How to make more money fast – the 80/20 principle for freelance translators

Do you know the easiest way to make more money right now, with the least effort?

I often listen to audiobooks through Audible on my phone when walking the dog, exercising or driving in the car. I recently started listening to the “80/20 Sales and Marketing” by Perry Marshall. Already in the introduction, I heard the message “It is easier to grow by selling more to your existing customers than to find new customers” and “Your best new customer is your existing customer.”
But first, what is the 80/20 rule?

How to prepare an effective email to offer your translation services

This is a guest post by Ed Garcia from worktranslating.com

I get many emails every day from translators offering their services. Some emails get my attention, while some don’t. What is the difference? What can you do to make your emails a “must open” email?

Book recommendation: The Business Guide for Translators

When Marta announced that she was publishing a business book for translators, I preordered my copy right away, because I knew it would be full of useful information. We have been following each other’s writing this year when we discovered we were both planning on publishing books.

Can you afford not to attend a translation conference?

Tips to get the most out of a conference

Do you recognize yourself with the following scenario? You are quite a busy translator. You might even have a family and lots of bills to pay. In fact, some months it is hard to make ends meet, both when it comes to money and time. Attending an industry conference only seems like a dream.

Do you know your ideal customer? Creating a customer avatar for your freelance translation business

The other week I interviewed Alessandra Martelli on creating a marketing personas or customer avatars, and I wanted to write a bit  more about it here, since it is very important to know as much as possible about your ideal client.

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.

Interactive international SEO infographic for translators

I hope you are all enjoying your summer. I am working from Sweden and trying to enjoy the summer with my kids as much as I can. Here is a guest post by Liam Curley from Smoke & Croak.
Many businesses and freelancers understand the marketing opportunities made available by search engine optimisation. The advantage of ranking on the first page of Google for a relevant search term is clear. What’s less clear is how we get our site to rank well on search engines. If you’re targeting more than one international market, the task becomes even more complex.

Working for Translation Agencies – And Loving It?

First of all, what are the advantages of working for a translation agency (or Language Service Provider, LSP)?

1. They do the hard work of marketing and finding the clients for you so you can focus on doing what you are best at, translating.
2. It is very easy to have steady work once you have found a few good agencies you like to work for.
3. They provide a “buffer” between you and the client, which can be valuable if the client is being “difficult.”
4. They educate the clients about the translation process for you.

How to use SMART goals for your freelance translation business

In the last blog posts I discussed the importance of having a marketing plan for your freelance translation business. But in order to create a successful marketing plan, we need to have some solid goals. In the business strategy and marketing world there is a great concept for creating good goals, called SMART goals. You have probably heard about them before, but just in case, the smart goals are: Specific – Measurable – Attainable – Realistic –Time bound. These criteria have been created to help you, and in this post I will try to show examples from a freelance translator’s point of view. Use them to define your goals and break them down into smaller goals, leading toward the bigger goal. By doing this it will become much easier to work towards your goals and actually attain them.

How to create a marketing plan for your freelance translation business in one hour

I have been a freelance translator for over 10 years. I started out slowly since my children were small, and continually focused on growing my business. I considered myself a freelancer and not really a business and did not have a marketing plan. I still dislike spending time writing long business or marketing plans that usually end up forgotten in a drawer.

PR Tips for Freelance Translators

Why does a translator need PR?

Public Relations

When we hear ‘public relations’, or ‘PR’, we usually think of celebrities or large corporations and don’t typically associate it with freelance professionals. Freelancers might think PR would be over the top for us one-man bands. These days, there are a myriad of courses on business and marketing for translators, but none on translator PR. Marketing is of course essential, but we need to bear in mind that while marketing is all about the brand, PR is about the story behind the brand.

Upcoming webinars and presentations: Rewarding relationships with translation agencies and pricing strategies for translators

Training – consulting

I wanted to share the upcoming webinars that I will be giving this year, since the marketing for them has already started and I have received questions for more information. Pricing strategies and working with agencies seem to be what most freelance translators struggle with the most and I look forward to talking about these subjects and give some great tips. I would love to hear your input or feedback on these subjects.

Six tips for choosing a specialization for your freelance translation career

Is it important to specialize if you are a new translator without much experience? The answer is yes. Online competition can be steep and by specializing you can stand out from the crowd. But that is not the only reason.  Certain subjects simply demand a specialized translator in order to be able to produce a good translation. A highly specialized medical journal simply cannot be translated by someone without any experience in the specific medical field. A manual for a blow torch cannot be translated by someone who barely knows what a blow torch is. I should know, since I attempted to do it when I first started out. I quickly realized that it was not a good idea.

Resume/CV writing tips for freelance translators – when to use a resume/CV or what we can use instead

CV/resume for translators

I am not sure that resumes for freelance translators will be important in the future, but they are still used and asked for. Traditionally, resumes have been the most important marketing tool, and they still are quite important, but with the development of online databases such as LinkedIn, directories, websites, etc. more and more people are looking up the information they need online. Direct clients (end clients) in particular look up your information online, or find you through networking or direct marketing. They often do not want a resume, but rather look at a website or get a brochure.

8 Skills You Must Have to Succeed as a Freelance Translator—And How to Get Them

Having been a freelance translator for over 10 years, I can definitely say it is my dream job. I love what I do. However, when I started researching a career as a freelance translator in 2002, I did not know much about the profession or the business, let alone what was required to be successful. I would highly recommend a career as a freelance translator, but not everyone can become a good freelance translator. So if you are looking to become a freelance translator, or if you are one and want to improve your skills, read on. I assume that you are already bilingual, or nearly bilingual in at least one language pair.