Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Welcome to the Barter Edge Podcast—your insider guide to smarter business, bigger networks, and better ways to trade.
Whether you're a seasoned member or just getting started, we're here to share real stories, expert tips from different industries, and fresh ideas to help you grow your business using the power of the Bartercard ecosystem.
Podcast - Leanne
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Barter Edge Podcast, your insider guide to smarter business, bigger networks, and better ways to trade. We are here to share real stories, expert tips from different industries and fresh ideas to help you grow your business using the power of barter cart.
Well, welcome to another amazing episode of the Barter Edge. I am your host, Jen, and today I am here with an incredible woman, . Joanne Run. She is a property developer, an entrepreneur, a PR professional, a leading business woman, and she celebrated for her outstanding contributions. To the Queensland community.
Joanne has been a member with Bartercard for many years now, and she's also the owner of Xanthe Communications. Joanne, thank you for being here today. I'd love for you to share a little bit more about who you are and what you do [00:01:00] with our listeners today. Hi Jen. Thanks for, . Inviting me to be a part of the podcast.
Basically I've had a pretty, . A pretty colorful, . I would call it, . Entrepreneurial journey to date. Um, I started as a small business journalist and then moved into a role as a marketing manager, and then by the age of 21, I, uh, started my own business, uh, which, uh, was a dating agency actually. So I did that for five years and I became one of Australia's leading.
Introduction agents and agencies. So I sold, I sold that business and I'd actually moved into e-commerce whilst running the introductions agency. And, uh, so that really took off because again, I, I just stepped into that at the right time. And, uh, I moved into starting my own swimwear labels. And that was actually what led me to being [00:02:00] introduced to Bartercard.
To help me move stock. Um, and so yeah, Bartercard was great. I joined in 2013 and since then I, in 2016, I started my own pr, um, agency AMP Communications, which is what my university education is in. And so I've been doing that now for almost 10 years. So that's my, uh, and then in, in between all of that, I've, I've.
Dabbled in a lot of, uh, property purchases and development and, and got married and had children. And so that's my, uh, story today. I love hearing stories like yours, Joanne, because you know, it, we think that people just become this overnight success and they've got all of like, you know, you've been doing the same thing over and over and over again, but.
Life's a journey, and business is a journey, and being able to, you know, go from one thing [00:03:00] to the other and really fine tune your skillset and be able to do that around being a mom. It's great to hear stories like yours, so thank you for sharing that with us. Look, how has Barter Card impacted your business, and what success have you experienced since joining Joanne?
Well, I mean, I often say that I, I truly don't. Feel that I would have achieved, um, well, my husband and I, what we've achieved in the last 10 or so years without Bartercard because Bartercard helped, helped to, um, increase my income, uh, in terms of selling. So. Obviously when you have a swimwear label or any sort of a fashion label, um, it is very hard to move all of the stock that you've ordered and especially if you're manufacturing overseas because you do need to.
Um, manufacture an order in large quantities. So being a part of [00:04:00] Bartercard, for example, it helped me to ensure that all of my stock was moved in a timely fashion. Obviously I had the bulk was cash customers, and then, you know, the rest was Bartercard and that helped keep my income high. And I, I. I'm very savvy with how I use Bartercard.
So I was using Bartercard, uh, for, you know, to help me with business. Other, you know, I was using my Bartercard to help me with business purchases and also my own personal, um, renovations around the house. And, uh, I mean, I used it for dining out leisure, everything you can think of. Um, so that allowed my income to increase on the books, and then that in turn allowed me to borrow, borrow higher amounts from the bank, which I then, you know, strategically spent buying property, which then, you know, I made a lot of money on.
So, you know, basically Bartercard has been a game changer for us. It's [00:05:00] amazing because people sometimes just think it's just getting new clients and then where am I going to spend my trade dollars when I get them? And all of this sort of thing. But it's the amount of doors that it Bartercard can open. It's so much more than a platform to do transactions and.
The opportunities that can come for product based businesses. That's what we've just been talking about. Like if you are, you've got a lot of stock sitting there that isn't moving and you can't guarantee that something's gonna be a hit in the market. So you are spending the money to get the products bought to Australia and then.
You've already paid for that. So until they all sell, it's costing you money and it's a hundred percent storage and all of those things. Wouldn't you prefer to clear some of that stock without having to discount it as well? 'cause I think the mentality of a lot of business owners is, okay, I've got a new shipment coming, I need to [00:06:00] clear it.
