Negotiating a brand deal from a "No" into a "Yes"

Just because a brand presents a lower-than-anticipated offer, it doesn’t mean that’s the end of the conversation.

Most “negotiation experts” will tell you to ask “what’s your budget?” first — and there is some benefit in doing that…

Except when you STOP there after hearing an answer you weren’t excited about.

What I mean is that too many people give up after a brand shares their budget and it’s lower than what you were looking for (especially when it’s WAY lower).

Here’s 3 examples of other ways that conversation can go:

🤝 You describe what goes into your rate, helping them understand the value of what’s involved so they can more easily say “yes” to something that meets your standards (I turned $500 in $2,000 a few weeks ago with this)

🤝 You can work around their budget to change the scope of project to match their more limited budget if there really is no wiggle room on compensation (I turned a multi-series campaign into “Stories-only” last month with this approach)

🤝 You can politely decline participation, but keep the relationship open so that in the future when finances align you are able to work together (one of my campaigns this year was previously pitched to me as “affiliate commission only” last year and came back as a 4-figure win this year)

Most people just ignore or decline their “low-ball” offers because they simply don’t know the right thing to say, or that there’s even another way.

I’d like to think the art of negotiating goes hand in hand with the art of writing…so this month I’m sharing one of my most valuable resources with you (can you guess what it is?!)

If you’re someone who is looking for the right things to say give me a 👋 down here!