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Hey Fearless Friend!

Today on Stay Fearless or Die Trying:

1. 3 secrets to negotiating like a pro. Trust me, you didn’t know how to negotiate before this newsletter.

2. I started making microphone covers with logos on them and it’s become my full-time gig aside from writing this newsletter and filming Dare To Be Fearless. Curious how I scaled the business so fast? Listen to the story here.

Let’s talk negotiating.
Because a lot of people suck at it.

How’d I get so good at it? Practice, but I’ve always been naturally good at business. That doesn’t mean I knew what I was doing from day one, but after 10 years of building companies, many highs, and even more lows, I’ve cracked the code on getting what I want in almost every room I walk into.

I negotiated my own Disney show in 2018, which was one of the hardest deals I’ve ever watched come to fruition. From cold pitching the show to Disney to negotiating with the biggest beast in business out there (people call Disney a machine for a reason) I learned even more about how to get what I want in every room I walk out of.

You need to understand people.

Find their pain point. Before any conversation or room you walk into, ask guided questions based on things you may have seen on their social media, LinkedIn, media kit (etc.) that you think can be improved. You’re not in the room selling your ideas, you’re in the room finding a pain point to sell around. What most people lack in sales is the ability to find that middle ground and THEN start selling.

*You need to follow up.

I beg of you, follow the f*** up. It’s not that often that I email someone over 2 years and randomly become friends with them at a party. But, at least I knew I tried. I’m not shocked at how many people stop following up. They think they’re being annoying or don’t even follow up once because they believe the person on the other side looking at the email didn’t reply out of disinterest.

I’d rather be annoying than boring or forgotten. And they didn’t reply 9 times out of 10 because your email ended up in their spam inbox!

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You can have a friends and family rate for deals but that rate needs to begin and end at friends and family.

I’ve seen people screw up so many deals by negotiating out of desperation, forgetting what they charged one person, increasing and decreasing rates super quickly to the next person, etc. and it looks bad. In your mind, it may seem irrelevant but if you confuse someone enough on the other side of the deal, they will back out based on fear.

Learning how to negotiate like a boss is learning how to override someone’s roller coaster of emotions surrounding money and always make them feel comfortable, even as you get their business and they shell out tons of cash.

If someone is asking you for proof of ROI (especially with consulting deals) in early phone calls while negotiating, I’d pass.

I’ve worked with 100s of clients in my TV work, in the podcast space, and more over the years, and let me tell you: if someone is asking you annoying questions upfront that are out of the ordinary, they’re going to be even worse to do business with. Stop negotiating and find a better client.

If you grew up with nothing but big dreams, you need to listen to Mimi Ikonn on Dare To Be Fearless.

She started and sold her first business in her late twenties called Luxy Hair (with Alex Ikonn), and co-founded Intelligent Change which was the start of the five-minute journal.

Fun story: before I met Mimi at a party, I had literally cold-emailed her probably 5 times in 2 years trying to get her on the show. Sometimes life is meant to be, rightttt?

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Happy Holidays my darling fearless fam.

Stay fearless or die trying,

Alexa