Negotiating For Freelancers

As a freelancer, you will be the primary advocate for your work and payment. It is important to advocate for yourself to ensure you are fully compensated, and you’ll also want to protect your time and your Intellectual Property (IP). Negotiation allows you to work out problems an ensure these goals. Below is a guide to assist you in navigating negotiations with potential clients.

Helpful Definitions

It is helpful to first define some common language that is associated with negotiation. Below are helpful definitions to assist you in using this webpage and in your negotiations:

 

  • A formal discussion to reach agreement about the scope and scale of your work. Negotiation is an important method to reduce conflict, set expectations, and to get things done.

  • A written document specifically concerning employment, sales, or ownership, that is intended to be enforceable by law. Written contracts are easier to reference in the future if needed. A contract can help establish expectations between you and your client.

  • Defining and granting the access for the client to use your art/design for a specific purpose and/or for a specific period of time. Usage rights can be limited to specific products, mediums, and time.

  • ItIn the context of your freelance practice, ownership rights identify who owns the work. Artists and Designers will sometimes sell the ownership rights to the client which effectively transfers the ownership from you, the Artist or Designer, to the client. This means you no longer own the specific piece that has been sold. Be cautious in transferring full ownership of your work and be sure to establish if the work can still be used in your portfolio or credited to you as the Artist or Designer.

  • An established fee between you and your client based on the usage number or sales of your artwork. Typically a percentage (recommended) or small flat rate of the gross revenue (before expenses, recommended) or net profit (after expenses) of what the client makes from the work. It is common that the upfront fee you will charge for the work will be less if you are including a royalty/licensing fee.

    Consider this example: You create art for a T-Shirt that a client sells in their store. If you negotiate a licensing fee of 5% of each sale and the T-Shirt costs $50, you would receive $2.50 of each T-Shirt. Royalty/Licensing fees can be extremely profitable because there is no limit to the scale of your profits. In this example if the T-Shirt vendor sells 500 T-Shirts, you would receive $1250 in licensing fees. In short, with a royalty/licensing fee established, the more the client sells, the more you make.

 

Steps to a Successful Negotiation

1. Prepare

 

Before starting negotiations with clients it is important to first identify what you will and will not accept in regards to your work. In theory everything can be negotiated and it is important to come prepared knowing your needs and what you are willing to negotiate on. Reflect on the questions below to help you prepare to step into any negotiation.

 

What is the value of my work relative to the market and my experience?

  1. What would be an acceptable hourly/day/product rate for me?

  2. Are there any additional expenses outside of my labor and time that need to be accounted for when pricing my work, e.g. printing, materials, etc? (This will change based on the project.)

  3. Do I want to restrict the usage rights of my artwork? If so, what are the restrictions and why am I restricting them? Some examples of restricting the usage rights include: 

    1. The location where the artwork can be viewed or sold. 

    2. The specific media the artwork can be produced in such as print, products, electronic media, etc.

  4. Do I want to license my work and what is the industry standard on licensing work? For how long a period of time am I willing to license my work?

  5. Will my schedule or workload realistically permit me to take on more work without burning out? If your schedule is already full with other work you may have to decline new work or strategically consider the implications, such as the timeline and price.

 

There is no right or wrong answer to these questions. Rather, the questions are designed to help you identify the boundaries and priorities of your negotiations.

2. Mindset

 

Entering a negotiation with the proper mindset will help you engage successfully with clients. Many professional clients expect to have a negotiation period. Start with the mindset that negotiations are a natural part of the process in accepting a project/job.

Negotiations should not have a winner and a loser. Instead, they should strive for a “win-win” scenario which means both parties (you and the client) feel happy with the end results of the negotiations. A win-win negotiation means both parties are comfortable with the agreement. Your goal is to work with the client and develop a win-win mindset to your negotiations, which will also start your client relationship off right.

3. Client Questionnaire

 

To best serve you and your client, collect as much information about the project/job at the start of a negotiation. This information will help you identify client expectations and determine if the project/job can meet your needs. Some common information you will want to gather as part of a questionnaire is listed below.

