Recently, a reader posted this comment on my Wrapping up 2009 post: “I just wonder how one goes about getting direct clients. It seems ideal, but it also seems like a hurdle to get over, that many of us have not learned how to do.” I think that a lot of translators feel this way: they’d love to work with more direct clients but they struggle to find them. So, here are a few of my theories about working with direct clients, feel free to add your own:
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- You’re not going to find direct clients all in one place. Or as I heard someone else put it, “You need to think of ten ways to find one direct client, not one way to find ten direct clients.” I think that many of us who started out working with agencies did so by applying to many, many agencies that we found all in one place. For example, during my first year in business I applied to over 400 potential clients and I found the bulk of them by using just a few sources, such as association directories. See this post for more information about applying to agencies. So, first of all, I think it’s important to restrain yourself from looking for that gold mine of direct clients and accept that you are probably going to find them one at a time.
- Many direct clients will find you, rather than the other way around. Think of it this way; when you receive marketing materials from professional service providers (accountants, web designers, etc.), do you most often save them because you might need them in the future? Do you click on the links in most of the marketing e-mails you receive? I don’t either. So, you have to make sure that you’re easily findable when clients need you. I would say that 90% of the initial contacts I get from direct clients are in a moment of crisis; they have the opportunity to bid on a big contract but the RFP response has to be in English and it’s due next week, they’re exhibiting at a trade fair and just realized that they need their handouts in English, etc. So, make sure that you’re easy to find. Have an engaging and updated profile in the online directory of any associations you belong to; write articles for translation industry websites; get on LinkedIn and similar websites for your non-US countries; write a blog; have a good-looking professional website; join associations related to your specializations. I receive a lot of cold contacts from direct clients because if you Google “freelance French to English translator,” I’m on the first page: this really helps when direct clients are panicking and need a translator.
- You need to be the kind of person colleagues refer clients to. Quite a number of my direct clients have come to me through colleagues. One colleague closed her business to take an in-house job and gifted me a couple of clients; one colleague who works in English>French refers her clients to me when they need the opposite direction, and I receive a lot of referrals through people I meet at conferences and seminars. I know, this involves talking to people and potentially even putting on nice clothes and leaving your house, but it really works.
- Consider putting up a website that is only in your source language. Personally, I think that potential clients are attracted to a website that is exclusively in their language, because it makes you seem more approachable to them. For example, my colleague Eve Bodeux and I invested a very modest amount of money into putting up an exclusively French website. We picked a French domain name and the content is in French only (translated by our trusted colleague Marianne Reiner) and we have gotten excellent feedback on it from potential clients. Just for reference, this site cost us just a few hundred dollars to put up.
I don’t think that direct marketing to direct clients is worthless; personally I like postcard ad campaigns because they’re inexpensive and if you put a nice image on the card, clients may keep it just because they like it. However I do think that for most direct clients, “pull” marketing (where the client comes to you) is much more effective than “push” marketing where you go to the client.
I agree 100% with this post. I am lucky to have quite a lot of direct clients and almost all of them found me, not the other way around. Some of them came through referrals from colleagues who work in other language pairs, a few through my website and online profiles, but most of them simply found me in the Yellow Pages. Even in the Internet age, it seems that many (small) companies still turn to the Yellow Pages to search for a translator in their area rather than search on the Internet.
@Christine: Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed the post! That’s a great example about the Yellow Pages…
Very useful information. Thanks.
Nice post Corinne! Common sense, practical tips and the benefits of your good ideas all rolled into one.
Thank you, Corinne. I find that last suggestion particularly interesting.
My experience has also been that the direct clients will find you; two of my favorite international companies did exactly that much to my surprise. But I can’t honestly compare the “let them come” approach to active acquisition, because I seldom find time for the latter.