Where's the 50% off sign? And they're devaluing their product. Would you agree with that, Joanne? Absolutely. I can give another great example. When I decided to move out of swimwear and focus solely on, um, my PR agency, I sold all of my remaining stock to, um, somebody in Newcastle who wanted to sell, um, startup their own eCom e-commerce website and sell it on, and then I use that money from that stock.
I wasn't, you know, in a position anymore to market or sell because my focus had moved solely onto my PR agency. I used that barter card money to pay for my council approvals at renovations on our current home. It helped, it not helped. It paid fully for the surveyor, the certifier, and the, engineer.
So, I mean, we're talking significant costs that I would've had to have spent [00:07:00] in cash that I paid at the time, not that long ago. A hundred, like only. This is only four years ago. I, I paid for all of that a hundred percent Bartercard. So that was a real genuine saving. Amazing result. And like Bartercard helps your business, but it also helps your life as well instead of having to take all of that out of your cash flow where it costs you a lot more than either doing your services or selling product that's not moving and doing it on your terms as well.
Mm-hmm. So Joanne, from your experience in pr, what trends or opportunities should business owners really paying, be paying attention to now? Well, the thing with PR is, I mean, some people don't even know what, what public relations is, but a lot of people sort of, um, correlate public relations with the media, which is certainly an aspect of public relations.
Um, but [00:08:00] how the landscape of media has changed in the fact that we don't digest media the same way that we used to. We don't. All go into the news agency every day like we used to, and purchase magazines and masthead and whatnot. So, you know, media, it's a different, it's a different situation. Yes, of course.
I still get my clients in the media regularly, but, you know, it, it has changed. You know, it's, it's not the same as it was. So, you know, we all are turning to different ways now to. To utilize the power of what PR is, which is basically the public perception of yourself and your brand and your business. So, you know, I'm, I'm sort of now talking to my clients about sort of getting back to basics a lot, and that is.
And that's why I'll bring Bartercard into this. Something else with me personally and something else that I relay to [00:09:00] my clients who have nothing to do with Bartercard is that you know, you need to be a part of a community. You need to be networking. And I've found that even like being a member for 13 years or whatever it is with Bartercard the people I've met, not so much even to do with the trade dollar situation, but being part of a community referring, because we are in a club, we're all in it sort of together.
So it is, Bartercard to me is like the original. Business networking. It's been around for 34 years. You know, it is the original business networking and referral, um, membership club or what, whatever you would like to call it. So, yeah, I, I say in terms of pr, you need to get back to basics and, you know, get out there, you know, with, with things like AI and people talking about AI taking jobs, uh, traditional jobs away, and I'm talking about the media landscaping change, uh, landscape [00:10:00] changing.
You know, there's so much power in physically getting out and being part of a networking, being part of clubs like Bartercard, um, you know. Other things that obviously we all know is, and it's, and it's true, is that you have to embrace social media. You have to build a community. You know, you, you, you need to put yourself out there.
And these are all total, and I mentioned this to you earlier, is that, you know, when you make a cake. You need all of the ingredients, or the cake is not gonna be great, is it? So like you can't just do pr, you need to do your marketing, you need to do your networking, you need to do your, um, sales, you know, and, and traditional advertising.
You know, you need to cover all bases. You can't just rely on one thing. You can't just say, oh, but I already do, uh, you know, search engine, engine engine, opt on optimization. I don't need, uh, something like barter card or, [00:11:00] you know. Well, yeah, you do. It's, it's an integral part of the mix, you know? Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing that.
And business owners, I believe, you know, you can't just hide behind AI and stock images. People do business that they. They like and they know. And so getting yourself out there and instead of just copying paste, watch chat, GPT is saying to post on your social media, you need to put your uniqueness into it, your personality into what you are putting out there and having an additional sales channel.
There is. So much noise out there. I think the last time I checked it was we are bombarded with over 30,000 marketing messages a day. How are you gonna stand out from the crowd? And being in the Bartercard marketplace is a great tool to be able to do that, isn't it?
Well absolutely, because I know, like my trade coordinator [00:12:00] is Renee Muer, who I've had for probably 10 years now. And I know if I, even if I haven't spoken to, to Renee for a while, I know if I need support in any way, and I'm not just talking about, oh, I need, . A particular trade or service, but if I need any sort of business support, . Renee is, you know, there to.
