Negotiate like your life depends on it

Hellooooo!
How is it going?

The weather is so weird rn, neither too wet, nor too dry, just sticky.
Urgh! Hate it!

You know what else I hate?
Negotiation.

Because it comes with constant doubts.

• Did I quote too much?

• What if they don’t reply back?

• What if they go for someone offering a little less?

And I don’t want that kind of talk (read: doubts) in my mind.

So here’s how I handle negotiations, and you can too 🙂

Scenario 1:

Someone tells you this is what you can charge.
It could be the referral who suggested you work with this client, or maybe you asked in a community, and, based on their experience, people have shared their range.

Always, I repeat always quote 1.5X higher.

Exhibit A – aka me!
The newsletter client I’m working for, I was advised to charge ₹50k per month, but not go below 30.
I didn’t 1.5x the amount, but it felt low to be working max hours for them.

Plus, I wasn’t confident, this being my first time writing newsletters for a brand.
So I gave them a range: 60 to 70k.

They agreed at 60k, and I didn’t question back, but now I think they’d have agreed at 65 also, had I asked for a middle ground.

Scenario 2:

When you’re not sure what to quote, always quote as much as you can.
Tbh, there is nothing to lose, and if it works out, there is a LOT to gain.

Talk to people who work with whom or where you want to work, and speak to them.
I know not many will share what they charge, but this is where joining communities comes in handy.

Exhibit B – aka also me!

I got this inbound client from Kenya asking for thought leadership articles.
I literally asked ChatGPT how much I should quote, and it said $350. And without thinking, I shared it with the client.

Of course, it was at the very high end, especially when hiring from India.
And they said their budget is $100.

I said I could do it for $200. He said, "We’ll reduce the word count. Can we do it at $150?"
And I agreed.

Later, when he added an additional hour of work (after the pilot article), he said he’d pay $10 more.
I said I wanted 25, and we agreed on 15.

Looking back, this doesn’t feel very helpful, but this is just real.

I’m not here to tell you how I charge $500 per hour, cause I don’t.
In freelancing, I believe every penny counts, and an additional $15 is better than none.

Scenario 3:

Always set a minimum amount for yourself.
Clients, as you know by now, will always negotiate. But we need to take a stand for ourselves, right?

I reject every client who pays under ₹3 per word.
I quote 4, they say 1.5, I say I can do 3.
They say 2.5 and I reject, standing on my ground of not working under ₹3 per word.

This number for you could be 2, or 1.5, or 6.
Just stand with your minimum, no matter what.

There you have it.

Drop in any other questions if you have 🙂

If you want to spend a chill morning with me… reply to this email and I’ll share the details to join this session I’m taking on time management.

How do I get ALL this done and still have time to read ~5 books per month?

I wish you everything you wish for :)

I’ll see you next Friday!

Love,
Nikita