If you’re self-employed, you face unique challenges when it comes to negotiating with your clients and partners. As challenging as it may be to walk into the boss’s office and ask for a raise, running your own business is even more complicated. “How do I know how to set my rate? ” is one of the most frequent questions I get from freelancers, contractors and entrepreneurs. When it’s a choice between signing a new client or meeting them at the discounted price they want, it may not feel like a choice at all.
Research and benchmarking are the obvious first step in determining how to price to price your services. This applies whether you’re a writer, a graphic designer, a career coach, a photographer, or really, anyone working in a creative field. The phrase “know your worth” is more than a rallying cry ; it’s important to actually know how much people in your market are paying for the services you offer. I’ve written previously about how to do the right research.
But owning your value goes deeper than simply setting your rates according to what others are doing. One thing I’m fond of saying to women is, “Ask yourself what a man would do in your situation. Better yet, ask a man.” Why? Because men are more likely to negotiate. So I decided to take my own advice by speaking with Corey Kupfer, the founder of Authentic Business Academy and author of “Authentic Negotiating: Clarity, Detachment, & Equilibrium — The Three Keys To True Negotiating Success & How To Achieve Them.” Kupfer is a professional negotiator with over thirty years of experience.
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Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author and professional speaker who is passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast.
If you want to find out how deal-ready you are, take the Deal- Ready Assessment today!
