The Case for Saying No

Early on I said yes to everything, because saying yes felt like momentum.

It was not momentum. It was a schedule full of work that did not lead anywhere, at rates that quietly set a ceiling for everything after.

Usage is the whole negotiation

The day rate is the part everyone discusses and the least important number in the document. Perpetual worldwide usage on a day rate is not a booking, it is a purchase — and it is almost always the line that should have been negotiated.

Ask three questions before the rate: where does this run, for how long, and in which territories.

Turning work down is a positioning decision

Every job you accept tells the market what you cost and what you do. A cheap job is not neutral — it is a data point that follows you.

The first time I turned down a booking I felt sick for a week. The next enquiry was at three times the rate.

That is not a universal law and I am not promising it happens. But the fear that saying no ends your career has, in my experience, been exactly backwards.