BN was talking with David Wallach recently and our conversation veered to the term reciprocal trade. Wallach says our industry has never properly identified itself, and he offers the following content to better describe our industry's services.  

Wallach Offers Definition Of Barter Industry

By David Wallach

Ancient barter was man�s first form of commerce and consisted of the one-to-one direct exchange of goods and services. Advances in technology have greatly expanded and enhanced the scope of barter far beyond this limited one-to-one model.

In 2007, International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA) member companies using the �Modern Trade and Barter� process, made it possible for over 400,000 companies worldwide to utilize their excess business capacities and underperforming assets, to earn an estimated $10 billion dollars in previously lost and wasted revenues.

In terms of income, excess business capacity represents the difference between actual cash revenues received, and the cash revenues and profits that would be realized, if a business operated at 100% of its capacity. 

Most businesses are operating at less than 100% of their potential business capacity.

IRTA member companies can help your business realize lost revenues and make additional profits by making use of your excess business capacity. Consult the worldwide membership directory listing on this web site or an IRTA member company located in your geographical area.

Businesses that choose to participate in modern trade and barter will become a client of an IRTA member company. As clients when they sell their goods and services to other clients in the system they earn trade credits which are deposited into their accounts. They then have the ability to purchase goods and services from other member clients utilizing trade credit in their accounts.

IRTA member companies play a vital role as they provide organization, system management, record keeping, maintenance of transaction record and broker services to each member client.

All IRTA members companies adhere to a strict IRTA Code of Ethics. Businesses that utilize modern trade and barter can be assured that their trade credits are earned and spent within a network that is committed to a high standard of business by meeting requirements that prove the strength and sustainability of their exchange networks.

It is important to note that there are other forms of modern trade and barter. Some of these include complementary (or local) currency organizations, LETS (Local Exchange Trading Systems) and many other forms of alternative monetary systems to help local and regional economies.

Bartercard New Service Moves Toward Total Business Solution

Australia�s largest barter trade exchange�Bartercard Australia�has added a new service that should excite its 23,000 members nationwide. The new Members Plus Money program is a strategic partnership with Wilson National, a leading Australian wholesale finance specialist (www.wilsonnational.com.au). It will enable members an opportunity to secure needed financing cash for equipment rental, home loans, commercial loans, leasing, and personal loans.

This initiative is the latest in a series of member benefits introduced since the Australian management buy-out of Bartercard Australia in August 2007, when the new owners pledged to take the organization in a new direction.

The leading product of Members Plus Money is Express Rental Plus, according to the company. Andrew Barter, Bartercard Australia�s National Development Manager, asserted, �Express Rental Plus gives our members access to A$35,000 cash so they can purchase business equipment such as computers, furniture or specialized machinery. It is the perfect addition to our members accounts.�

Bartercard Australia was bought from Bartercard International in a management buy-out in August 2007. It is now 99.5% Australian owned, with almost three-quarters of its share base in the hands of Managing Director Trevor Dietz, Chairman Murray d�Almeida, and Executive Director of Sales/Marketing and co-founder Brian Hall. The remainder is held by an Australian private equity consortium.

For more information visit www.bartercard.com.au/membersplus.

The Definition Of An �A� Customer...Cash Or Barter

By Bob Meyer

It�s not unusual for 70 to 80 percent of a firm�s cash business to come from 10 to 20 percent of its customers�often referred to as �A� customers. Yet don�t confuse your �A� customers as being only cash customers.

What is an �A� customer for your firm? Each business needs to develop a specific profile of its best and most profitable customer. High volume is a major ranking criterion. But be prepared to downgrade the slow-paying big spender who consistently demands extra discounts and services.

Take another look at your customer base. How many A�s can you identify? Where are your potential A�s? What strategies can be developed to keep them coming to you? And what can you be doing to secure additional candidates?

This is more than a time-management exercise. It involves rethinking your overall strategic plan. A firm must keep asking itself which category of clients is most important for both short-term and long-term survival.

