How to Get What You Want

Eight simple negotiating skills you must learn if you want to get what you want.

If you’re looking to go freelance, start a small business (or a large one) and become your own boss, following these eight simple ways of negotiating your way to success.

Just remember, success comes in many forms and the road to becoming freelance, a business owner and your own boss is a long one. But the hard work is worth it and it does pay off.

My road was slow and stead at first, spending around two years working around the clock developing a good client base and business model to be a freelance content creator and website editor.

Of course, I still have a long way to go and I am still looking for the right direction. Meaning, not sure whether I want to stay freelance, or turn what I have into a small business.

But what I have learned along the way, is you need to stand your ground with clients, be honest and build a great relationship where you can talk freely enough to get what you want and still have both you and the client walk away happy. And most of all you need to be confident and happy in what you’re doing.

There is no harm in seeking advise from anyone in the industry either. Whether that’s to borrow money to get you started, or to work out what kind of business model you can use (even for freelance) to help you turn a hobby into a successful career and a secure future. If that’s what you want.

Do your homework:

Start by researching everything and anything you can about what it is you want to do. Do you need money to start up, can it be done without any start up costs. What direction do you want to take with it? Do you need a business name? Ask every question imaginable and research online everything you need to know before you get started. That way, you won’t miss anything when you start making decisions.

Act it out:

Do you know anyone, or can you track down anyone who has done something similar to what you want to do and been successful in it. I follow a lot of Blogs and Lifestyle Vloggers who do similar things to what I do (ore similar) who always give great tips in their content on what to do and what not to do to be successful in what you want. Sometimes the advise is not relevant. However, more often than not I find most of the tips they provide helps me make the right decision.

Prepare to compromise:

Don’t be disillusioned by a lot of what you see online, especially when it comes to those who you are following for inspiration to do what they do, or something similar. There are a lot of Sharks out there and you need to be able to choose the sharks from the fish (if that’s even a thing HAHA). The reality is, you will need to compromise on a lot of things in order to achieve what you want. But don’t sell yourself short on your dream either. Take baby steps to get to your ultimate goal and the reward will be outstanding.

Control your emotions:

It’s hard not to get personally involved when you want to achieve your ultimate dream goals and chosen career, no matter what it is. Especially when you want to be freelance and be your own boss. It can be super emotional when things don’t go your way, or you find the whole process exhausting and you have had enough. This often happens you hit a financial snag. Stay strong and meditate, write down where you went wrong and how to fix it, by researching it and even chatting to people can help.

Bargain a lot:

When you first start out working for client, a certain bit of bargaining will take place as clients will endeavour to rescue your costs as best as possible. I find the best way to compensate for this is to package things up and then apply a first time discount for new work and then an increase thereafter. Talk about the work they need and then advise the client you will get back to them within two days with quote for the work with a ten or twenty percent discount (nothing lower). Then once you have completed the work and they love it, you’ll have more pulling power with your prices.

Learn to be quiet when required:

The more you work for a client and the longer the relationship develops, it’s easy to develop a connection with them, where you feel you can always have a personal chat about anything. Know your boundaries. It’s okay to be personal once in a while with your clients, as they and you are human after all. And you want to be able to establish an honest, trustworthy and easy relationship with your client. But remember, never mix business with pleasure. Your clients are not your friends and they can use your personal information against you should the relationship turn bad down the track.

Know when to walk away:

I have worked for a variety of clients, where I did the best work possible (100 per cent as far as I’m concerned) and the client is just not happy with the finished work. This is often at a result odd the client being too fussy, hard to work with, not understanding what they want or being able to translate it to you to develop their idea into something real, and other varying factors like a personality crash. If this is the case, after you complete the job, should they ask for more work to be down down the track, decline the work and tell them you have too much on and are unable to assist, wish them all the best and then walk away. Just make sure there are no outstanding bills they haven’t paid.

Always make a daily list:

I started my freelance work by making lists. I first began with what it is I wanted and how I believe I could get there. Then I began to write down ways in which I know I can get there and started setting daily targets. These lists are great for ensuring you don’t miss anything when you get started being freelance. Small things, such registering for an ABN, creating an invoice template for future billing, a spreadsheet for accounts (or accounts software – depending on what you are doing) and what charges you wish to have for certain different things. Lists will keep you organised, so you can maintain continuity with your career.