originally on http://www.vquestmedia.com/blog/living-the-good-life-through-bartering by Paige Mitts

Call me a diva but I am happy to admit that I love living the” good life”.  I love traveling all over the world, staying in the nicest places, eating fine food. I love being pampered, waking up and knowing that I don’t have to make the bed or wash my dishes.  I love vacation and adventure and excitement.  This year, we have photographed virtual tours in 26 states and have had so many amazing adventures along the way that a friend at church was watching our Facebook posts and asked our pastor if one of us was terminally ill.  He said it looked like we were checking off a bucket list!  Nope, just living the life of our dreams at our leisure.

The conundrum is that as small business owners, we don’t always have the budget or the time to do all the things we love.  We made the decision early in our relationship that we would live within our means.  For us that means we run our life and our business, Vision Quest Virtual Tours, on a cash only basis – no credit cards or loans.  We give 10% of our pre-tax, pre-expense income to charity and reinvest most of our profit back into our business.  You might ask how is it that we have stayed in villas and luxurious bed and breakfasts and mountain top cabins and flown in acrobatic bi-planes and eaten in fine restaurants and gotten massages?

It’s called bartering and it ROCKS!  Our high definition 360 degree virtual tours are a great way for businesses to improve their marketing efforts in a very cost effective way.  Luckily for us, many of the businesses that can benefit from our services are also businesses that have services we enjoy and benefit from.

Three keys to successful bartering are:

1. Provide an equal exchange of services
2. Agree IN WRITING what the terms of the barter will be ahead of time.
3. Make sure that the person agreeing to the barter passes the information on to their staff.

We calculate what we would charge for a virtual tour and then calculate what we would pay for that business’ services. If there is a difference, then we invoice or expect to be invoiced for the difference. Bartering should be a fair exchange of services where both people get the same value for their part of the barter. If we are offering a $150 virtual tour for a restaurant, then we need to be mindful of what we order…it’s not fair for us to provide a $150 value and then run up a $200 dinner tab.

It’s important to agree ahead of time IN WRITING what each party is providing for the barter.  One place we have found this to be important is in bartering for lodging.  We travel all over the country so rather than paying for generic hotel rooms every night, we barter with bed and breakfasts or boutique inns.  The room rates for a particular bed and breakfast can be as much as double from one room to the next so it’s important to clarify what you are providing and what you expect to receive in return.

I learned the hard way to clarify in writing that we are bartering for their lowest price room. We bartered with a bed and breakfast and when we arrived, they upgraded us to a private two bedroom villa because it was mid-week in their off season and the whole place was empty.  We were thrilled with our good fortune until we got ready to check out and were expecting to receive a rather sustantial check.  The owner expected that since they were upgraded to a villa that would have cost $300 a night, then our charge would be waived.

We would have never expected a $300/night villa but more importantly we would have never ACCEPTED the $300/night villa had we realized they meant it to replace our fee.  If we weren’t bartering, we would have gotten a hotel room for around $75 and charged them our normal price.  We love staying in nice places but our budget is what it is and we are on the road to make money.  That particular photo shoot was a multiple day job which meant that we weren’t available to shoot other jobs.  Part of calculating the value of a barter is to calculate the lost opportunity cost for the time you are spending providing your end of the barter.  Unless you are bartering on your free time, then you are not giving or getting something for free.

The latest thing we have learned from experience is to make sure that the business owner communicates to their staff that we will be coming to barter.  We recently showed up to photograph a restaurant and were expecting the owner to be there when we arrived.  Not only was he not there, no one in the restaurant had any idea that we were coming.  Luckily they were able to get him on the phone but we would have wasted a great deal of time had this not been the case.  Lesson I learned is that I should have sent a confirmation email stating the terms of the barter and asking him to respond so we knew we were all on the same page…then had that email available when I arrived.

Bartering is a great way to experience things that your budget would otherwise not allow.  There’s no guarantee that a business will be interested in trading services but if you don’t ask the question, the answer is definitely no.

It takes time to get familiar with all the different needs of the baby, what it likes and dislikes or what it wants when it screams in a particular way. You don’t have to worry about doing something wrong. It’s in a mother’s nature to try and do everything for her baby.

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous – it is to decide forever to have your heart walking around outside your body.” (E. Stone)

So everything you do, you do not only for yourself but also for your child. You do it with love, passion and dedication, and the baby feels that. It will feel the comfort, the love and the attention. The newborn will receive only the best: the best products, the best food, and the best care, just because you want to make sure it’s fine. As far as child care is concerned, everything, starting from their health, hygiene and safety at home and outside the home needs to be considered.

