Back to NewsJoining BarterPay is a smart decision to bring you new business, but a poor directory listing will cost you opportunities. Think of it as your digital storefront—if it’s cluttered, outdated, or confusing, potential partners will walk right past. However, even a poor directory listing is better than none. Don’t procrastinate on making a listing, you can always refine it over time.
Here is how to build a high-converting listing while avoiding the common traps that trip up even the most seasoned members.
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1. The Essentials: Nailing the Basics
- Business Name for Ad: Use your recognizable brand name.
- Title / Short Description (Max 50 Characters): This is your “category hook.” If your business name is vague (e.g., “Flanver Co.”), use this field to tell buyers exactly what you do. Keep it brief and functional, like “Residential Plumbing & Emergency Repair.”
- Logo: First impressions matter. Use a high-resolution file—no blurry screenshots or photos of business cards!
- Location & Service Area: Your City and Province are required – use your ‘home base’ even if you provide services virtually. If you’re mobile or offer virtual services, use the Service Area Description to define your reach. If you have a physical location, make sure you toggle on that you want it displayed & input the address.
2. Strategic Listing: How many should you have?
While you aren’t strictly constrained on the number of listings you can create, “more” isn’t always “better.” Over-segmenting your services muddies the directory. You should only create separate listings in the following scenarios:
- Physical Locations: If you have distinct storefronts in different cities.
- Distinctly Different Businesses: If you own a landscaping company *and* a digital marketing agency.
- Different Acceptance Processes: If you handle barter differently for different lines of business, split them up. Example: Create one listing for Repair Services (where you accept calls/BarterPay card directly) and a separate listing for Specialty Products (where you want the customer to contact their BarterPay Coach first).
3. Defining Your Process (The “How-To”)
To avoid confusion and customer hesitation, tell the buyer exactly how to initiate a transaction with your business on barter. If there is specific information that you always need in order to be able to determine if you can accept the work on barter, include the request for that information.
| If you offer… | Use this “Process” Language |
| Physical Retail | “We accept the BarterPay card directly at our storefront.” or “We accept Gift Cards at the point of sale, Gift Cards can be purchased on barter through your Barter Coach.” |
| Online Sales | “Please view our products on the BarterPay Barter Mall; you can place orders directly there for immediate purchase.” |
| Custom/Specific Items | “If we sell other products you are interested in but we are not currently listing them in the Marketplace, please contact your coach.” |
| Service/Quote Based | “Please contact your coach; we will need to know the scope of work and your deadline for completion.” |
| Hospitality/Events | “Contact your coach with your event details (date, location, etc.). If we can accommodate you, they will connect us.” |
| Direct Contact | “Give us a call and ask for Jim.” |
4. Describing Your Services
Members often make one of two mistakes, either they have an extremely short listing with no substance, or extremely long or unintuitive offer. If your list is too long or offer in convoluted, people stop reading.
For Bullet Point Lists:
- Keep it Focused: Don’t blend concepts. If you are listing services, don’t mix in “We are open 7 days a week” or “Free parking.” Keep operational details in their own paragraph.
- The Power of Six: If you have more than 6 services or products, **break them into sub-headings.** * *Example:* Create a sub-heading for “Interior Services” and another for “Exterior Services.”
- Avoid the “Too Technical” Trap: Use layman’s terms so every member understands your value.
- Avoid the “Too Flowery” Trap: It can be easy to add in a bunch of adjectives to make your listing seem more exciting, but too many and it becomes unreadable. AI, if not prompted well, can also write ‘too much’ while saying very little.
5. Other Critical Mistakes to Avoid
The “Time Capsule” Mistake Almost never include date-specific content (e.g., “Our Spring Sale on March 3, 2023”). Once the date has passed, that outdated text makes your business look inactive. If you run regular events (like trade shows), describe them generally and direct people to your website for the current schedule.
The “Set It and Forget It” Your business evolves. If you no longer offer a specific service, remove it. If you have expanded or offer a new product or service, make sure to add them. It can even be as simple as a subtle shift in focus, yes you still do all the same services but you now focus on Service B vs Service A… but you directory still reads like you are focused on Service A.
6. Review Your Listing
Go to the Directory Search and find yourself – make sure that you are being mapped correctly and that your content is showing the way you would want it to. We are working on ways to have virtual/no location based services be more visible outside of their primary market, but mapping yourself to the central point in Canada just makes sure nobody sees you. If you have any issues finding yourself or with where your pin is getting dropped on the map, ask your coach.
Pro-Tip: Use AI (like Gemini, ChatGPT, Grok, Copilot etc)
Your Writer: If you already have a website – don’t reinvent the wheel “My URL is _____ . Please write me a directory listing including a list of bullet points of my services for bartering on BarterPay. I want to exclude _____ because it is too costly. I want to focus on ___ without limiting interest in my other services. Please give me a title for the listing that is 50 characters or less, and the full directory listing”
Your Editor: Before you hit “Publish,” copy your draft and ask an AI tool like Gemini for a quick review. “Does this listing clearly explain my value without being too technical? Are my bullet points focused and easy to read? Is there any date-specific info I should remove?”
Always remember to give any AI content or AI edits a read through – sometimes it makes mistakes, or your original phrasing leads it to believe something that is not true.
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