Written by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews

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IRTA Moving Into 2006 With Central Theme. . .
Uniting People & Standards In A Cashless Trading World

The IRTA Europe Chapter has announced a spring meeting to be held at the Hotel Haarlem Zuid in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 24-26.

The schedule includes a meeting of European exchanges, a keynote speaker, certified trade broker (CTB) training and testing, and roundtable discussions regarding the title of the conference -- ?Uniting people and standards.?

Trade Exchange Owners...

Build Rapport And Empathy With Your Client Base!!

The most powerful marketing tool in the barter industry, The Competitive Edge newsletter, is a monthly, ready to use, professional 4-page publication...no work is needed!

To learn more about The Competitive Edge newsletter and how it can help build your trade exchange, click here.

Technology, Cash Discounts May Become Barter Industry?s Major Challenges

In the Editor?s Note of BarterNews issue #64, dynamic changes were alluded to within the business marketplace during the last 20 years that have caused vastly different clientele for the trade exchanges. The landscape has continued shifting, and today?s typical exchange has a preponderance of service businesses as members.

Now, in addition to changes such as consolidations and franchising booms, the barter industry must be aware of another growing competitor...technology. Coupled with cash, the historically major rival of barter, it portends additional challenges for the industry.

The insidious effects of technology can be observed in the efforts of Craigslist (a classified-ads site) which focuses on metropolitan areas, eBay?s push into the battle for local listings, and the ubiquitous Google with its new service, Google Base.

What does that mean? A major shift is underway in how consumers and small business owners shop for local services. The age of online discounts and coupons is here...along with an added ingredient.

Everyone will be able to see multiple offers at a glance and get a better sense of the best-available overall prices. Therefore providers will be forced to compete more aggressively. This will greatly effect pricing and competition among local businesses, even within the local trade exchange. All will be competing against the money-saving web opportunities that include rebates and print-your-own coupons.

As the small business owner astutely compares the competitive cash pricing in the marketplace against the exchange?s full retail (sometimes inflated) pricing, not to mention commissions paid to the exchange, the difference could be startling. So the barter industry must take note.

Get New Money-Making Ideas And Valuable Contacts!

You can obtain useful, informative ideas and contacts in every available back-issue of BarterNews.

Barter Plays Role In Google?s Philanthropic Plan

Google, the web search company, is committing more than $900 million in stock and a share of its profit to the goal of doing some good. Their program of corporate philanthropic giving, partnerships, and investments is called Google.org.

They will focus on global poverty and energy, as well as the  environment. Google is funding the project with 1% of the company?s stock and 1% of its annual profit. Google.org expects to spend as much as $175 million over the next three years on investments and partnerships with nonprofits, socially minded for-profit businesses, and projects that Google manages itself.

Google has already traded $33 million in advertising on its web site to  more than 850 nonprofit organizations through the Google Grants program.

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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Here & There...

• TradeAmericanCard?s 30th annual Barter Expo will be held at The Grove of Anaheim (next to Anaheim Stadium) on Sunday, December 4, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.. For further information call (714) 532-1610.
   

• Rising sales taxes, as well as auto taxes, increased the tax burden last year at the state and local levels for many U.S. households, according to a recent survey of 51 major municipalities. A family of four with an annual income of $75,000 paid about $6,884 in local and state taxes on average, or 9.2% of their income. Americans are paying roughly 11.8% of their personal income in federal taxes annually.
   

• California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger?s visit to China last week brought two powerful economies together...both of which are similar in size. By economic output, China is the world?s seventh-largest and California ranks eighth.
   

• 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!
   

• Technology?s relentless drive forward may be best exemplified by the announcement that Japan?s Institute of Technology has a supercomputer that can perform 100 trillion calculations a second! Furthermore, by 2011 they hope to push for the creation of a system that will be 100 times faster.
   

• The surge for ?hard assets? is on a dramatic upswing as bond returns have been driven down due to the cash flooding into the bond market. Pension funds, central banks, hedge funds, oil-rich nations and corporations with surplus cash on their balance sheets, are creating the surge for hard assets, i.e. real estate, timber and commodities.
   
• If you've missed any of our weekly Tuesday Reports the past five years we have an archive of issues for you at the bottom of this letter...check it out!