If you wait long enough (five minute usually), the universe will hand you a blog topic. In this case, it was a fellow writer who sent along her own scenario that serves as a reminder to all writers that you can — and should — stand up for your freelance writing business. Here’s the scenario — with names changed:
Brenda was negotiating with a new client to start a series of articles for the company’s Resources section. The negotiations went on for a while, but eventually Brenda was sent a contract. That’s where the real negotiation began.
The contract stated that Brenda would be paid on a 60-day cycle per company policy. Ironically, Brenda has worked for another division of the same company, though not based in the same country as this particular division. She was not willing to wait 60 days for payment. She pushed back and told the hiring person that she could not work for them unless the contract was amended to shorten that length of time.
The client took just a few hours to respond. They were happy to reduce the payment cycle to 20 days.
See what Brenda did there? She saw something that wasn’t agreeable, and she brought it up. Moreover, she told them that it was a dealbreaker. Because for her, it was.
I can hear a few of you saying, “Sure, but Brenda probably makes plenty of money and doesn’t need that gig.”
True. And yet false, too. Let me explain.
True. Brenda does make plenty of money as a freelance writer. Why do you think that is? Because Brenda isn’t afraid to push back on things that don’t feel right. She’s become a pro at protecting her interests and knowing what suits her business needs. That comes from better marketing for sure, but it also comes from not being afraid to push back.
False. Ironically, this particular negotiation came at a time where Brenda had just lost a massive project (with a massive project fee attached). She needed the additional income, though she still wasn’t in a position of needing it so badly that she would compromise her boundaries. Badly enough that she breathed a sigh of relief when that contract appeared, though.
Brenda suggested this particular scenario as blog fodder here. Her message to you: “Your client is going to ask for terms that are to its greatest advantage. You do not have to accept them. You are not at their mercy.”
There are other messages here, as well. You, freelancer, can have a freelance writing career just like Brenda’s if you do a few things.
Market higher up the food chain with higher rates. Ask any successful, well-paid freelancer how their business changed for the better and they will almost definitely point to marketing to deeper pockets and to charging more for what they do. Anne Wayman pointed the “charge more” phenomenon years ago. It’s true. You attract better clients when your rate goes up.
Negotiate. Don’t just accept. If you approach every client negotiation with your own interests in mind and with your bottom-line, walk-away point clearly set, you won’t accept the unacceptable offer. You can’t. You’ve already told yourself you’re better than X (whatever your minimum acceptable rate/terms are). You’re training yourself to recognize that they need you, too.
Market often. Those of you who are blog veterans here know I push the “market every day” strategy. Until you have a large list of regular clients, you can’t expect the four you have to still be there tomorrow. Need I repeat the story of my losing my two biggest clients unexpectedly within two weeks of each other? I think optimal is eight clients (the Octopus method). But definitely more than four. The more clients you have, the less it’s going to hurt when some of them disappear.
Say no. If it doesn’t fit and doesn’t feel right, turn it down. Or ask questions that clarify what the client means. Sometimes it’s just bad communication (which means they really, really need your help). Sometimes it’s vague for more nefarious reasons. I had a prospective client try to rush me through negotiations (they didn’t even bring the topic up) by introducing me to my new team lead and getting me ready for onboarding. That’s because they were about to offer me the gig for $3300 less than I’d quoted. Push back. It’s your right and duty to protect yourself. If they’re not budging, walk away.
Writers, what was your toughest negotiation?
How would you advise other writers to approach negotiations with clients? What’s your bottom line?
7 responses to “The No-nonsense Freelance Negotiation Tactic”
I recently asked to have a new indemnification clause removed from the 2-year contract for a regular client, a mainly federally funded NGO. To my shock and delight, they did!
As they should! They use those standard contracts and, while indemnity matters for lots of other contractors, who are able to get the insurance coverage required, it doesn’t always apply to writers. And good luck finding an insurance company that will cover you for the usual $2 million in liability that these contracts state!
I know I’ve mentioned it before. It’s a classic. I can’t say it was my toughest negotiation, but it was memorable. Why? I actually laughed at their new pay rate.
This had to be about 20 years ago, and a business newsletter that had been paying me 50-cents/word (which back then wasn’t bad) per 500-word article was bought out by a new publisher. My editor was fired, and the new editor tried to assign something. She focused on the fact they they wanted longer articles—600 words—so they’d need more sources. (She wanted me to include 12 sources in a 600-word piece, I told her that was too many people for one piece—their titles and company names would eat up most of the word count.) When she mentioned the new pay rate was 10¢/word, I burst into laughter. She attempted to justify the lower rate because it was such an “easy” job (12 interviews? easy?). I wished her a sarcastic “good luck with that” and hung up.
That publication folded. I think the company did, too. I’m still here.
Funny that, Paula. You stuck to your price point and here you are. They cheapened up and where are they? LOL I think that’s the best lesson any writer can take away from that story. You don’t survive if you cave in!
It feels so good to be able to walk away when they won’t at least compromise.
Doesn’t it, Joy? It’s the moment when you understand their lack of compromise is a lack of respect.
I walked away from a book contract when the publisher said they don’t negotiate the boiler plate they send to authors. I pointed out that the first contract sent out is the starting point of negotiations, and both my agent and lawyer had requested changes (which they refused). So I walked away. No regrets.