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!

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!

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.

Bareter is Money, Baretering is Negotiating

Bartering is more valuable than money in the world of small business. As a business owner or entrepreneur, you can grow your business by setting up an exchange system with someone you trust that is offering a service or item of value to you. Smart Bareter a site launching summer ’08 can help fostering relationships between entrepreneurs, business owners, and self starters.

The art of negotiation is also baretering. To exchange services, items and ideas for something equivalent in value is bartering, but to get what you want for it is negotiation. For example if you want advertising for the business and offer graphic design services, you search for the best vehicle to advertise and offer a proposal to begin negotiation for the service or advertising wanted.

Baretering is very simple and worth it, especially if you build a relationship with another entrepreneur, business owner or self starter.

Bareter Included In A Business Plan

Has anyone included bartering in a business plan?

I think it's important to have if you are start-up with limited or no capital.

When I was freelancing, I found myself bartering to gain clients and trade for services, such as advertising and chiropractic and massage therapy. I understand a business plan is meant to keep track of high level goals, objectives and to show venture capital investors. When bartering is included in in a business plan, it shows that an business owner is willing to make concessions to grow the business without sacrificing its integrity. Including bartering in a business plan can also cut cost on important services, such as advertising, marketing and some overhead cost. This can be most effective with the proper networks and relationships.

There can be two business plans one detailed one for personal business records and a high level one for venture capital investors. This is help keep focus on short and long term business goals. The plan can be updated to reflect the growth and progress of the business. What most important is to achieve business goals in the most economical way to raise capital to further the business, see a ROI to invest back in the business and profit to build a trusting staff to run the business.

If it makes sense to barter to grow, then by all means do so.

Reduce Overhead Costs

When building a business from the ground up with little or no capital it's very difficult to accomplish goals and work. When work gets a little overwhelming from working on your business and working a full time job, burnout sets in. Business owners tend to outsource or find interns to complete projects or fulfill basic job functions. However, both ideas are great, personally I would choose interns to reduce any costs. My preferred option would be to barter.

Why bareter to reduce overhead costs? You can barter to create and develop meaningful relationships, gain clients, free advertising, build trusted resources and most importantly get something out of the deal to build the business.

This can be set as an ongoing trade to reduce any future overhead costs. There are so many advantages to bartering, such as increasing cash flow, profit and revenue. Start earning equity in your business today and bareter.

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.

The World is Ready to Barter!

This is so amazing, I recently joined a small business online community and raised the question about bartering. I got a nice response from people saying that they are interested in bartering, but not enough reliable resources are available to bareter. My assumption is if you barter for a service or product, you are not taken seriously, but the economy is changing people's reaction to a great service.

There are small pockets of entrepreneurs who bareter to build relationships, a solid reputation and receive the goods or services for a mutual exchange. For example, here is an excerpt from an article I saw today on Entrepreneur.com. "As the cash economy cools, the cashless economy is heating up. These days, more entrepreneurs are experimenting with barter."

We all know the basic principal of trading of goods or services. So I say let's get out there and bareter!

A Life of Baretering

Here is a interesting story I ran across today about a woman named Catherine Chipman who made a life of baretering. http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/apr/18/lets-make-a-deal/

I've always believed in barter with other business owner and rising entrepreneurs. This give us other opportunities to grow a great idea and develop a working, trustworthy and on-going relationships and create possible partnerships. Bareter itself is great advertising, the most basic actually, word of mouth.

There are many blogs, niche or micro social networking, and classifieds sites like craigslist.com. Strangers exchange, barter or giveaway items all the time. In a time of a recession it's no wonder why baretering has not caught sooner. There are a plenty of people from graphic designers to real estate agents to massage therapist baretering.

This old time tradition is a testament of time itself and how sound the economy of today's society or world truly is. Bartering is more about giving freely of yourself, gifts, talents, hand me downs, time and a passion. Money isn't everything, though it helps to have, but having something of value someone else wants is worth a lot more.

Like the old saying goes "Another person trash is another person treasure."

What is Bartering?

This is one question I've always asked myself. What is bartering? Is it simple or complex or both? In my not so professional opinion, it's both depending on the parties involved. If I'm to develop a business around this concept then I have know what does it mean and where it comes from.

Bartering, baretering (Anglo-French) or barater (Old-French) was an exchange of goods between two parties; this started in the 15^th century, well as far back as history can prove, but maybe I’m wrong. This was meant to be an active exchange, to do or conduct business transactions. Bartering was a system was used to measure the economic wealth of a community or country when the monetary system failed. Eventually money became the new way to barter to build a sound economic structure, but we all know how true that is today.

One problem with bartering is that it was only beneficial to the parties involved when they each had something of value the other wanted; hence the reason why money became mighty. Everyone wanted to have money to show their value in the community, then it lead to greed, selfishness, power, etc., etc.

To downplay the true worth of bartering, over the centuries it was devalued. Eventually bartering became well know as swapping, exchanging goods or services or simply trading.
People across the world barter every day, unconsciously. A few examples of that maybe when you ask someone to do you a simple favor or task, borrow money and many other daily task. When you exchange a service or good for something in return, it’s bartering.

There is great power in bartering and should be used more often. I think it provides an equal playing field so-to-speak. I think of bartering as an honor system, i.e. you have want I need or want and vice versa, let's do business. Bartering is an art form, like bargaining, i.e. I'll trade you this if you give me a more of those. Bartering is not seeing the short term effects or results, but the bigger picture and developing a relationship with a new business partner. This is a valuable skill to have as an entrepreneur or business owner, especially if you are just starting out.

Now that I or we have a better understanding of what bartering is, let's use it wisely to create a better world to live in!

Going Back to The Old Way of Doing Business

I would first like to thank you all for visiting this blog and taking the time to read it.

I've finally succumb to the ever popular blogging. I never really understood what to say or share. Now that I am on the verge of launching a social networking site for small business owners and entrepreneurs, I have plenty to say. I have two great partners, who I’m proud to call friends. There is a bond of synergistic energy between us.

The purpose of the site is to help small business owners and entrepreneurs grow their business by the exchange or trading of services, posting jobs wanted and even enlisting the help of interns. This site was built by serial entrepreneurs for other self starters.

Most enterprisers in the beginning often have to trade business services to build a clientele list, promote services and even advertise. Being a entrepreneur myself, I've done all the above successfully. I understand the difficulty of accomplishing such small task when you are one person or even in a partnership. The rewards are great, but at what sacrifice, lack of sleep, increased stressed, uncompromising relationships, and a host of other event or elements to wear on the mind, body and energy. This was one of the sole reasons for creating Smart Bareter, set to launch in Spring of '08.

Smart Bareter is gong back to the old way of doing business, hence the Anglo French spelling of bareter. The mission or this site is to ease the daily burden of creating and establishing a business by building relationships across the world. Each entrepreneur has global aspirations and we are just making it easier for that dream of working from home and having your own business.

About 90% of the United States businesses is made up of small businesses.We have the power and reach to truly be the new voice of this nation to change, been seen and heard. No matter what it is you do or plan on doing, it will be accomplished. We are united through one common goal and purpose, with individual thoughts and ideas.

Help, learn and grow!