Skills2Barter Blog

Barter Groups (new feature)

Creating your own Barter Group is our newest feature. You can set up or belong to multiple groups and manage who can see and join the group. All participants can choose to still be active in the larger database but this refines your zip-code based search results even more. You can invite others you know and trust to join and become a part of your group(s).

For example, employees of a company often do favors for each other and trade services. If you set up or join a barter group that is explicitly for your company it will be easy to see from the listing of the members; who is interested in bartering, what they offer, and what are they interested in. A barter group for your friends and family is another group that you may want to set up. You may already trade with family and friends but when you register on the site you will have the option of only bartering with a specific group but you will still be able to search and respond to others outside the group who are looking for your skills. Many full time jobs or very lucrative relationships start small, one person helping another.  Another good example of how groups may be helpful is one for anyone interested in green technologies. Making it easy to find and barter with other people knowing your green standards will be upheld by someone that understands and has knowledge and/or experience. Barter for professional association members  is another option.

We set it up so that anyone can belong to multiple groups.  Groups can be designated as private where membership is by invitation only or remain public so anyone can join. Doing bartering inside a group definitely has its advantages. People usually know each other and references are easier to check.

We hope that you will find more reasons for bartering and inviting your known associates and family to be a part of a group. Try it and let us know.

Barter searching works best when it is based on users' zip code!

Bartering with people in your neighborhood and community is more likely to work out better than long distance bartering with people you have never met or don’t know.  Skill bartering usually requires that you will and should meet the person you are bartering with face to face.  You will most likely both need to do your work at a location outside your home. It is unlikely (but not impossible) that a plumber living in San Francisco will barter with a roofer in Chicago. Bartering with someone in your area is much easier and doesn’t incur expenses that would make the barter exchange prohibitive.  If there is travel involved it’s an added cost and should be taken into consideration when working out the exchange.

But of course depending on your skill sets, close proximity is not always required.  A web designer in Boston may easily barter with a financial consultant in Miami as both are able to deliver on the exchange long distance. But most barter exchanges are usually not like that. We deigned our search engine to find fellow barters via zip code, which supports both long distance and local searches.  Zip codes return more accurate results than searching by city, county or region.  A big city like Los Angeles has many of different zip codes in its boundaries.  Saying that you are in Los Angeles may not mean much for purpose of bartering because the parties could still be almost 100 miles apart. Zip codes on the other hand better defines your neighborhood area so meeting or travel will never be too much of a hassle. Let us know if you agree.

The first time I ever...

The first time I ever thought about bartering I was sitting out on my patio on a sunny day after a number of incredibly hot sunny days, as I sat sweltering, it came to me… somewhere there had to be a construction company that needed a web site who would be willing to trade me for a deck cover…

I had just bought my house and a deck cover wasn’t high on the list of priorities based on that it’s an older house and plumbing and something strange called ‘knob and tube’ wiring had quickly taken all of my resources and immediate attention.  I had been using a funky tent shade thingy like you take camping or you might see at a farmers market which worked fairly well. I was waiting patiently until the funds for a deck cover would either somehow magically appear or I saved up enough to consider it. But as fate would have it, during my parent’s 50^th wedding anniversay party on the back lawn we were caught in a freak wind-storm and the tent structure blew up over the top of the house and was never seen again… I am sure it’s now in Oz or some unknown alternate universe. There were no casualties, well unless you count all the food… I am 3 years later still finding the shiney gold confetti ‘50’s’ in my lawn and gardens -- as are all my neighbors and the munshkins I am sure.

First, I researched prices and companies just like I was ready to purchase – it seemed like a ‘sign’ when I found out that the value of a deck cover was almost exactly what I charged for a small business website.  Ureaka! This could work… So, I started calling and emailing all of the construction/awning/handy man/roofing/awning companies in my area. This process took about 4 months, yes, seriously. I told them straight up what I wanted to do and if they were interested I sent them my portfolio and they came over to do a quote. Eventually I did find the right match and now enjoy my deck cover immensely!

Now I barter everything from crowns for my teeth to accupuncture – it’s a great way to get things done without having funds available or when you have better things to do with your money. It’s a win/win for both parties so when my business partner brought up the idea a few years later I was totally onboard and skills2barter was born.

We launched!

We launched the site as expected on December 25th and we are really excited at the response so far! Everyone loves the idea and we are getting many new users. Below is the "official press release" with more information. Coming soon, tales from the great beyond -- case studies and examples of successful bartering transactions.

PRESS RELEASE

Skills2Barter.com launched on December 25, 2009 and is a skills marketplace for anyone who would like to trade (barter) their skills for someone else's. The idea is simple, we are providing a place where people all over the U.S. can register and search for skills they have and need based on zip code. We provide two ways to search 1. skill only and 2. barter skill for skill, both based on US zip code. You can save your favorite bartering buddies and select multiple skills when registering. People tend to think the only skill they have is the one they earn money with – NOT. Everyone has multiple skills or talents and maybe it’s time you started using all of yours to get what you need! You have a knack for decorating… maybe you can stage someone’s house to sell in exchange for a having a new deck built… we are sooo excited about this!

We started the site with a vision and two enthusiastic people who just happened to know how to build a website. We believe and history has shown that the American people will connect (that’s where the site comes into play) and will work together to continue to get things done and succeed in any way possible during challenging times. Our strength isn’t necessarily in our present economy or how much the dollar is worth. It’s in our people – their skills and experience. So when your insurance doesn’t pay for crowns or acupuncture or physical therapy or in-home nursing… somewhere out there, probably in your area, is a dentist that needs a website, a acupuncturist that needs her car worked on, a PT that needs someone to set up his books, and sure enough there is a nurse out of work that needs a music teacher for her daughter or a place to live. We would like to bring these people together so that we can all continue to live and get things done - the barter way.

We are just getting started and right now the biggest challenge is getting the word out and getting people to register on the site so we increase our community. We need more people, people like you to make it work. So please have patience if you don’t find the skills in the area you want right away, sign up, send your friends and family to the site encourage them to do the same and maybe the next time you go and do a search, you will find the perfect barter buddy.

 

On Bartering

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barter