Bartering:
Virtual Assisting for Coaching

by Merri Taylor
(Denver US)

Hi Wendy, I'm not sure if this is helpful to you, but I'm a Virtual Assistant / Online Business Manager who works with coaches and can give you my experience with bartering with a coach but from my perspective.

I'm currently bartering with a marketing coach. I provide six hours per month of online / social marketing support (she has over 4500 Facebook friends that she has me invite to weekly talk radio interviews, plus I promote the events and event replays in various FB groups she is active in) in exchange for two hours of her coaching / mentoring per month.

I was initially hesitant with this proposal, because as a service provider, I'm trading my time for dollars and my hour of time is just as valuable as there are only so many available per day to trade.

I had decided beforehand that since rates will vary, if I were to enter into a barter arrangement that to "feel" fair and equal I would only consider straight time for time. Or if it were a product or class, then something along the lines of the product price divided by my hourly rate to come up with the number of hours of administrative and marketing help that I would trade for the product.

This coach was referred to me by a friend and if the result of working with her translates to a full practice/client waiting list then I will be extremely satisfied with the arrangement. If I don't see results (as long as I'm putting into practice the coach's advice), I will likely feel like I'm getting the short end of the stick.

I have a friend who bartered her business services for a coach who paid her in "barter dollars" that were applied to a barter website. She chose a tropical vacation from the website to spend her barter dollars on. Her experience piqued my curiosity about bartering and if it would be worthwhile if there wasn't a barter website involved.

I reached out to other VAs for advice on bartering and many said, "no, don't do it" while others had successful barter relationships. As long as both parties want the best for each other, desire a mutually beneficial relationship and want what the other has to offer, I say it's worth pursuing.

But be very clear up front about who provides what, have a touch point to see if each party is getting what they need from the relationship and set an end date. If you pick the right product or relationship, it could add to your skills or provide a great referral resource.

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Thank you so much for this Merri. It really is helpful. I'm curious about the "barter dollars".

And here is where you can get more hints on setting your coaching fees

And for more on how to go about Bartering or Swapping your coaching services.