Small Business Coach

3 New Tradia ® Franchises in Utah

Matthew — Wed, 28 May 2008 11:57:00 -0700

Over the past few months, we've had numerous discussions with a Utah-based company that already owns 3 Tradia ® Franchises in Salt Lake City Utah. We just completed the final documents for the sale of 3 additional Tradia ® Franchises for Northern Utah, Provo / Orem Utah and Southern Utah.

With these new Franchise Agreements in place, Tradia ® will have 6 full-time Franchise Operations in the state of Utah. This will also be the first time a single group or company outside of Tradia ® Commerce Network, Inc. has owned more than 2 Tradia ® Franchises. We're particularly excited about this expansion because our Utah Franchisee is a dedicated and professional organization that brings excellence to our company and the barter / trade industry.

We anticipate visiting Utah for training purposes over the next 18 months. We're also anxious to see our Tradia ® Software in action which, allows a franchise owner the ability to track all activity for a remotely operated franchise business from the comfort of their home-based computer. Utah is a great state for barter and Tradia ® is flourishing in Utah.

Franchise Expansion in USA & Canada

Matthew — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:11:00 -0700

We've had 3 meetings with investors and key marketing people in Florida over the past five months in an effort to dramatically increase the number of Tradia ® Franchise Operations in the USA and Canada. We're almost complete in our negotiations and feel certain that Tradia ® will be the largest Barter Exchange Franchise in North America. There's always room at the top and we expect to be there in 2 short years.

In mid-April of this year, we video taped a key portion of our Franchise / Trade Director training that will play a huge role in our Franchise & staff training efforts. Franchisee's will use our training system to teach their growing staff members how to do the Tradia ® business. You can be in all places at all times when you use the technology available to us today. On-line training as well as weekly web-conference training will add to our vast training system and make it possible that every single Tradia ® representative will speak from the same platform based on a systematic and readily available training format. If you buy a Tradia ® Franchise, you expect to get more results and our training does deliver that at every level.

We have the name, the marketing materials, the training system, a trained corporate staff, a targeted business plan with 6 levels of profitability and a dynamic business opportunity aimed at small business, all ready for this expansion. We're ready for the wave of growth and we're excited. Tradia ® is a cash-less alternative to banks, credit cards and debt. People can literally trade what they have to get what they want using the Tradia ® Barter Exchange & Database.

After a lot of preparation and testing, Tradia ® is ready to set the pace and take the lead in the Barter industry.

New Boise Idaho Franchisee

Matthew — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:59:00 -0700

George Wells, a veteran barter exchange owner has decided to ride off into the sunset. At the young age of 78, George has sold his Tradia ® Franchise to newcomer; Ron Paul and his wife Katie. Ron has a ton of sales and customer service experience and we're excited to see this transition. It's always a little scary when we go through a change like this but it usually brings new energy and growth with the change-over.

We're always looking for a true entreprenuer and we are certain to have found it in Ron. Tradia ® in Boise will be hard to beat with the addition of the Pauls as franchise owner / operators.

Ron & Katie Paul will be trained as a Tradia ® Franchise in the month of May 2008. We'll see them in Portland and then schedule the first of 2 in-field trainings. Tradia ® has recently increased the amount of training offered to a new Tradia Franchise. The more a franchisee knows about Tradia ®, the faster and stronger they grow as a business. This is a very positive step in the growth of Tradia ® in Idaho.

13 Kick Butt Sales Questions

Matthew — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:13:00 -0700

Want to know how to make a customer loyal and how to get the most out of your relationship with your customers? It's simple. Ask questions your competitor doesn’t ask! Whether it’s during an in-person sales presentation, over the phone or at a networking event, identify the types of questions every other salesperson just like you is asking their prospects. Examples might include textbook, unoriginal questions like, “How much are you currently spending on…?” or “How happy are you with you present suppliers?”

