Stumbled across a lovely little article in the Globe this week. It concerns the rise of barter exchange sites.
Now I know what you’re saying. Barter is too – well – bazaar.
But consider that over 70% of Fortune 500 engage in some sort of barter. So why not for smaller businesses as well?
If you’ve got something of value that you can exchange with someone who has something that you would might normally pay for then it can be a great way to scale up the level of fame for your business in the community.
I’ve used it a number of times once introducing a barter program exchanging promotional space at local events for space in the large online/offline directory I was branding. More listings in the directory = better user experience and it saved us – or rather extended – our promo budget by more digits than six but less than eight. Win/Win
Here’s more:
Hope this helps. And if you want to understand more of how to do it in regards to salesforce, financial and legal implications, feel free to connect.
I think that peer-to-peer bartering amongst ordinary people, not just businesses, will also be on the rise in coming years. Whether as a response to austerity or as a way of re-discovering a sense of community I’m sure the internet will facility new ways of exchanging skills and items without the use of money.