An ideal �A� customer is one who makes the most significant contributions to your bottomline. This is where your barter customers contribute heavily because their trade business is incremental business�extra business that can be the most profitable.

It�s often the frosting-on-the-cake, so to speak. Sometimes this customer receives a lower level of service because he or she is not demanding, and the business is considered �only trade.� Yet, when properly analyzed, their business may place them up there in the �A� category, because they contribute heavily to your bottomline profits.

A good marketing plan always looks forward. In addition to examining the direction your industry is taking, ask yourself, �What am I doing to incorporate the world�s fastest growing way-of-doing-business into my organization�s plans?�

A solid marketing plan identifies growth opportunities, as well as innovative techniques. Barter is a marketing, purchasing, and financing tool that offers you enormous profit opportunities. Your decisions should be driven by such present and future opportunities.

So bring your employees (or team members) together and see how close they can come to designing the perfect �A� customer. Write down all the criteria that is important to your company�s future.

Use your imagination to develop this mythical entity, and you will make some interesting discoveries. Plus you will develop a benchmark that allows you to see all your customers, whether cash or trade, in a new way. Then focus your marketing efforts where they will do the most good...stabilizing and increasing your customer base.

IRTA�s Euro Chapter Marks 10th Year Anniversary

The IRTA European Chapter will be celebrating its 10th year anniversary this September at IRTA�s 29th Annual International Convention at the Westgate River Ranch Resort outside Orlando, Florida, from September 22 to 25, 2008.

IRTA Hall of Fame member Paul Suplizio founded IRTA�s European Chapter when he recognized the growth of barter and trade in the European market. Since the European Chapter�s inception, member barter exchanges have included representatives from Belgium, England, Scotland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, and Turkey.

�The European Chapter continues to grow and plays an important role in IRTA,� confirmed Executive Director Ron Whitney. �We just had a terrific Euro Conference in Poland where we created a whole new slate of exciting initiatives, and voted in a new group of Euro officers.� The new European officer�s slate is Richard Logie (president), Rob Van Hilten (vice president), Dariusz Brzozowiec (treasurer), and Reiner Husemann (secretary). 

For more information on IRTA go to www.irta.com, or call Ron Whitney at 757-393-2292.

IMS Unveils Proprietary Barter Commerce Management Software

International Monetary Systems (OTCBB: INLM), a worldwide leader in business-to-business barter services, reported the roll-out of its proprietary barter commerce management software, Trade Network Tracking System (TNT), will begin in June.

The TNT System lies at the heart of IMS�s day-to-day operations; handling the processing of real-time trade dollar transactions, managing client information and transaction histories, internal reporting, business intelligence, and customer relationship management.

This new platform enables IMS to rapidly implement new features, improve usability, take advantage of database, internet, and e-mail connectivity, and facilitate tighter integration with the firm�s web site. It also benefits from the core functionality and established best practices of the company�s previous system, TradeWorks, for which IMS purchased the source code in 2007.

Nathan Alpert, IMS chief software architect, stressed, �The impact of this progression cannot be (over)stated. The TNT System will completely revolutionize the core of IMS� operations. It will drastically improve efficiency and reduce overhead by streamlining or completely automating time-consuming tasks. Our brokers will be able to manage significantly more accounts, efficiently connect buyers with sellers, and capitalize on new trade opportunities found by the trade analysis and data mining capabilities of the software.

�TNT also opens the door to barter transactions eventually being processed in real-time through P.O.S. swipe-card technology, consistent with our mission to make barter easy to use and bring its advantage to many more businesses. We want to make barter transactions as easy as using your Visa card, combined with the marketing intelligence of Google.�

Don Mardak, IMS CEO, added, �The TNT System will not only provide our members and our team with all the advantages of today�s technology, it also positions IMS to capitalize on the constantly evolving technology of tomorrow. This evolution is indicative of IMS� role within the barter industry to lead in the sound management of a secondary economy based on the products and services of our member businesses.

�Our strong investment in this proprietary technology and in-house technical staff puts us in a truly unique position, allowing us to build the most advanced and customized barter platform in the industry, without our operations being molded by the limitations of the off-the-shelf software that many of our competitors use.�

For more information see www.imsbarter.com.

