For businesses who connect
Barter Mag Issue 2
Xennox
Sends customers packing to Fiji and Thailand
Versatile Ceramics Turns excess stock to $300,000
In the spotlight Scala Institute trains, travels and trades on Bartercard
Building a Brand: how to use Facebook to market your business Bartercard Bond Scholarship Supporting young talent since 2008
Karl Schwantes, Xennox Diamonds
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Download for Apple, Android and Windows. Search for ‘Bartercard’ 1300 BARTER members.bartercard.com
In this issue we feature members who have used Bartercard to grow their business in innovative ways. We’re pleased to share our latest issue of Barter Mag featuring news, information and stories about how Bartercard has helped create sustainable solutions for business growth throughout the member network.
Contents Busy Godfreys franchise to settle in Cairns
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Xennox Diamonds sends customers packing to Thailand and Fiji
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In this issue you will read about Karl Schwantes from Xennox Diamonds who used Bartercard to attract cash customers to his business through a simple yet effective promotion. This is just one example of how Bartercard works for so many members.
What is Bartercard?
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Half day tile sale turns excess stock into $300,000
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Please enjoy getting to know some of our business members who share their success stories. I hope it helps you to understand how Bartercard can provide a tailored solution to help you in your business.
Bartercard: kicking goals in the community
In our 23rd year of assisting Australians barter for products and services we still hear new stories each week about how Bartercard has helped a business to grow in some new and innovative way. It’s all about leveraging your brand through an additional sales channel to win more new business and make a positive impact on your bottom line.
Best regards,
Brian Hall CEO and Founder Bartercard International Group
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Training, travelling and trading on Bartercard
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House & land package
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How to use Facebook to market your business
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Nervous Networker to Networking Queen
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Confident Health Care
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Bartercard Bond Scholarship recipient coming up tops! 16-17 Bartercard Events
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Testimonials 20
Published by Bartercard Australia Level 2, 121 Scarborough Street Southport Qld 4215 1300 BARTER (1300 227 837) bartercard.com.au
Building a brand
Busy Godfreys franchisee to settle in Cairns As franchisee of two Godfreys stores in Townsville and Cairns, president of a franchisee group that sometimes meets in Melbourne, and father of four children under ten, three of whom live in Canberra, Michael Dunne’s lifestyle over the past few years has been somewhat chaotic.
F Michael is an avid fan of barter, “it’s a no-brainer for me”, he says. “I can increase sales, use trade dollars for many expenses and free up cash. As a business owner, why wouldn’t you want that?”
requent travel and the demands of running two businesses have taken their toll. But that’s all about to change. Michael recently sold his Townsville franchise – which under his management had become Godfreys’ top franchise in the country – to settle in Cairns and focus on family and developing his Cairns franchise.
His trade dollar purchases have included:
Michael Dunne has been a Bartercard member for over a decade. He’s made good use of his membership during that time, reaching Platinum member status quite quickly, but admits his efforts had slackened a little over the past two years - life became increasingly hectic and numerous other matters demanded his attention. Now, with additional time on his hands and only one Godfreys store to run, he plans to increase the amount of trade the store does on Bartercard and make the most of his trade dollars to increase turnover and get the Godfreys name out in the region.
»» $600-800 a week in stock transport over a 2-3 year period
As the major Australian specialist retailer of vacuum cleaners and related products, Godfreys undertakes a significant amount of national advertising and is generally well known. However Michael says that the brand is less known in regional areas where he’s had to make some additional effort to build the Godfreys brand. So how does a big brand retail franchisee use Bartercard? Michael has used his Bartercard in a variety of ways, but almost always to help him generate cash business or conserve cash on regular business expenses.
»» Over $100,000 in bookkeeping fees »» Accommodation and meals during frequent business travel »» Leadership and sales training for staff
»» Ink cartridges »» Couriers »» Print and radio advertising
“Advertising paid for with trade dollars can increase cash sales by 10-15% during a campaign.” Michael has also found that offering excess stock on Bartercard is a great way of moving it quickly without the need to heavily discount, as often required to shift stock quickly in the cash market. Members are happy to spend trade dollars on quality products, making sales easier. Incoming trade dollars are generated by products sales, with around 5% of the stores’ substantial turnover in trade dollars. Still, Michael can see more ways to use his trade dollars and plans to increase the level of Bartercard sales to around 10% as he now turns his focus to building the Godfreys brand in the Cairns region and increasing the store’s turnover. Michael is looking forward to being able to settle in Cairns and cut the frequent travel out between the two stores. Not only does he find the Cairns lifestyle appealing, he knows he can put his Bartercard membership to even better use with such a large number of businesses on Bartercard in that region.
