First Phase Of Upgrades Complete.

Hello All,

In the last week, we have been working hard to complete the first phase of upgrades to the Smart Bareter website. The site now has enhanced profile and and classified sections. These enhancements will allow members to network and barter better. Members now can post listings from their profile page and add additional contact information. For more informations about the enhancements, visit or join http://www.smartbareter.com today!

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!

Essential Items and Services to Bareter For

Today I came across an interesting blog about items you should bareter for before buying them. It was a list of 10 items and is as follows:

1. Information Products
2. Advertising Space
3. Web Hosting
4. Software
5. Writing/Editing
6. Accounting/Bookeeping
7. Consulting
8. Copy writing
9. Merchant Accounts
10. Internet Access

You can get more information from the blog.

The items listed above are essential items or services to run a business. If you are a start up and don't have the capital to pay for these services, baretering is is the best way to go. There are several business or bartering social networking sites to gain the services mentioned above for other services. The best way to ensure an equal trade is to do a little research on the service or item up for trade and add price value to it. As long as both parties agree on the value and terms of trade, you can barter for anything.

Happy Trading!

Corporations Are Bartering

As we all know the economy is suffering and with it comes slow spending on all fronts. This results in slow moving merchandise or inventory. In order to unload excess inventory the corporations use bartering companies and sites. They exchange these items for advertising or other valuable services.

Exchanging for advertising is very popular especially if you are a start-ups or small businesses. Baretering is popular with hotels, retailers, printers, restaurants, and service oriented jobs such as doctors, lawyers and contractors. This creates a trusted network of professional barters.

This bartering among corporations helps to save money and cut loses on inventory. Here is a link to an article I saw on U.S. News and World Report : 7 Keys to Smart Bartering. (http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/your-money/2008/06/10/7-keys-to-smart-bartering.html)
I found it very useful and inspiring for the entrepreneur and small business owner.

In short I would like to thank the economy for bolstering baretering efforts across America.

A Noble Deed....

I read about more and more people trading on a daily basis. People are recognizing the value of baretering everyday. I read blogs and articles abut people trading all kind of services, everything from gas to massages. Yes people found a way to barter for gas. The details of the trade wasn't disclosed.

There was one article I found interesting. The article was about a dentist and his staff bartered there dental services for items such as watches, baseball cards, cupcakes and cookies, artwork, a journal entry, a bike, and even a dog. The dentist and staff saw 60 patients in this day, double of how many normally seen. The service was extended to those without insurance.

Since the recession, there has been a rise in unemployment and the cost of living in the US. Also the local free clinics has seen a rise in patients and fortunately in volunteers as well. But to people like this dentist and sites like craigslist, people have been able to receive medical treatment and downsize their lives. Since 2006 the postings for bartering on craigslist have tripled.

This is a true sign that times and people are changing and acknowledging their own self worth. We can add so much to this world by giving freely of self. Helping others is helping your self.

Bartering Sites

An article posted at entrepreneur.com poses the question to entrepreneurs "are barter sites right for you?" To answer this question I say yes, please refer to my previous post.

Anyone can use a baretering site to grow and develop their business, whether it's finding items or trading services. There are ton of sites, I could go down the list and name them all, but it will take all day. I will say there is a bartering site for everyone, just be sure to do your research or each site to make sure it's for you.