How to Negotiate a Hollywood sized Deal

Are you experienced in the area of deal negotiation?

William Shatner as the Priceline Negotiator

I have used Priceline many times to get a great airline fare, or hotel room. Priceline's Name Your Own Price feature is very helpful, and it also is very similar to real life negotiation. If the price you name is too low, then it will reject that offer. If you come really close to a reasonable offer, Priceline will show you a close offer that is near your price. If you name a price that is higher than their lowest accepted price, then they will pocket the change, no questions asked.

Quick Movie Reference:
Back in 1998, Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey were in the movie, The Negotiator, and Kevin Spacey was the hostage negotiator. Kevin Spacey's character found out that Samuel L. Jackson's character was really not the bad guy. It was the guys on the police force that were really crooked. That's tough, when the good guys are really bad, and the bad guy is really good. You have to pick a side, you know.

Samuel L. Jackson & Kevin Spacey in The Negotiator (1998).

But I'm not talking about negotiating for hostages, I'm talking about negotiating for payment when making a contract to perform a service.

If you are a Hollywood movie star, then chances are that you have an agent that negotiates on your behalf.

But many hard-working people have to negotiate their salaries, and some people that work for freelance have to negotiate per project.

So how do you make the Hollywood sized deal?

First, you need to know the industry-standard rate of performing work.

Second, you need to know the lowest you are willing to get paid for a job.

Third, you have to take a chance and throw out a number. If it is too high, then they will let you know.

But you will never know what you can get unless you ask.

If you try to negotiate, and you are "out of the ballpark," this means you are too far apart to actually make a deal.

Negotiating a Hollywood sized deal can be fun and exciting, and it gets easier as you gain experience.

Just remember: It is always easier to shoot a little high in negotiating, and come down a little, than to throw out a number that is at the bottom, because you have a hard time trying to negotiate the price up.