All posts in the ‘ Negotiation Strategy ’ Category

“I’ve got to negotiate with someone in 30 minutes. What should I do?”

My usual response to this question is, “stall.” Postpone the meeting, call in sick, delay at all costs. … Read More

If one of your goals for the new year is earning more money, you’ve got two options: work more or get paid more for the work you do. I like the second option, personally, but I know it scares a lot of people because it means they’ll have to negotiate over MONEY.… Read More

Looking for an easy, low-stress, low-commitment, low-effort way to improve your negotiation skills that you can do while eating popcorn?

Come over to my house and watch me yell at the screen the next time Shark Tank is on.… Read More

Do you struggle to figure out how much you should charge for projects? Whether you should agree to a request for a discount? If you should raise your rates?

I have a trick to help make negotiating over money easier: stop thinking of your rate as a number.… Read More

I am a big believer that many people, particularly artists, already have a lot of the skills they need to negotiate. They just don’t know how they can use those skills in a negotiation.

That’s why when I teach negotiation I like using every day examples of situations where people can use those skills to get what they need out of a negotiation.

One of … Read More

It seems like telling your clients how much your services cost would be a fairly straight forward process, but a lot of freelancers get jammed up when the question is put to them, and for good reason.

If you answer without asking a few questions of your own, you run the risk of either underpricing your services for the client’s needs or scaring the client … Read More

Many a freelancer has slaved over a proposal trying to make it perfect. Figuring and guessing and measuring, trying to find the right balance of WOW and profit.

After hours of penciling out the budget six ways from Sunday, the freelancer presents her proposal. The client reviews it, smiles and says, “This looks great! How about a 20% discount?”

The freelancer is deflated; hurt. A … Read More

When I talk to freelancers and artists about why they’re afraid of negotiating I often hear

“What if I don’t know what to say? What if they say something outrageous and I don’t know what to say and end up blurting out ‘yes’?”

It’s a perfectly rational thing to worry about. And you wouldn’t be the first one to do it if it happened.

There … Read More