Save Money & Save Your Business

There is a lot of talk about how much the recession is turning. I would agree with that, however I would suggest small business owner, entrepreneurs, and start-ups evaluate their businesses during this time and put a nest egg aside. I'm sure most have done so my now. During this evaluation process or rebooting the business, it is key to find what you need to stay a float.

You can seek out barter networks or use current relationships to bridge the gaps for your business. With this, you can build a trusted network to gain services, products and items to grow your business. Bartering and networking go hand and hand. The Better Business Bureau has a great article on this topic.

Let's go back to the olde way of doing business!

Why Pay to Barter?

Bartering has exploded since the recession. This was always an excellent business practice for start-ups and retail chains in need of unloading inventory. There a numerous third party barter sites that charge an annual fee to its members. With their services, you can earn points or barter dollars to count towards a trade for a service or product needed. This is all well and good, it also takes the hassle out of looking for someone to barter with. If the service or product received was excellent you make want to contact the individual and thank or refer them to a peer. Sometimes you so have to wonder, how much more can I save as a business if I didn't have to pay someone else to do all the work.

Smart Bareter is a free bartering website for small business owners and entrepernurs. Smart Bareter does offer membership services to increase it's value to members, but does not charge members to barter. Like any site we do have to have a monetary model to maintain the site, though we hope in the future to barter all site services.

I think of bartering as another form of networking. To barter with someone you have to build a relationship with them. This allows you the trader to get to know the tradee's service or product. You can use a barter agreement to feel better about the exchange taking place with the involved parties. With this knowledge, you are willing to trade with them more, possible refer them to friends and family.

With the popularity of social networking sites and social media, we have lost touch with the "personal touch". One aspect of one-on-one bartering is as a culture we can get back in touch with our peers to develop new relationships and create new vendors for services and products. I ask again why pay to barter, when there is plenty of people willing to trade products, services and ideas for free. Yes it may take a little work, but well worth it to increase cash flow and have extra money to invest in other ventures.

Happy Bartering!

Smart Bareter Press Release:

Bartering Hits Mainstream With New Online Bartering Social Network
May 11, 2009

Bartering is open for business, literally, as business owners and entrepreneurs jump into the highly
anticipated trading action on the newly launched online bartering social network, Smart Bareter. Founded by
Chicago-based entrepreneur Hillis Pugh and partnered with the MoodTyme Corporation, the site offers
members endless opportunities to network, find investors, post job ads, generate partners, recruit interns,
gather executive resources, pitch business ideas, trade services & products, and more. "In today's economic
times, we must create immediate clear solutions and community-driven avenues to make sure our lives and
our businesses continue to thrive. I look forward to assisting our members reach their business goals and
individual purposes, going back to the old way of doing business", expressed Pugh. Bartering is a $6 billion
dollar industry in the United States alone. With the launch of this new virtual online hotspot able to connect
business owners and entrepreneurs from all over, Smart Bareter is sure to increase bartering's future global
success.


Reference:
www.smartbareter.com
www.moodtyme.com


Media Contact:
Josh Noble, VP & National Writer
MoodTyme Press
(213) 797-4423
press@moodtyme.com

Smart Bareter Success Story

In the next thirty days Smart Bareter will official launch to offer services to small business owners and entrepreneurs. Getting to this place was learning process, but a worthwhile endeavor.

The success of Smart Bareter begun two years go as the CEO, Hillis Pugh was freelance graphic designer and marketer. The two key successes that brought Hillis to the current place of success were networking and developing relationships.

As a freelancer, he spent long hours working on various project and visited the neighborhood chiropractor frequently. At the time he had no insurance and was experiencing back pain and extreme muscles tightness due to constant exercise and working. During the visits to the chiropractor, he would mention how he could assist him in developing marketing materials and develop advertising campaigns for his practice. In exchange for this service, he provided numerous sessions of chiropractic care.

During the visits to the office, he developed a relationship with the receptionist and one of the massage therapists. The receptionist was in the midst of developing a local magazine. She was aware of his services as a graphic designer and the bartering system that was set up between Hillis and the chiropractor. She asked to see his portfolio of work, after viewing his work she set up a meeting to meet with her and business partner. Once the meeting took place and time passed, it was agreed that Hillis would assist in all direct and indirect advertising and marketing efforts for the publication. In exchange he would receive quarter page monthly ad placement in their publication. With this exchange he gained new clientele to further the business.

The final success story of the birth of Smart Bareter was a moment of clear vision. Hillis developed a relationship with the massage therapist at the chiropractic center. She offered her private massage services to him at a discounted rate and at times for free. This service was extend to me because she knew his financial situation and wanted to continue to provide me with physical therapy, after the baretering contract was over between him and the chiropractor. During one of the sessions, we were talking and through us talking the idea of having a web site exclusively trading services came to me. Though Hillis was trading services all along, but was unaware of the potential of it. The potential was then realized. He wanted to share this idea with all small business owners and entrepreneurs. This idea further developed into in the business known today as Smart Bareter.

The reason for targeting small businesses and entrepreneurs is because of the level of difficulty to start and maintain a business. Hillis learned through his own experiences and knew he was not the only one have trouble maintaining the business on a monetary level. Hillis found trusting partners to aide in realizing a dream to better the community of small business owners and entrepreneurs to bring them closer together and work as one cohesive unit.

A Sign Of The Times...

It's been a while since I posted a new article, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As economic times are changing so is the small business owner. An article posted by Business Week a few moths ago caught my eye. It's an article about small business owners finding new ways to tighten their financial belts as lines of credit are being reduced.

Bartering may reduce cash flow, but it does increase product and service exchange between business owners as well as creditability among networkers. Building creditability with other entrepreneurs enhances any network. As a suggestion I would offer entering a bartering contractual agreement to secure the products or services needed during these tough financial times.

As times change so does the savvy business owner and entreprenuer. Keeping ahead of the curve can secure a financial furture.