 

Questionnaire Content

  1. Ask for the client’s name and contact information (full name, email address, phone number)

  2. Ask the client to describe the project with as much detail as possible. (This is the “what” of the job. What does the client want you to create?)

  3. Ask the client to describe the goals of the project. (This is the “why” of the job. Why does the client want to create this?)

  4. Ask the client for a timeline for when they would like the project/job completed.

  5. Ask the client for the total budget of the project/job. 

  6. Provide the client the opportunity to share anything else about the project/job they have not had a chance to share with you yet. This provides the client the opportunity to share more details that could be helpful in developing the project.

4. Assess and Negotiate

 

Once you have collected information about the client and the project/job, you can start to assess the opportunity holistically. Reflect on the questions in the Prepare section of this resource and then ask yourself: Does this project/job meet my needs? If it does, great! Move onto step five. If the project/job does not meet your needs, take a pause and identify what is missing that would make the project work for you. Once you have identified these items you can start negotiating with your client.

 

Common Negotiation Items

  • Compensation - Do you feel the project/job is budgeted appropriately for the amount of work that will be completed? Does the project/job meet the market rate or your personal rate?

  • Time - Does the project/job have a realistic timeline of completion for the scope of work that is expected ? Reminder: Negotiating the timeframe for a project/job can have budgetary impacts for you and for the client.

  • Scope of Work - If the client is unable to negotiate the compensation or timeframe for the project/job are they able to adjust the amount of work they are willing to receive? Can the client reduce the number of pieces they are requesting to meet their budget and timeline? It may be helpful to work with the client to identify a Minimal Viable Product (MVP), which is the version of the work/product that has just enough features to be usable by customers, and which is especially designed for customers to provide feedback for future development.

  • Usage Rights - Are you and the client aligned for how the work will be used?

 

When you are in your negotiations remember these tips:

  • Be kind and professional. Negotiations are the start of developing a professional relationship with your clients, one which should be founded on trust, respect and kindness. This will also be key to growing your client list, as client referrals can get you more work.

  • Do not ignore issues or concerns. If something is unclear about the project/job, be sure to address your concerns during the negotiation period. Ignoring issues or concerns will not stop them from arising during the project, and it is best to clear them up before work starts.

  • Understand the “why”. If a client tries to negotiate for something that you are not comfortable with, do not simply say “no”. Work to gather a better understanding of the “why” of the client’s request in negotiating for those items. For example: If a client would like to buy all of the rights of the work but you do not feel comfortable with that, consider asking questions like, “Can you help me better understand why you would like to purchase the rights to the work?” Depending on the client’s answer, you may be able to find an alternative solution that you are both comfortable with.

  • Communicate in Writing - Document all of your communication in writing to ensure everyone is on the same page and so that the communication can be referenced at a later date if needed. If there is any verbal communication, whether in-person, over the phone, or via video conference, follow up your conversation with a written email or message recapping what was discussed and decided on.

5. Sign a Contract

 

Once you have achieved a “win-win” negotiation where both you and the client feel comfortable moving forward on the project/job, you are ready to sign a contract and get started on the work. Be sure to include all items that you negotiated in your contract.

Responsible “No”s

 

Sometimes a project/job will not workout. When you and the client are unable to come to a win-win agreement, you can decline the project with what we call a “Responsible No”, because you are not able to negotiate a situation that will meet either your and/or the client’s expectations/needs. You are saying no, because it is not in the client’s best interest or yours to accept the project/job.

 

When declining the position remember to

  • thank the client for exploring the opportunity with you.

  • clearly acknowledge that you cannot take the opportunity.

  • ff appropriate, consider referring the opportunity to fellow artists/designers in your network who might be a good fit for the project/job.

  • open the invitation to potentially work together in the future if you feel there might be a different project/job that could be a good fit.

  • be kind and professional because you never know how the client may impact your creative career.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Example Negotiation Scripts