Barter Exchange: A Surprising Option for Freelancers

As a freelancer, there will be times in your career when gaining extra time is more important than earning extra money. That means that trading some of your working time for something you need directly — rather than taking the long way around and trying to earn the money first — can make sense. Bartering some of your work for what you need, can be a useful way to get it. Bartering services can be especially useful when you’re just starting your freelancing career. IT CAN GET THE JOB DONE!

There’s a reason people use cash, rather than barter exchange, for every day transactions. It can be tough to find someone who not only has what you want, but needs what you have. 

It can be worthwhile to keep a list of what you’re willing to barter with, just as you might keep a price list for the different services you can provide. It can also be worthwhile to establish a cash value for both ends of your bartering agreement, so that you’re both clear that the arrangement is fair to each participant.

Write up an agreement of what is involved in the project, deadlines and any other expectations and sign it. That way you will at least start out on the right foot when it comes to treating any barter work completely professionally.

In short, you should handle a barter arrangement no differently than you would handle any other client. The only thing that should not be identical to a regular gig is the method of payment.