As a barter exchange owner, one of the hottest items I saw over seven years was dentistry. It’s expensive, a lot of health plans don’t cover much, and business owners suffer from lack of insurance anyway. In the news story accompanying this article, a man in New Mexico who has specific issues related to epilepsy is desperately trying to barter for dentistry, using Craigslist.org. Won’t someone in the industry in that area reach out to this man and get him hooked up?
This story is a classic example of what’s wrong with the barter industry and the dark ages mentality they continue to promote.
It doesn’t speak to highly of the marketing savvy of the local dental community in New Mexico either.
What do I know for sure?
Channel 4 News is all but offering some New Mexico dentist— tens of thousands of dollars worth of free, good will publicity for simply providing this nice kid some fairly basic dental work.
Obviously the dental community in New Mexico must be living in the dark ages themselves…..because any one with half a brain would have jumped all over this golden opportunity….not only to do something good…but reap the publicity wind fall it would have generated.
Same goes for the barter community in New Mexico.
Hard to believe there isn’t one sharp trade broker out there who could figure out how to parlay this opportunity into some goodwill and free press while helping out a member of the community.
I shouldn’t be surprised….
This is an industry that has squandered billions of dollars worth of media buzz in the last few years…by allowing the media to present barter as a step back to the cave man days…a place to go when life is kicking you in the ass etc.
The same industry that recruits new members via cold calling and door knocking and other ancient mediums…in the year 2010!
An industry full of “brokers” who sign up members and don’t teach them how to trade- because they themselves don’t trade.
Calgary ITEX Trade Director Sylvia Rolfe and I have created more active traders in a matter of a few weeks…. then any major trade office in North America has managed to do with a full sales team- in a calender year.
We are still doing it now.
And no…we have never made a single cold call or knocked on a single door. We don’t have to. Our traders call us.
We don’t teach chickens for goats either….and we don’t exclude entrepreneurs in exchange for Mr. Brick and Mortar Business Owner who is only told to trade HIS OR HER OWN PRODUCT OR SERVICE!
Barter is about LEVERAGE.
The barter industry should remind itself of that…
Vegas Vince
Barter Arbitrage
Vince, it would be interesting to see the quality/type of businesses that your program is acquiring. Some feed back from other exchanges that are using online lead/member generation methods suggest that online media is great at attracting media and the peripheral types around media (designers, video production, etc) but not very effective at getting bread-and-butter members like restaurants and construction. I bet your program is similar, or that the people you are bringing in are something like crap peddlers. Don’t knock an industry if you never have been in it, and it is clear to me you have never owned or operated a trade exchange.
BTW, I think you are wrong about the barter industry not doing a good job in the media. Don Mardak of IMS has been on many different CNN television and radio appearances, many local exchange owners have local stories on barter that include their exchange information.
Also, I wonder how much you are soaking your newly acquired ITEX members for in the form of a coaching package or secondary training on the back end? I know your program only costs $97 and you are paying out $297 to affiliates…
1. What’s your idea of “bread and butter” , Tyler? I never quite understood that concept. I always thought traders who traded good volume on a consistent basis were “bread and butter” cuz their commission money sure spends the same…and if their services or products were NOT in demand..I doubt they would be trading.
Traders who trade…. keep the industry going. Wasn’t aware they had to fit some cookie cutter profile.
2. Getting Media attention don’t mean jack….if you don’t capitalize on it to the full extent.
It’s like walking into a bank left unlocked… and grabbing 10K when you could have snatched a cool million. You got some “cash” but wasted the opportunity.
I have seen youtube video after video presenting barter as a way to deal with life kicking you in the ass etc….and maybe all publicity is good publicity in Hollywood….but it doesn’t mean it’s the best use of same.
I stand by that. This industry is so dark ages…they’re just getting into web 2.0…and you know it. FYI…..it’s 2010!
3. I spin barter as a step forward… not a step back. I reach out to entrepreneurs not just maple street brick and mortar business owners the industry craves so much.
I teach trade. I make it fun. I explain it in a way that the average person “gets it.” And that’s why Barter Arbitrage most likely goes down as the largest selling product of it’s kind ever. Like it or not.
I have opened up barter to hundreds of students who would have never even taken the time to learn about it….and just because my students don’t fit your “bread and butter” profile is no reason to indict them as “crap peddlers.” In fact, it’s pretty irresponsible on your part.
4. Your love it or leave it philosophy doesn’t wash with me either. The fact I’m not a barter broker doesn’t make me less qualified to speak about the obvious. In fact, I think it makes me a hell of a lot better qualified in many regards…to see through the ether and cut to the chase.
5. And finally. Do your research in the future…before posting speculation as to what I do or don’t do. Because you got it wrong.
The Barter Arbitrage sales page is pretty clear…and you should go back and read it.
My program costs a total $294! And the page hasn’t changed from day one!
$97 for the first 7 days….so students can check it out and decide if it’s for them or not.