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New customers
Xennox Diamonds sends customers packing
to Thailand and Fiji Would you jump at a product purchase offer that included free holiday accommodation in Thailand or Fiji? It would certainly be more than tempting if you were purchasing a diamond engagement ring and wondering how you were going to afford a good quality ring and a honeymoon.
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or over. It was a way of spending his trade dollars that would cost him very little in cash, but bring in new cash customers who wanted to purchase high quality rings.
Sound like a costly promotion for the proprietor? It would have been if he had to pay cash for those accommodation packages. Fortunately, he’s a Bartercard member!
Over the years Karl has used trade dollars towards the purchase of a number of investment properties. Printing, stationery, social media management and much of the advertising and marketing for the business are also paid for with trade dollars.
n August and September last year, Xennox Diamonds in Brisbane ran a well-advertised promotion offering a free holiday accommodation package to purchasers of rings valued at $3,500 or more. The promotion resulted in almost 30 cash sales during the two month period. Increased turnover wasn’t the only benefit. The promotion created quite a buzz around town, helping to increase brand recognition for the business.
Karl Schwantes of Xennox Diamonds (pictured front cover) has been a Bartercard member for over eight years. He considers himself quite good at investing his trade dollars wisely, but it was only last year when he came up with a fabulous new strategy to turn his trade dollars into cash business. He decided to purchase the holiday accommodation packages on Bartercard, and run a two month promotion that gave away a holiday package with cash ring purchases of $3,500
“I’ve always been highly disciplined in my use of Bartercard,” Karl said. “I use it to reduce my cash expenses and invest in properties, but this was a really great idea and I’ll certainly be running similar promotions in the future”.
Next time you’re on the hunt for a diamond ring it might pay to find out what Xennox Diamonds has to offer – their jewellery is made on the premises by skilled Australian tradespeople. Items are occasionally advertised on Bartercard’s eMarketplace, but Karl welcomes enquiries from Bartercard members at any time.
Karl Schwantes from Xennox Diamonds ran a two month promotion that gave away a holiday package purchased on Bartercard with each cash purchase of a ring for $3,500 or more. “I’ll certainly be running similar promotions in the future,” he said.
Issue 1, 2014
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What is Bartercard? And how does it work…
Bartercard is a business network made up of over 20,000 members in Australia and 55,000 around the world. It is designed to assist businesses to improve cash flow and reduce cash expenses through the use of modern bartering.
6 benefits for business...
Gone are the days of swapping a cow for a pig or a chicken for a goat. The power of modern bartering is that you can conserve cash and reduce expenses by using our digital currency, known as a trade dollar, to swap your goods or services indirectly with any business within the Bartercard network.
1. More customers
4. Sell excess stock
Most businesses employ sales people, advertise, reduce prices or offer incentives to gain more customers. By using Bartercard you gain more customers by promoting your business directly to the membership base through the many sales channels and by building relationships at the networking events. It’s like having an extra marketing arm in your business which directly results in increasing your sales opportunities and creating cash referral business.
For many businesses selling excess stock means discounting, running dealer promotions or sadly writing off the stock. The benefit with Bartercard is you sell excess or discontinued stock at the normal selling price avoiding the need to reduce your profit margins. You can promote your excess stock to the 20,000 members on Bartercard’s online facilities, eNewsletter or at a stand at the many trade shows.
2. The power of Bartercard trade dollars
5. Capture lost revenue
When you barter trade using Bartercard you are ultimately buying with your cost of products or services. Therefore, you are buying at the purchasing discount that is inbuilt into your margin.
Most businesses have a certain amount of downtime, be it on certain days or at certain times of the year with the flux of seasonal trends. Bartercard’s goal is to assist you to gain additional customers to utilise business downtime. For example, hairdressers may fill empty spots in their diaries, restaurateurs may fill empty tables, hotels may fill empty rooms, and professionals may fill empty appointments with additional Bartercard customers. By filling downtime you are effectively gaining revenue that you would otherwise have lost or missed out on.
To put simply, if it costs you 35c in the dollar to provide your product or service, then for every $100 trade you spend it really only costs you $35. So you are in fact buying at a 65% discount! By understanding this benefit you may be starting to grasp the power that Bartercard offers businesses.
3. Reduce cash expenses The way to maximise your purchasing discount is to look at all the current expenses that you have in your business such as advertising, bookkeeping, legal, printing, graphic design, business lunches and so on. By using the services of business members within the Bartercard network you can pay for these expenses with trade dollars instead of cash.
6. Interest free line of credit Bartercard members receive an interest free line of credit ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 trade dollars which allows them to make purchases immediately upon joining the Bartercard network. This interestfree line of credit allows you to continue to grow your business even during times when your cash flow has slowed, without incurring crippling interest rates.
