Manhattan For $29 Worth Of Beads!

I am sure many of you have been to a Jay Abraham Seminar (if you could afford it) .... or read his many books. Jay and I are good friends. We worked together at two of the same companies some 35 years ago.

His pearls of wisdom are part of Direct Marketing Brainstormers.

In today's really tough marketplace, here's an important business exercise.

Start by making a list of all the products and services your business makes, sells or markets. Make special note of excess or surplus goods, materials, equipment, inventory, capacity, space, technology and access that your business no longer needs or doesn't fully use.

Write that list down the left-hand side of the sheet of paper. On the right-hand side create a list of all the vendors you regularly buy goods and services from. You want to see if any might be interested in directly trading with you for their products or services. Or, for a portion of the cost you pay for them.

Also, add the names of your current suppliers competitors. They might be even more eager to initially trade with you as a means to start a business relationship with you.

Below that list, start a third of companies with whom you might be able to "triangulate" for goods or services. See if there's any company to whom you'd like to start doing business with.

I call this Abraham piece of wisdom his "Winter Baseball Trading Procedure"!

Now go wild with the possibilities. Try putting small, easy trades together at first to get comfortable with it. Then, with time, keep expanding your level of trading.

Companies have made or saved millions through this form of "barter". Even Manhattan was purchased from the Indians for $29 worth of beads!