Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hey everyone, been a little while since I posted.

I was just recently approached by a local race car driver wanting to trade some web design services for free advertising on his car and his trailer.

Anyone here ever bartered your services for a product/service? If so, what are some guidelines you followed? Any ideas? Suggestions? Past experiences?



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Chris
Gonink: Website design for the smaller business  |Gonink Blog


Multimedia graphic, web and print design   

I like the barter system. 

It`s a good way for me to get the exposure I want and products I can use that I would otherwise not be willing to pay full price for.

If the race car driver is fairly active your business name could be seen by quite a few people.  What size will your logo be on his car?  I`d just be sure to stipulate that it can be read from a distance.

Sounds like an opportunity.  Good luck.

 

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Linda Hall, Cross Country Bookeeping Service
Keeping You on Track ~ The Right Way!
Cross Country Bookkeeping Services
T.R.A.I.N. Forum

The logo will be about 2.5` x 1.5` and I told him from the start I wanted the passenger side because that`s the part of the car seen most (and closest) to spectators.

Have you ever bartered for non-tangible services? I`ve heard of plenty of people bartering for products, free entries into poker games, tickets, gift certificates, etc. But advertising is not a tangible product.

Lots of things to think about....


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Chris
Gonink: Website design for the smaller business  |Gonink Blog


Multimedia graphic, web and print design   

I do it . For example. I gave a reduced price to a women in my county who runs large expo shows. I keep up her sites and create them for her shows in exchange for signage or booths at the show, as well as being included in her advertsing in print and on the radio. She also sents her business folks my way when they need my work. Another example is a site I created and keep up for a semi-pro soccer team, i get banners on the fields and links to my site. There is another client of mine that runs an online regional vendor listing site, i have navigation for them to build a web site through my company along with our other features. Another company vista print exchanged with me to help boost there new line through a new company we are launching in exchange for a gateway and residual income. because it is a new company they usually do not do this. They have partnered with companies such as monster.com and mark kay. But we agreed on an exchange that we hope to benefit both of us. It seems to work for us and it is a great way to get exposure without alot of upfront cost.

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My thought is race car advertising is more of a branding move.  Not sure that is what you are looking for?

Jim,

That`s probably the most interesting and difficult point about the whole idea. The other "brands" that are advertised on these cars are... well... automotive related for the most part. I`m a web/graphic designer, so I`m not sure that the target audience I`d be in front of is worth my while. Make sense?



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Chris
Gonink: Website design for the smaller business  |Gonink Blog


Multimedia graphic, web and print design   

So really, you do it often because of the exposure? I mean, radio ads and banners certainly aren`t cheap. Then again neither of us (if I do this) would be doing this for "free".

Are these freebies you`re getting putting you in front of your target audience?



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Chris
Gonink: Website design for the smaller business  |Gonink Blog


Multimedia graphic, web and print design   

Wouldn`t you think that ANY audience would be a target audience? 

Race fans and people in the stands use computers, own businesses, etc. and even if you only get 1 or 2 clients out of the deal, how about the word of mouth referrals you can get from those who see your name and/or logo on the car?

What does it cost you to build the website?  I mean, what are you REALLY giving up for what you`re getting?

Your advertising will be on the car, the car will be in front of an audience in possibly many areas, maybe in many states.  And it could be hauled on a flatbed truck which will be seen by people driving by it.  It might even be in car shows and autographing events. 

Think about how it would look in a photo link on your own website or business card.  How about the people that visit his "awesome" site and want to hire the person who did it?

BTW ~ Budweiser`s a pretty well known name and so is Kool but neither of them have ANYthing to do with automotive.

If you`re looking for instant gratification then don`t do it.   But, to me, this would be a no-brainer. 

 

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Linda Hall, Cross Country Bookeeping Service
Keeping You on Track ~ The Right Way!
Cross Country Bookkeeping Services
T.R.A.I.N. Forum

If I were in your specific situation, the three most critical & immediate questions I would want answered are: how many people attend these races, how long will my placed advertisement on your car run for [1 season, 2 seasons, etc.], and will the size of my logo/advertisement be large enough so that the majority of spectators sitting the normal spectating distance away from the track can visibly see/read it?

Given the amount of spectators that would see your ad over the course of the period the driver agrees to place it for [# attendees x  # of races],  I  would attempt to formulate that into an equation based on the average rate of advertisement that you would pay elsewhere for similar exposure. So if, say, 1000 people will see your ad on this car over the course of a season, compare that to another advertisement source that you would be charged for the same number of viewers.  This will give you an idea of how much this type of advertisement exposure is worth.

Compare that worth of advertisement to your base cost of designing a website for him. Obviously, if you are receiving more worth in real dollars from the advertisement exposure than it will cost you to design the website, it may be a good barter for you.

However, other factors must be assessed in this situation. Mainly, think about your target market when it comes to web design. Are most of your customers small business owners? How many small business owners do you think will be in attendance at this race? Whatever your main sector/demographic of your customer base is, think of how many of those potential customers will be in attendance at the races. Sure, it would be nice if 10,000 people see your ad, but if only 5 of those people would ever have a need for website design, then you really just wasted exposure on your ad [relative to the cost].

Hopefully the things I mentioned make some sort of sense. I`m typing this rather fast, as I have a meeting in about 15 minutes.

Hope this helps, feel free to email or message me with any clarifications I may need to express!


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I may be young, but I have the intelligence, professionalism, eagerness, and determination to never cease until the day my entrepreneurial endeavors turn into great successes.

Maybe it`s just me, but I think that statement contradicts itself. Your target market can`t be ANY audience - then it wouldn`t be TARGETED.

His target market in this industry are people that have a need for a website; from my limited experience, I would say that would consist of
1. Businesses
2. Organizations/Groups
3. Hobby/Clubs

Obviously he would know more about his target audience. But the majority of people in this country have no need for a website, and I would imagine that people who attend race car events would accurately represent the "majority" of citizens.

Just my thoughts.


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I may be young, but I have the intelligence, professionalism, eagerness, and determination to never cease until the day my entrepreneurial endeavors turn into great successes.