Home
|
Overview
of the Profession | Project
Management Overview | April 26th Program Summary
|
Tools
|
Articles
|
April
26, 2004 Program Summary |
||
Marketing
and
Negotiating Contract Services This valuable session zeroed in on one of the hardest skills we ever need to learn as professionals how to make prospective clients or employers understand what we have to offer, and how to negotiate a mutually satisfying outcome. Although negotiating is naturally an adversarial process, it need not be an unpleasant one. Returning presenter, independent contractor, and marketing consultant Bruce Mills (right) provided a series of pointers for use by anyone in technical communication, graphic design, creative content development, instruction, Web design, and software development. Common negotiating concerns Before introducing the evening's guest speaker, Adele Sommers led the meeting by asking the audience to introduce themselves individually and raise questions. This was a good way for everyone to get to know one another and to initiate communication within the group. All participants came up with great questions; however, negotiating compensation rates was the most popular topic:
What
exactly is negotiating? Negotiating
is like driving through a four-way intersection. You must see where
your adversaries are going. Negotiating is also like a two-way street;
you cannot assume the other side wants what you want. When the other
parties get what they want (or feel that they have), you will get what
you want. Negotiating includes the following steps: Process:
You must understand and give your adversary what he or she wants to
get what you want.
Planning:
Techniques:
Your needs:
Gaming
tips:
Commitment:
Keys
for a successful negotiation:
More
tips:
You can apply many of these techniques regardless of whether you freelance or work for an employer. Most marketing and negotiation skills are universal!
Photography by Mary Meyer and Michael Raphael. |
||
Marketing
and Negotiating Contract Services
|
|
Date: | Monday evening, April 26, 2004 |
Speaker: |
Bruce G. Mills, graphic and media designer, marketing consultant, and Web designer with many years of marketing, executive leadership, and project management experience in the graphic arts and related industries. Bruce also has a BA in Fine Arts and an MBA, and is the principal of Lone Pine Studio. |
Description: |
Marketing
and Negotiating Contract Services examined a disciplined process
in which you must continually make a variety of decisions some
carefully planned and some spontaneous to achieve a win-win result
involving a new client, contract, or project. To do this well in each
situation, you must understand the psychology and process of negotiating,
plan for it, set goals, position for strength, and follow through with
a solid strategic and tactical sequence. Sound like a tall order? Perhaps. But at this critical, skill-sharpening session, our guide showed us enlightened pathways through the marketing and negotiating maze as we explored these important angles:
|
|
Some articles or linked resources may be in Portable Document Format (PDF). To download the free Acrobat Reader, click the icon at right. To install the Reader, double-click the downloaded file. |