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Bartering: Profiting Without the Money

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Sometimes the ā€œbusinessā€ of photography reminds me of this old childrenā€™s nursery rhyme:

All around the mulberry bush,
The monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey stopped to pull up his sock,
Pop goes the weasel.

As a metaphor itā€™s a bit of a stretch I grant you, but the more you think about it the more it makes some kind of quirky sense. Assuming for a moment that weā€™re the monkey and the weasel represents success, money or recognition (take your pick.) We chase after it in circles until weā€™re exhausted, stopping only briefly for a respite, and then suddenly there it is: Pop goes the weasel. A new moneymaking idea jumps out of the box.

Bartering. Itā€™s the new ā€œoldā€ idea. Itā€™s the ancient practice of trading goods or services for another personā€™s goods or services of equal value. Bartering has a lot of benefits, itā€™s an exchange based on negotiated value not on retail prices, itā€™s a currency of exchange, not money, and you can do it anywhere at anytime. Photography is a natural commodity. People always want great photographs of themselves, their family, their pets, their homes and their business. Sometimes they just want beautiful wall art. The one thing they donā€™t want is to pay for it.

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