Beg, Barter and Steal!

Happy Monday Dandelion Ladies and Fans!

As I made a phone call to a new business contact this morning, I was inspired to write this e-mail. As business owners and business women, we should all be embracing any opportunity that we can to Beg, Barter and Steal. Okay, maybe not the opportunity to steal, but hopefully you will get my point by the end of this post!

In the past couple of years since starting my three businesses, not to mention the state of the economy as a whole, my family has had to do what I like to refer to as “Creative Financing.” Creative Financing has given me the opportunity to work with some amazing vendors and the opportunities to receive their services at either free of charge or at a deeply discounted fee. So of course now you are asking how on earth have I done this?

To start with, whether or not own your own business, if you are in the service industry you may have to chance to offer your own services free of charge or at a deep discount. So where do you begin?

First, assess what your personal needs are? These needs can range from the personal vanity needs/wants, such as “I can’t afford trips to my favorite upscale salon anymore” or “I need a new roof on my house!” So what do you do? I will take an example of something that I did earlier in the year to explain how free and easy it can be to Beg and Barter!

I had just launched my newest business venture, Fine Art Boudoir Photography. This being my “baby” and my favorite type of photography, I really wanted a professional logo that had a strong branding and marketing presence. My first step was to post an ad on Craig’s List. I know that this may seem either 1) too simple, 2) crazy, or 3) intimidating. Trust me, I will address each of these!

What I did first was to post a simple ad on Craig’s List saying that I would like to barter my photography services with a professional logo designer. I stated that the designer must be experienced with a strong professional portfolio that I can view through their professional website.

In being extremely specific in my requests I got several points across: 1) I want them to prove that they are a true professional and not some whacko off of the street. 2) They must be willing to barter services so that I am out no costs. 3) I want to see samples of their work so that I can see if I feel that the barter is worth my while and that they are in fact a true professional.

Also, for safety reasons, once any prospective designers contacted me whose services I felt were a good fit, I then Googled them. If I saw anything negative about their services or them personally, I automatically shot them down. Then, if I found no info whatsoever about them, that was also a red flag. You would be surprised what you can find when you Google someone’s name!

Long story short, I found a great match who amazingly enough has worked in the past with major national brand campaigns and he was willing to barter completely for his services! So for a few hours of my time spent on his projects that he had for me, I received a professional logo that would have cost me between $1,000-2,000!

The sky is the limit on this ladies! Anytime you really have a want, but can’t justify the money, or have a home expense, sit down and think “How can I get this for free or at a discount?” Once you get the hang of bartering down, you would be amazed at how many thousands of dollars you can save by bartering. The key is to be polite, creative, and persistent!

Now get out there and see what you can make happen!

Sarah

Dandelion Network Founder