By Jay Conrad Levinson
I would like to congratulate both Dave and Ali for putting together such an outstanding book that finally explains what I believe is one of the most misunderstood, jealously guarded, but immensely profitable and fun ways of doing business. It’s called barter trade – or just barter or trade, for short.
You are about to begin a journey of a lifetime that will get your creative juices flowing, because barter is really no more than a metaphor for creative and “out-of-the-box” thinking. You will soon begin to undertake a paradigm shift in the way you think, the way you do business, and the way you view life in general.
When done correctly, barter will improve the productivity and efficiency of your business. It can also multiply your buying power several fold by allowing you to buy goods and services at 60-75 percent discount off full retail prices, and it can give you immense leverage – at no additional cost and very little effort!
Using barter trade, you can nearly always get better terms, credits, and discounts than you would normally by paying cash, and more time to pay. You nearly always pay on a deferred basis for what you want and also get it interest free. And that’s just the start! A “barter dollar” is usually worth more than a cash dollar! You can pay your employees or vendors, or do anything you would normally do with cash, by using barter or trade.
When you use barter to augment your current business, you really can’t go wrong. Of all the marketing tools I know, I would say that barter is the best way to get more clients by far.
Barter is a weapon for Guerilla Marketers. It is one of the most powerful marketing tools that few people understand.
The people you are about to meet are world experts in their own right. Dave Wagenvoord has traded over half a billion dollars in trade credits. He is a legend and has traded cars, motor homes, boats, real estate, and more. And he’s traded with giants such as FedEx, DHL, Four Seasons, Marriott, KLM, and Sheraton, to mention just a few. His client list looks like the who’s who of business.
Ali Pervez is a marketing expert whom I am sure you will continue to hear much more about. He has written two excellent books on marketing and is very passionate about the field. He is a very genuine, sincere, and compassionate human being.
Together they have simplified barter down to its essence and to a science that can give you predictable results.
But if barter is that good, why don’t more people use it? I think it is because of a lack of education: either they don’t know about it, or they don’t know how to use it to gain maximum leverage for their business. So I am so happy that Dave and Ali have put this book together to finally remove the mystique and misunderstanding that seems to surround barter or trade. They have been able to simplify it so it may now reach a wider audience.
What surprises me is how little has been written about this subject, based on how powerful the concept is once you are able to master it. Maybe that is why only five hundred people in the world truly understand how to barter to gain maximum leverage.
Barter is an art as well as a science, and you will soon learn that it takes a lot of real finesse to put together a good barter deal. But when done correctly, the results can be prolific. Barter can totally change the course and destiny of any business. It could be the strategy that you have been looking for. You will also see examples of barter deals that have been done, and many case studies that clearly show the immense power that barter offers as a business and marketing tool. Barter, or trade, like a lot of very good principles, is very simple, and I think that it is its simplicity that intimidates people.
Once you master barter trade, you will only be limited by your imagination. And you will start living your life and business with a sense of possibility. You will become an expansive and exponential thinker versus a lateral one. At its most basic, barter will improve your margins, lower your expenses, and bring you new, unfound business opportunities. At its best, it will totally change the way you look at business and life.
Without taking the tag-line from AT&T, barter will make you “rethink what is possible,” once you have read and studied the real-world case studies in this book. I am truly excited for what you are about to learn. Barter principles have certainly changed my life, and I sincerely hope they change yours also. Barter trade will allow you to be more, see more, and do a whole lot more with your time, effort, and money! The type of barter deals you will be putting together will soon only be limited by the power of your imagination. With barter trade, the sky is not the limit; it really is just the beginning. Welcome to a new universe!
– Jay Conrad Levinson
Father of Guerrilla Marketing and author of the Guerrilla Marketing series, which has sold more than 21 million copies in 63 languages