Here’s a conundrum that I hear frequently from freelancers at all experience levels: agencies won’t pay my rates, and I can’t find any direct clients. What should I do? Well, let’s see:
- First, adjust your mindset. Tough love tip: if you truly believe that *zero* agencies will pay your desired rates, and that you will *never* be successful finding direct clients, you need to either shift your thinking or find a different job. If you’re approaching every interaction with a potential client as, “Here goes round 1,000 of beating my head against the wall,” then that’s the first thing that needs to change. Use growth mindset statements like, “There are plenty of clients out there who need what I do. I’m going to keep knocking on doors until I find them,” or “Instead of just translating what lands in my inbox, I’m going to actively seek out the kind of work I enjoy and am good at,” or “The marketing methods I’ve used in the past haven’t worked very well. Now I’m going to try something new and see if that gives me different results.”
- Assess what “won’t pay my rates” means. As I’ve written about before, you don’t need hundreds of clients to have a thriving translation business. If you apply to 100 agencies and 98 of them think you’re too expensive and two of them think your rates are fine, that’s success. And remember, thanks to a little thing called the Internet, you’ve got the whole world to work with. But…
- Work the local market. When I started my freelance business in 2002, I knew essentially nothing about entrepreneurship. So I opened up the yellow pages (remember when?) and started cold-calling translation agencies in Colorado and asking for informational interviews. As it turns out, I had stumbled onto a marketing technique that was actually very effective. The vast majority of these agencies responded something like “We don’t have much work for French to English/only work with people with five years’ experience/already have a couple of French translators we like, but if you want to come in and talk to us for a few minutes, no problem.” And since I had very little work, I had tons of time, so I went and talked to them. And guess what, when they had a sudden and urgent need for more French to English translators, or their existing French to English person went on vacation/raised their rates/was suddenly unavailable, guess who they called next? In-person marketing really is worth the investment of time, whether you’re looking at agencies or direct clients.
- Don’t market to direct clients in the same way you market to agencies. Agencies understand what you do. They know that they need you. They know the difference between a translator and an interpreter. Direct clients know none of this, and it’s not their fault. But they know that in a business sense, translation might be necessary, helpful, or both. So, it’s up to you to market to them in a way that they can understand: “Have you ever considered what an English website might do for your business?” “I’ve helped multiple US-based investment companies understand the financial statements of the Russian companies they invest in.” “When you work with me, I have one goal: to take the hassle and stress out of the translation process.” You’ve heard it before, but let’s say it again: focus on what’s in it for the client, not on how many words a day you translate and what TM tool you have.
- Keep marketing to agencies, but be selective. When I launched my freelance business, I was 100% *un-selective* about the agencies I marketed to. I opened up my paper copy of the ATA corporate member directory and started at A, going to the agencies’ websites and seeing if they were hiring. By the time I hit the middle of the alphabet, I was getting some work from the As and Bs. But if you’re not a beginner, don’t do that. Even if you are a beginner, vet the agencies you apply to by checking their ratings on Payment Practices or the ProZ Blue Board before you apply. If you’re beyond beginner stage, target your marketing. Sort the agencies’ ratings on one of the sites above, and apply only to the ones with impeccable reviews. Ask translators in other language combinations who their favorite clients are, or what agencies they’ve heard good things about. Google “engineering translations” or “cookbook translations” or whatever your specialty is, and apply to the agencies that advertise those services.
- Ditch the “I don’t have time” excuse. OK, I’ve used it too. But really, you have 15 minutes a day, right? And even 15 minutes can make a big difference. In 15 minutes, you can send a warm e-mail to a prospective direct client. You can apply to most agencies in 15 minutes. And most importantly, 15 minutes a day keeps the ball rolling and makes marketing a habit, which is one of the keys to success.
Readers, any other thoughts on how to break out of a mental block when it comes to marketing?
