Negotiating a Higher Rate or Salary
[00:00:00] Igor Benić
Welcome to another episode. In this episode I'm talking about negotiating a higher rate or salary. Negotiating higher salaries or a higher rate can be a bit stressful. You never know how the employer or client will understand that. But it is a part of growing as a developer, as a freelancer, and there will be times when you'll have to negotiate more money. On my first 9-5 I was able to negotiate from $600 to $700 a month and that only after 6 or 7 months of work there. I also successfully raised my rate as a contractor throughout the years and within 3 years I went up $10 per hour. It might not seem so much, but since they hired me for 30 hours per week that's $300 more. It's additional $1,200 a month. Or if we look at a year, it's an increase of $14,000 per year. To be exact $14,400 per year and that's not too bad. I'll let you know what I did specifically at the end of this episode, but before that, before even starting to negotiate, you need to understand how to approach that.
[00:01:39] Igor Benić
The first step is to check your industry and I did that before I negotiated and I looked at various platforms and jobs. By checking platforms you can see various rates that people in your niche charge. Of course you'll see really high rates and some really low rates but after several profiles you'll find a rate that you'll be comfortable charging and think it's the right amount for your current experience. If you don't feel comfortable charging that much you'll be less confident when negotiating so don't go for I don't know a rate like a $200 per hour rate if you don't feel comfortable charging that. I also look at job sites, specifically jobs that have requirements that match my skills. That way I can see what a lot of companies require from their employees and how much they pay for that. You can then compare what you do for a client or employer and see if the job you're doing should be paid more.
[00:02:51] Igor Benić
Another thing to check would be to note your accomplishments or skills. You're more likely to sell yourself short. And why that? Well, it happens often if you don't create a list of everything you know to do. For example, what you bring to the table for them and also what you have accomplished so far for the client or the company. List everything new you did from the last time you have given a raise. Or if you never raised your rate or salary, then list everything you did from the moment you were hired. You might think it's not much, but once you list everything, it will change your mind. And thus, you'll become more confident when negotiating.
[00:03:41] Igor Benić
Also, be flexible. This might be a bit counterintuitive, but you'll have to be flexible when negotiating. Define the minimum raise that you'll be happy with. Then define the real raise you think you deserve. And then define the current best raise you think you could get. That way, you can be prepared for when they start their part of negotiation.
[00:04:10] Igor Benić
Before I continue, I want to present you something new I published at the moment of recording this episode and that is NewsletterGate. It's a subscribers only content plugin. So it's a WordPress plugin that helps you easily restrict content with your email list. It's completely free, at least that part that you need is free, and you don't have to have a payment system or a registration flow on your WordPress site. They'll just enter their email and if they're on your email list, they'll see their restricted content. It's that simple. Of course, you can allow them to subscribe if they are not. So in a way, you'll easily grow your email list as well. So if you want to check it out, please go to newslettergate.com and let me know what you think about it.
[00:05:09] Igor Benić
The last important part is to know when to negotiate. This is really important. If you try to negotiate when they are not doing well with revenue or having trouble paying the current salaries, you definitely won't get a raise. I experienced that myself. I also realized that the best way to start the process of such is somewhere near the end of the year. That way, they'll have you in mind when they are planning their budget for the next year. It's much easier for them to include your $10,000 a year increase within the new budget they have than to have to think how will it affect the budget in the current year. It's much easier to just include it for the next year. This works well even if you're an employee since they know how much profit they'll have for the current year and also can decide how much of it can they reinvest in the company. Part of such investment will be your new salary. Let me know what you think about all that and let me know if you ever experienced something like that. I would like to include your tips in some of the future episodes about salaries.
[00:06:46] Igor Benić
So, how did I do that? I first checked platforms where I also worked. So, for example, Codeable has their hourly rates publicly available. Then, I noted down every other company I've worked for as a part-time developer. After that, I checked everything I did for them, such as how many goals did we reach, where I was part of. How many updates did I do on their website? How much did I increase the performance, the conversion, and stuff like that. Of course, that's also a part, the big part is the marketing team there, but I am also a part of that, so I included that part. Then, I went to write the email. In the email, I stated that I wanted to discuss a new hourly rate increase due to how many years I have worked for them and what I've done. Then, with that, I listed everything down, everything I did. Once that was written, I went and said that I worked for other companies as well. I listed all the companies and their rates. With that, they could realize that I could go elsewhere and earn much more, which is kind of a trick here. Then, I said that I don't want to go elsewhere, since I'm really happy working here where I am, and that I understand that they might not be able to give such rates. Then, I've given them a range that I would be happy with. Of course, they picked the lowest possible one, it's business, I would do the same, but that one was the one I noted to myself as a rate that I would be happy with. I hope you learned something here, and I really hope that in your next try of negotiating your salary or your rate, you will be successful and you'll get at least $10,000 a year increase. Best of luck to you, and best of luck to all of us freelancers that are freelancing to freedom. Bye.