The Key To Profits During A Recession Is Preparation

The following are eight ways to keep profits up in an uncertain economy.

1) Take a good hard look at what�s in your product line. Some hold their own more than others and prosper in a recessive environment. Determine what degree of emphasis each product should receive.

2) Some of your products might benefit from creative repositioning. The reasons they sell during difficult times might be different from why they sell during prosperous times. You might get a benefit by emphasizing different aspects of the product.

3) Channel your marketing resources. During difficult times it might make sense to put more resources toward your established clientele than recruiting new prospects. They�re already customers, part of the family. A dollar spent on an established customer might deliver more than a dollar spend on recruiting a new customer.

4) keep in mind that your business costs have fixed and variable components. Manage your variable costs as closely as possible.

5) Think of strategies to accomplish a reduction in markdowns, but be careful not to hurt your customer service level.

6) Provide more stimuli for purchasing by assuming a more aggressive posture on incentives to create increased sales.

7) Conserve capital investment. Do not be aggressive in your inventory buying plans. Be more restrictive in additions to staff and building expansion.

8) Zero in on the services of your trade exchange to maximize cash flow.

IRTA Europe Meeting Deemed Great Success

IRTA Europe is pleased to report the meeting in Gliwice, Poland, was a great success. The conference was organized and hosted by BCI Barter Systems� Dariusz Brzozowiec; his team did a tremendous job for all who attended.

The meeting was represented by nine countries with 25 attendees from following organizations:

BCI Barter Systems, Poland
BexB, Italy
EBB-Euro Barter Business Belgium, Belgium
EBB-Euro Barter Business BarterServ, Germany
EBBS-International Business School, Netherlands
Efficio, France
NuBarter, USA
Metro Trading Association, USA
Qoin, Netherlands
TBEX The Business Exchange, Scotland
Turk Barter, Turkey
IRTA President David Wallach and Executive Director Ron Whitney, USA.

�         During Elections, the members voted on a new European Chapter Executive Committee as follows...

President: Richard Logie, The Business Exchange in Scotland
Vice President: Rob van Hilten, Qoin in Netherlands
Treasurer: Dariusz Brzozowiec, BCI Barter Systems in Poland
Secretary: Reiner Husemann, EBB-Euro Barter Business BarterServ, in Germany

�         Discussion about both the upcoming Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Payment Services in the Internal Market.

The group has discussed the working document of the EU. In fact the EU will regulate all payment systems, which also effects the barter industry. After short deliberation in the group we have come to the conclusion that we need assistance to understand the circulation and its possible impact. IRTA will order an assignment to summarize and determine the impact of the working document, and will receive a guideline for how the industry should react.

�         IRTA Trust: A topic of discussion presented by Reiner Husemann was to form the IRTA Trust.

This program would have other IRTA Trust members take over existing trade exchange clients should one file for bankruptcy or go insolvent. In theory, this would avoid the overwhelming negative impact on the industry seen in the past and minimize it in the future. While not yet approved, further discussions are planned on how to implement such a complex program and will continue at the next IRTA meeting in September at IRTA�s 29th annual conference at the Westgate River Ranch in Florida.

�         IRTA Consulting Service: IRTA has secured a talented group of professional consultants that will support the members of IRTA.

This type of service will be extremely valuable to any start-up or existing company. Specialists, for example, include: accounting, marketing, sales, taxes and lobbying. All members will have access to these types of support channels. (For more information please e-mail: ron@irta.com. Details forthcoming on the IRTA web site www.irta.com.)

�         IRTA 2008 Annual Convention: September 22 - 25 at the Westgate River Ranch in Florida.

Scheduled are several days of networking events, team-building, learning and fun!