Clearing a mental block. How about the last slide in all my presentations: IF YOU’RE NOT HAVING FUN, YOU’RE NOT DOING IT RIGHT.
When I am bugged, and really not having fun, I take it as a clear signal that I need to examine how I am going about whatever I am doing, in this case, growing my business. IHTH.
Great tip, Jonathan! Thank you!!
Excellent post as always. During my marketing workshops and training I have often noticed that the intention to market and work “on” the freelance business, instead of just “in” it always are good, but that the hardest part is to actually prioritize it. It is easy to downprioritize it when you are busy with paying jobs, I have done it a lot too, but then you cannot take your business forward, and in theory, are not justified to complain. The only way to bring it forward is to realize how important it is to set aside a little time every day or week to work on imrpoving your business.
Thanks, Tess! That is so true: it’s so easy to say, “I can’t work on marketing right now, because I have to do my paying work.” But you’re totally right that then, your business is going to stagnate.
I agree. How much time, effort and care you put in dictates how much you take out. At some point one has to stop looking at freelance translation as a job and basically start working on the company — and give oneself the sort of mental promotion to chief executive of something really small but still something. Translation isn’t even that small, actually, as the texts you translate affect more than just you and a single recipient. In some ways, the size of the matters you deal with is more important than the size of your staff. And there certainly is potential to grow if you’re ready to put in the effort.
One marketer I read somewhere, perhaps on Lawyerist.com, advocated dedicating one day a week to marketing. Or perhaps one hour. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is recognizing marketing as a function in your business, even if you don’t have marketing staff (because you only have yourself).
Some of the advice is spot on, such as being selective when approaching agencies or direct clients. I take issue, however, on starting my chosen profession as a translator as “launching my freelance business.” I blame it on the uniquely American way of approaching any money-making activity, be it knitting and selling quilts, forging uniquely designed knives or writing medical translations. Although I have to run backoffice tasks such as invoicing, correspondence and delivery of printed materials (when applicable), that does not make me a businessperson. Those are business tasks that are a necessary component to my profession.
These pieces of advice are overall sensible but I keep wondering why a) using an emotionally-charged headline and b) using always/never scenarios to develop an argument in favor of (or against) a particular practice are the best course of action. I prefer to start from a base of reason, not emotion, to present an argument.
I did like reading that 2 agencies out of 100 who accept your rates is success. That’s pragmatism. Besides, most of us independent contractors have to be on the lookout for new opportunities that might turn into clients because so-called regular clients eventually go away. A recent example: a wonderful person and trusted customer moved to Germany and her influx of Spanish/English technical translations has diminished compared to previous years. So, such clients have to be replenished.
I don’t particularly relate to the 15-minute-a-day piece of advice, however. Rather, I’d suggest getting into the habit of crafting well-mannered, civil, professional correspondence. Sometimes one short message written like that may take us more than 15 minutes, but not every single day.
Thanks, Mario!
Agreed Mario. Translation as a business is viable, but translation is a professional activity first of all. Translation should be a business in no more a sense than a clinic or law firm. This said, it’s perfectly fine for a clinic or firm to take advantage of business acumen, business processes, marketing etc. — just without identifying as a businessperson first and translator second, which is emphatically wrong for a professional to do. For the record, American lawyers are a nice example of how to run a professional practice like a business without running it as a business.
There is another element in this equation. Is every freelancer truly WORTH the rate they are asking for? I’ve seen many examples of freelancers who are blind to their deficiencies and who don’t really have the skillset to solicit direct clients or work without the safety net of an editor. Perhaps the solution for some people is to find a mentor or a translation buddy and to work on their writing and translation skills.
After all, the greatest marketing in the world won’t do any good if quality issues are causing constant client churn.
Now that’s good tough love advice too! Thanks, Grant!
Most translators aren’t good enough to work without a reviewer and editor, it’s just how the current structure of our so called industry is all about cutting corners these days.
