Florida Barter has welcomed Online Presence Manager as their newest member! If you haven’t heard about Barter and how it can benefit you as a small business owner, then you definitely want to read today’s post to learn more. When I first learned about their service I knew it was something I had to take part in, but I also knew that my followers would be excited to hear about it too which is why today I’m going to tell you all about it!
About Florida Barter
Designed to provide service for businesses in the Tampa Bay and Orlando areas, Barter is exactly what it sounds like – a bartering marketplace. It allows for businesses to trade services for “Barter Dollars” which can then be used to buy services from other businesses in the marketplace and businesses worldwide that are members of the Barter system via membership in the International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA).
Users of the Barter system can access their accounts and conduct trades 24 hours a day through their website, automated phone system, and through their mobile app.
Getting Started with Florida Barter
To get started with Florida Barter you have to head over to their site to sign up. Once you’ve set up your business profile, you can start listing your products and services on the Barter network.
When you sign up and start offering your products and services on the network your account is assigned a “broker”. Your broker helps to promote your products and services in the marketplace.
For every sale you make on the Florida Barter marketplace you will get paid in trade dollars. One trade dollar is the equivalent of one U.S. dollar.
Once you have accumulated trade dollars you can then spend those on products and services that you need. Your “broker” is also available to help you to spend your trade dollars.
What is the Purpose of Florida Barter?
Florida Barter is marketed towards businesses that tend to accumulate overstock or clearance merchandise that they need to unload but have been unable to sell commercially. By making these products available in return for trade, these businesses no longer have to store this merchandise and they don’t have to lose profit on them either. It’s just that instead of selling products for cash, products are being exchanged for services that would otherwise have to be paid for.
Say for example you own a mattress company. You overestimated the popularity of one of the newest released products 6 months ago and now you have an excess. You’ve been unable to sell those mattresses but you don’t want to lose all profit on them, nor do you want to use up space in your warehouse that could be used for new products. So, you can list those mattresses on Florida Barter and sell them for trade dollars.
Now, along comes a small bed and breakfast company who have been trying to refurbish their facility. This is the perfect chance for them to do that without spending all of their savings on mattresses. So, the bed and breakfast company buys the mattresses using trade dollars.
So, as the mattress company owner, you have now unloaded your excess inventory and found yourself holding trade dollars that are worth their equivalent of US dollars. From here, you can use those trade dollars to purchase any products or services in the Florida Barter marketplace that you might need. For example, if your store needs a new register you might search the marketplace for a company that has one listed. You can then use your trade dollars to pay for that register.
Is Florida Barter Safe?
One of the biggest concerns of using a barter system like Florida Barter is that it’s not secure and you’re going to end up losing your product without getting anything in return. There is a membership fee that every business must pay monthly to maintain a membership, however. There are two different membership levels available depending on the size of your business and your needs. Users must also pay a commission on the trade dollar price of each transaction. Both of these requirements help to filter out less reputable businesses. Additionally, brokers who are assigned to each business monitor transactions and profiles closely to keep the community running smoothly.
Benefits of Florida Barter
There are a number of benefits to signing up for and using Florida Barter to promote your business.
- You have access to new clients!
- You also have access to new local businesses who you can create partnerships with.
- Florida Barter gives you a chance to get rid of items you may otherwise be stuck with AND save your cash for other business related investments.
- Using the barter network you are also able to connect with suppliers who may be able to help you save more money on your other business transactions too.
- You can free up storage space and avoid losing money on items that are hard to move.
- Using the barter marketplace also gives you an advantage by advertising your business in the community by word of mouth – an advantage other businesses in your industry may not have.
- My favorite advantage of Florida Barter, however, is that it’s a great place to find things that I didn’t know my business needed! Surfing the marketplace I can get new ideas for products and services to improve my business and increase my bottom line even more!
Check Out OPM on Florida Barter
Head over to Florida Barter to check out the OPM services I offer over there. All you need to do is set up your profile and search for Online Presence Manager in the member directory…oh, and don’t forget to set up your own services on the marketplace while you’re there!