Knowing what questions your prospects are used to and tired of being asked is a powerful sales weapon. Because now all YOU have to do is NOT ask those questions!

So, create 2 lists: “Top Ten Most Common Questions Asked by a Salesperson in My Field", and “Kick Butt Sales Questions My Competitors Aren’t Asking.” Think of the best, most creative and most original sales questions you’ve ever used or heard. Questions that made customers smile. Questions that caused customers to stop in their tracks. Questions that enabled customers to share their needs and wants.

13 Kick Butt Sales Questions Your Competitors Aren’t Asking
1. How are you making it difficult for your customers to…?
2. How are you making it easy for your customers to…?
3. How many customers are you losing by…?
4. What are the benefits you’d like to see as a result of…?
5. What are the bottlenecks in…?
6. What are the three biggest mistakes being made by…?
7. What do you think makes the difference between…?
8. What excuses are preventing you from…?
9. What one word do you want customers to use when describing…?
10. When someone comes to your website, what's the ONE thing…?
11. When someone walks into your store, how do you want them…?
12. When was the first occasion you noticed…?
13. When was the last time you actually…?

Questions ARE differentiators. Make your own customized list based on your industry and needs, then start asking the hard questions. These questions will set you apart from the competition and change the way your customers do business. This will make them more successful and you will have a part of their success.

* If you need sales or business coaching/training, imagine using a barter/trade exchange for this service. Trade your excess inventory for the training you and your staff need. This way, you keep your hard-earned cash and get the product or service you need. Business coaching is one of the many services you can get as a Tradia ® Member. Why Pay Cash When You Can Tradia? ®

Franchise Training Development

Matthew — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:58:00 -0700

Tradia® is increasing the amount of hands-on training for all our Franchise and Regional Offices. We are already good at training and feel the need to enhance the current training system to better service the existing Franchise Offices as well as their support staff. The more time we spend with a franchisee, the better they become at building their Tradia® Franchise business. This increase in the amount of training we offer is included in our Tradia® Franchise Agreement.

In the first week of April, 2008 Tradia® is shooting a full-length Video Training Series to dramatically change the amount of training available to all Tradia representatives. The Tradia® DVD Training System will be useful to beginners as well as seasoned Barter Professionals. It will feature 3 separate DVD's covering barter basics, history and business information, sales training & overcoming objections and building large trade volumes using many real examples.

With a home-based Franchise System, Tradia® keeps the expenses down while providing a huge opportunity to the personality that can handle working alone for the first few months while building a local membership. This new Training System will literally teach every aspect of the barter business in a step-by-step format and at your own pace. Along with this DVD Series, Tradia® also spends a large amount of time on a hand-held basis with each Tradia® Franchise, both at Tradia® Corporate in Portland Oregon and in the Franchise Territory. The more you know, the more valuable your Tradia® Franchise becomes.

Following our training techniques and suggestions, your return on investment (ROI) is greatly increased. Why would anyone buy a franchise and not take advantage of the training and systems available? Bartering is a simple concept. Building a business using barter as a business strategy and Trade Exchange is like any business opportunity. It requires real effort and follow-through. It's amazing to watch how much trade volume a person can do with the right coaching and support system. Tradia® expects to lead the way with this new and improved Training System and we hope to see exponential growth in the number of Franchise inquiries we receive.

Tradia's New Website is finally live!

Matthew — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:13:00 -0700

I am happy to announce that last Friday at about 12: 25 PM Pacific Daylight Time, Tradia ® Commerce Network, Inc. launched it's new website for all Members and Tradia Brokers. For two months prior the website had been in an active testing phase used by select members and Trade Brokers. Testing was ramped up last week and daily emails sent out to all Brokers and corporate employees announcing the countdown to the site launch. Within minutes of the launch, emails were sent out to all Tradia Members and over 175 people were logged in within the first hour.

