Written by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews

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Michael Touma’s Business Barter Exchange About To Become Australia’s First Publicly Listed Trade Exchange

BBX Holdings has announced an initial public offering (IPO), scheduled to open November 24, of 16 million shares at 50-cents per share. The capital raised will enable Business Barter Exchange (BBX) to expand its existing branch and franchise network, as well as allow their sales force and embark on an ambitious sales and marketing program.

Managing director Michael Touma says the offering provides investors an opportunity to buy shares of a company that is at the forefront of an emerging and dynamic barter industry.

According to Touma, “BBX has an excellent track record with a combined management offering over 70 years of experience in the trade exchange industry, backed by proven success in driving profitable acquisitions. With continued growth in membership, we would expect the volume of trading will increase at an even faster rate which will be reflected in company profits.”

BBX, now in its eleventh year, saw total trade-turnover of approximately T$120 million...in 2003/04 BBX booked a net profit of $1.23 million while generating revenue of $8.07 million. For 2004/05 the company expects revenues of $9.03 million and a net profit of $323,000 due to investments in new resources and infrastructure in readiness for its expansion program.

BBX has branches throughout Australia and New Zealand. Its head office can be contacted at 612 9476 6655.

Every barter company in the world is listed on our web site, click through to our Global List of Barter Companies.

IMS Continues Push Forward On Two Fronts

International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM) has announced its institutional-funding agreement with Pavek Investments of Milwaukee (WI). The Pavek group will serve as the investment banker for IMS, counseling and guiding them in the preparation of a strategic business plan and in the planning and design of potential securities offerings. Pavek will also seek to obtain capital for mergers and acquisitions, assistance in document origination, and other related services.

IMS has also announced the launch of a next-generation web site for Continental Trade Exchange (CTE), its barter network subsidiary. The site, www.ctebarter.com, now allows members of the system to (1) receive online authorizations 24/7; (2) purchase scrip and gift certificates; (3) view up-to-date account information; and (4) enter client-administered classified ads.

Revenues Up 20% For Third Quarter

IMS recently filed its third-quarter 10-QSB financial report, showing a 20% increase in net revenue over the third quarter of 2003. ($1,169,918 compared to $971,944 for the third quarter of 2003.)

The increased revenue was a result of the California Barter Exchange and Barter Network acquisitions consummated earlier this year, along with the additional internal growth of CTE. For further information see: www.internationalmonetary.com.

Trade Exchange Owners...
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Been There, Done That?...You’re Hired!

Industry Experience Outranks People Skills

Personality may be a plus, but it won’t necessarily land you a job. According to a survey by Robert Half International (the world’s first and largest staffing service specializing in the accounting, finance and information technology fields), 41% of chief financial officers said industry experience is the factor most likely to tip the scales in an applicant’s favor. Only 1% of executives cited people skills, and 33% said individuals with software and technology expertise have an advantage.

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From the BarterNews Archives...

Part 5: How To Use Radio To Increase Company Sales

Last week we looked at “hard sell” commercials...keeping it simple and not overloading your message with too much information. And we pointed out the effectiveness of the straight sell. This week we conclude our article:

Jingles. . .

Jingles work! Just ask Pepsi Cola. There are hundreds of thousands of people who can still sing a Pepsi jingle that dates back to when the product came in an eight ounce bottle and sold for a nickel!

We have found that using jingles produces results that are about 30% more effective than not using jingles. They can be expensive, on a trade or cash basis, but if you select the right music and concept, it pays dividends.

Per Inquiry. . .

Most everyone in barter, sooner or later, finds out about per inquiry (P.I.) advertising, and they want to convince the local stations to take their advertising and pay them a percentage of sales.

I probably get twenty calls a week from prospective clients who want help producing a spot for a product they are planning to get stations to take on a P.I. basis. One out of the twenty might have a chance of getting a P.I. deal. (They usually have paid ten bucks for a “list” of so-called free stations in the back of one of those opportunity magazines.)

First of all, no matter what the stations will tell you, per inquiry is alive and well, but your chances of getting a local station or a network to go along with your idea is almost nil!

There are precious few that will admit to working on that basis. Hardly any do it for local accounts. Almost none will do it without an ad agency involved.

I spent two years studying per inquiry and how it works. I know the names of the people at the radio and TV networks who make the decisions about what accounts get approved for per inquiry. Mind you, these people don’t exist, if you talk to the sales manager of the station. Here’s my advice to those wanting to try per inquiry:

Sometimes the stations carry P.I. commercials, but they are actually on a network and the station is obligated to carry the spot. However, the network is responsible for the ad.

Sometimes the advertiser is actually paying for inquiries! (Not sales.) An example is a well-known discount stock broker, who pays $6 for every person who calls the “800” number assigned to the stations or network asking for free information.

I used to get $90 an inquiry for leads on a security, if the prospect bought or not. The company knew exactly how many leads would convert to sales and at what cost.

Don’t expect the local station to trust you to “source” leads by asking customers where they heard the ad. It doesn’t work that way. Besides, sometimes when radio is working best, the listener doesn’t know where they heard the ad.

The most effective commercials are the ones that reach the subconscious, without the listener knowing he is being sold. (Sourcing is a whole different story. Remember the people who thought they saw a cartoon of the little old lady in the car wash?)

What you can sometimes get a station to do is accept an order based on producing a certain number of leads. For example, I pay you $100 a week for ten leads, or $500 a week for 50 leads. Sometimes the station will take you on, and if you don’t get the prescribed number of leads they’ll run extra spots until you do!

The key is trust. They must know and believe you and have confidence that your product has appeal. Your chances are much better going through an established media company or ad agency. Plus, your spot must be very well-planned and professionally produced.

