Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Edward Fox. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Edward thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

I hear this all the time “CASH is KING”! Sounds good on the surface and maybe makes sense in some cases. But I’m calling BS! They say “Cash is King”… I say Barter is Smarter, and I set out to prove it.

Imagine I say to you let’s go out to lunch and I’m buying this can be a $100 lunch. So, I put $100 cash in one of your hands and I put $100 Trade Dollars, Barter Bucks, whatever you want to call it, in the other hand. Now I say, ok here is your choice, we can go to a restaurant that takes cash and you can pay with the cash and keep the trade dollars OR we can go to a restaurant that accepts barter currency and you can keep the cash!
99.99% of the time people that understand the offer will put the cash in their pocket and spend the barter dollars.

I ask them did you keep the cash because you think that Cash is King? YES! they answer strongly.
Then I ask them to think about that for a second, Aren’t you really saying to me Well I think it’s SMARTER to SPEND the BARTER dollars! They think about it for a minute and sort of chuckle and shrug and say I guess your right.

We just know by instinct that controlling our cash and bartering when we can makes good sense, even if we don’t know why!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born at a very early age. I also like to say Australian by birth and American by choice. I immigrated to the USA in 1990 as a 22-year-old after meeting an American girl when she was on Vacation in Australia.

She said I was flirting with 2 KIWI girls (New Zealanders) and that I might have made her miss her bus for dinner, and even if I didn’t I should take her out. Well, I snorted and said, I’ve heard of pushy American women, but now I’ve met one. Why me? I asked, I might sound like Mel Gibson, but I sure don’t look like him. She said you’re funny! Funny peculiar of Funny HAHA? I inquired, YES she said! I gave her a sly smile and said okay.

I have been married for 32 years (as of 2022) to Alice Fox, “The Most Wonderful Wife in the World” & that’s Trademarked is my line.

As a business owner since age 15 ( dropped out of school after 9th grade) doing $100,000 AUD in my first year in 1983 to having multiple businesses in 2022, I have always seen barter as a better way of getting things done.

I purchased my first Tradebank Franchise in 2013 in Wichita Ks and grew it to be the 2nd largest in Tradebank.
in 2020 I purchased the Middle Tennessee Tradebank franchise encompassing the Nashville metro area.

Our franchise team has been honored to receive various awards over the years for excellence in running a Tradebank franchise and the Presidents award for helping others, mentoring, and training both Franchisees and members of the TRADEBANK barter network.

Using Tradebank’s managed barter platform allows businesses to get what they need using under-utilized inventory of time ( think unbooked appointment time) or products instead of cash.

Imagine being able to barter a year of general dentistry for a year of landscaping and mowing
or $1000 of printing for catered events throughout the year. Also what if you were a timeshare owner that isn’t using your timeshare but still paying the maintenance fee, you could trade a week of timeshare for a DJ and Flowers for your daughter’s wedding, and by using the tradebank app the opportunities are endless.

Barter is not looked at by most business owners as a way to bring in new clients, open up vast networks of customers that they would never otherwise see, and even get cash referrals from THEIR contacts.

The business owners that get it really have a leg up over their competition. It’s like they put on their barter glasses and see all this extra potential revenue lying around that they didn’t even know was there.

This is why I love what I do,

WOW, when the idea clicks and they start realizing all the things they can do from the basic move excess product inventory and fill unbooked time to getting cash referrals, opening up untapped networks, and promoting their brand to a whole new group of potential clients, and then the fact that they can use Tradebank dollars by offering cool fun benefits to employees to build morale to things they can do in their own personal lives that enhance lifestyle and even being able to donate Tradebank dollars to charities ( with the applicable tax advantages) It truly can change the outlook for the business owner that was wondering how to expand their business that makes them different from thier competition, and how to keep their people happy.

Tradebank can’t make a bad business good, but it can make a good business better!

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

Well, this is a fun one. I had read somewhere about how you have to be different then everyone else to get past the gatekeepers at bigger companies. I had a good product that I thought would fit this company, but all my phone calls, emails, and visits met with failure, I could not get a meeting with the person I needed to that would make the decision.

