The Fine Art of Raising Your Prices Prepare yourself for the harrowing "raise" conversation so you can get paid what you're worth.

It beats the heck out of me why homebased business owners havesuch a tough time asking for a raise.

After all, aren't we made of sturdier stuff? Didn't westride confidently into a new career where most other mere mortalsfear to tread? Are we bold risk-takers? Relentless opportunitygrabbers? Fearless taskmasters?

Well, yeah. But why do our once-proud spines turn to Jell-O whenit comes to asking clients for a raise? Some homebasedprofessionals I know say they don't want to rock the boat andrisk losing a client over a 10-percent raise. Others say they needmore experience first; then they can bring a stronger case to thebargaining table. All I know is my wife-bless her dearheart-suggested one day with all the subtlety of a jackhammerthat I ASK FOR MORE MONEY NOW!

So I did. And you know what? With a little trial and error, Istarted getting what I wanted. And I haven't lost a singleclient because of it.

Here are a few tips I learned along the way:

• Be prepared. The first thing I did was to establish agauge for freelance writers of my experience, background andcaliber. Many Web sites, like FreeAgent.com, Guru.com, About.com and others, list what independentcontractors in certain industries earn per project. You can alsocall professional associations for their national salary surveyinformation, quiz other friends in the industry, or simply goonline to a major search engine and type (in my case)"freelance writer and rates." For example, a trip toAbout.com revealed that writing for a financial magazine was worth,on average, about $1 per word.

Using that as leverage, I immediately approached the moneymagazines I was writing for that weren't paying me that muchand diplomatically pointed out the fee discrepancy. In all cases, araise ensued. One editor told me that "a budget is abudget," but he'd give me the extra 25 cents per wordbecause he didn't want word getting out that he ran a cheapship.

• Document your value. Once you've assessed thesituation, formulate a sales pitch with you as the star. Call yourclient and set up a formal appointment to discuss your value to thecompany. Be prepared to demonstrate that value and to establish amarket value for your position. If the thought leaves you queasy,type some notes for your own use or even prepare a written reportto leave with your client.

• Keep it impersonal. Any human resources director willtell you the worst reason to ask for a raise is because you needone. So what if you want a new car or Lasik eye surgery? That'snot your client's problem. When asking for a raise, keep theconversation away from what you need and steer it toward whatbenefits you bring to the company.

• Don't be afraid to ask. Another editor I approachedabout a raise was more to the point: "Why did you wait solong? All you had to do was ask."

In most cases, I found clients wanted to help and give me theraise. But a strict corporate code that isn't often breachedstates that a company never offers its vendors a raise. Soyou've got to belly up to the bar and ask.

• Know thy client. Sometimes I've found it helps tothink like one of your client's employees. For example, youshould know what the client company's raise policy is. Areraises merit-based? Are they a fixed cost-of-living increase thateveryone gets? Is there a percentage range depending onperformance? That way you can have a more productive discussiononce the issue is on the table.

• Counterattack. It's OK if your client saysthere's no money in the budget for your raise, but don'tleave it at that. Go ahead and ask when you might see the raise youhoped for. Better yet, if you've saved your client major moneyor generated piles of cash through your superior consulting orgraphic art skills, devise a way to share in the profits youbrought in. For example, if you're a Web designer who justrevamped a stale site, ask for a commission for every hit. Even ifit's a small commission, if you've done your job right, itshould add up. Sometimes clients need to be shown that a raise canbe paid for out of the revenue you've created.

All in all, the key is to get your request for a raise in frontof your client. Be prepared, don't be afraid to ask, anddon't be afraid to toot your own horn because nobody elsewill.

Brian O'Connell is a Framingham, Massachusetts-basedfreelance business writer. His most recent book, B2B.com(Bob Adams Media), is available this September. His earlierbooks, Generation E: How Young BIZ Experiencess are Changingthe Corporate Landscapeand The 401(k) Millionaire, are available inbookstores. A frequent contributor to many national businessmagazines, he can be reached at Bwrite111@aol.com.