LavaCon Las Vegas 2016 Presentation

1. 10/20/16
1
Client Relations:
You get what you
negotiate
Alisa Bonsignore
Clarifying Complex Ideas
@clearwriterOctober 2016 1
What do I need?
@clearwriterOctober 2016 2
Can I ask for it?
@clearwriterOctober 2016 3 @clearwriterOctober 2016 4
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 5
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 6

2. 10/20/16
2
“Independent
years”
10 x 7 = 70
@clearwriterOctober 2016 7
AARP.com
@clearwriterJuly/August 2009 8
AARP.com
@clearwriterApril/May 2013 9
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 10
Relationships
It’s a lot like sex
@clearwriterOctober 2016 11
You don’t know
what you’re
doing
@clearwriterOctober 2016 12

3. 10/20/16
3
You assume that
everyone else
knows more
than you
@clearwriterOctober 2016 13
You have no idea
what you need
@clearwriterOctober 2016 14
You don’t know
how to ask for
what you need
@clearwriterOctober 2016 15
You feel
awkward saying
“no”
@clearwriterOctober 2016 16
“Exploration is what
you do when you
don’t know what
you’re doing.”
- Neil deGrasse Tyson
@clearwriterOctober 2016 17 @clearwriterOctober 2016 18

4. 10/20/16
4
Billed hourly
@clearwriterOctober 2016 19
Extremely
apologetic
@clearwriterOctober 2016 20
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 21 @clearwriterOctober 2016 22
<20%
of market rate
@clearwriterOctober 2016 23
And I apologized
for it
@clearwriterOctober 2016 24

5. 10/20/16
5
Why?
@clearwriterOctober 2016 25
Too many nights
and weekends
@clearwriterOctober 2016 26
@clearwriterOctober 2016 27
Terrified that I’d
be “caught”
@clearwriterOctober 2016 28
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 29
Underpriced
=
Undervalued
@clearwriterOctober 2016 30

6. 10/20/16
6
“You may say to
yourself, my god,
what have I done?”
- Talking Heads
Once in a Lifetime
@clearwriterOctober 2016 31
Take a step back
@clearwriterOctober 2016 32
What do you
ask for?
@clearwriterOctober 2016 33
Needs
assessment
@clearwriterOctober 2016 34
How much
money
do you need?
@clearwriterOctober 2016 35
Rule of thumb:
gross = 2x net
@clearwriterOctober 2016 36

7. 10/20/16
7
@clearwriterOctober 2016 37
How many
hours per week?
@clearwriterOctober 2016 38
@clearwriterOctober 2016 39
40 working
hours
25 billable
• work you can charge
for
15 non-billable
• marketing
• contracts
• proposals
• blogging
• reading
• IT
@clearwriterOctober 2016 40
@clearwriterOctober 2016 41
How many
weeks per year?
@clearwriterOctober 2016 42

8. 10/20/16
8
52 weeks
- 2 weeks for federal holidays (down to 50)
- 2 more for vacation (down to 48)
- Random school holidays (46 or fewer)
- Sick days: kids, parents, you (< 45)
@clearwriterOctober 2016 43
48 weeks x
25 billable hours/week
1,200
billable hours/year
@clearwriterOctober 2016 44
$100,000/year
1,200 hours
$84/hour
@clearwriterOctober 2016 45
Lifehacker:
Value of your time
http://is.gd/Pq6MDZ
@clearwriterOctober 2016 46
@clearwriterOctober 2016 47
Solid financial
basis
@clearwriterOctober 2016 48

9. 10/20/16
9
@clearwriterOctober 2016 49 October 2016 @clearwriter 50
confidence?
@clearwriterOctober 2016 51
CONFIDENCE
@clearwriterOctober 2016 52
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 53
What else do
we ask for?
@clearwriterOctober 2016 54

10. 10/20/16
10
“You can’t always get
what you want. But if
you try sometimes, you
might find you get what
you need.”
- The Rolling Stones
@clearwriterOctober 2016 55
Contract terms
@clearwriterOctober 2016 56
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 57
Time
@clearwriterOctober 2016 58
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 59
Establish
turnaround times
and deadlines
@clearwriterOctober 2016 60

11. 10/20/16
11
“We need that
tomorrow
morning.”
@clearwriterOctober 2016 61
Breathing room
@clearwriterOctober 2016 62
More money
@clearwriterOctober 2016 63
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 64
@clearwriterOctober 2016 65 @clearwriterOctober 2016 66

12. 10/20/16
12
Know the
marketplace
@clearwriterOctober 2016 67
The easy way:
Flat rate
@clearwriterOctober 2016 68
The hard way:
Hourly increase
@clearwriterOctober 2016 69
Ease into it
@clearwriterOctober 2016 70
The holy grail:
Retainers
@clearwriterOctober 2016 71
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 72

13. 10/20/16
13
Know thy client
@clearwriterOctober 2016 73
The tougher
the client,
the shorter
the timeframe
@clearwriterOctober 2016 74
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 75
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 76
http://detectivejane.tumblr.com/image/1046616222
@clearwriterOctober 2016 77
http://gnomercy.org/event/calling-all-achievers-the-big-lebowski/
“New shit has come to light, man.”
- The Dude@clearwriterOctober 2016 78

14. 10/20/16
14
“No.”
@clearwriterOctober 2016 79 @clearwriterOctober 2016 80
More experience
@clearwriterOctober 2016 81
experience
success confidence
value
@clearwriterOctober 2016 82
We learn from
our mistakes
@clearwriterOctober 2016 83
Mistake 1:
Talking too much
@clearwriterOctober 2016 84

15. 10/20/16
15
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 85
Mistake 2:
Apologizing
@clearwriterOctober 2016 86
@clearwriterOctober 2016 87
Mistake 3:
Saying “yes”
instead of “no”
@clearwriterOctober 2016 88
@clearwriterOctober 2016 89
Mistake 4:
Answering the
phone
@clearwriterOctober 2016 90

16. 10/20/16
16
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 91
Mistake 5:
Billing hourly vs.
per project
@clearwriterOctober 2016 92
@clearwriterOctober 2016 93
Mistake 6:
Thinking you’re
alone
@clearwriterOctober 2016 94
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 95
Learn from
colleagues
@clearwriterOctober 2016 96

17. 10/20/16
17
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 97
Surrounded by
an amazing
network
@clearwriterOctober 2016 98
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
@clearwriterOctober 2016 99
Gets better
every year
@clearwriterOctober 2016 100
Results
@clearwriterOctober 2016 101 Image courtesy of Shutterstock @clearwriterOctober 2016 102

18. 10/20/16
18
“Never miss a
good chance to
shut up.”
- Will Rogers
@clearwriterOctober 2016 103
ClarifyingComplexIdeas.com
alisa@ClarifyingComplexIdeas.com
@clearwriterOctober 2016 104