Basically, if you fully dedicate yourself to the new challenge and trust your motherly instincts, you can’t do anything wrong. You will see your beautiful and healthy baby grow a little more each and every day.

You might like this offers on http://barterquest.com

A new life’s challenge: having a baby! Within the next 9 months there are a lot of things to do and many things to consider, especially if it’s your first child. You have to get clothes, toys and furniture for your newborn. But it’s not necessary to spend all of your hard earned money on things that are brand new. The baby will grow so fast that you have to get new things almost every month.

To avoid stress, the soon-to-be mother should get all the important things for the baby step-by-step. A changing unit, the stroller and a car seat could be obtained during the pregnancy. Thereby, the mother should consider bartering as an option to save money, time and stay green.

But not only material things count to make a baby happy. Especially during the pregnancy, the mother should take care of herself. She should avoid everything which could harm the baby. Drinking a lot of water, vitamins and eating a balanced diet will help the baby to stay healthy.

Summer’s well upon us, and after last year’s “staycation” trend there’s some pent-up demand to go out, get away and have fun. At the same time, we still want to save money. From dining out to buying airline and concert tickets, here are some great saving strategies, … and in some cases free deals!

Restaurants

Americans spent more than $200 billion eating out last summer, according to the U.S. Census.

Day Trips

• Look for Target free arts and culture events. The retailer offers free or discounted entry to museums, concerts and galleries across the country. This year there are more than 2,000 free events.

• Free summer movie days at Regal Theatres. The chain runs a “Free Family Film Festival,” with a nine-week schedule of free movies with select days and times.

• If you’re a member of a discount club you may get discounts when they buy movie tickets in bulk.

• The U.S. National Park Service is offering free admission on August 14-15 at more than 100 parks that normally charge a fee.

Travel

The average family of four will spend $4,000 on a vacation this summer, according to American Express. Eighty percent of those surveyed said they plan to lower their travel costs. Here’s some help.

• Swap homes. Join a home exchange club like www.barterquest.com. There’s also a housing swap section.

• Book plane tickets on either Tuesday or Wednesday when prices are cheapest, according to travel experts.

• Reserve hotel rooms on Sundays, when the weekend rush is over and hotel managers have time to talk on the phone and discuss available discounts.

Beach

Stock up on food, drinks, beach towels and chairs before you get to the beach. Otherwise, you’re likely to pay a premium for things you can easily get for much, much less back home.

Bartering to save money — share your experiences

I would love to live a life where, for reasons much more about Ain’t Got Extra Cash than fuzzy-wuzzy-community-building (though hell, why not), a nice chunk of what I need is exchanged through bartering.

So far my efforts have been not so hot. When I threw out my back and then lived in flabby-ass-confirming misery for two weeks, I posted a possible trade on Craigslist: Work in my garden, and in exchange, I’ll do some sort of writing/editing/tutoring work. I got two bites. One from a guy who wanted me to tutor his daughter, but when I emailed him back for specifics, he never responded; one woman said she didn’t do gardening work but if I needed my house cleaned and could pay her to do it, she was interested.

In the coming weeks, I’m doing to try some dog care swapping with another stay at home mom in my neighborhood. Basically, she’ll watch my pups when I go away for a few days and vice versa. I feel good about it, and if it works, this relationship could save us hundreds in kennel fees.

But what keeps me from pursuing a full-on Life O’ Trading is …

1) For some of these jobs, like dog care or anything where I allow someone in my house, even when I’m there, I need to feel like I can really trust them. And to really trust them, I need to really know them. And if I really know them … I feel guilty about asking them to do any work, even if they’re getting work from me back, because everyone I know is already stressed out and busy enough, you know? In some ways it’s easier to hire a stranger who you can imagine has nothing to do all day except for help you. The unfortunate downside, of course, being hiring costs money. Is bartering best with some magical level of acquaintance?

2) Worries about inequity. I already suspect I’m going to be calling on my dog friend for help more than she will need to call on me. How do you keep things fair, and from one side from feeling overused?

3) That Person. The people who make you feel like you just should have done the project yourself or hired someone. You know, the usually-cool friend who sincerely volunteers to help, but doesn’t follow though because they’re “really busy right now,” and then you’re stuck with more work because you counted on them and shouldn’t have and need to figure out Plan B. We all know people like this, right? Let’s name names in the comments section! Just kidding.

I’d love to hear others’ experiences in bartering (or just, you know, a deal where you help out a friend and vice versa), and any tips you have to share!

