Bring Your Business Clarity With Plain English Contracts

In your business, you’re a dynamo. Knocking items off the to-do list like a champ. Building connections. Delivering amazing service to your clients and making sure all of your customers are beyond happy when they receive your product.

But all of that can be brought to a standstill when something goes wrong with a contract.

A lot of contracts – with clients, vendors, partners – contain a whole lot of legal jargon. This legalese can be confusing, and if you’re not familiar with the terminology you can find yourself in trouble, fast.

Having clear contracts that support the priorities, requirements and desires of both you and your negotiation counterpart is essential and the easiest way to get those in place? Use plain ol’ English.

Here’s why you should make the switch from legalese to something that reads with ease…and my tips for how to make it happen.

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4 Tips For Negotiating With A Friend

Business is all about creating personal connections. Whether it’s meeting face-to-face at networking events, following each other on Twitter or sharing your experiences in a mastermind or workshop – it’s all about connections.

As an entrepreneur or indie business owner, you’re also likely connecting with people that share similar outlooks on business and life – these are folks that just ‘get it’.

Doing business with a friend can be an opportunity to help each other out or to collaborate on an exciting project. Your work together may feel more like a passion project than real business. Which is why breaking up the fun with a – gulp – negotiation may be something you try to avoid.

But you don’t have to. 

Negotiation and friendships can (and should!) co-exist, and having one in your life doesn’t have to mean rejecting the other. It won’t always be easy – but here are my top 4 tips for how you can make this work. You can have your friendships and your great business deals too.

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5 Powerful Negotiation Skills For Freelance Writers

Building your freelance writing career requires juggling many different skill sets. You’re dedicated to honing your craft, cultivating a platform, and polishing your sales techniques to maintain a steady flow of projects. So adding negotiation to the mix might feel like ‘just one more thing’ – and something you’d really rather not deal with.

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Perfect Prices With 5 Simple Questions

Setting prices is a great equalizer in the world of entrepreneurship. Whether you’re just starting out with your first mini-offering, or have been around the business block a few times, trying to pinpoint exactly what your rate should be can feel an awful lot like playing pin the tail on the donkey.

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What Do You Do Again? Getting Clear on Client Deliverables.

When a project is coming together in your mind, all the moving parts are clear. You’re a pro at what you do...so this comes almost naturally to you. Your clients aren’t quite so well-versed though. They may have never worked with you - or anyone like you - before, so are coming to the project with their own idea about what will happen.

Making sure that you and your clients are on the same page when it comes to what working together entails is vital for ensuring that there aren’t any 11th hour snafus or disappointments.

It’s worth it to include the details of the work you’ll be doing in your contracts. Here are my recommendations on where to start.

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3 Payment Term Must Haves For Maximum Profits

Setting your pricing structure and agreeing on fees with clients is one thing.

But it doesn’t do you a lick of good if that money doesn’t make it’s way speedily and safely from their account to yours.

Turns out, not all late payments are caused by malice. Or laziness. Usually, there’s confusion - on method, on timing - that’s getting in the way and keeping you anxious about whether or not you’ll have funds on hand to cover your expenses and investments.

Nothing beats doing work that you love and having clients who are raving fans...except actually getting paid for it.

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The Bad Habits Keeping Your Business Small & Stuck

None of us are in business to struggle. Or not have fun. Or spend our days frustrated with where we are and where we know we could be with our results.

Yet, most of the time, most Ambitious Entrepreneurs are in that exact spot.

And most often it’s because one of these bad negotiation habits is getting in their way and stopping them (stopping you!) from going after what you want, need and deserve.

Here are the Top 6 worst habits when it comes to negotiation. Ditching them will take you far.

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3 Important Lessons From Being an Entrepreneur

18 months ago I handed in my id badge, packed up my desk and headed out into the world of entrepreneurship.

And it's been quite a ride.

Today on the blog I'm sharing the 3 biggest lessons I've learned along this entrepreneurial journey and how they've helped me get to where I am today. 

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Feeling powerless? 5 ways to change that. Fast.

One of the reasons I started my work as a negotiation consultant was that I’d seen a few too many times how the ‘little guy’ can get the short end of the stick in business deals.

True enough, you’re not always going to have a whole lot of influence or power in a business discussion (even with folks your own size), but that doesn’t mean you lose your voice.

Today I'm sharing 5 techniques that'll help bump up your power and amplify your persuasiveness in any negotiation.

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What You Need To Know About Sales vs. Negotiation

There are a lot of different hats you wear as an Ambitious Entrepreneur. You've got to get a handle on writing copy, planning social media, marketing your business - and of course there's sales.

But your professional development doesn't end there.

Today, I'm sharing some straight talk on why mastering sales and negotiations are two different beasts. And why you need both of them to thrive.

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Negotiation Q&A: Who Goes First?

Working up the courage to share your proposal (and price...) with a potential client can be tough. So it's best to let them go first, right? Ask them what their budget is, and then work from there.
Nope. Nuh-uh. No way.
Shying away from making the first proposal may seem like the easier option, but if you're looking for your best business results, it's time to put on your Courageous Ambitious Entrepreneur hat and throw your proposal into the ring, first.
Read on to find out why.

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Motivate Sales, Maximize Profit

Making sales – convincing people to hand over their hard earned money in exchange for your product or service – is fundamental to your business. When that flow of customers slows down, or we hit a rough patch financially, our first instinct can be to get out our price slashing tools and motivate purchases via discounts...but there's a better way.

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