🔊 It’ll Never Be The “Right Time” To Raise Your Freelance Rates
When was the last time you asked for a raise?
(Yes, I’m still on a tear about rates and negotiation. I’VE BEEN HAVING A MONTH FRIENDS, I’M FIRED UP 🔥🔥)
I don’t know about y’all,
But the start of 2024 has been giving some serious growing pains energy, especially in the context of my business and raising my rates.
This year, I’m entering my fourth year of running my freelance writing business,
And recently, I have been getting the STRONGEST feelings of imposter syndrome and self-sabotage ever, especially when it comes to raising my rates and asking for more.
Listen, we all know that advocating for a raise (either at your 9–5 salaried position or by upping your freelance rates) is essential for long-term growth and stability,
But even so, it is so, so easy to gaslight ourselves into believing it just “isn’t the right time.”
(We will be deep diving into this honestly kinda wild concept that it is “our job” to consider the timing when asking for more throughout this newsletter!)
And like, on a surface level, this excuse seems to make sense, but the more you actually think about it, the more it’s like…
Wait… what does that even MEAN?
(Like for real, it’s such a backward excuse when you actually think about it)
So, if you have been struggling with asking for more but are scared it’s “the wrong time,” here are a few reminders to help you reframe your thinking:
It is not your job to contextualize your wants in the realities of others
(I know this sounds really deep but hear me out on this one)
We’ve all heard a coworker or friend say one of the following excuses when pushing off asking for more:
“Oh, well the company isn’t doing well, it’s not a good time to ask”
“They are my only consistent client, I need to get more stable before I ask for a raise”
“I’m still new, I need to put in [X amount of time] before I ask for more”
(I include myself in the list of people too — in the last one-on-one I had with my boss, I decided not to ask for a raise because “the vibes were off”)
YES, THIS IS THE REAL REASON I GASLIT MYSELF WITH AFTER I FINISHED THE CALL 🤦♀️
Full transparency: it is super easy to allow your brain to sabotage your efforts to ask for a raise (or anything that you deserve tbh) by contextualizing your ask in the hypothetical situation of the person you are asking.
But, while this storyline is very compelling, I strongly encourage you to challenge this narrative with a simple question:
“Is it actually my job to worry about?”
(Surprise, in a lot of cases the answer is no).
‼️It is not your job to factor in the current situation of the company, your boss’s mood, or any other trivial thing when asking for a raise‼️
Your job is to advocate for your needs and showcase why you deserve it — their job is to do the work to figure out what resources they have to make it work.
Every time we choose not to ask for a raise, regardless of the reason,
We are giving our clients, our bosses, and ✨the patriarchy✨ (ew) some of our power.
And honestly, that is just not chill and not OK with me.
There is no denying that asking for more money is complicated,
(Especially for women and people of colour who have been repeatedly taught that asking for more is “greedy” and that we should “just be happy to have what we have!”)
But, just because it is hard, doesn’t mean that we can elect not to do it (this is a reminder for me too, I’ve been guilty of just avoiding the problem when I don’t want to deal with it).
TL;DR — 👏THERE👏 IS👏 NO 👏RIGHT👏 TIME👏 TO👏 ASK👏 FOR👏 A👏 RAISE👏.
STOP DOING THE MENTAL WORK FOR YOUR CLIENTS OR EMPLOYER BY AVOIDING ASKING FOR WHAT YOU WANT. GET YOURS BY BEING BRAVE ENOUGH TO ASK.
The goal of every negotiation is not to win everything
Contrary to popular belief, asking for more money does not need to be a “me vs. them” battle between you and your client or boss.
(In the best situations, it’s way more of a collaborative process rather than a standoff)
I know for me, learning about negotiation involved a lot of advice about “holding your cards close to your chest” and “standing your ground to not admit weakness”
🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
(Seems a little ✨man with no understanding of social situations✨ energy to me. No thanks.)
And while we obviously enter into a conversation about rates and raises with the intent of achieving said raise,
It is important to note that even the action of asking is a massive part of the win — because it showcases your commitment to yourself and to your self-worth.
No matter how well you prepare, there are going to be situations where your negotiation doesn’t turn out 100% the way you want
(It sucks, but part of asking for more is being denied, which honestly is a skill to learn in itself)
But, I know for me at least,
Once I reframed asking for a raise away from
“I need 100% of my asks to be met”
To
“I want to have a conversation with this person so that we both are aligned about the value of my skills”
The whole situation became less tense, less horrible, and less like the “timing had to be right” to have it work.
So yes, while in a perfect world we enter into a conversation and our clients or bosses praise the ground we walk upon and 2X our ask,
I constantly remind myself that choosing to ask and to advocate for myself is the real big win,
As it opens the door to regular conversations that will lead to raises, promotions, and more respect
(And, on the off chance that they don’t, you gain the info that your current client or boss is not worth investing your time into!)
Asking is the best way to practice self-advocacy
Finally, like any other skill, learning how to advocate for what you want takes time and practice.
(I’m being so for serious about this!)
It takes a ton of bravery, preparation, and self-assuredness to ask for a raise.
And building up the muscles and tact it takes to know how to approach these situations is similar to building any other professional skill.
Long gone are the days of assumed annual raises and end-of-year bonuses (literally, I worked multiple full-time jobs and have only received one internal raise. All the other raises I got were from hopping from job to job!)
As creatives who work in an ever-changing environment that can flip the script on us at any time,
Learning how to protect yourself and advocate for what you want and need is a must-learn skill, even if doing so is hard work.
Self-advocacy and the willingness to ask for what you want are not easily mastered — but getting in the habit of regularly asking is the only way to flex your CEO muscles.
(Yes, I always can find a way to tie it back to this!)
So you can grow a sustainable business or career with clients or management that respects your efforts, energy, and value.
It’s never going to be the right time. You need to ask anyways.
So yes, I am right there with you that asking for a raise or upping your freelance rates is terrifying.
But hate to break it to you — that feeling doesn’t go away, you just need to learn to find ways to work with it.
I hope this gave you some helpful food for thought — just writing this has really fired me up to consider my rates. It’s about damn time that I ask for a rate raise!
Please keep me up to date as you explore asking for more, even if the “timing isn’t right.”
I would love to hear about your experience — and I am always here to cheer you on!
Until next week,