Trading your business for something other than cash helps you promote your business, boost your sales or gain new customers.

A lot of companies solve budget problems by bartering: trading what they have for what they want without using money.  Bartering is hardly new but it has come more and more sophisticated as more and more companies swap beauty treatments for advertisements, hotel rooms for computer repairs and electronic gadgets for plane tickets among other things.

Here are some bartering tips:

Be choosy: Don’t jump at the first barter opportunity being offered to you.  Choose your swap partners well as not all barter arrangements are beneficial and not all offers give you mileage.

Be flexible: Not all exchange deals will give you exactly what you want.  You must be willing to change suppliers and try new ways of marketing your business.

Be clear: Always know the details of the deal.  This would make your barter arrangement clear.