As with all things internet, there were minor problems, quick fixes and some downtime, but overall, the new site has been online, live and serving Tradia Members nationwide for almost a week with over 99% uptime. Members and Tradia Brokers are extremely pleased with the new site, it's versatility and all the new features.

The new Tradia ® Online website offers members the opportunity to manage their entire trade account online. They can list classifieds, auctions, update their business directory listings, post want ads, make travel requests, see their entire transaction history and update all their account information. They can read all the Tradia news, browse articles on barter and connect with other Members online. Never before have Tradia Members had such an opportunity to trade at their leisure and monitor their trade account.

The new Tradia website is the culmination of a 2 year effort made by the Tradia ® IT Department and is the foundation of the Tradia Commerce Network. It is the most sophisticated software available within the barter exchange industry. It was programmed and developed exclusively using Microsoft .Net 2.0, SQL Server and Adobe Photoshop and delivers to Tradia Members break-through automation that will change the way barter is viewed.

Tradia Commerce Network is the largest privately held barter exchange in the United States with Franchise owners and Local Trade Directors serving over 5000 cardholders nationwide.

CPAs Offer Eight Steps Aiding Entrepreneurs In Tough Economic Times

Matthew — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:40:00 -0700

The AICPA (http://www.aicpa.org/) is the nation’s largest professional non-profit association representing more than 340,000 CPAs that specialize in the area of tax, accounting, and consulting services such as personal finance.

As one of small businesses’ most trusted advisors, CPA’s offer these eight steps to help entrepreneurs in tough economic times:

Step 1: Focus on your balance sheet.
Business owners love to talk about sales and tell you how many millions of sales they had this year, but as you get closer to the recession the focus should be on your balance sheet. Make sure you’re managing your cashflow well. It’s something you should be doing all the time but it’s even more critical in a recessionary environment, because there’s just that much less cash floating around. While the going is still good, try to put cash aside to build a war chest.

Step 2: Diversify and launch.
Economic downturns have a benefit for business. A recession gives you the opportunity to step back, rethink, and review all sectors of your operation. Consider launching a new product or service offering not currently offered in your market. Use the time for diversifying your products, services, or industries so you don’t have too many eggs in one sinking basket.

Step 3: Start looking at your credit and debt.
You should begin looking at increasing your debt. Negotiating with a bank from a position of power and good financial resources in a good economy is a lot easier to do than trying to negotiate in a recessionary environment. Don’t think of that extra credit simply in terms of reserves to get you through cash-trickling times.

Step 4: Review your accounts receivables.
When things are starting to turn down, you want to keep a sharp eye out for someone who is in to you for quite a bit, because if they go under and cash is tight that could have a huge impact on your small business. Similarly, review your agreements with suppliers. Maybe you don’t have to pay in 30 days; maybe you can pay in 45. Again, it’s easier to negotiate in a good economy than in a downturn.

Step 5: Review your company discretionary spending items.
Although small businesses are typically very lean, recession survivors often still manage to trim some fat. Think of all the discretionary items. Take whatever steps you can to reduce your debt. The less you have to pay out on a regular basis during an economic slowdown, the less painful it will be. Employ labor and time-saving technology to reduce business costs. More effective use of the Internet can save on travel, training, administration, and operations costs.

Step 6: Review your customers.
Start reviewing about how a recession will impact your customers. If your customer base is involved, for example, in the home-building industry, and home building is down, then you know these customers are not going to be demanding as much product, so you better get ready for that. One way to do that is to search out alternatives. Somebody’s always making money, even in a recession, so if you can find out where those pockets are and if you have services you can provide to them, maybe you want to expand those services.

Now is also the time to take customer service to a new level. Get in touch and stay in touch with your active customers. Take nothing for granted. Make sure your pricing is competitive, your service exceptional and your attitude reflects how much you value their business. Revisit dormant customers and see what you can do to bring them back into the fold.

