Written by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews

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Holiday Barter Expo’s Boost IMS Trade Volume

International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM) experienced a record-setting month in November as the company’s subsidiary Continental Trade Exchange held several very successful barter expo’s. IMS reported more than $4.5 million in trade volume, resulting in client billings of $484,000...an increase of 28% over the same period last year.

According to CEO Don Mardak, “The record-setting numbers for November were a direct result of our highly successful (holiday) barter expo’s in Wisconsin, Ohio and California, along with the additional revenue generated by our most recent acquisitions in Modesto (CA) and Metro Washington (DC).”

Exchange Owners: Want More Mega-Traders In Your Exchange?? Then Resolve To Do Something Different!

You’ve worked extremely hard. Most likely you’ve put everything you had on the line to start your exchange...you’re to be congratulated for your persistence and tenacity. Getting a critical mass of clients together is tedious work, now it’s time to start reaping some of the reward for your efforts!

For twenty-five years I’ve heard it said by many within the trade exchange industry, “It’s only a matter of time before we get the recognition due us and the resulting rewards.”

But it requires more than time and talk. Success comes to those who go out and make things happen by providing extraordinary contributions in the form of fulfillment.

Equally important for maximum success, is to get your community to totally understand and embrace your services, by creating a vision for greater trading! And that’s accomplished through constant communication and education within your marketplace as well as your client base...reinforcing both your value and the benefits derived from your services.

Want to know how well you’ve done in inspiring your client base? One way is to take this simple test: Determine the percentage of mega-traders within your trade exchange...clients making sales of $100,000 or more a year.

If you’re not satisfied with what you find, then isn’t it time to resolve to try a new approach this year?

You can take the all-important first step by subscribing to a powerful and inexpensive marketing tool—one that’s ready for you to use right now. It’s called The Competitive Edge, and its use will enable you to be the very best communicator in your market!

It is a 4-page, professionally written and designed, monthly newsletter ready to use...no effort is required whatsoever on your part. And the cost is the same today as 18 years ago when it was first introduced!

Make the decision to use The Competitive Edge today, and we’ll rush you the current issue with an apropos cover story for your clients, titled “Could You Become A Mega Trader? Absolutely!”

For more information call Bob Meyer, publisher of The Competitive Edge newsletter, at (949) 831-0607 or e-mail him at bmeyer@barternews.com.

Globally, Business Continues Amazing Growth

Even if you keep current with business trends the size, scope and growth of global business (often referred to as global trade) is astonishing.

Data released by the World Trade Organization (WTO) show that world merchandise exports nearly doubled between 1993 and 2003, increasing from $3.67 trillion dollars to $7.27 trillion!

Viewed from another perspective, that means nearly 30% of the world’s gross domestic product now crosses country borders. However, that does not mean that the products were wholly manufactured in the exporting countries.

A Deloitte Research report of approximately 600 U.S. and European executives indicates that 80% of manufacturers in those regions purchase, or plan to purchase in the next three years, components or goods produced outside their base countries.

It’s estimated by the WTO that upwards of 10% of the $7.27 trillion merchandise exported is achieved on a countertrade basis, wherein something other than cash is used in the purchasing arrangement.

Done at the highest levels of international business, this approximately $700 billion is an astounding figure. It reinforces the fact that the practice of “using what one has to get what one wants” is a thriving business technique.

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.)

From the BarterNews Archives...

Part II: How A Trade Exchange Can Barter With The Local Media

Number one is to realize that the media does have a staff of people who call daily on every type of business that needs advertising...and that is just about everyone! The sales staff are often offered trade of goods/services in lieu of cash by a prospective advertiser.

In most cases they cannot use what is being offered, or they don’t really understand trades. After pushing aside any attempt at trade, they either sell for cash or don’t sell.

Number two is to realize that the media management often has a listing of active trades when you make a presentation.

There are still a few in management who consider trade to be below their standards of operation and prohibit trades altogether. These folks think there is something wrong with trade, but don’t have the time to figure out what is wrong.

Don’t waste your time with these types. Instead try to find the guy or gal who is really running the show, the one calling the shots. They are the ones who can understand your presentation.

(Next week we will take a look at the three basic ideas that you need to get across in your presentation.)

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

Get New Money-Making Ideas And Valuable Contacts!

You can obtain useful, informative ideas and contacts in every available back-issue of BarterNews.

Barter Fairs & Holiday Expo's. . .

December:

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.

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...

• Russia and Thailand are bartering... Thailand will provide 100,000 tons of frozen chickens, in exchange for a popular Russian army plane that the Royal Thai Air force desires.

• Liberty Media Corp. is one of four bidders having submitted proposals to buy Sprint Corp.’s 6,500 cellphone towers, in an action that could fetch upward of $1.2 billion. According to analysts, Liberty could have a leg up in the bidding because it could barter its stake in Sprint for the Sprint towers business.

  That stake has a market value of $1.9 billion, and such a plan could help Liberty avoid a heavy tax bill on a sale of its Sprint stake. And Sprint would benefit from the exchange by getting rid of a “non-strategic” asset and increasing its own stock holding.

• 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!

• Holidays long have been an occasion for giving loved ones image-improving presents, like expensive ties or diamond earrings, but this season some gift-givers are addressing the issue more directly. According to The Wall Street Journal, this year’s hot Christmas gifts include vouchers and gift certificates for teeth whitening, Botox injections, facelifts, liposuction, and even breast implants and lip-plumping treatments!

• Marc Palud, former owner of BarterCanada, sold the Winnipeg-based trade exchange last April after purchasing Marketing Profiles, a publishing company.

  According to Palud, his Marketing Profiles and Norm Friend are both members of Trade Exchange Canada in Vancouver. Subsequently, Friend did some franchise consulting work for Palud’s firm on trade. As the relationship progressed, they joined forces and are now working together in a full-time capacity...as a result of the Trade Exchange Canada referral.

• According to Steve H. Hanke, professor at John Hopkins University and senior fellow at Cato Institute, oil reserves in the world are much higher than most believe. “In 1971 the world’s proven oil reserves were 612 billion barrels. Since then the world has produced 767 billion barrels. We should have run out of reserves five years ago, but we didn’t. In fact, today’s proven reserves are 1,028 billion barrels, or 416 billion barrels more than in 1971.”

• With approximately 80% of a drug company’s total R&D going toward scientists’ salaries, pharmaceuticals look to China for inexpensive research and development. Drug companies have found that China, where doctorate-level scientists command $25,000 a year compared with nearly 10 times that in the U.S., makes a good place to test drug compounds and their efficacy.