Excellent post, Corinne. How do agree that with direct clients, using a strategy allowing them to find you as easily as possible is probably more efficient than taking steps to “go and get them”. Can you explain, however, why you think that a website that is exclusively in the translator’s source language is more efficient than a bilingual one? The client can just disregard the part of the site s/he doesn’t understand, no? Or is its interest purely linked to the “localised” domain name?
@John and Karen, glad you enjoyed it!
@Kevin, I agree: I have a lot of back-burner ideas for “push” marketing to direct clients but they always seem to stay on the back burner. On the other hand, I get quite a few “out of nowhere” inquiries from potential direct clients just because they are cruising the web looking for translators.
@CĂ©line, if I could write in two languages as well as you do, I wouldn’t worry about having a source language-only website! Personally I think that a bilingual website can be very appealing, it’s when people have a ton of languages (that they obviously don’t speak) that I think it can turn clients off. In my case, I went for a simple, static website in French partially to use a French domain name and partially because I write so slowly in French that it would take a lot of time to keep it updated if it were more complex. I’m always in awe of your dual-language blog!
There are many benefits to being “findable” whether it is through web presence or an active strategy to help existing clients help others “find” you through referrals (BTW – anyone have feedback on this? we are currently trying to set up a referral program to systematize what is already happening frequently but randomly and would love any tips you might have). My favorite benefit of “them finding you” is the position of strength it puts you in when it comes time to negotiate rates.
As for the monolingual source-language website, it is great to have one on the right domain name (the country’s domain extension). I personally use the FR version of my website as the “base” version (since 99 percent of my customers are in France) eventhough it is on a .com and not a .fr extension.
Not even sure why I have an English version, really, other than to appeal to the rare non-French prospects that come my way.
Ah, my very favorite subject; agreed on all fronts. Finding and retaining direct customers is a lot of work, it’s analogous to networking. We do it all the time, and another piece of advice would be to get out in the community and attend networking functions, go to the Chamber of Commerce speednetworking session if you can, and more than anything, integrate looking for clients into your everyday life. That doesn’t mean being pushy, but you never know where you next client will come from. I found one at a baby shower, so be sure to have business cards on hand at all times. I frequently get asked what I do for a living at parties, and many times, someone will say “Oh, my company needs a Spanish/German website”.
Also, I think giving back to the profession by serving on the board of a local chapter, etc, is not only a great thing for all of us, but it also builds your reputation. I am also all for the pull strategy: build your reputation and the clients will come. I also recommend going to trade shows, which is a tremendous amount of work, but is totally worth it.
@Sara: on the referrals front, you could consider asking current happy customers for names and contact information of clients who might need your services. I believe you should only do this will clients you know well, just in case they don’t feel comfortable. Of course, the ideal situatioon is when customers tell you they already referred you all on their own. I am not sure I answered the question you had, but that is my first thought.
@Judy
Velll….while I always thank a referrer with a phone call or email, I’d like to do something with a little more impact, like a personal gift (I know most of my clients well — since I love to eat, taking clients out to lunch is my favorite hobby and it does give you a chance to chat!). We have a pretty good idea for the referral “thank you”. But to initiate the referral process we wanted to do something fun, like a special business card that the referrer can pass on to others, for instance (with a special message on the back like “I loved working with SFM Traduction and I think you will, too” or something…). We don’t want to be pushy and want to keep it fun.
Also agree completely with what you say about networking and “giving back”. Those two activities alone have helped me transform my business from all-agency to an exclusively direct clientele. It’s all about building rapport and credibility.
I finally did a French version of my rĂ©sumĂ©/CV recently, with some help from a couple of native French friends who agreed to look it over and make corrections/suggestions. I just did a website this year, in English only for the moment, and I have been considering the best way to make it bilingual. For my English website, I used just a template on Yahoo. It was simple to set up and quite inexpensive. I’m thinking that the easiest way to make it bilingual is to get another yahoo domain to do a French version, and then create a link from one site to the other. So far my site isn’t really showing up on search engines, but it at least gives me something I can include in my signature at the bottom of e-mails and on my business card where people can go for more information.
Joan