On the other hand, it’s important to not allow the shortcomings of subpar translators to limit the wages of outstanding translators and translators who simply do the job right, nothing more, nothing less.
My first professional translation work was in-house at a university-affiliated NGO, supporting an international research team from the office of the faculty investigators. I then transitioned to freelancing when the study grant ended, but faced many of the problems that Corinne describes here. The biggest factor that improved my situation was to return to work, part-time, at that same university. My current job doesn’t involve translation, but provides a great learning environment. I also get paid every other week, and have benefits, and I interact with great people who value my contributions. Most beneficial to my translation work, the job gave me leverage: “My availability is limited and my schedule fills up at my standard rates.”
Great example, thank you Stephen!
What about this kind of situation: rates acceptable in the country where I live (Ukraine) are sometime 8-10 times lower than the rates paid even by Indian and/or Chinese translation agencies. In order to be precise, I have just visited a web-site of one of numerous translation agencies in the city of Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine). 45 UAH per page of EN-RU translation, which is about 0,0062 USD per word (now imagine how much a translator will get in this case). Actually, the same situation is in almost any other country of the ex-USSR (it would take too much time to tell you why, and it is not only about GDP-per-capita indices of these countries).
Which means that direct clients here will never accept something as high as 0,1 USD per word (which is 16(!) times higher than the number above offered by a translation agency – a company with several project managers and dozens of freelancers ready to offer their help).
Which in its turn means that once you start working with translation agencies in Europe or the US (thanks to proz, or similar platforms), you will no longer accept those ridiculous rates local market offers you. In other words, you just don`t have both direct and “indirect” clients here ready to pay you the rates even the most, well, “greedy” Western agencies can offer you (ca. 0,06 USD).
In other words, there is no way back. In order to raise your rates, you have now to look for direct clients in the US, Western Europe, etc. Which is not an easy task. Some businesses (like IT startups, video game producers) are accustomed to working with people living thousands of miles away. But the general attitude is not very favorable. It is just too risky to hire a freelancer living in a country you heard about only a couple of times.
I have managed to come up with several marketing ideas – talking to my colleagues located in these countries (I now have several translators who outsource me their projects regularly). Another strategy I made use of was a direct mail campaign to some 100 companies abroad who cooperate heavily with Russians (no leads for now, but that was a nice try, I think). Google Ads – well, it is good for highly commoditized products, but it is almost useless for sophisticated services like translation.
BTW, that is exactly why I am shocked to hear translators living in, say, in Canada who “just can`t find (direct) clients”.
Well, I mean, as Corinne puts it, you have to change your mindset first. There is always a way out – just notice the pains one has to take in order to get some direct clients here.
Very interesting, thanks Vadim! And just for the record, I *have* had success with Google AdWords for translation services. It needs to be a specific service (i.e. official document translations), not just “translation,” but it can work!
Great advice, Corinne. Good comments too, folks.
I recently attended a manufacturing trade event. I focused on manufacturers with “Global” in their mission or name. They weren’t interested in a translator; however, they were quite interested in the solution to the question: what will you do with the client’s 80 page specification that’s all in French (pause for effect) very technical French?
That is a great point Stephanie, thanks!! That is so true that what the client focuses on is the outcome: what’s in it for them (great example with the specifications in French…and maybe then they realize they need a translator!).
What a great way to make people understand (and in one sentence, too!) that they need translation if they want to be on “Global” market.
First of all, deep respect for straight on tackling this important real-life problem and at length. Too many translation speakers and writers act like it doesn’t exist, and while there is some wisdom to be found in that approach, it is not sufficient; this is because while you can mitigate a crisis by not giving it currency and exposure, it still won’t conveniently go away just like that. What one needs is an objective appraisal of the situation without giving in to defeatism and dismay.