Barter Company Tradia Goes Green & Sponsors Green Earth Expo

Tradia Commerce Network has decided to do its part for the planet and stop mailing monthly account statements. The decision was made by CEO Matthew Humphreys, who said, �Although Tradia is already considered a green company; sending monthly statements via e-mail will not only cut company costs, but will reduce the paper and energy used in printing and mailing the statements and reduce our company�s footprint on the environment.�

Tradia is a corporate sponsor of this year�s Global Green Alliance Green Earth Expo, being held in Orlando (FL) from May 15-17. With over 50,000 expected attendees from around the world, Humphreys will be speaking twice during the gathering.

The change to green at Tradia began four years ago when brokers across the nation started sending weekly �trade flashes� advertising products and services on barter to their members via e-mail. A year later the decision was made to provide brokers, local trade directors, and corporate members monthly statements via the Tradia web site. Tradia has provided online statements for years to approximately half its members, but until now has mailed out monthly statements to the other half.

The firm mails out an average of 2000 account statements each month. While it might seem like a financially motivated decision, the change to online statements benefits the Tradia members as well. They will have less paper waste to recycle and will more actively use the Tradia web site, not only to see their monthly statements, but to monitor their entire barter account online.

When their monthly statements are ready, Tradia members will now receive e-mails with a web site link; they can then review the statement and decide whether or not to print it out. Members without an e-mail address (less than 10%) will still be mailed their monthly statements.

Tradia Commerce Network was founded in 1995, and was originally called Compass Card until its corporate name change in 2004. It is the largest privately held barter exchange in the United States, serving over 5000 cardholders nationwide.

For more information see www.tradia.net.

BBX Barter Trading Commences In China

BBX Holdings Limited announced its franchise in China has commenced trading, which is expected to create a significant volume of cross-country barter trade.

A cashless trade exchange, BBX has offices and franchises throughout Australia and New Zealand, with 6,000 member businesses and over 8,000 individual card holders. Member businesses in these two countries traded in excess of $188 million in the financial year ending June 2007, averaging over $33,000 per active member business.

The China franchise will bring the number of BBX members globally to 300,000. It consists of 18 regional offices with its main office in Beijing, and when fully established will employ over 1500 staff. Franchises have also been established in India and Costa Rica, with other international franchises currently under negotiation.

BBX China was formed in 2006 when the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing Barter Trade Committee entered into a master franchise agreement with BBX International, a wholly owned subsidiary of BBX Holdings which will have 20% equity in BBX China. 

CEO of BBX China, Mr. Wang Lei, says they are proud to open its doors to international trade through the network. Members of BBX China cover a number of industries including production, real estate, tourism, entertainment, hospitality, services and retail.

�BBX China is a critical step in establishing a global trading platform and will revolutionise the way business is conducted by our members. The expanding international network is a benefit to members everywhere, because it means they have increased buying and selling opportunities as members of a global trading alliance,� asserted BBX managing director Michael Touma.

International trading is made possible by the BBX self developed cashless settlement platform, WEBiPOS. This sophisticated software provides instant processing of transactions online and is available to its members worldwide in English, Spanish, and Chinese.

�We have opened the door for easier global trading, and with a market as bid and diverse as China the opportunities for our members are endless,� Touma added. �For instance, an Australian wine producer could sell their wine to a restaurant in China and then use those BBX dollars to import equipment from China, or India or even trade locally in Australia for the products they need for their business.�

Successfully listed on the ASX in August 2005, BBX becomes the only publicly listed barter exchange managers in the world to be listed on a main board. It is a membership-based trading program whose primary role is to generate new business for all types of businesses and to show business owners how to offset many current cash expenses by utilising the down time or idle inventory in their business.

The trade exchange uses trade dollars, which have par value with the local currency, to assign value to the transactions that take place between member businesses. The exchange acts as the third party record keeper, similar to a bank, and provides a sophisticated bartering market where thousands of transactions take place.

The company also offers a broader range of financial services in areas such as mortgage brokering via BBX Money (including leasing, business finance and general loans in both cash and trade dollars), financial planning through BBX Financial Advisers, insurance services through BBX Insurance, property services through BBX Real Estate, and its NSX-listed BBX Property Investment Fund.

For more information on BBX go to www.ebbx.com.

