How to price your translation services – plus continuing education tips

I hope you have all had a great summer! I spent six weeks in Sweden and had a wonderful time. This blog post will be a bit different from previous ones, in that it will contain a bit of current news on continuing education. In podcast episode 19 we discussed pricing strategies with Gwenydd Jones, and I will also give a webinar on the topic for eCPD Webinars on September 9^th, which I wanted to inform you about. I developed the course after receiving several questions from translators about pricing, and based on all the blog posts and discussions in forums, pricing is one of the hottest and most difficult topics in the freelance translation industry.

I know pricing sure was one of my most difficult business aspects when I first got started as a freelance translator. If you are interested in the topic, here is what I will be talking about in the webinar:

1. How do determine a fair price for your translation services? Hint, this involves:

•              Knowing your working practices
•              Knowing your target income
•              Knowing what the clients are willing to pay
•              Finding clients willing to pay

2. How to set minimum fees, rush charges, other fees and how to deal with discount
3. Hourly rates vs per word rates vs project rates
4. How to find clients that want to pay your target rate
5. A little bit about the mindset for getting paid what you are worth
6. Rate negotiations and giving yourself a raise

This month’s checklist for the newsletter subscribers is a “Pricing strategy checklist”, where you know you have a solid pricing strategy for your freelance translation business once you can answer “Yes” to each 8 points in the checklist. Join here if you would like to receive this checklist and future ones. Fall is a time for new beginnings for me and for improving my skills. I guess it is because my children are going back to school, which makes me want to go back to school too. Therefore I am sharing a lot of tips on courses to take in my current podcast episodes, for example Marta’s “Next Level Business “Bootcamp” for expert translators”, episode 24, and Corinne’s “Beyond the Basics of Freelancing”, episode 21. This fall I personally want to focus on improving my speaking skills. I am currently reading a book called “Resonate” by Nancy Duarte, which came highly recommended by some of the excellent speakers in the online business industry. I have also decided to join the “Toastmasters” group in Park City, a vibrant and large group of at least 30 members. One of the reasons for starting the podcast was also to improve my speaking so we will see how it goes. I am also looking into improving my written communication and to sign up for a copywriting or technical writing course both in Swedish and English. What continuing education will you do this fall? I would love to hear about it. Last but not least, I want to thank you for nominating the “Marketing Tips for Translators” podcast for the ProZ Community Choice Awards. The voting for all sorts of categories have now started, so please vote for your favorites here: http://www.proz.com/community-choice-awards