How would you like to make more money? I did a presentation a few months ago on the three reasons why some people make less money than their peers. (FYI - You can watch the full recording for free if you have a subscription to CareerHMO.) The attendees shared some incredible stories of how they found out co-workers were making more money than them. The best was a story of an employee who was supposed to hire someone beneath them. When they asked their boss what the salary range was for the job, the boss quoted a range HIGHER than what the employee was currently making. Yikes! That must have been an uncomfortable moment, huh? The fact is, there are really only three skills we need to make more money. They are:

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1. Ability to negotiate more pay.
2. Know how to market our brand effectively and consistently.
3. Believe we deserve it.

It doesn’t matter if you are a pro-athlete, a movie star, or an hourly-worker at the local sub shop - the same skills apply if you want to make more money. Now, that doesn’t mean possessing these skills will guarantee you’ll get more money. Among other things, you still need to have talents in demand and a personality people can get along with. But, I can tell you talent and nice demeanor won’t get you more cash all by itself. Just ask the millions of kind and talented people out there who are underpaid. The reality is nobody is going to just hand us more money because we are good people and do nice work. We need the three skills above to earn more money or we can spend a lifetime being underpaid.

Your Turn

What’s the worst way you ever found out you were making less money that your co-worker? Have you every successfully negotiated for more money? What tips can you share to help others develop these important skills? Photo Credit: Shutterstock