Solution Selling Key To Barter Industry�s Expansion 

By Doug Dagenais

When BarterCorp was sold in 1999 to Intagio, Doug Dagenais became the new National Sales Manager handling their retail and national accounts. He also took over management of the Chicago Corporate owned location.

In 2003 he left to build the barter division of Shell Vacations Club. There, he coordinated $1 million annually in room-night trades with many exchange groups as well as direct vendor transactions.

Contacted by Steve White in 2007 to compliment the organic growth of ITEX, he was brought onboard as National Sales Manager. Subsequently, new nationwide account registrations for the company have exceeded 30% over the past year.

For most of the history of selling, one could present their product or service to the prospect and they either bought it or didn�t. By seeing enough prospects you could make a profit. But with our present competitive world, and messaging that bombards our every waking moment, this is no longer sufficient.

There�s a major paradigm shift that should be recognized and addressed if one is to stay on top of the curve and win customers for the long term. It�s Solution Selling.

I�m certainly not suggesting that this is new. Many organizations have been shifting to this format for some time. It is increasingly becoming not only the norm, but necessary. Major corporations of both products and services are finding the way of the future in defining each prospects� needs, and then tailoring their product/service to meet those needs. Find the niche and fill it!

Sound familiar? This has been a particular application used in the barter world, as our true function is to improve business for our clients. Solve their problems and you�ll have a long time relationship. Throw them into a network and expect things to happen�.and some things will happen. But neither we, nor our client, will realize the full potential of participating in a barter network. We�ll all leave money on the table.

Although application of this theory should extend throughout our client relationship, it really begins in the selling process. Are we presenting our program to anyone who will listen, or are we finding out what issues the prospect is challenged with and then solving the issues? Are we knocking on doors that every other B2B marketing effort is messaging, or are we approaching a prospect that we will have a �transactional� or �relational� basis with?

If we take the approach of solution selling, a number of elements take place that have ancillary benefits:

1. Targeting the prospect is significantly easier. It�s not the whole world, it is someone we have a specific issue with that needs to be addressed.

2. Getting the prospect to respond to the initial contact will tend to be immediate, as we are approaching someone that we have business for or that we can solve a problem for. This touches the very essence of why people make buying decisions�to either make a gain, or prevent a loss. Present the option of a new customer (with a specific order) or conservation of cash on a specific purchase, and you have a reason to meet.

3. The prospect is more willing to spend time in understanding our program. It will have immediate impact on his business.

4. The decision process is shortened and �I�ll think about it� isn�t an option.

5. Because transactions occur quickly, there is instant gratification for both parties. It not only creates transaction fees for the barter company, but gets the client engaged as well. This is essential toward improving the �business life cycle� of a client.

So-o-o-o, how do we apply this? By focusing on a specific approach to a specific prospect. And where do these come from? Our current clients. We work for our clients. Whether your base is one client, 100 clients or 1,000 clients, our clients� needs direct us. Thus, we become �partners� with our clients. We work together toward the goal.

Carry out this philosophy as a core business strategy and you�ll never run out of prospects, transactions, or satisfied customers.

Paradigm Shift For International Reciprocal Trade Association

The commercial barter industry�s international association will seek out and welcome large corporations into its membership, including the usage of IRTA�s Universal Currency (UC).

A recent announcement from IRTA has revealed a bold move...adding a Non-Industry Membership Category. The NIM is offered to large corporations which participate in trade and barter as a significant component of their normal business operations. Benefits to these members encompass:

�         Increasing revenues by receiving full access to UC and its trading platform for buying and selling excess inventories, products and services.

�         Participation in international and U.S. conferences.

�         Ongoing education and news updates for the trade and barter industry.

�         Access to the latest changes regarding governmental and IRS matters.

�         Networking with peers in the industry to increase one�s company sales.

Non-Industry Members annual dues are $2,500 cash and $1,250 UC currency. This membership category has full IRTA member voting rights with UC participation fees of $50 cash, $25 UC per month, plus a 10% cash transaction fee on sales and .25% trade (UC) on purchases.