To give you a snapshot Bartercard currently has 500 advertising/media companies like radio and magazines, 188 bookkeepers, 294 printers, 1,570 restaurants and cafes and 216 graphic designers! The spending options for your business are enormous; therefore your cash savings are also enormous.
Could any of these benefits help your business? We would love the opportunity to help you to achieve your business and lifestyle goals. Contact our friendly team on 1300 BARTER (1300 227 837) or visit www.bartercard.com.au/contact-us 6
BarterMag
Moving excess stock
Half day tile sale turns excess stock into
$300,000 Earlier this year, the owners of family business, Versatile Ceramics, decided to close one of their two tile outlets to reduce overheads. The challenge was always going to be selling the huge amount of stock at that location. There was little room to accommodate the stock at their other outlet, and running a series of print and radio advertisements to sell it off would be a costly exercise, particularly because their high quality Italian and Spanish tiles would have to be sold at discounted prices to shift them promptly.
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riscilla Dabit mentioned their problem to the team at Bartercard Sydney Central when they visited the store to see if they could better assist the business to make the most of Bartercard. Their Franchise Manager, Paul Breen,and Trade Co-ordinator, Katinka Zagon, presented a potential solution – hold a half day sale for Bartercard members and sell the stock for trade dollars. Priscilla saw the benefits immediately. The good quality stock was likely to go very quickly because of the discounted prices and the fact that product sales at bargain prices don’t happen every day on Bartercard. Plus the advertising was better than free – the Bartercard team would design and run the entire campaign at no cost to Versatile Ceramics. Being time poor, the idea had winwin written all over it for Priscilla. The date was set and the sale scheduled to run from 9am to 1pm. About 80 Bartercard members turned up and by 1pm Versatile Ceramics had sold over $300,000 worth of stock. Priscilla was impressed. “It was just amazing! It all happened so
quickly and so easily. There were no browsers - the members who took the time to come to the sale were there to buy. We didn’t sell all of the stock, but we made a huge dent in it.” Priscilla admits that in the last two years she has really concentrated on making good use of Bartercard within their business. They’ve arranged $25,000 worth of new signage, had painting, plumbing and other maintenance requirements taken care of, and purchased their invoice books and business cards. Now, she looks for nearly everything on Bartercard before making a purchase! Of course, with $300,000 in the trade kitty, and still doing some 10-15% of their turnover on Bartercard, you may be wondering what Priscilla plans to do with all those trade dollars. Priscilla says they haven’t decided yet, but a real estate purchase is a possibility.
“It all happened so quickly and easily and the (Bartercard) members who took the time to come to the sale were there to buy.”
Priscilla Dabit, Versatile Ceramics
Issue 1, 2014
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Community
Bartercard: kicking goals in the community I
n 1991 when Bartercard was first established, the directors focused their efforts on building a new brand that would create a strong market presence among business owners in Australia. Mainstream media was an expensive option so alternatives were explored. Community groups, charities and sporting groups became a “marriage made in heaven” for both parties with Bartercard building its brand through signage, access to events and logos on jerseys. The receiving charities and sporting groups gained a new sponsor and additional funding to grow their organisations. Twenty-three years on, Bartercard Australia has proudly invested in excess of $180 million into the community, charity and sporting space. This support has ranged from selling a simple holiday package to raising funds for a young sick child to investing millions into our premier sporting teams across the country.
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Bartercard’s General Manager Andrew Barker
Bartercard now houses more than 500 charitable, sporting and community groups who actively work in the community to raise funds for many projects. These funds come in the form of donations from members and also through the sale of sporting memberships, corporate hospitality and sponsorship of special events. Bartercard’s General Manager, Andrew Barker, said that with key sponsorships being signed through the summer, Bartercard’s sporting portfolio has evolved to represent all codes of Australian sport. “Bartercard has always been passionate about sport so we are extremely pleased to continue supporting our local communities both on and off the field,” he said. The Central Coast Mariners, reining premiers in the Hyundai A-League joined Cricket Victoria and the Melbourne Renegades in the BBL as the new partners in Bartercard’s growing sports stable. 2014, again will
Twenty-three years on, Bartercard Australia has proudly invested in excess of $180 million into the community, charity and sporting space.
Melbourne Renegades
show a heavy Bartercard presence with key sponsorships being renewed with the Queensland Reds and ACT Brumbies (Super Rugby), Gold Coast Titans and Manly Sea Eagles (NRL) in addition to a host of state league and grass roots clubs. What has this all meant to these groups? These sporting groups use their additional trade dollars to purchase equipment, repair ground and facilities, provide family entertainment on game day and cover travel costs for their away games. Many of the sporting clubs and charities use their trade dollars to purchase auction items on trade which in turn raises valuable cash for project use. With the additional funds provided to charities and community groups, housing has been built for the special needs, supplies and relief given to victims of natural disasters and even holidays purchased for those needing a break away.
