One of the fastest ways to start making more money in your business is to ask for it. Unfortunately, asking for more money can also be petrifying. We’re afraid of being rejected. We’re afraid of losing clients. We’re afraid of not being able to pay our bills.
These are very real fears we have to face and freelancers as entrepreneurs. They are also fears that we cannot fall victim to or else we’re going to find ourselves in bad financial situations. Here are a few techniques you can implement to get over the fear of asking for money.
Shift your mindset.
The fear of asking for money is very much tied with the fear of not having enough. We often fear that if we ask for more money then we’ll be rejected and, therefore, have a hard time paying our bills.
The reality is this isn’t true. In fact, consider the alternative. You keep asking for less money out of fear of being rejected. Your new clients say yes and before you know it you’re overloaded for little pay. You then begin to secretly resent your clients for not paying enough when in actually you are the one who sets your own rates. Any freelancer or entrepreneur who has learned this the hard way can tell you it’s not pretty.
Part of being your own boss is setting your own rates. And that means believing in the value you provide and being confident in the rates that you ask for. It means asking for what you believe is fair to everything – including yourself – even if you’re afraid.
Start small.
If the fear of asking for money has you in a chokehold consider slowly releasing it’s grip by starting off small. I once had a colleage tell the story of how he would increase his rates by $100 with each new client that came his way. He just kept raising them until someone said no. To his surpise, he was able to raise them significantly before he was rejected – leading to more money in his bank account.
Learn sales.
So many people avoid learning about sales out of fear of sounding pushy. Two things here. First, sales done properly isn’t pushy. Second, if you’re not making sales then you’re not making money.
The reality is you must learn how to sell. While it would be awesome if people just threw their money at us, chances are we’ll have to do a lot of our own hustling. As such, if you’re going to be asking for more money it’s important that you learn the psychology of sales.
Great resources for selling include Kendrick Shope’s Sales School, David Pink’s To Sell is Human and Getting to Yes by Bruce Patton.
Just do it.
This may seem like a cliche, but Nike has it right. Sometimes the only way to get over the fear of asking for more money is to just do it. You may surprise yourself with how easy it becomes later down the road.
Final Thoughts
The fear of asking for money is something all freelancers and entrepreneurs have to deal with at some point. However, once you learn to move from this fear your business is forever chanced. In fact, as you grow your business you may look back upon this time and wonder why you were ever afraid of asking for more money to begin with.
