Barter: It's Not Just for Doctors AnymoreWritten by Angie Dixon
Time was, in country, local “doc” was as likely to get paid with a couple of chickens as a couple of dollars. Doctors these days won’t stand for that, of course, but while some people have moved completely away from barter and stayed there, others have embraced it wholeheartedly.Today I worked on a barter deal with a web designer to do search engine optimization on my web site in exchange for some articles. I HATE doing SEO, and I LOVE writing articles. This person needs articles written and is good at SEO. It’s a good match. Later in day I put together a mailing designed to entice a massage therapist into bartering for my coaching services. I have a lot of pain in my back and shoulders, and a massage would do me good, but I really can’t afford monthly massages. If this works out, I will work an extra three hours a month in exchange for massages, hopefully every two weeks. Barter isn’t for everyone or every situation, but it does have some advantages for home-based business. You can usually get something you need, you can save your cash for other things, which you also need, and you get a “customer” who’s willing to give you referrals and testimonials.
| | Testing Your Product or Service the Easy WayWritten by Jim Hoffman
You've got a great product or service, you just know it will sell and either increase your sales or your leads or both. But how can you be sure?Marketing your product and services can be expensive and many times not as productive as you may have hoped. Purchasing leads, advertising space, banner exchanges and all other ways to get word out about your new or existing services, don't always produce increase in sales you thought they would. Many times you don't even break even with your initial investment. One of easiest ways to test your market and make some quick sales is to use a little company called Ebay. Ebay is a very low cost way to place a item up for bid. Millions of people are on Ebay everyday looking for a good deal and unusual opportunities. You can reach an unlimited amount of prospects by placing just one ad that can cost you pennies on dollar. The best way to place ad is to try following: * Search Ebay listings for similar products or services * If you see any that are similar to yours, adjust your ad copy so that YOUR ad will stand out. ( Don't place your ad until you do this first. You don't want your ad up and running only to find out that someone else has a better ad and lower pricing than you.) * Run ad for full 7 days. * Put your domain name within ad. Now Ebay does prohibit links to websites etc. But you can place a domain without a link ie. inetgoodies.com I also highly recommend that you create a "My Ebay" page. This page does allow for links and other ad copy directly for your website. Plus many people will check this out just to see if you are professional enough to set this up or just looking to make a quick buck on Ebay.
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