owner must shift into another gear and realize that working with others, often other small business owners, is a smart way to expand.

It can be done without hiring a work force. Instead, utilize the many independent contractors found in your trade exchange. It not only saves time and precious cash, but additional costs, because each employee really costs you 1.5 times his/her salary for expenses such as social security, unemployment, and workers' compensation benefits.

Thousands of small businesses exist because other entrepreneurs cannot (or do not want to) do every task themselves. Use your exchange for secretarial services, accountants, attorneys, printers, photographers, truckers, meeting planners, caterers, and others. Then spend your time on your most important priorities...servicing your ever expanding customer base.


Here And There. . .

  • E-Pawn.com, a developer of multiple web sites including barter site www.swappage.com, is spending $6 million for an online campaign with Yahoo over the next 12 months. Yahoo estimates the promotion could attract up to 300 million hits to the E-Pawn site.

  • EMI's coming merger with Time Warner will form the world's biggest record company. The company has also signed a series of barter deals with internet companies such as musicmaker.com and Liquid Audio, where it will exchange licenses to use EMI's music for help with technology and equity stakes.

  • Adventure travel magazine Blue barters with some of their advertisers for trips. According to founder Amy Schrier, this inventory goes into a "trip bank" and then is allocated to the company's staff.

  • BarterItOnline.com traded $500,000 of equity for media from a 21-year-old Boston publisher of theater magazines. Richard Cravatts, CEO of BarterItOnline said, "In exchange for a stake in our company, Publications Management will help our site access print media space in various publications." Cravatts reported his company will use the media either to promote its own brand or will make it available to its member businesses.

  • NetMediaVC has entered into a $12.5 million media-for-equity internet investment with Cafe2.com...the largest online exporter of Latin American coffee to the United States.

  • At the January SEC's Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) meeting, members concluded that internet companies may recognize revenue for barter transactions of advertising as long as a sufficient price history of at least six months exists.

  • Lance Lundberg, founder of iSolve.com, has appointed Mitchell L. Sherman as the company's Chief Technology Officer. A 20-year veteran in high-tech and the financial services industries, Sherman's expertise and years at Chase Manhattan Bank will be especially helpful in the development of a web currency for iSolve's web site.

  • ShopNow.com has finalized its purchase of Ubarter.com and at the same time changed its name to Network Commerce Inc. (Stock symbol is now NWKC). The company has also announced plans to provide businesses and merchants with the technology and infrastructure to extend e-commerce to wireless networks and mobile wireless devices. Network Commerce currently operates two commerce networks, which combined include over 700,000 businesses and merchants in over 260 international markets (with over 20,000 affiliate sites). The company expects to reach profitability during the fourth quarter of 2001.

 

We welcome your comments, questions, and observations.
? Copyright BarterNews 2003. Redistribution of BarterNews content expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of BarterNews.