Re: #1 — You make an interesting point in the conclusion, re: doing something different and expecting different results. Insanity can be defined as doing *the same thing* and (still) expecting different results. Allowing ourselves to continue banging our heads on the wall and on the one abandoning any real hope of success depending on our own actions but on the other hand clinging to the elusive hope of a change of circumstances outside of our control — will drive us insane, eventually. If not clinically insane, then, let’s say, a moderate personality disorder or two (which is still within the range of normalcy but already is a problem that makes life difficult for oneself and others). One just has to break that cycle. On the other hand, while appreciating the benefits of positive thinking, one needs to really, actually start believing in those things collectively summarized as the possibility of a better tomorrow, rather than ‘knowing’ in the bottom of one’s brain that one’s deluding oneself with purely motivational statements.
Re: #2 — Spot on. Incidentally, part of the reason rates are so low is that (i) agencies themselves are competing for the entire market as opposed to aiming for a profitable share. That is why they end up going for mass appeal while being small companies, so that their small-business cost structure can’t support the shark strategy; (ii) many translators, in their typical lack of business sharpness, also think they need to have a near-100% conversion rate, i.e. be actually hired by everyone who inquires about their services, which tends to be connected with accepting first offers too easily rather than standing their ground or applying some pressure on the buyer. Finally, in order to: ‘Assess what “won’t pay my rates” means,’ I believe one should aim for some awareness of what numbers actually work in the market, e.g. what colleagues are paid. And many translators won’t believe what their colleagues are paid or won’t believe they too can get there — which puts us back in #1.
Re: 3 — Going local is a concept well worth exploring and experimenting with. I’m intuitively pretty sure it should bring some surprising benefits to anyone bold enough to go for physical ‘tribes’ as opposed to only the online (social media etc.). However, stress on physically going there. While it’s true that walking round the neighbourhood you could bump into one or two physical offices of translation companies, still nothing can compete against being the only translator present in a room full of business people (or practitioners such as lawyers or doctors) who are listening — and I’m not theorizing, I’ve *been* there. That’s still possible to screw up, but you get much more than just a fighting chance; in fact, screwing up takes some work. To get there, yes, one needs to change the mindset. One needs to stop focusing (one’s message on) agencies and start focusing (also/additionally) on direct clients. A basic amount of flexibility and open-mindedness is completely necessary. It’s not beyond the reach of the ‘average person’ but such an average person has to make the decision to unlock some areas in the brain, so to say. It does involve a decision.
Re: 4 — This is about the only instance where instead of agreeing enthusiastically I will directly (but no less respectfulyl) contradict your statement, viz.: ‘Direct clients know none of this, and it’s not their fault.’ I will counter that with Ogilvy: ‘The customer is not a moron. She’s your wife.’ The quote even has its own Wikipedia page right now (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_customer_is_not_a_moron).
So, the power of average human intelligence is already quite considerable (and no one who does any sort of marketing or sales ever should forget this), but even mid-rank leaders and specialists are probably where they are probably because they have above-average intelligence, discipline and work ethic. Hence, it is quite probable that they already know they need translation. What they don’t know is that/why they need you of all people to do it for them.
Here, it’s important to realize that businesses and organizations that already know they need translation and quality stuff at that, those are a pretty sweet target, especially in contrast to reluctant prospects whom you need to ply with special incentives to perhaps, eventually get their grudging consent — and from that point onward keep evaluating your services in a pretty adversarial way, as is their good right if you’ve all but telemerketed them into agreement.
By contrast, it’s better for you to have something closer to fans or friends or partners rather than simply buyers. Even the word ‘client’ connotes more than ‘customer’ and ‘customer’ connotes more than ‘buyer’. But not only is this about going for relationships, it’s also about looking for fertile soil first before planting forests in the desert.
On a different note, I would suggest every freelance translator should have a head-to-head with a local ad agency — not just a chit-chat with a more experienced translator but a real, paid, professional consultation to get some real, actually helpful tips about connecting with local businesses (‘local’ up to the country level).