To support, offer support or suggestions or, you know, how Bartercard could help me with something I, I need, you know, support for or help with. So yeah, the Bartercard network gives so much more. As I said, it's so much more than just. Trading, obviously that is the core. You know, the core reason we join is that the trading aspect, but there is just so much more to Bartercard 'cause there's been, there have been times where I haven't, you know, I haven't particularly needed to trade, for example, but I'd never stepped back from the Bartercard network because I mean, I'll be honest with you, being in business, I realize we've [00:13:00] got so many expenses ev every month.
Whether you're trading, not cash, trading. If you're working, you know, whether you. Take a break from work, you still got your, you know, there's always so many expenses coming in. The expense that you paid a barter card is nothing, you know, to be part of a club like Barter card. So even if you feel like, oh look, I'm not trading at the moment for a few months.
Don't just quit the club, you know? You know. Silly, you know? Yeah. And you don't know what opportunities are coming around the corner as well. So what would you say, obviously you've had an amazing, uh, experience over the, since 2013, being a member. Mm-hmm. What would you say to someone if they were considering joining?
Oh, well, just, yeah, exactly. Just further along from what I've talked about today, um, is it's. Barter card can really offer [00:14:00] opportunities that, in my opinion, no other sort of, uh, you know, um, channel can, can offer like, and, and also, and you have to be, you know, you do have to be a bit savvy and a bit smart about it.
I've always managed to find probably 80% of the time what I need. Using barter like, you know, you, you know, you can't just sort of expect everything to be handed to you on a silver platter. You've gotta get out there and, and be a bit savvy with it and, and have that sort of mentality. And then, you know, like people would come to me often at times and ask, Hey, do you know someone who's offering this?
And do you know someone who's offering that? And I'd always just share my contacts with them. But the bottom line is, and and I'll be honest with you, when you do find a good trader, like a barter card trader, you treat them [00:15:00] well, you treat them with respect. , I'll be honest, I, I've had some people buy the card traders work with me for years because.
I'm respectful and, and appreciate them and, and they will only work with other people who treat them well. You just can succeed in barica the way you should succeed in life and in business. You know, you just be smart about it. Absolutely. Absolutely. And it's such an amazing way instead of us or you going out to networking events and building the relationships like you are then connecting with these people and there's a flow on effect or, okay, so I'm doing this on trade.
Then Joanne might go and recommend you to three cash paying customers as well. But that relationship wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the connection of being Bartercard members. And Bartercard members love supporting Bartercard members and they go way to support each other because [00:16:00] it's, it's being in Bartercard is a mindset and it's about, um, thinking outside the box, opening yourself up to opportunities and being a big picture thinker.
Hey, I've got something. Yeah, exactly to say. I, I sort of encourage people, Bartercard members or people considering joining Bartercard to think like a PR person because I just do what I'm about to say that I do without thinking because it's just how I operate being in the PR game. But like I, for several years, I had an amazing hairdresser on Bartercard and I would recommend her.
To all and sundry on Facebook community chat pages when you know someone was calling out for a hairdresser in her area.. When my friends would ask for hairdressers, . I recently used a, a pest control guy through . Bartercard. He did such a great job that whenever I see anything pop up on [00:17:00] a Facebook community group, you know, looking for a pest control person, I always put him forward because, and that's nothing to do with Bartercard, that's cash clients.
So that's how barter card members, if you get a good. Service through trade dollars . , Through barter card, then you should be singing the praises to that person in the cash community. You don't, nothing to a barter card. It is just supporting the barter network and your traders who've looked after you.
I mean, I've used everything with barter card. I mean, you blow your mind. Upholstery cleaners and I mean, God blow your mind. The things I've done on barica mirrors, I've got all brand new mirrors for our renovation in the bathrooms. I mean, I said I could be here all day. Our cakes made everything you could think of.
I love it. I love it. We need more, uh, people like you in our community. Uh, Joanne, thank you so much for being here with us today [00:18:00] and for sharing, uh, more about you, what you do, your journey, and how Barter Card has helped you succeed. So thank you so much for being here, and I'd love to get you back on for another episode of the Barter Edge.
Thank you so much for having me. It's been a blast.
Thank you for being with us today and sharing your stories and expertise. If you wanna find out how Barter Card can help your business, or if you wanna be a guest on our future podcast, contact our team at hello@bartercard.com. Make sure you tune in for our next episode of the Barter Edge.