Central Coast Mariners
Bartercard truly is a win – win when it comes to sporting, community and charitable support. It’s the perfect tool for groups to raise much needed funds and great for businesses whose sponsorships gain brand exposure and increase their brand awareness.
Cricket Victoria Issue 1, 2014
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In the Spotlight
Training, travelling and trading on Bartercard Some of our members are quite extraordinary in their approach to business and make good use of Bartercard to help fund, implement or nurture significant expansion of their businesses. Steve Wiggers and Phil Hickey, from the Scala Institute are two such individuals. We caught up with Steve recently to find out what makes him tick, and find out exactly how they’ve used Bartercard to make a positive impact. Q: What exactly does Scala Institute do? A: Training and business development. We’re a Registered Training Organisation (RTO). In addition to running tailored accredited courses, we conduct a range of corporate workshops. Many of our clients are in the hospitality and retail sectors. We also specialise is B2B Sales training. Q: You’ve expanded quite a bit since starting up in 2010 in Tasmania and now conduct training in Victoria and Queensland. Many start-ups spend the first few years struggling to find their place in a crowded market. How have you achieved that expansion in such a short time frame? A: I think we found our ‘place’ in the market very quickly. We don’t simply ‘run courses’. We take a broader approach that begins with assessing the challenges being experienced by a business, identifying the desired outcome, and then tailoring the training to achieve that outcome. That means more than just running courses and issuing certificates to those who pass – it means identifying outcomes that will improve a business’ bottom line and then delivering the training in a way that really engages the participants, and results in a positive change in workplace culture and employee behaviour. That type of shift can have a huge impact on everything from business reputation to profit levels.
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Q: It can’t have been easy to expand into Victoria and Queensland. How did you go about that? A: Moving into a new region is always difficult. You’re not known, and it takes time to build brand recognition and reputation. We’ve used Bartercard to speed things along. Purchasing training with trade dollars is a really worthwhile investment for a member’s business so it’s not difficult to find clients. When we move into a new area we begin to look for Bartercard clients first. That helps us to establish our services, build our brand and obtain some great testimonials. That in turn helped us to bring in cash clients. Repeat business and referrals flowed from that. Q: How can Bartercard members use your services to reduce expenses and boost profits? A: Training can offer a huge return on investment. It can improve customer service levels, productivity and staff retention. Another option is that federal funding is available to cover part of the cost of training employees who meet certain criteria. For a business with a number of eligible employees, paying for training in trade dollars and receiving the funding in cash can be a cash positive exercise. Q: I understand that your relationship with Bartercard has been quite extensive. Has that always been the case? A: It has. Bartercard was one of our first clients for training services. We planned
and implemented training for Trade Co-ordinators (Account Managers) to enhance their skills and give them the right tools to help member businesses trade well on Bartercard. Trading was also vital during our start-up phase – it brought instant clients and helped us to offset many expenses. Q: What are some of the expenses you’ve purchased on trade? A: Many things - website design, legal services, bookkeeping, accounting, and advertising. Accommodation has been another important one because I travel every month and I am able to purchase the accommodation and car hire on Bartercard. I provide bonuses to our staff because I think it’s important to reward your team. I’ve also enjoyed a New Zealand holiday with trade dollars taking care of everything from the accommodation and car hire to restaurants, activities and a mud bath in Rotorua. Q: If you could offer Bartercard members one tip, what would it be? A: Use your Trade Co-ordinator (Account Manager)! Bartercard gives you amazing access to a whole supply chain, from manufacturers all the way through. If you don’t get to know your Trade Coordinator you may never appreciate the depth of the network. I’ve heard some members say that they don’t need help to spend their trade dollars. I disagree! I believe those members would multiply their results by meeting with their Trade Co-ordinator regularly and talking about what they’d like to achieve.
Business & personal investment
House & land package – an ideal investment of trade dollars
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loria Gattuso recently purchased a home and land package using Bartercard trade dollars for a deposit. She’s exceptionally happy with the purchase price, the home, the inclusions and the location – for Gloria it is the perfect way to invest the trade dollars earned by making extra sales on Bartercard. As a wholesaler and importer of homeware, specialising in aluminium ware, Gloria from Theatre Imports is a busy woman. With multiple trips to India each year, travelling interstate to exhibit at seven or more trade shows a year, and keeping up with new trends in fashion and homeware, she has little time to waste. In fact, when we interviewed Gloria, she was in a hotel in Western Australian and had just a little time before heading to the airport to fly to South Australia for another exhibition. Gloria talked to us about her Bartercard journey. On joining, Gloria saw Bartercard as a great way to bring in more sales as it was the perfect way to sell smaller non-wholesale quantities of stock that would otherwise be difficult for her to move – she could sell smaller quantities of products to members and sell retail at Bartercard trade shows. What Gloria realised was that since most of her expenses were incurred overseas, in a location where she was unable to use the Bartercard, she had to get creative with her spends.
