Making sure you get paid what you are worth can be difficult, especially if you have just been offered a great job. But don’t be shy, and remove the myths about salary negotiation from your brain, because if you don’t, they can prevent you from getting the salary you deserve.

I used these principles recently to get a friend from an initial offer of 2.8% to a 19% pay rise on a new position – yes, in the middle of a recession! That’s almost 7 times more! She was extremely disappointed with the first offer she received, but too polite to ask for more – until she talked to me of course! Please be aware of these myths, and don’t fall victim to them:

Myth 1: Aim for the highest salary

When you look at your life, you will probably realise that cash is not always the most important thing. Consider carefully other benefits, bonuses and quality of life that a position affords. The job with the highest salary might enslave you and leave little time for home, hobby or sport activities.

Myth 2: Employers don’t like negotiating salaries

Most employers have respect for a person who is firm in the way he values him/herself. There is no harm in justifying to an employer why you deserve more.

Myth 3: If you don’t indicate your expected salary, your application won’t be reviewed

You will sometimes find “expected salary” to be a requirement in job ads. By quoting a figure, be it too high OR too low, you can either eliminate yourself from consideration, or lock yourself into a salary that is below what you really want.

If you are qualified and meet all other criteria, employers will not ignore your resume because it doesn’t list a salary range.

Myth 4: There is no room to move

If an employer believes you are the perfect candidate for the job, and the offer on the table is below your expectations, it is rare indeed that they have no room to move. Exceptions are possible.

Myth 5: A “starting salary” is OK to begin with

Don’t fall for this one! Most salary increases are negotiated on your current wage. Accepting a lower “starting” salary, without any negotiation, will impact your negotiations for years.

Myth 6: Asking for less improves your chances

Few employers hire on salary alone, and his strategy can sometimes backfire by devaluing you in the eyes of the company, and actually decrease your chances of landing the job.

Myth 7: Agree to the offer ASAP

Don’t believe that if you don’t jump at an offer, an employer will rush to make the offer to someone else. Get the offer in writing, and if you have any doubts, take at least 24 hours before accepting. Understanding that you have room to negotiate will help you to get the salary you deserve – the first offer from an employer is rarely the last and final offer – salary negotiation is part of the process.

Know Your Value

Knowing your own value is one of the most important skills to have generally, but being able to realise it is even more important. Look at the value you add and expect to be compensated accordingly. If you are unable to get the compensation (monetary and non-monetary) you think you deserve there are always alternatives – you are more resourceful than you dare to let yourself think!

Salary Negotiation – How I Helped a Friend Get a 7 Times Larger Pay Rise is a post from: Smart Money Mindset.com

Like watching TV or movies? You could be programming your brain for financial suicide!

TV and movies are full of false values or beliefs, also known as “Memes”, that we pick up and believe in without even realising. Some of the worst are around money and wealth. By getting these into your head you could be sabotaging your financial success without even realising.

Movies Are Keeping You Poor!
Think about movies for a second. My favourite for this is Titanic (I’m not saying that’s my favourite movie by the way!).

“The Rich Are the Bad Guys”
Do you remember the dinner scenes? They show all the rich people being boring and stuffy, arrogant, and you get a sense of Kate Winslet (the heroine) being restricted, uncomfortable, and that the people around her are untrustworthy. And the main bad guy in the movie is here, her rich fiance.

“Poor People Have More Fun”
Meanwhile down below the poor people are partying like mad! Lots of smiling, fun, drinking, and a really warm and friendly environment, and our poor hero Leonardo di Caprio in the middle of it having the time of his life! The place our heroine would rather be.

Do you really think that’s what it was like on the Titanic? Where did you get that belief from? Who told you that?

Think about the movies you watch and you’ll find the above is usually true. There is a hidden message that being rich leads to unhappiness and being poor is somehow more honest and real, and even respected.

“It’s Romantic to Sacrifice Wealth”
And at the end of the movie what happens? Rose’s granddaughter and husband are spending thousands searching for treasure, the necklace with the huge diamond. And what does Rose do with it? Throw it in the sea?! So it can be with her dead lover?! How romantic?!

How about taking that diamond and giving it to her granddaughter so she can financially secure her and her descendants for years to come – so they never have to worry about money, paying for school, medical care if they get sick? Nope, it’s on its way back to Leo so he can do God knows what with it… because that’s the “right” thing to do? Give me a break…

Want To Be Wealthy? Don’t Watch Dallas!
If you watch a lot of television you’ll see the same values or beliefs within those. Take programmes like Dallas, Dynasty or even recently The O.C.

“Having Money Means More Problems”
In these programmes in the first episode everyone has money and all looks well on the surface… but before long the story lines take hold – like one character losing all their money due to a crooked business partner or accountant; kids out of control due to all the money their rich parents give them; those same kids taking drugs and needing to go into rehab; adultery; domestic violence; robbery; threats etc. etc.

What does that condition your brain to think? That being rich is all one big party? Not quite.

More like:

“Well if I get rich, I could lose it all, lose my wife/husband, my kids could become drug-addicted criminals, and people will come and try and steal my money”

… think about it, how many of those beliefs do you currently hold about becoming wealthy? What’s the conclusion?

“Well, maybe it’s better to have a little money, but not too much cause I don’t want to turn into an asshole and get my kids screwed up”

Really have a think about it – what beliefs do you have about becoming wealthy and where did you get them from? These beliefs are almost certainly holding you back from what you want financially.

Watching TV? You’re Committing Financial Suicide! is a post from: Smart Money Mindset.com

Here’s some advice on using negotiation tactics learnt from Indian parents to save yourself plenty of money.

One thing about being the child of Indian parents is that you get to see them in operation across a number of areas – feeding 200 members of family with a highly effective mobile kitchen infantry unit; fitting 200 members of family into a three bed-semi; getting every single auntie you’ve ever met to drag you onto the dancefloor at a wedding; organising an array of potential suitors when a daughter or son is ready for marriage (I’ve managed to evade this one so far!).

However the most impressive, and to be honest most uncomfortable, is when they are negotiating over buying something. You see being brought up in the UK has given me the fantastic quality of English politeness, which is respected around the world. However our desire to be what we think is polite often leads us to missing out on opportunities to save money.

I remember many a time wanting to curl up and become invisible when the following conversation would take place when on holiday between my mum and usually a shop keeper trying to sell some souvenir or gift:

Mum: “How much is this please?”
Shop keeper: “It’s $50 Madam” (or whatever the currency was)
Mum: “That’s too much, I’ll give you $5″

Now my wanting to be polite would never let me start the negotiation off there, but my mum had been genetically engineered as an Indian to know how to negotiate, and had also probably seen her parents do the same. And you know what? She might not have got it at $5, but most likely at $10 (still less than my starting price would have been), and interestingly that was usually the price the shopkeeper was aiming for anyway.

This tactic is known as an Opening Gambit in negotiation terms and stated simply means “Ask for more than you expect to get”. You will quite often surprise yourself with what is possible.

There’s a saying that goes “You never make more money per hour than when you’re negotiating”. If you think about it, it’s usually true.

What’s being too polite costing you? Let me know and what you could do about it!

Check out my upcoming Top Ten Indian Negotiation Tactics for more on this!

How Being Too Polite Costs You Money is a post from: Smart Money Mindset.com