Welcome to Ladies Get Paid, weekly insights from Claire Wasserman on how to increase your worth, inside and out. Was this sent to you? Subscribe here so you don’t miss the next one.
What’s in this issue:
✅ Fun negotiation exercise
✅ This week’s goal
✅ Free video on common salary negotiation myths & mistakes
✅ LA coffee meetup on 10/19
This weekend, I discovered a no-pressure way to practice negotiating that is so good, I’m kicking myself for not figuring it out earlier.
It’s so easy, you can do it right now. Seriously! Open up another tab on your phone or computer and follow along with me.
Allocate a small sum of money you’d be willing to spend on this practice negotiation and commit to not going above it.
Go on Facebook Marketplace or eBay and find something you’d be willing to buy for the money you allocated or less. In my case, it was climbing blocks for our seven-month-old daughter who decided to skip crawling and go straight to being a baby Godzilla.
Do research to find the same item listed elsewhere to get a sense of what the average price is. (If you want to skip this part and just throw out what’s called a “stink bid” that’s fine too, but expect ’em to say no.) The blocks I found were priced at $100 and retail for $120-150.
Suggest something for just under the lowest price you can find (or if that’s too high for you, go for whatever you can afford, no hurt in trying!) Try to add an incentive to sweeten the deal. In my case, I offered $50 and offered to pick it up ASAP because I noticed that in the description, the seller said she was getting rid of the blocks since her son no longer played with them. I had a feeling she might be motivated to get them out of her house in exchange for a cheaper price.
Be prepared for them to say no and if that’s the case, DON’T regret your initial offer. Whatever their response is, it’s part of the process of negotiating. Remind yourself that if you offered something higher and they immediately agreed, you’d be wondering (and kicking yourself!) if they would’ve agreed to a lower price.
This is when the negotiating gets fun. Oftentimes people selling on FB Marketplace and other similar platforms have multiple items listed. Take a look and pick out something small you’d be okay with purchasing as well. Just make sure that the total price is still under the initial sum you allocated.
Be prepared to be surprised! I was taken aback that she agreed to sell it to me for $75 when she saw I had $85 to spend. In her mind, she probably felt that was fair since it split the difference between my initial bid of $50 and her listing price of $100. That’s why being the first one to say the number is often a good thing as it anchors the negotiation. Because the truth is, I would’ve been willing to spend $100. But I didn’t have to, simply because I negotiated 🤑
During this exchange, I was simultaneously trying to negotiate with another seller. When I offered my low starting bid her response was, “I have 5 other people messaging me about it.” Whether or not that was true, it was brilliant of her. Why? It underscored the desirability of her item and compelled me to follow up with a higher offer than I was planning to. Fortunately, I’m experienced enough with negotiating to keep my emotions in check and my options open.
And the only way to get experience is by PRACTICING. The problem is, if you wait until your next salary negotiation to practice, you’re leaving money on the table. It’s too high-stakes.
Why not try something like this or better yet, book a call with me? I’m offering a FREE private session ($295 value) for the first five people who purchase my salary negotiation video course.
My method is so good, Harvard Business School invited me to teach it. Because more money in your bank account is better for everyone.
Or skip the course and go straight to my calendar. No time to waste, your bank account is counting on you!
Every Monday I’m committing to one new goal. Help me follow through by commenting on my LinkedIn with words of encouragement/tips or if you’re feeling brave, post your own goal for this week and I’ll check in with you on Friday to see how it went 💪
🎯 By Friday: Finish (shitty) first draft of article to submit to the New York Times’ Modern Love column.
🌟 Why it’s important: It’s the basis of a keynote and memoir I’d like to write about what my son Raphael’s medical condition taught me about the power of healing. This will honor him, our family, and hopefully help others.
🪨 What’s in my way: The twins take up A LOT of time – currently only working during their wake windows – plus we have something taking up most of today (Monday) and then Raph’s cardiology appointment Tuesday afternoon.
✅ I commit: Spend 20 minutes every day working on it, rather than hoping I’ll get a chunk of time and energy that never comes.
🥈If I don’t reach my goal, at least I will… Finalize the structure and put time on my calendar to work on specific parts.
🙌 Support I need: Public accountability works well for my procrastination so letting me know you’re looking out for me is helpful!
Prefer to listen to the episode instead? Click here.
The latest podcast episode is a replay of a webinar where I go through 12 common misunderstandings I’ve seen get in the way of salary negotiation and what to do about them. Things like our mindsets coming into salary negotiation, how we prepare, and what we say during the actual negotiation itself.
With 1,500 Ladies Get Paid newsletter subscribers in the Los Angeles area, we figured it was time to finally meet one another. Our first IRL event since the pandemic, woohoo!
Come if you want to connect with women who believe that the key to earning and living better is to support one another. Plus, we’re bringing a bunch of fun (free) swag for the first folks who show up.
Not sure yet if this will become a regular meetup, so try to make it if you can. Also, for our parents – feel free to include your kiddos! We may have our twins in tow 🐣🐣.