Real Estate Opportunities Arise About two years ago Gloria was prompted by a call she received from the Bartercard Real Estate division. A real estate purchase sounded like a very wise investment of trade dollars, but even so, Gloria had little time to spend researching the opportunities and the idea fell by the wayside until 2013 when an outstanding opportunity was presented to her. House and land packages in the Saratoga Estate in Point Cook were being offered. Purchasers could use trade dollars for 10% of the land cost and 20% of the building cost. The build was all inclusive too – from the floor coverings and curtains, to the fencing, landscaping and dishwasher. The location was good and the inclusions were high quality. Gloria decided it was time to act and that purchasing an investment home would be an excellent way of investing her trade dollars to ensure a good return. Discovering that a suitable property management service was also available on trade was a bonus.
theatre imports
The home is still under construction by Watersun but is moving towards completion. So what’s next for this diligent investor? Impressed by the opportunity and the outcome Gloria will be keeping a closer eye on real estate opportunities in the future. She plans to sell the investment property after a while to convert those trade dollars to cash. “I will do it again” said Gloria, “it’s been a very positive experience.”
“Trade dollars can effectively be used like real money to offset cash expenses. Using Bartercard to partly pay for a real estate investment has been a very positive experience that I would do again.” Gloria Gattuso, Theatre Imports Issue 1, 2014
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Marketing Feature
How to use Facebook to market your business. In Australia alone, there are over 11.5 million people with a Facebook profile. That’s a huge audience, and no matter what your business category is, your target market is on Facebook.
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acebook gives your business the opportunity to set up a place for you to interact with your clients and prospective clients, free of charge. So it makes pretty good marketing sense to put your company information where your target market is gathering, particularly when there is no charge. Have you set up a business Facebook page? When was the last time you updated it? There is no doubt that your target market is currently going to Facebook on a regular basis to connect with their friends and family. Sure, they are not going there to find your particular business. But neither do people turn on the television, open the newspaper or buy a magazine, with the intent of buying products and services! Yet those forms of media have a proven track record for returning great results for businesses that advertise with them.
So why wouldn’t you take advantage of the free space that Facebook has on offer to your business? The most frequent objection I hear is “But how do we use that space to build our business, to make additional sales?” This is a valid question, and there is quite a lot of information about Facebook and how to use it in your business. Unfortunately much of the discussion is about: How to build the number of “Likes” you have for your page What to post on your page How to get people to like, comment and share your posts These are once again very valid topics, and I would encourage every business to build a page with posts that have interactivity in mind.
Creating an interactive Facebook page
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his process on its own may add some additional sales to your bottom line via your existing clients, but it doesn’t address attracting new clients to your business. More about that in a moment.
Once you have your page populated with a number of interesting posts and are creating new pages on a regular basis, you can then focus on asking people to “Like” your page.
Some examples of interactive posts are to use the following “styles” of posts:
It’s fairly easy to get quite a number of people to like your page. Most of those people will come from friends, family and existing clients, and new clients that come into your business.
»» Ask questions, “Why do you like…?” or “Do you like…?” »» Use “either/or” type posts to start conversations (e.g., Coke or Pepsi?, Dogs or cats? etc.) »» Write posts that bring out positive emotions »» Have a mix of business and non-business related posts »» Conduct surveys or polls (additional tip, you may need to offer an incentive) »» And of course the business generator is to make special offers
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You can start to post some promotions on occasion as a means of increasing the business you do with those existing clients. If you can keep your posts interesting you will also be building a stronger bond with those clients. That all makes good business sense but the reality is your page is not likely to be exposed to many of your “Potential Clients”. This is often where businesses start to become disillusioned with using Facebook as a genuine means of growing their business.