Bartering

Last night at the Gail club meeting we attend, the topic of Bartering came up. What is Bartering? Bartering is simply trading one thing for another. Say I have a goat and I want a chicken, if I can find someone with a chicken who wants a goat, we can exchange these products without needing to first convert the goat and chicken into money.

Believe it or not, money was invented to make bartering easier. Using money means you have a set medium on which everything is valued. Houses, cars, cows, goats and chickens all have a dollar figure associated with them. If a chicken is worth $10 and a goat is worth $15 dollars and as a chicken owner I can’t find anyone willing to trade, or anyone that wants a chicken but owns a goat, I can sell off the chickens to people who want chickens and then find a goat owner to buy the goats from.

Money enables the transactions of goods to happen relatively easily. Back to bartering. In the meeting a member of the club mentioned there was a bartering society in the Kitchener and Waterloo area. While trading services is something that I have seen done a lot in my family, it is not something I’ve ever tried. Believe it or not, Bartering enabled my dad to pay for my teeth cleaning at the dentist, along with his benefits from work, printing business cards allowed my teeth to stay clean. When I needed a counselor, printing up billing pads for them got my father a 50% discount. My father traded something he was good at, running a printing press, for services he needed for his family, and boy did I need those services when I was a teenager.

The bartering society is different from the informal and very direct form of bartering my father did. They have a currency in the system. Apparently called “Barter dollars” it allows for the easy exchange of dollars for a service you need and the ability to sell services you have to get barter dollars from others. Basically it is money in a closed system. You can’t take the barter dollars and spend them outside of the barter society. This is simply because if you took them to a Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart employees would look at you funny as if you were giving them Canadian Tire money.

So why haven’t I tried to barter? I’m great at fixing computers, but that becomes tedious. I work in a cell phone company, but there is nothing there in that required skill set that can be bartered away. I know my stuff when it comes to personal finance, but dishing out advice to people in exchange for something is highly regulated and I really don’t need the headaches that come from over stepping my bounds.

Have you ever Bartered? have you ever joined a bartering society? Is there a secret barter handshake?

Some Top Advantages Of Using Bartering For Your Small Business

Barter is something that is becoming an increasingly popular method of commerce. If you would like to take advantage of the benefits of using bartering for your small business then this is certainly something you could look into. As such, here are some of the benefits that you will see when doing so.

One of the main benefits is the fact that barter increases new business opportunities. You can attract customers and referrals who would not have known about your business had you not joined a Barter network. Members of the network will be a lot more likely to choose you over your competition as there will be no outlay of cash and you can instead use Barter credits. This will then increase your cash sales due to the additional exposure and through referrals.

Your customer base can therefore be massively expanded through your network as well. While you can maintain your current base it will be possible for you to add new customers and new clients into your business through referrals and good word-of-mouth.

You can also improve on your current way of life through joining a network like this as well. You can use your barter credits for any sort of service that you want in the network. And even if it does not, you are able to recruit any other business into the network. In many cases, by doing this you may even receive a bonus for doing so in the form of credits.

If you are interested in joining a Barter network then it is probably best to do your research online. This is another benefit and you do not have to live in the state in which the network operates in order to take part.

All in all, these are some of the primary advantages that you will see if you want to use bartering for your business.

Writer Jules Vandermint describes herself as a “versitile author.” Jules enjoys writing about just about anything including previous articles about , 4 mil poly bags and clear poly bags.

4 Ways to Succesfully Barter for Real Estate

If you are short of cash, it is possible to barter for real estate. You may not qualify for a mortgage that covers the purchase price, or you may not have enough cash for the down payment. In these scenarios, you may be able to barter for the real estate you want to purchase.

Step 1: Determine What Part of Deal to Barter

There are many different parts of the transaction that you will be able to barter including the down payment or a discount on price, commissions or closing costs. You can barter for part or all of the real estate purchase.

Step2: Determine What to Offer

For bartering to be successful, you must offer something of value that the other party will accept in exchange. The most common items used in barter are cars, boats, services, goods or other properties.

Step 3: Determine Value

Both parties must agree to the value of the item that is being used in the barter. Value can be determined by appraisals, sticker cost or comparables. The value will be used to determine the monetary value offset in the real estate transaction.

Step 4: Exchange

The attorney or title agent handling the closing will need to account for the value of the barter in the settlement statement. He or she will need to verify that the items to be bartered are exchanged.

