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4 Ways to Increase Your Income
You want to get out of debt, go back to school,
travel… but you don’t have the money. One solution is
to look at ways to increase your income.
1 Ask for a
raise
To get a raise, you need to be in a negotiable
position. To be in a negotiable position, demonstrate that you add
value or that you are being paid well below market.
You can increase your value in 3 ways:
A)
Increase sales or implement a cost-saving procedure that will
improve the bottom line. Think of ways you can
increase sales by attracting a new market. Try repackaging a product
or service to meet the needs of a new market. Look at local, national
and global trends to see how they are affecting your industry
and for insights into new markets to develop.
B) Identify
what your boss needs and give it to them. Meeting
your manager’s needs increases your value in their eyes.
The best indicator of your manager’s needs is their mood
swings – what causes them to show negative or positive emotions?
Look for patterns in their behaviours. For example, you notice
that they are always deflated and stressed when their boss turns
down one of their ideas or they are always happy at any staff
social event. Solution: support their ideas in front of the big
boss and invite your boss to social events like drinks after work
or going out for lunch. Remember that you are building negotiating
clout when you meet your boss’ needs.
C) Can you learn
a new skill that will increase your value? Learning
a new software program or becoming certified in first-aide or
fork lift operating could significantly increase your value. What
skill is in demand or lacking at your work? Can you fill that
void by taking training? Your company will probably pay for you
to take the training so all that you’ll be out is time and
energy!
To assess whether you are being paid to
market, review salary surveys - for example, http://salary.workopolis.com/
and collect postings for jobs that
are similar to yours that include the salary range for the position.
Once you have improved the bottom line, worked
to fulfill your boss’ needs and/or assessed your market value,
you are ready to negotiate a raise. When you ask for the raise,
make sure you bring evidence of why you deserve the raise –
i.e. numbers that show you have improved the bottom line, salary
survey information or postings that include salary figures or certificates
from training you have attended.
2 Raise your
fees or prices
If you work in the service industry, raise
your fees. If you work in retail, raise your prices. Try experimenting
to see what your market will bear. Try raising your fees or prices
a small increment with each new client. Keep raising your fees and
prices until you notice your customers hesitating on or complaining
about the cost. For example, if you charge $50 an hour to design
a landscape, try charging $55 dollars an hour, then $60 and so on
until you reach your top market price. If you get a client or job
that you don’t really want – try quoting a very inflated
rate and see if they accept it. You have nothing to lose if you
really don’t want the contract. You’ll never know what
you can get until you ask! You may be pleasantly surprised and realize
you have been undercharging!
3 Take on a
part-time job
Do you like dogs and would enjoy walking
dogs for some extra money? Could you teach what you know at an adult
education night class, at a community centre or by tutoring? Could
you turn a hobby into an eBay business? Would you like to help ESL
immigrants to practice their conversational English?
There are many ways to take on part-time
work that will put $100-$1000 or more extra dollars in your pocket
each month. Look at your hobbies and interests for a source of inspiration.
A good job board for weird and wonderful part-time gigs is http://www.craigslist.org.
Go to this web page, choose your city on
the right hand side and then click on the heading “jobs”.
4 Create residual
earnings from renting or royalties
Do you have equipment you are not using that
you could rent out? Do you have a spare room that you could rent
out to a student? Have you written a manual, a guide or software
that could be of use to others in your industry that your professional
association would pay royalties to use for training purposes? Do
you have a prototype for a product that you could patent? Have you
written a song that could be used in a film, computer game or other
multimedia venue? Some of these suggestions may not be quick sources
of income but over time they could bring in a substantial amount
of money.
With a little effort you could see a significant
increase in your monthly income.
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Do you have questions or comments regarding this article?
Email Joni Rose at
joni@careerminded.ca
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