Sometimes it takes as little as just asking to restart a relationship. Other times it can take some imagination, but resurrecting a past customer can still be easier and less expensive than finding and breaking in a new one. Ask your customers for referrals. While this is a good practice at any time, it is particularly important in a down economy.

Step 7: Keep up marketing.
Many companies cannot afford to stop marketing, regardless of economic conditions. New products are always sure revenue generators if marketed properly. Determine what sets your business apart from the competition and market it like crazy. Attend networking functions, spruce up your Web site, send out post cards, put out a new sign in front of your office.

New business, however, doesn’t have to come from new customers. Many small-business owners can find that their best prospects for new revenue are their existing customers and clients—established relationships mean an owner doesn’t have to spend time, energy and money trying to make a good impression and knowledge of customers’ needs makes it easier to come up with new products or services they’ll want to buy.

Whether prospecting for new business or working with a long-standing customer, success can turn on making a valid case that your product or service will benefit the buyer, even if the economic times are uncertain.

Step 8: Do additional research.
The CPA profession in the United States has created free resources and tools to help small business owners with personal finance issues.

To learn more check out the CPA profession’s 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy visit http://www.360financialliteracy.org/ and check out the “Entrepreneurs” tab.

Sales Training Paying Off In Utah

Matthew — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:35:00 -0700

Salt Lake City Utah - I spent two days offering sales training as continuing education for the SLC sales team. We find that regular training visits pay exceptional dividends. Tradia ® is in a constant evolution of Franchise training & support. We believe in a hand-held system of training where we see the Franchisee and their staff frequently. The more they know, the better they serve the Tradia ® Membership. This was my fourth trip to SLC in the past six months.

Our SLC Franchise Group owns all three (3) Tradia ® Franchises for the greater Salt Lake City area. New member growth is consistent in SLC and we anticipate an increase in new member development for all of 2008. Jerry Bybee is the New Member Sales Manager for Tradia ® SLC and is doing a stellar job. We wish we had a clone of Jerry in every town in the USA. His hard work is paying off and he deserves most of the credit with great support from the remainder of his SLC Tradia team. Tradia ® is already the largest barter exchange in SLC Utah.

Found this great article on swapping

Jennifer — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:22:00 -0700

Are Barter Sites Right for You?

Online bartering sites want to change how consumers shop.

By Chris Penttila | Entrepreneur Magazine - October 2006

Don’t want it? Swap it. Or so says a growing number of entrepreneurs running sites that let people swap all kinds of stuff. Bartering is the oldest business practice around, and a handful of swap sites arose during the dotcom era. Most didn’t survive. Now the sector is re-energized, thanks to better technology and shrewder online shoppers who have accumulated stuff they no longer want or need. “The model was around a long time ago—it’s just re-emerged now because of the flood of DVDs, CDs and media,” says Bob Alvin, 48, founder of Los Gatos, California-based BarterBee, a six-employee site launched in 2005 that specializes in online trades of CDs, DVDs and video games.

Numbers revealing the size and potential of the swap sector are hard to find. Talk to “swapreneurs,” however, and they’ll tell you they’re on a mission to change the world of buying and selling. “In the way eBay changed the fabric of society, we have the same opportunity to do that,” says Jessica Hardwick, 39, co-founder and CEO of Sili-con Valley-based SwapThing, a year-old swap site whose sales—which are earned through transaction fees—will approach $1 million this year. SwapThing’s membership base is growing 40 percent a month, and the company boasts a growing list of professional services up for swap, from haircuts to innovation consulting.

Still, swap sites face challenges. Shipping and geography can prohibit some trades. Users must also spend time matching up trades that aren’t equal in value. But the hurdles aren’t stopping swapreneurs, who are in a fast and furious race to become the eBay of barter. It’s anyone’s guess who will take the lead, but swap sites are betting that people’s love of stuff will drive them toward the online swap marketplace. “I think everyone at heart is a bargain shopper,” Alvin says. “[Swapping] is a valid [business] model.”