The Benefits of Bartering Goods and Services Between Private Individuals
Bartering is not a new concept. It’s been around probably for as long as man has walked the earth. In fact, long before money existed people traded goods for services or services for other services. That’s how commerce took place. Today, bartering is as popular as it has ever been, particularly among small businesses that are often strapped for cash. The internet features hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of barter exchange websites that have been set up to help small, struggling businesses survive and even thrive by providing a way for them to access needed goods or services they might not otherwise be able to afford. The owner of a shoe store may trade a pair of loafers to the dentist for a check-up and a teeth whitening treatment if both are members of the same barter exchange and have access to one another. An interior decorator may barter her professional service for a pair of stylish earrings and the transaction, without the exchange of any money, will be helpful to both businesses. But bartering is not exclusive to small businesses. It is also commonplace today among ordinary consumers – private citizens. That’s because the depressed economic climate has left many people short of funds, without employment or facing other hardships. Many regular folks just don’t have the money needed to buy the goods or services they want or need. But, they often have something they can trade. Barter exchange websites exist for consumers, too. And every day more and more people with access to computers are joining these websites and taking full advantage of the opportunities that exist on them. In fact, online communities like barterquest provide environments that encourage members to trade goods and services without any movement of money. Not a single dime changes hands. These websites are adding members daily … lots of them.

Does it really work for people who commit themselves to the idea? The answer is a resounding yes, particularly in these economically-depressed times when money problems are common in many households. Consider the case of a woman I will call Rachel (not her real name). She and her husband Ted (not his real name, either) live in a Midwestern city and have always dreamed of vacationing in Cape Cod. For Rachel, in particular, it’s been a lifelong dream. And Rachel and Ted were finally going to realize that dream … until they found out that decent lodging in the area would cost about $200 a night, somewhat beyond their vacation budget. In most cases, that shortness of available cash would absolutely squelch any chance of the vacation becoming a reality. However, given the current proliferation of barter exchange websites for consumers, Rachel seized upon an idea. She advertised her husband Ted’s professional accounting services in exchange for lodging for 3 or 4 nights in a Cape Cod hotel, motel or similar kind of lodging. There are, of course, thousands of other examples of successful swaps or barter exchanges between consumers in which each party to the exchange ended up a winner. In fact, each year, as summer ends and fall arrives – along with the beginning of a new school year — many hard-pressed moms are able to trade a coveted service for school uniforms for their school-age kids. That, of course, saves a costly trip to the clothing store. Parents and older kids, especially those already in college, enjoy trading for school textbooks which any advanced student knows tends to be alarmingly expensive. Clearly, barter works as well for individual consumers as it does for small businesses. And, as is true for small businesses, the consumer who engages in bartering meets many new friends (businesspeople meet and get many new customers) … enjoys a transaction in which he or she almost always wins … and develops a pastime (or habit) that often turns into a compelling passion. There is more for ordinary consumers to like about bartering, as well. It provides a real opportunity to move and rid yourself of old, dust-collecting items (just as would happen if you conducted a yard sale) … enjoy the true fun that comes from trading (you’ll be like a “kid in a candy store”) … and, of course, when you trade or barter, you save money. That is particularly meaningful now, in these difficult economic times. What’s more, you may also be able to acquire goods that you’ve always wanted, but could never afford (such as expensive, if slightly-used, luxury items, including clothing and jewelry, exotic vacations or great electronic merchandise for your home)… or services, including health or cosmetic care and treatment … or professional services, such as accounting, tax returns, even legal advice just because you’re a member of a website exchange community and you’re willing to give up something to get something in return – with absolutely no exchange of cash. So now you need to ask yourself: is bartering something that I can enjoy and profit from? If you’re like millions of other people, the answer is probably yes. And even if you are someone who stands apart from the crowd, the answer is still likely to be yes. Bartering is a social experience … and generally quite enjoyable for those who participate in it. In all likelihood, it is something you will enjoy for its social aspects and profit from, as well, because it will enable you to acquire needed goods and services without the use of your hard-earned money.

The Benefits of Bartering: It’s MORE than Saving Money

In this economy, it should come as no surprise that people are turning to BARTERING to save money and stretch their dollar. According to REAL SIMPLE MAGAZINE, Craigslist.org has seen as much as a 100% increase on its bartering pages. However there are other sites as www.barterquest.com that are growing. The financial benefit of bartering can be a budget life-saver but it turns out that barterers can gain more than just savings!

According to James Hartly, professor of economics at Mount Holyoke College in Hadley, Massachusetts, “Bartering is about communities. It fosters human contact.” Through the bartering process – neighbors can save money, make friends and build strong communities.