A fundamental skill to learn for any freelance work is pay negotiation. If you don’t get good at this you can be sure not to get as much as you should.
Andrea Dickson at Wisebread has written a great article for those of us who aren’t entirely comfortable haggling a better wage for work. She in particular writes for women, but the sentiment goes for all freelancers.
You have to get comfortable asking for more.
When a manager at a local tech firm interviewed me for a new job, he asked me how much I wanted to be paid. I stammered a bit, and said something like, “Well, I guess $22 an hour or maybe… yeah. Like, $22.” He stared at me for a few seconds, and then said, “I’m going to put you in at $35 an hour.” That’s what my skill level typically brought in, and it’s what I should have been making all that time. But I didn’t know enough to demand that much, so frightened was I of being unemployed.
Andrea also states 8 rules for those new to pay negotiation. Well worth checking out for anyone who has to set their own rates.
Earn More Money by Demanding It – [Wisebread]