Marketing Feature
Using Facebook to attract new clients to your business
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f you want to use your Facebook page as a means of attracting new clients to your business, this is the time to start advertising on Facebook using their ‘Pay Per Click program’. This is similar to advertising on Google and your advertisements will show up on the right hand side of news feeds. Unlike Google where your ads appear when people type in certain search terms, Facebook places adds according to demographics; what people are interested in, where they live, their education etc. Importantly, you get to use an image as a part of your ad. The right image will really attract your target market to take a closer look at what you have to offer. There are a number of ways that Facebook identifies your target audience. Some of the information is provided by people when they set up their profiles. However much of the information is based on the types of things people have “liked”. The collective interests of your group of friends are another place Facebook gets to learn a bit about your interests. But the real indicators are the groups and businesses that people like. For example, for someone interested in running they might join a fitness group and may even “Like” the odd fitness business. Subsequently when you set the demographics for your advertisement you can really focus in on who your target market is.
Using an example of a ladies running shoe, let’s assume that you want your customers to come into the store, and you happen to know that this shoe is particularly attractive to teenagers. You would target ladies: »» Who live in your geographical area »» Are in the age category of 15 to 25 »» Who like running
You might even narrow it down further by adding ladies who have “Liked” “Runners World Magazine”. Each extra modifier will narrow down your audience. By doing this you can choose an image that they are likely to identify with and your ad copy can really reach out to them. I hope you can see that now you are exposing your business to a very targeted audience and while in this case it may be a relatively small audience, it will be a much larger exposure than by just having your page on its own. So go ahead, set up your Facebook business page, populate it with some interactive posts and start your advertising campaigns. Start attracting new clients to your business and increase your sales to your existing client base.
If you need some help setting up your business page and advertising, you can find some excellent guidelines here on Facebook Setting up a page - www.facebook.com/business/overview Bartercard members are welcome to discuss how to outsource the management of your Facebook Marketing as this can take a bit of the pressure off. Written By Steve Roberts Director Bedlam Marketing Ph: 0414 455 200 Email steve@bedlammarketing.com www.bedlammarketing.com
Issue 1, 2014
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Networking
Nervous Networker to Networking Queen – the Terri Cooper journey “Use Bartercard to conserve cash - don’t spend it just because you have it, make it count. It’s a great tool for business if used wisely.” Terri Cooper, Terri Cooper Networking
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erri Cooper runs a successful networking event business in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, organising high profile business speakers and planning every aspect of the regular business breakfasts and luncheons hosted by her company, Terri Cooper Networking . Locally, she’s referred to as the ‘Networking Queen’. Yet a little over a decade ago, Terri was so nervous about networking that sometimes after arriving at events she couldn’t face entering and would drive home instead. We spoke to Terri to find out how she went from daunted to daring and how being a Bartercard member assisted her to establish and grow her business. Q: What led to you establishing a networking business when you personally found networking so very difficult? A: In 2001, I was working in the entertainment industry and was also involved in a small chamber of commerce committee. My role in the chamber was to organise speakers for the events. I wanted to start a business and I think my love of helping people with their businesses eventually outweighed my fear of networking. I was experienced in organising event speakers, so I was more confident with that aspect. Q: How did you go about establishing Terri Cooper Networking? A: It was a very difficult start up. I kept my regular job for about a year but even so, the first two years were tremendously difficult. Financially Bartercard was a saviour in those early years. There were many things I wouldn’t have been able to afford without it – simple things like computer and car repairs, and having my hair cut. It really took the pressure off. I was also able to have flyers printed to advertise my events.
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Q: Do you use Bartercard the same way now as you did back then? A: I still use if for those things mentioned, but also for much more now that the business is more established. I spend trade dollars on bookkeeping and accounting services, printing, car servicing, banners, advertising, and sometimes for accommodation for guest speakers that I’ve booked. Q: So how does your business earn trade dollars? A: Two ways. We offer tickets to Bartercard members. There’s also an opportunity for members to sponsor an event with trade dollars. Event sponsors have an excellent opportunity to build personal and brand recognition. They have five minutes in the spotlight, addressing the audience. They can have banners and signage at the event, and their brochures on display tables. There’s also an opportunity to provide a door prize. Attending and/or sponsoring networking events is a great way for Bartercard members to expose their business to potential cash clients. Q: How many people attend your events? A: It varies from event to event however it’s generally 70-100. The event that centred on the Facebook and LinkedIn speakers was our biggest turnout with about 190 guests. Q: If you could give Bartercard members a single tip on how to best use their Bartercard what would that be? A: Use it to conserve cash. Be mindful of what you’re spending your trade dollars on. Don’t spend it just because you have it, make it count. It’s a great tool for business if used wisely.
