I’ve recently noticed that there is a double blessing in being a barter fanatic.  Of course the primary benefit is being able to trade with a bunch of folks for products/services that I probably couldn’t afford with cash.  The second benefit is that I can trade with them over a longer period of time because of my fanaticism.

As a barter fanatic I can’t help but talk to people about trade.  I talk to people I’ve just met about it and I talk to people I’ve know my whole life.  I talk to my wife.  I talk to my employees.  I’m sure there are a bunch of people who don’t figure I can even talk about anything else!  It also means that I talk to the people that I’m trading with about how great barter is.  It means I’m always talking to them about how to get the most out of barter.  I’m usually trying to give them ideas of how to use it to their best advantage.  I’m convinced that my enthusiasm and occasional wisdom have helped keep some of my trading partners bartering longer than they would have otherwise.  As we’ve discussed before, there is usually a limit to how much any company can barter.  Because of my fanaticism I have found that when I have a barter partner who needs to reduce their barter volume, I am usually the last person that they cut off from barter.

The take away is this:  Be enthusiastic about barter and try to help your trade partners be successful as well.  Do your best your barter vendor’s favorite client.  What comes around goes around.