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!

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!

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!