A skill (or talent) swap is where people or businesses team up to offer each other their product or service in a mutually beneficial arrangement. For example, as a photographer, I have used skill swaps to exchange professional photographs for services such as copywriting, social media training and even beauty treatments! It’s powerful stuff. Here’s five reasons a skill swap is a great idea.
Save money.. obviously
Skill swaps are a great way of working around the often minimal budgets we have as small business owners. This might take the form of a direct swap of your products or services for theirs, or perhaps one party receives a discount against the others (possibly where the value of the products or services vary greatly).
Getting something you need – or want!
We all know there are things in our business we need to invest in, but it can be difficult when you’re under tight budgets, especially in those early days. Where there’s mutual benefit to be had, a skill swap can be a no-brainer. But more often, the financial constraints we find ourselves under stop us from having the things we want rather than the things we need. A skill swap is a great way of treating yourself, without actually having to spend the money.
Building relationships with fellow business owners
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know
This is so true isn’t it? There are so many opportunities that I’ve had purely because of the people I’ve met and built relationships with. Networking, love it or hate it, is a powerful thing. If we get along with someone, then we’re far more likely to spread the word about that person – and even more so if we can genuinely share our enthusiasm about how good they are at what they do.
The benefits aren’t just limited to the referrals you’ll hopefully get as a result. Having people around you who get what you’re going through and can support you can actually improve your overall wellbeing (Mental Health Foundation).
Getting more testimonials for your business
77% of consumers ‘always’ or ‘regularly’ read online reviews when browsing for local businesses (up from 60% in 2020). And yet, it isn’t always easy to get clients to leave reviews or testimonials about your product or service. By working with fellow business owners, you know you’re working with someone who understands the importance of positive reviews to the success of a business.
Getting more user-generated content
‘79% of people say UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions’ (Stackla)
Unless you run your own business, you may not know just how much the support from people online can help a small business. Sharing pictures or videos of you using a product/service and tagging the business is a great way of showing your support – and this is something you can provide each other.
I hope you’ve found this useful. I’d love to know if you’ve had any great skill swaps, or perhaps there’s some on the cards as a result of this! Pop a comment below. I’ve got another blog coming soon on some of the considerations you need to make before going ahead with a skill swap. Check back soon!
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