I had read a lot of things over the years and something kept coming to mind. I have to tell you at this point I was desperate, I was willing to try just about anything. I remembered a story about someone sending a postcard with a picture of a foot on it to a CEO and saying Just trying to get my foot in the door, and they got the meeting.

So I started thinking about that. I like puns and dad jokes ( TikTok @SpecialEdFoxDadJokes ) and I wondered if I could put my own spin on it.

I found on Amazon a transparent plastic foot and put it in a box, with a letter to this potential client I wanted a meeting with so bad I could taste it.

The letter said something like this. G’day (well I am an Aussie) _____, My name is Edward Fox I want to be totally TRANSPARENT with you, I’m just trying to get a foot in the door and arrange a short meeting with you, I hope you enjoy this.
Regards
Edward.

PS: dig down to the bottom, there is an extra surprise.

In the bottom of the box, I had 2 individually wrapped gourmet brownies, with stickers on them saying, thought I would try to score some brownie points while I was at it.

He called me I think it was right after he opened the box his assistant put on his desk.
He was laughing and said that was the most original marketing to get a meeting he had ever seen and he would like to meet with me he had looked me up on LinkedIn and said he didn’t think we could do business but we should at least meet.

I was elated and he was right the company was being acquired and there would be no sale for me, but he became one of my greatest resources and introduced me to a lot of people that I did do business with, all because I was willing to put myself out there and be authentic,

I choose not to take myself too seriously, I enjoy helping others and having fun at the same time.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

As a kid who dropped out of school at the end of ninth grade, it wasn’t because I didn’t like learning, but more because I was ready to get started living my life. I have always loved being in business and starting businesses and helping others start businesses. I also love to read, listen and watch people talking about business. I want to stick just to books and one audio.

The book that has most impacted my life I would say is the Bible. I will be the first to admit I don’t study and read it as much as I should, but I can tell you that just reading all of Proverbs and my favorite outside of proverbs is Ecclesiastes 11:2 Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land…

My wife reminds me when I reference that one when I want to buy another business Yes! but it doesn’t say 15… LOL.. we make a great team, she supports me amazingly and wonderfully well and uses that one response to remind me that I need to check myself and my motives before jumping in.

There are so many great business and life books that have had impact on me but these 5 are my go-to books for anyone that asks. In order of Impact

1: Endless Referrals – Bob Burg, I was lucky enough to meet Bob at an Amway function back in the early 90’s and pick up his book. He is who I credit with teaching me to network., Can’t say enough about it. I emailed him a few years late asking for clarification on the notecard idea he writes about in the book. and he responded within a couple of days. Many other Authors I have emailed or even written to have never responded. that meant a lot.

2: The Magic of Thinking Big – David J. Schwartz, Published in 1959 I find it relevant still today, I first read it in 1987 and I have spoken to millionaires and also heard others in interviews all saying they wished they had dreamed bigger, earlier. Do yourself a favor and dream bigger NOW!

3: How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie, another oldie but goodie 1936, Sure some of it is a little dated but extrapolate it out to our current way of talking and you can get a lot of value out of it.

4: Think and Grow Rich – Napolean Hill 1937 another one that had been a best seller for a long time. Just a lot of great info. Your thoughts matter, Your desire matters, and Visualizing what you want in life makes a difference.

5: His Needs Her Needs Building an Affair-Proof Marriage – Willard F. Harley Jr. 1986.
Yeah this seems like a weird one on the face of it, but it had a great impact on my wife and me we were newly married, and still to this day, we use things we learned from it. ALSO, it’s one of the best business books ever….WHY? because it teaches better relationships. Hands down a must-read.

OH Special mention to Rich Dad Poor Dad. – Robert Kiyosaki, just buy it and read it. and then buy 10 more and hand it out to people that matter to you.

My favorite audio is by Earl Nightingale The Strangest Secret you can find it on Youtube.
basic information that they never taught us in school.

Zig Ziglar’s books, audios, and videos are all worth watching, but his quote
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”
I carry with me all the time.

Contact Info:

• Website: Nashville.Tradebank.com
• Linkedin: Linkedin.com/in/aussiefox
• Youtube: Nashville2.com
• Other: Linktr.ee/Aussiefox for my podcasts Linktr.ee/TheEdwardFox