By now, you have heard of AOL's (TWX) decision to give its software and service away for free. Why would AOL decide on such a thing. They think that free content and access will markedly increase page views on their sites and thus exponentially increase advertising revenue. They are probably right. After all, the broadcast television networks have given their content away for free since their inception and charged for advertising. It seems to have worked out pretty well for them. (Of course, they are now experimenting with selling downloadable episodes minus the advertising and experiments in that arena seem to be working well too.)
What can we as Buyers in the Purchasing world learn from this?
Our take-away here should be that we can give away one thing of value in exchange for another.
There are a few examples below that I brainstormed for this blog entry. Please add your own in the comments section since one idea might spark another that would be perfect for someone else in a particular industry.
If you are a Buyer in charge of paper or plastic bags for your retail company or perhaps in charge of shipping supplies for a catalog company, is there a way you could get the bags or boxes for free? There sure is! How about if you trade the empty wasted space on your bags or boxes for advertising from one your suppliers? What the supplier pays can be used to pay for the bags or boxes.
Lets say you sell air hockey tables. Would the manufacturer of one of the brands you sell like to be featured on the back cover of your catalog or on the front page of your website? You know they would. Charge for the space or get a discount on any stock ordered for sales resulting from the featured placement.
Be creative and work with your peers in other departments such as marketing. I once suggested that a catalog company barter with a sign making company. The sign making company would produce the sign for free and the catalog company would feature the sign on the back cover of the catalog in an ad for the sign company. Everybody wins.
What ideas do you have for this type of exchange?
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