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May 10, 2005
Written
by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews
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Barter’s Role for Entrepreneur Who Built Country
Club For The Rich
Timothy Blixseth,
54, the founder of Yellowstone Club in Big Sky (MT), is the only
private resort community in the U.S. with its own ski mountain and
world-class golf course. Mostly wilderness, it’s a haven for
the super rich who pay an initiation fee of $250,000, and are required
to purchase property of $1 million to $10 million plus pay annual
dues of $16,000.
The Yellowstone
Club has 200 members, and exists because of two barter deals that
Blixseth executed in the 1990s, when he and his timber business
partner made a trade with federal officials. They provided 164,000
acres adjacent to Yellowstone National Park in exchange receiving
100,000 acres in the Bozeman/Big Sky area.
Of the 100,000
acres the partner took the timberland, leaving Blixseth and his
wife with a stretch of undeveloped land they originally intended
to turn into a family compound. After the newly built cabins and
chalets became wildly popular with their friends, they decided to
create a country club for millionaires looking for an alternative
to pricey, pretentious and over-crowded destinations such as Aspen.
Thus, the development
of Yellowstone Club occupying 22 square miles. With an eye toward
natural beauty, only 20% of its acreage is slated for development...with
the rest remaining untouched.
Running
a trade exchange is a 24/7 effort. At every national convention
trade exchange owners always talk and nod in agreement about the
importance of educating their clients—making them aware of
the many benefits of barter so they will be better traders.
Then they return
home, and once again are inundated with simply not enough time in
the day to get everything done...let along time to research and
then write and layout an eye-appealing, interesting, educational
and powerful marketing newsletter. One which points out and reinforces
the benefits of your valuable services—each and every month...on
a consistent and on-going basis.
As a trade exchange
owner, you realize that having such a unique marketing tool to use
for your existing members—as well as the hundreds of prospects
in your marketplace—is really necessary in these competitive
times. Yet who has the available time and ability to generate such
a newsletter?
What’s
the answer...? The highly effective Competitive Edge newsletter.
For almost two decades now, unfailingly, each and every month CE
has been published for your use only. It’s the professionally
written and designed, yet inexpensive answer for a busy, growing
exchange like yours.
Check it out...click
here to see a
click here.
From
the archives of The Competitive Edge newsletter...
When
In Doubt Call Your Broker Like This
Happy Entrepreneur Did
Recently we
talked with a client of a trade exchange, who, admittedly, is a
staunch proponent of barter credit as a way to reduce his bank borrowing.
He explained
that at one time he was a veteran of the banking scene, with lines
of credit as high as $250,000. No longer. Now he’s discovered
barter.
Asked to compare
the borrowing from a bank to that of his trade exchange, he smiled
and replied, “There’s no comparison between the two
in my opinion.
“With
the barter company, all they wanted was a current business financial
report and a commitment that we would provide $75,000 worth of our
services to members of the barter network.
“To get
that same $75,000 from a banker is an entirely different story!
I’d be spending considerably more time completing numerous
forms...not to mention the collateral that would be required.”
The client summed
it up best: “Why would anyone want to go through the aggravation
of dealing with a bank, when the same thing can be accomplished
more easily and quickly through their trade exchange?”
Now
available ...BarterNews issue #64, get your copy
now! Orders will be shipped within two business days of publication.
Click on Order Form.
(If you
are not sure if your subscription has lapsed, e-mail your name,
address, and zip code to bmeyer@barternews.com.
Real
Estate, Viewed As Safe Haven For Investment Dollars, Sees More People
Seeking Third-Home Ownership
The run-up in
real-estate prices in recent years has fueled the perception that
property is a relatively safe haven for investment dollars. The
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which tracks home-price
changes nationwide, reports average prices of single-family homes
surged nearly 13% last year, the largest 12-month increase since
1979.
Due to second-home
ownership jumping significantly in the past decade, and a desire
to retire in multiple locations and an interest in being nearer
to relatives, more people are picking up third homes.
Economists say
no one systematically tracks the third-home market nationally, but
brokers from California to Florida say more of their clients are
buying a third piece of property.
The National
Association of Realtors does track second home purchases and reports
a surge in people purchasing second homes. About 445,000 second
homes were bought last year, up 24% from the prior year.
Get
New Money-Making Ideas And Valuable Contacts!
You can obtain
useful, informative ideas and contacts in every available back-issue
of BarterNews.
From
the BarterNews archives...
Nation’s
Largest Radio Traffic Report Provider
Was Built On Barter
Metro Networks,
the nation’s largest provider of radio traffic reports, delivers
them to more than 1,300 radio stations and 114 TV stations. It is
the creation of 56-year-old David Saperstein, who got the idea for
traffic reports while stuck in a Baltimore traffic jam in 1978.
At the time
he was a Ford dealer, figuring he could get free advertising for
his car lots if he assembled traffic reports and offered them to
radio stations in exchange for air time. Within a month of his brainstrom
he had signed up three stations and two traffic reporters.
As payment,
Saperstein asked for ten seconds at the end of each broadcast. Today
stations pay him a mix of cash and air time, which Saperstein resells
to national or regional advertisers.
Local legend
has it that when he built his $3 million home in Houston’s
posh River Oaks neighborhood, he was so good at bartering radio
time for goods and services that you could tell what stage of construction
the house was in by the ads that ran on Metro’s traffic reports—from
roofers to pool men to electrical contractors.
In October 1996,
Saperstein sold half of the company to the public (IPO) and put
$58 million of the $132 million raised into his pocket. He still
owned the other half of Metro, a stake quoted at $180 million.
Every
barter company in the world is listed on our web site,
click through to our Global List
of Barter Companies
Here
& There...
- The Indian
government, in a move to entice more foreign investment, effectively
scrapped a rule requiring foreign companies to seek permission
from local joint-venture partners before setting up a separate
enterprise in the same sector. In effect, the government wants
to send a clearer message that it favors foreign direct investment,
particularly to increase economic activities and generate more
employment opportunities.
- Have you
signed up to receive a summary via e-mail of the Tuesday Report
every week? If not, go to the top of this issue (right hand corner)
and sign up!
- Chicago consultant
Treasury Strategies Inc. estimates that total corporate liquidity—investments
in short-term, marketable securities—now tallies up to about
$4.7 trillion, up from $3.6 trillion in 1999.
What are
the treasurers and financial officers doing with all this money?
According to the Treasury Strategies survey, 36% is in money
markets; 21% in bonds and notes; 15% in commercial paper, “repurchase
agreements” and certificates of deposit; and 9% in fixed-income
and bond funds.
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