For more information go to www.irta.com.

ITEX Enters �Software As A Service� Market

ITEX Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: ITEX), a leading marketplace for cashless business transactions in North America, today announced that ITEX Chairman and CEO Steven White is scheduled to give a presentation on Tuesday, March 11, 8:30 AM (PST), at the Montgomery Technology Conference in Santa Monica (CA).

He is expected to discuss ITEX�s current operations and announce the company�s strategy to enter the �Software as a Service� (SaaS) market. The presentation at the Montgomery Technology Conference will be the first opportunity to showcase its new SaaS strategy.

A video replay and copy of the slide presentation will be available on the ITEX web site (www.itex.com), under the Investor Relations section, from the end of the day on March 11 through May 31, 2008.

White stated, �We are pleased to be invited to present the ITEX story to this technology-savvy audience and to announce our entrance into the SaaS market. ITEX has grown revenue 50% since fiscal 2005 and is expected to reach $15,000,000 in fiscal 2008. Operating income has increased on average 25% annually; more than 142% what it was in 2004, exceeding $1,500,000 in fiscal 2007.

�Part of our success is attributed to our dynamic and robust internet based technology platform which has proven to be practical, easy-to-use, efficient and scaleable. For the last couple of years we have enhanced our platform in order to capitalize on a large opportunity for our company�to offer our technology platform, and the many features and benefits it provides, so other businesses may enhance the value proposition and revenue streams for their marketplace or community, while at the same time creating new revenue streams for us.�

White continued, �ITEX launched its internet based platform in 2003, internally named TEAM (Trade Exchange Account Manager). More than just Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, the platform has payment processing, record-keeping, and billing functionality and provides comprehensive transaction data on 24,000 active members within the ITEX trading community as they complete over 1,000 transactions each business day.

�Our web interface can be customized and branded for a variety of online marketplaces or communities. What makes our platform unique, is its ability to track both cash transactions and those based on non-cash currencies...such as rewards, points, units or other consideration a vendor decides to use.�

Montgomery & Co. is a leading provider of merger and acquisition advisory, private placements, and private equity for companies in the media, communications, information technology and healthcare sectors. The firm has emerged as the premier investment banking alternative for growth companies in the U.S. by offering its clients in-depth industry knowledge, financial expertise, access to key relationships, and a high degree of customer service.

IMS Enrolls Record Number Of New Clients In January

International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM), a worldwide leader in business-to-business barter services, announced it had enrolled a record 375 new members into the IMS barter system for the month of January. In addition, the company had gross revenue of $1.2 million, compared to $1.1 million in January of 2007, an increase of 10%.

Commenting on the new-member sales totals, CEO Don Mardak noted, �It is extremely gratifying to see the positive results of our efforts to build a strong sales team. Barb Martin, our national sales manager, has done a magnificent job in assembling this group of people who are very dedicated to expanding the IMS barter network. We believe that this program will be the heart of future organic growth.�

The totals listed above are taken from the company's internal records and have not been audited.

For more information visit www.internationalmonetary.com.

Bartercard Launches New Mobile Text Service

Beginning in January 2008, Bartercard members can now take advantage of instant transactions and access to their Bartercard Account via SMSPOS text message. Not only can members check their balances instantly, but they will also benefit from instant confirmation of transactions.

As soon as they sign up for the exclusive SMSPOS service, members can take advantage of this new benefit, spending less time on paperwork and more time running and growing their businesses.

SMSPOS offers Bartercard members:

• The ability to process transactions immediately with funds being transferred into their account at point of sale.

• A time saving alternative, eliminating the need to wait for vouchers to be posted and then processed.

• A balance request to your mobile, via text message.

• Freedom to transact/trade whilst out and about...perfect for industry members on the go.

�Almost all of our members use mobile phones and are familiar with texting. Our members deserve and need instant access to their Bartercard accounts, and this groundbreaking service does just that,� stated Tim Sparks, Joint Managing Director, Bartercard United Kingdom

For more information visit www.bartercard.co.uk.