If they like it….they get billed ONCE for $197 at the end of 7 days. ONCE.
So I’m getting a tad more the $97 bucks, bro. We offer a full 60 day money back… no weasel clause promise…..stating if they are not happy… they get a refund. No questions asked.
Period end of story. We have had very very few refunds.
Our program for jv’s is set up under RAP. Ever here of that? Rapid Action Profits. It means JV’s get every other sale they make…..total…$294. So I hope I just answered your question or your indictment.
FYI….I don’t sell a damn thing on the back end, brother!
Let me repeat that for you:
I DO NOT SELL ANY FORM OF COACHING OR ANY UPSELL WHATSOEVER TO MY BARTER ARBITRAGE STUDENTS!
THEY ACTUALLY GET AN HOUR OF FREE CONSULTING WITH ME ONE ON ONE..
MOST OF THEM HAVE GOTTEN FAR MORE THEN THAT. SO ONCE AGAIN…..YOU ARE WRONG IN YOUR ASSUMPTION THAT THIS PRODUCT LEADS TO AN UPSELL….BECAUSE IT DOES NOT.
And as for getting trade exchanges new clients…my model has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE INTERNET. That’s a different baby all together.
But much like Barter Arbitrage…..I do things a bit differently then the industry does.
And more then a couple brokers and exchanges have contacted me….and I look forward to working with them very soon. Because this industry needs to move forward….in terms of recruiting new members WHO TRADE….via leveraged methods…this industry has not seen or does not use.
Finally…..I love barter. So do my students. I teach barter. I don’t “sign up” people and tell them to sell their empty hotel rooms…and then walk away after banging their visa card.
And you can spin me any way you like….but don’t take shots at good people who you don’t know…and call them crap peddlers.
And yeah…my students trade, Tyler. Quite a bit..thank you very much.
No thanks to this industry…who probably feels the same about them as you do. So I’d say Vinnie has done a pretty good thing. I’ve introduced a lot of traders to an industry…. that didn’t even want them.
Cuz they didn’t think they could do enough “volume”. Well they were wrong.
That’s rather sad…and rather representative of the old school attitude this industry might be well advised to lose.
I look forward to working with progressive exchanges and brokers who see barter for the potential it has….not the default button it’s become for a so-called “bad economy” or a one way ticket back to the planet of the apes.
This industry is based on LEVERAGE. In terms of recruiting new blood…LEVERAGE is something this industry lacks.
Vegas Vince
Barter Arbitrage
Vince, you didn’t answer the question. What kinds of things are your members offering in the ITEX marketplace? What segments of business are they filling?
Let me explain bread and butter - any business that fulfills requests by your members, that adds a product or service that is in demand, at a fair market value. Just that simple. You STILL haven’t tipped your cards…you said a bunch of nothing instead. Your indignation is meaningless without evidence of wrong doing on my part.
So man up…tell us what kind of members you are recruiting and what they are offering.
Thanks for the clarification about your not-upselling process. I had assumed you were aligned with the traditional affiliate programs, which I am most familiar with.
If your new members aren’t peddling crap, then tell us clearly what they are peddling. What are you afraid of?
How can I feel anything for people I don’t know anything about? I’m not knocking your members directly, but you haven’t corrected my opinion of your system either by your indignation. How about just telling the story as it is, without spin…what are your new members bringing to the table?
Your whole reply is filled with vague language. Come on Vince, how about some specifics?
Without knowing what they do, what I can speculate is that if your new members are bringing in products and then selling them at twice or three times retail, which I have seen attempted so many times, then the value of your local and national dollars will plummet with a broad based implementation of this system. If your only goal is to collect fees, and I’m not saying it is, but if it is, then there are much better ways to collect fees than in a barter exchange. If you are managing your exchange and your currency for long-term success, inflating the prices of anything in your exchange is the opposite of what you want to do. Of course, I’m only speculating since you haven’t offered anything concrete to talk about.
Let me provide a concrete example of what I speculate your system entails. Correct me with concrete facts if I am wrong: I saw a jeep on ITEX four years ago sell on auction for 25k. The seller obviously wanted to leverage the vehicle as much as possible. It was worth 2k cash. So, not only did that ITEX member over pay for the vehicle by 23k in trade, but also had to pay $2500 in cash fees (more than the car was worth) to get and spend those ITEX dollars. The seller was ecstatic, but the buyer was left poorer because of the transaction, and the exchange dollar value was obviously worth only 8 cents compared to a dollar. How do you manage that kind of value long term? Can a currency make it, long-term, when it is worth less and less over time? That’s 1250% inflation…And then the buyer found out the truth…his 25,000 ITEX was only worth about $2000 and the leverage he thought existed, didn’t. No one was selling at retail, so he had to overpay for what he wanted, pay more fees, and down the line. If this is what you are talking about, and I’m not saying it is, explain to me how that is a good idea.
You’re completely right about New Mexico…if there were a savvy exchange owner down there, they’d get on that publicity and quick.