As my regular readers know well, I like to do computer things for people.  I have made my living from this for over a decade now.  In this tough time many people don’t have the money for my services, I am good at what I do so I charge for it.  So I decided last week to barter my services for those of other small businesses.  I can make great websites for business, and I can fix computers so that they are like new.

So I looked around for what I needed, I saw right away that I needed some yard work done (I am highly alergic to grass.)  I posted a small ad and the next day I had a landscaper call me, he needed his wifes computer to be fixed and the best quote he received was $150.  So he is going to come here in the morning and do 2-3 hours of yard work for me to remove some adware and install a few programs on his wife’s computer.  Good deal for me.  Trade 2 hours of my time doing something I like to do for 3 hours of something I hate to do, it is also a winning situation for Chris, the landscape guy, he just does 3 hours of work and saves himself $150.

I decided to take it to the next level, I found a company that will go in your attic and put this foil stuff down so on the hot Arizona days 95% of the heat is kept out of your house.  The materials and labor for a house my size is about $2,000.  I talked to them today and I am going to build a 10 page website for the materials guy and a 3 page site for the installer and I will get what I need for FREE.  They say this should save me at least $100 a month during the summer.

I am also working on my wife’s OB/GYN so that all of our prenatal care for my second child will be free, at least the part that insurance does not cover.  She is in need of a website.

I need some work done on my roof, I need new paint for my house.  I would like some rooms painted.  I am in talks for all of these things.

Once you start looking around and asking for such things you really start to find some great places.  Also what is nice is that I don’t barter with hardware so when they buy hardware I still get paid.  Also, when I have done this in the past they usually buy much more from me than I buy from them so I get a new customer and I get something done that I needed and I still make a profit.  It works well, and I suggest that every small business owner try it out.

(On a side note, I have seen many formal barter systems, and they don’t work, I would avoid them.)