Tradia Commerce Launches a New Database & Website

Matthew — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:50:00 -0700

Tradia ® Commerce Network, Inc. announces the launch of the most sophisticated software available within the barter exchange industry. This new database is the culmination of 2 years effort made by the Tradia ® IT Department and is the foundation of the Tradia ® Exchange Membership. We track everything with this software, from barter transactions to barter auctions and classifieds to travel bookings, cash payments, email broadcasts, local events, member directories, blogs, edits, updates, reports, automated merchant services, member-driven transactions & listings, contact management software, a prospect database, cash discount opportunities, franchise inquiries & training, and an enormous amount of small business training.

As Tradia ® founder and President, and with 28 years experience in the retail barter industry, I have never seen software capable of performing at this level. I really thought I had seen it all but our IT Team working in tandem with current MicroSoft® technology is writing break-through automation that will change the way barter is viewed, marketed, managed and performed. We believe the name Tradia ® will become the branded name for barter or cash-less transactions in America.

Tradia ® will sell more franchises then any barter company in US history and we can only guess the number of new members we will attract and serve with this amazing technology. It will support thousands of entreprenuers simultaneously in multiple languages, countries and currencies. Tradia ® is building a training system to support 500 Tradia ® Franchises and 5000 Trade Directors in North America. We estimate that each Trade Director can serve a minimum of 300 Tradia ® Members each.

Why Pay Cash When You Can Tradia? ®

Check out this great press release

Jennifer — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:25:00 -0700

A BARTER EXCHANGE IS THE BEST BUFFER AGAINST FAILURE FOR MERCHANTS - 845,322 small business owners in America agree

I found this at http://www.pressreleasespider.com/feed28780.aspx

Press Release:

(New York) Shirley McBride the research director for the North American Barter Association confirmed that one in every twelve small business owners gave barter a try in the last year, while a full 7% use barter on a regular basis to keep their cash flow and their out of pocket expenses down. ?Clearly, barter is a versatile tool with so many benefits for small business and not much of a downside? she said yesterday at a Chamber of Commerce networking luncheon for new business owners.

In today?s highly-competitive market place, merchants struggle to survive and balancing a company?s resources is essential to stay in the game. ?By utilizing barter, a company can unload a slow-selling inventory and in return get something they need without having to write a check. As a result, companies that barter average a cash flow that is 13% higher, and that really can make a difference? McBride added. In a recent NABA survey 845,322 small business owners in America agreed that barter is an essential part of their growth and daily operations.

?Companies that utilize barter on a regular basis tend to be more progressive, have higher credit scores, faster growth rates, and generally tend to have healthier bottom lines? said McBride. Some business owners wrongly consider barter to be a ?last resort safety valve?, but in reality over 60% of Fortune 500 companies and 11% of public companies use barter on a monthly basis as quick way to balance their books, stimulate new business, and bolster sales. The best part of all is that barter is a very low-cost financial management tool that can get thousands of dollars of advertising, printing, or office supplies in exchange for an inventory that is otherwise going to become a tax write-off. Barter is especially helpful for new start-ups trying to survive their first and toughest year where 50% of all ventures will fail.

The only down side to barter is a small one, and that is finding an experienced and competent barter exchange in your region that has what you need. The Internet is a great place to start. Finding a barter exchange with the least amount of complaints and most laurels is not hard to do. Merely do a search on Google, Webcrawler, or Dogpile using the name of the barter exchange followed with a keyword like ?complaints?, or ?problems? or litigation, or ?investigation?. NABA recommends that you use a barter exchange that is a member in good standing of a major trade association like IRTA, NATE, or NABA, with a good D&B rating and clean record with the BBB. With more than 2,000 barter exchanges in the U.S. it?s not difficult to find a reputable barter exchange than can start helping you save money with a phone call today!

Why not check out http://www.tradia.net/, serving over 5000 customer nationwide