You wouldn’t think twice about spending money on an advertisement, on some flyers or some other more “traditional” marketing tactic. You wouldn’t think twice about paying cash to attend a networking event. You recognise that marketing costs money.

Budget is one of the Sections in a marketing plan. Implementing your chosen marketing tactics costs money. The costs of membership and the cost of sales are common objections we hear when discussing membership of Jim’s TradeNet with our potential members. There is a monthly fee (at the time of writing $20 per month) and a cash “percentage cost of sale” (less if you pay on time.)

I want to show you how these fees should be part of your marketing budget – I’ll outline the marketing benefits of Jim’s TradeNet briefly below.

Dedicated Opportunity To Market To Members – Jim’s TradeNet have a team of staff dedicated to facilitating trades between members of the network. They have other staff who are dedicated to growing the network. If you are looking for a particular product or service, the Jim’s TradeNet team will facilitate the introduction if there is another member already in the network. If your product or service is not currently covered then they will look to see if they can bring new people into the network.

Networking Events and Opportunities – The Jim’s TradeNet team are committed to hosting regular networking events for their members. A recent event I attended was the Jim’s TradeNet Second Birthday Bash where I had a trade stand and there were other members attending as guests – a great networking opportunity. They’ve also had a number of dinner networking events that I have had the pleasure of attending

Online Marketing and Networking Opportunities – Further, you’re given the opportunity to promote your special offers – your products and services – through the Jim’s TradeNet private member’s forum and by having an ad placed in the regular newsletter.

Now, when dealing with other Jim’s TradeNet members, you need to remember that you are paying in Trade Dollars. You should not accept more Trade Dollars than you can afford to spend. A Trade Dollar does not appreciate in value – unlike cash in the bank it doesn’t appreciate in value. Trade Dollars cannot appreciate in value but they can improve your cash flow. If you have excess capacity for work of 10-20% you could offer this in trade and reduce your cash expenses in other areas – this way you increase your revenue AND boost your cash profits.

As a business, here are some of the things you could change to Trade Dollar purchases – Printing, Accounting, Business Coaching, Marketing/PR Services, Copywriting, Web Design and many other services. I’ve also managed to get some personal expenses covered on trade too – holiday, wine and food.

If you would like to learn more about how you can implement a trade strategy for your business – to improve your marketing, your networking AND your cash flow, then please get in touch today.