Bob Garlick, Garlick Marketing

Bob Garlick has been in the marketing communications industry for over 30 years. He has worked for both multi-nationals and small companies in Asia, Canada and the United States. He is an artist, graphic designer, art director, illustrator and all around marketing mastermind.

His love affair with barter started long before he joined First Canadian Barter Exchange. While working in Asia in the marketing department of a multi-national organization, Bob had the opportunity to work with a barter exchange. He instantly saw the benefits of barter.

“Using barter allowed me to get 90% of our marketing done without using any cash. I would get photographers, ad spaces and everything else using barter. I would even get people we wanted to work with to join the barter exchange so that we could pay them through barter instead of cash.”

After living in Asia, Bob came back to Canada with his family and started doing marketing consulting. Upon discovering First Canadian Barter Exchange, he quickly signed up and proceeded to incorporate barter into his business. Over the last several years Bob has worked with many different barter clients.

“I have really enjoyed working with barter clients. It’s been like working with friends or a sort of family, it’s a great business community. All my work with past clients has been positive and I have built some great relationships.”

Bob spends the barter dollars he earns mostly on business expenses. “Of course I get personal items such as Christmas gifts, incentives for staff, and holiday accommodations, but that’s just 10% of what I spend my barter on, the other 90% I spend on business expenses such as photography and accounting. Using barter to pay for business expenses makes sense in terms of taxes. You can write off your barter expenses, the same as if you were paying with cash.”

In the past, Bob has spoken at several FCBE training events. “I love educating people about barter and helping them come up with great ideas on how they can use barter. I like to show people how to move forward and use barter in a smart way.”

What’s his advice to new members?

“Write down all the things your business spends cash on, everything from electrical work to internet services, marketing, dental benefits and more. Go to First Canadian Barter, show them the list and ask them how they can eliminate your cash expenses through barter.”