Staff Incentives
Confident Health Care Wollongong’s Top Bartercard Trader When dental practice owner, Parisa Javady, joined Bartercard in 2011, she had no set strategy in mind as to how she might make use of it. The business was doing well and not in dire need of additional patients. Parisa simply loved the concept of bartering – and her love hasn’t faded. Over the past three years, Parisa’s dental practice, Confident Health Care, in Corrimal, has traded more than $430,000 on Bartercard and there are no signs of slowing down. The practice welcomes Bartercard members for all levels of dental treatment, from a check-up and clean to implants, and there are no limits to treatment availability. That’s because they’ve found no end to the list of ways they can put their trade dollars to use. Practice Manager, Kim Lumsden, explained “We just find so many uses for our trade dollars. I’m pretty sure we’re on the phone to our Trade Coordinator at least once a day, asking if we can source one thing or another on Bartercard. There are many things we buy that are really beneficial to have, but wouldn’t be a priority purchase if we had to pay cash.” So exactly how does a dental practice spend hundreds of thousands of trade dollars?
Conserving cash The practice has been able to shift a number of day to day expenses to Bartercard, including tissues, toilet paper, and office stationery, water for the dispenser in the waiting room, window cleaning, security monitoring, and even some dental equipment. Their biggest find in the cash conserving category was $10,000 worth of dental tools on Barter. Kim estimates that up to 20% of expenses are now covered by trade dollars. Improving the business Having access to a good amount of trade dollars has allowed the practice to spend relatively freely on items that bring improvement to the business, but wouldn’t necessarily be a priority if they had to be paid for in cash - from the weekly delivery of fresh flowers to the purchase of a quality $10,000 copier. They’ve also installed a new security system and monitors at the dental practice and at Parisa’s home. Being a Bartercard member has also helped to boost patient numbers. The clinic’s patients, including those who pay with Bartercard, often refer friends and family who pay in cash – so it’s a case of ‘the more the merrier’ when it comes to meeting new Bartercard clients. And if you’re planning a visit
to Confident Health Care for dental treatment, prepare to be interrogated – Kim says they get many ideas on using their trade dollars by speaking with their Bartercard patients! Staff Incentives Parisa isn’t the only raving fan of Bartercard at Confident Health Care – her ten or so employees all have staff accounts – this allows the practice to offer incentives in trade dollars and give special rewards to team members. Staff members are rewarded for bringing new patients to the practice, or simply for doing an outstanding job. Kim says these rewards are definitely appreciated, “we’re all able to have our hair cut at an award winning salon, visit a beautician, or just have dinner out, without dipping into our regular pay or cash savings.” There’s also a Christmas party every year and the planning for the 2014 event is already underway – Parisa has booked out an entire venue at Sussex Inlet for two days. It sounds like it’s going to be one awesome Christmas party!
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Charity
Bartercard Bond scholarship recipient coming up tops! The Bartercard Scholarship Program began in 2008 with the first group of recipients commencing at Bond University in 2009.
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ach year, Bartercard Australia offers six Bartercard Scholarships to Year 12 children of Bartercard Australia members, franchisees and staff. This scholarship covers 50% of tuition fees towards a single undergraduate degree at Bond University. Since its inception, 27 students have attended Bond University on this unique scholarship. Stephanie Marr was awarded with a Bartercard Scholarship to study at Bond University after graduating from All Saints Anglican School in 2011. She is now in her final semester of an undergraduate degree in Behaviour Management, and hopes to begin her Master’s degree in Criminology in 2015. During her time at Bond, Stephanie has been awarded with five out of five consecutive Vice-Chancellor (VC) awards. To obtain these awards, students must finish the semester with an average of at least 85% across all subjects taken, or a minimum of three high distinctions out of four subject areas. Students who obtain these prestigious awards are in the top 2% of those enrolled at the university. “I’m aiming high and going for six out of six VC awards”, says Stephanie. As well as these five academic awards, she has also received the highest overall grade for three of her subjects, placing her on the university’s academic roll of honour.
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Gaining valuable work experience along the way. Stephanie is a diligent student who is passionate about studying. “Part of the requirements of my degree is to undertake 190 hours of practicum”, says Stephanie. “I’ve been working for two different organisations, Paradise Kids and a behavioural unit in Brisbane. These work placements have been invaluable. They’ve helped me establish what my interests are as well as find out what I don’t want to do when I qualify.” “It’s been very emotionally challenging undertaking these practicums”, says Stephanie. “Some of the children’s home situations are far from ideal, which can be quite upsetting. However, this is why I’m doing a degree that enables me to work with people in order to make positive changes. My practicums have inspired me to look for voluntary work on the completion of my degree and I’d very much like to remain involved in my local community.” In the future Stephanie hopes to find full time work in the field of criminology, working with youth services and the justice system. She also dreams of working towards a PhD. Stephanie is very grateful to the management of Bartercard for providing her with the opportunity to study at Bond, as their scholarship has allowed her to pursue her career path of choice. Bond University Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Tim Brailsford said the Bartercard Scholarship consistently delivered amazing talent to the University’s campus.