Who trades for media? Most all media will trade, because the increment cost of using unsold inventory is very low. Again, however, the media must have confidence in you and the fact that you will maintain confidentiality. Nothing blows a media trade quicker than some loud mouth trader boasting about his latest “score.”

(End of five-part series.)

Next issue we will cover how a trade exchange can barter with the local media. We’ll discuss the three basic services needed to “sell” the station as well as the advantage of trading through a trade exchange.

BarterNews issue #63 is now available... get your copy now! Orders are shipped within two business days. Click on Order Form.

(If you are not sure if your subscription has lapsed, e-mail your name, address, and zip code to bmeyer@barternews.com.)

Barter Fairs & Holiday Expo's. . .

December:

New England Trade will hold their 8th Annual Barter Expo on Wednesday, December 1 at the Danversport Yacht Club at 6:00 p.m. For more information call (781) 388-9200.

The Barter Company’s Annual Trade Show will be held on Saturday, December 4 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta from 12 noon to 5 p.m.. Over 36,000 sq. feet will be dedicated to the trade show. For more information call (770) 591-4343.

The oldest and largest BXI fair is the Orange County Holiday Fair at the Costa Mesa Orange County Fairgrounds in Bldg. 10 (same location for 24 years). Scheduled for Sunday, December 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call (714) 847-5477.

Continental Trade Exchange (Santa Rosa, CA) Holiday Expo will take place Sunday, December 5 at Santa Rosa Veterans’ Memorial Building, 1351 Maple Avenue, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call (707) 585-7722.

Trade Atlanta, Premier Barter, and Barter For Less are cooperatively staging a Holiday Festival on Tuesday, December 7 in Gwinnett, Georgia, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call (678) 793-9463.

BXI Savannah & BXI Georgia 2004 BXI Holiday Trade Fair will be held at the Crosswinds Golf Club Clubhouse, 232 James B. Blackburn Drive, in Savannah on Tuesday, December 7 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Dinner will be served to all attendees. For more information call (912) 355-2555.

TradeAmericanCard 2004 Barter & Business Expo on Sunday, December 12 at The Grove of Anaheim, 2200 E. Katella Avenue, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. For more information call (714) 532-1610.

BXI Northern California/Nevada’s Holiday Trade Fair will be held on Sunday, December 12 at the Clarion Hotel at the San Jose Airport, 12 noon to 4 p.m. For more information e-mail ron@bxinorcal.com or phone (650) 592-2929.

BXI Southern Arizona’s Tradefair is scheduled for Sunday, December 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call (520) 325-2929.

(Barter companies: Send your holiday trade fair information to: bmeyer@barternews.com.)

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Here & There...

• Consulting firm Customer Growth Partners, in New Canaan (CT), reports that malls have lost much of their retailing prowess. More than 80% of consumer shopping dollars, excluding purchases of food and drugs, are now spent in locations outside of malls. (That compares with about 60% in 1995.) Six of the nation’s largest retailers—double the number in the late 1990s—are not associated with malls.

• Earlier this month we reported that “direct selling” in the USA, which totals $30 billion annually, accounts for 1% of all nationwide sales. Although we don’t have current worldwide figures, we can expect it will soon take a jump given the news coming out of China.

  The government there, which had banned direct-sales in 1998, is now issuing positive rules that will ensure a legal basis and long-desired legitimacy for selling goods or services through salespeople rather than via retail stores. Interestingly, only a handful of domestic companies are expected to qualify because of both stringent capital and sales requirements. (Amway, Avon, and Nu Skin are among those that meet the new rules.)

  The change, along with the acceptance of direct selling, came about because of a pledge made upon entering the World Trade Organization that would allow direct-marketing companies to operate in China.

• David Malpass, chief economist at Bear, Sterns, reports that the world economy is growing at its fastest pace in 30 years—up 5% in 2004 according the International Monetary Fund, with a robust 4.3% real growth rate expected in 2005. Malpass says there is a broadening of global growth, emphasizing the power of freedom and markets over the past weight of communism, world wars, the 1970s inflation, and the late 1990s deflation.

• While the world economy is growing, as reported, the U.S. economy is heading in the opposite direction, according to the Conference Board out of New York City. The private research group says its Index of Leading Economic Indicators has fallen for the fifth consecutive month, providing a clear signal that the economy is losing steam.

• Have you signed up to receive a summary via e-mail of the Tuesday Report every week? If not, go to the top of this issue (right hand corner) and sign up!

• Two industry trade associations join forces...no, it’s not in the commercial barter industry, but in the consulting and training professions.

  The American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), founded in 1944 and now boasting 70,000 members from more than 100 countries, is embracing the Independent Consultants Association (ICA) formed in 2003 to help independent consultants develop more successful practices. The two professional associations will share many resources as well as merge their annual conferences.

• U.S. consumers ranking of big companies reputations show some “icons” are losing luster. The focus of survey respondents’ anger is shifting from the notorious accounting scandals of the past three years, to workplace and compensation concerns that hit closer to home. Now they are increasingly disgusted by super-size executive compensation, shabby treatment of employees, and outsourcing of American jobs.

• If Wal-Mart were considered a nation, they would be China’s fifth-largest trading partner...importing $15 billion manufactured items from China in 2003.

• Forty-two college presidents at private colleges and 17 at public universities earn more than a half-million dollars a year. For the past 25 years the price rises for colleges have annually outpaced the consumer price index by more than 3.5%. The main factor causing this is the limited market discipline that universities face because they lack a clear metric of performance, such as profits.

• If you've missed any of our weekly Tuesday Reports the past five years we have an archive of issues for you at the bottom of this week's letter...check it out!