Jake Kaestner wanted his five-person landscaping company to grow, but he didn't have much money to invest in the business. In 2005, after hearing about ITEX, a national barter exchange, Kaestner, founder of Kaestner Lawn Care in St. Peters, Mo., gave it a try. On barter exchanges, members earn barter dollars by doing work for each other. So Kaestner's $500,000 company did about $4,000 worth of landscaping at the home of another exchange member, a massage therapist. Kaestner turned around and used those barter dollars--currency good only between members of the exchange--to buy advertising in a local paper. "I didn't do any advertising before because it gets expensive," he says. Kaestner has since used barter dollars to buy advertising in local magazines, newspapers, and coupon books. He says those ads are a big reason revenues increased 30% in 2006 and 25% last year.

Whether by working through an exchange or directly with another company, bartering can help you boost your business without spending a lot of cash.