Stephanie Marr
“For the past six years, Bartercard has provided incredible, life-changing opportunities for 27 students through the Bartercard Scholarship,” Professor Brailsford said. “Bond is committed to providing increased study opportunities for as many students as possible, and through the generosity of organisations like Bartercard, we are able to deliver on this commitment.” “These scholarships are awarded to Australia’s best and brightest students. Our Bartercard scholars have excelled not just in their school studies but through their active involvement in industry internships, student associations and activities, and their commitment to helping the wider community.” “We are proud to partner with Bartercard Australia, whose values of innovation, connectivity and ambition align so well with those of Bond University, and we look forward to welcoming the next generation of Bartercard scholars to our Gold Coast campus in 2014.”
Applications are currently open and close on July 31st, 2014 with the recipients being announced in October. Eligibility: Recipients are chosen based on their strong academic performance, demonstrated leadership skills in their schools or communities, and extensive involvement in extracurricular activities. They must submit an application form, a personal statement explaining why they feel they deserve the scholarship and a ‘Letter of Association’ explaining how they are involved with Bartercard.
To obtain an application form for the Bartercard Scholarship Program please contact the Bond Scholarship Coordinator, Maria Hand, on 07 5595 1028 or scholarships@bond.edu.au or visit the web at www.bond.edu.au/scholarships/bartercard.
“For the past six years Bartercard has provided incredible, life changing opportunities for 27 students through the Bartercard Scholarship Program” Professor Tim Brailsford, Bond University Vice-Chancellor and President Issue 1, 2014
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Bartercard Events Networking is critical in any business. Personal relationships create so many more business opportunities as people do business with people they trust. Bartercard hosts over 40 events per year to allow members the opportunity to network and build relationships, increase their trade volume, pick up additional spending opportunities, as well as gain business knowledge from the seminars on business topics such as sales and marketing, social media, financial planning, wealth creation, real estate and the list goes on.
When you come to a Bartercard event you can expect to leave with additional business contacts, have the opportunity to refer businesses that you would like to see in the Bartercard system, and ultimately save cash in your business by gaining further knowledge on using the Bartercard system to the best advantage for you.
We hope to see you at our next event! www.bartercard.com.au/Events.html
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Issue 1, 2014
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What our members are saying... W
e have been with Bartercard for over 8 years now and are now Platinum members. We have built our business solely with the help of the Bartercard network and expanded into areas that we would not have if it were not for Barter. Guy Besley
Latitude Travel Services www.holidaysontrade.com
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artercard has helped me increase my cash business with cross selling my products to other members. There are so many ways to spend my trade dollars - if my wife doesn’t beat me to it! A fantastic help for new and small businesses to increase their market share and afford those things that aren’t the highest priority on a careful budget! Dave Pellowe Hunni Media www.hunni.com.au
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joined bartercard to get rid of dead stock that my business could not move . I have been able to purchase so many wonderful things on trade that I have donated back to charities for raffles or auction items. Without Bartercard I wouldn’t of been able to donate the $7000 worth of prizes to these non profit charities.
Megan Short Currumbin Pet, Stockfeed and Rural Supplies www.currumbinstockfeed.com.au
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artercard is fantastic. Signing up with Bartercard is one of the best business decisions we ever made. We have done so much that we could never have done without the extra business that Bartercard has brought to us. The staff are always helpful. Love it! Katherine Quirke One Stop Loans Store www.onestoploans.com.au
“Our Mission is to enhance the lives of people by creating value and opportunity from the unrealised potential in the business of each member around the world.”
BRIAN HALL Bartercard Founder and CEO
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e are fairly new to Bartercard joining 5 months ago, and we have found it to be AWESOME! Bartercard has opened our business up to a whole new range of clients and on the flip side exposed us to new suppliers through the network that understand the concept and work with us to achieve what we want. Personally we have been able to achieve some renovations that we weren’t able to do previously, so overall Bartercard has created opportunity and helped us accomplish goals. Jodi Taylor
PSI Screenprinting www.psionline.com.au
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artercard has offset some of our everyday expenses which has saved our cash flow and added new clients to our existing portfolio. With strategic use of the service it can prove very useful and also very practical. I highly recommend it. Thank you Bartercard, we hope to be a Platinum member soon. Chris Lappos - Managing Director Neotech Information Technology www.neotechit.com.au
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artercard has been great for my business and I would recommend it to any other business. I have been able to use Bartercard not only in my home town but all around Australia and New Zealand. Bartercard has not only been a great source of advertising within its extensive network in Australia, but for jobs in the cash economy as well! Warrick Martin Clean Living Cleaning Services
connecting business connecting people
1300 BARTER bartercard.com.au