Barter is Better

By: Heidi Lamar

Posted: February 25, 2009, from the March 2009 issue of Skin Inc. magazine.

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Direct mail. When you get a packet of postcards in the mail, there is usually some incentive to open it, such as cash or a prize hidden inside—just like a spa gift card. Owners also like to reward sales reps and advertisers, and their markup is similar to yours, so barter is great for them, too. Using barter, your cost is reduced to $1,000 and your annual savings would be approximately $36,000.

A competitive solution

Using barter instead of cash in the examples above, would save you more than $114,000. You would get the same marketing products as your cash-paying competitors, and your clients won’t be able to see the difference. You could pass the savings along to your customers, making you even more competitive, or just take all of the money you save to the bank and during the trip, you can count on hearing your ad on the radio.