If you are the mayor of a small town in Saskatchewan, how do you get your tiny, unknown province some positive PR? You swap a house in your town for a movie role for one of your citizens with a blogger from Montreal.
In an example of blogging at its finest, Kyle MacDonald, a Canadian blogger, inspired by the childhood game Bigger, Better, bartered his way from a single red paperclip to a house in a series of online trades. His first few transactions were just for fun and at then it gets serious as he attracts a lot of media attention.
Kyle’s story is the perfect illustration of selling value. People trade their money for products that give them value. At the end of each sale, the main point comes down to one simple concept, how do you get your customer to value your $20 widget more than that $20 bill in their wallet?
As I reflect on Kyle’s barter success, there is a red paperclip sitting on my desk, I wonder what this may lead me to…
Check out the blog that turned one paperclip into a two-storey house: http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/
Oneredpaperclip is such a great story with a terrific ending. I love how you tied it into exchanging value.