Moreoever, and this is really important, if you act like the clients don’t know they need translation — or a translator to do it and preferably one that actually knows how to do the job — that will work against you. It will make you apologetic and uncertain about your right to exist in the business landscape, much less get some respect and earn real money, and it will — this is really important now — concede to your clients, without firing a shot, the benefit of feigned ignorance of your selling points and advantages. Which, by the way, is a real negotiation tactic that some negotiators actually use on purpose.
… Which, by the way, is exactly why rates are so low right now, along with translators’ self-esteem (which is collectively reaching the level of a clinical problem by now). The entire strategy and the very business model of some agencies is based on imprinting it on us — untruly — how expendable and interchangeable we supposedly are, and how our work allegedly has little market value, and how — again, allegedly — we need to justify our existence, whereas in fact — as the agencies’ own materials attest — the service is much in demand. So businesses need translation but don’t need translation? Yeah, that’s what it looks like.
So, basically, in a workman’s parlance, let’s not allow clients to get lower rates by simply playing stupid about the benefits of professional translation (notably vs amateurs or non-translation).
Re: 5 — Yup, be selective. I’ve avoided a lot of bumps on my road simply for two things: 1) almost never accepting pay below a certain bottomline close to the market average; 2) passing up on potential problem clients, notably when cutting corners or pushing the limits of specifications and defined concepts etc. (e.g. proofreading vs editing, rush vs non-rush service etc.), piling requirements on and on beyond measure, expressing conflicting wishes, acting dramatic or displaying signs of personality problems (passive aggression, loss of touch with reality etc.).
Doing so has not exactly increased my sales, in fact, it has decreased them, but it has also decreased bad debts and unpaid overtime, hence optimizing my profitability by a large margin.
Besides, like it’s been said times and times over, it’s easier to get more clients and jobs than to raise your rates. And to sustain high rates, you need to deliver. To deliver, you can’t really be overworked and underpaid, hence undermotivated and tired and gloomy and failing to light your spark. By contrast, where you manage to light your spark, it will also light your clients’ enthusiasm and fuel (and pile) enthusiastic reviews and help you establish a strong professional profile — the kind that makes work seek you rather than the other way round.
All freelancer need to remember they need to fill their bank account, not their calendar. And remember that (e.g.) 10,000 words at $0.10 per produces the same money as 5000 words at $0.20 per. Denying this simple maths already is a sign of a personality disorder and a serious matter because it means one’s connection with reality is weak, and it’s difficult to function like that.
Re: #6 — Of course. But let me add one thing: You won’t have time if you keep loading up on cheap jobs and burying yourself up to the neck with them, where in that part of the market actually getting paid is not even certain, so you’ll be working your head off just to survive. You need to put your foot down and demand at least a serious, non-joking rate (if not immediately a good rate, per your standards) so that you can function normally instead of being a hamster in a wheel.
As a newbie to the industry I’ve already learned a lesson when it comes to marketing. Take a deep breath and just do it! If you don’t market, you don’t have any work to do. If you do market and the prospect either says no or ignores you, you aren’t any worse off, but if you market and the prospect says yes, you’re ahead of the game!
Thanks, Denise!! That is great advice.
Love this advice! I have had more direct clients contact me this year than ever, to my surprise. The difference in my work life seems to be which associations I joined. You have to think where you might start your search if you knew nothing about translation. Could be subject-matter groups, or even as simple as the Consulate. Try them out, track your return on the investment, and adjust as needed. (I dropped membership in my local Chamber of Commerce for that reason – lots of friendly people, but zero sales from them.)
Really interesting, thanks Carolyn! Great to finally meet you in person at the conference.
Well, in my culture (one of the former USSR republics) one should not praise oneself, boast or show off. This is a real mental block, when it comes to marketing. So I use this little trick: I think about my on-line presence as a brand, and not as a person who I actually am. This makes a lot of things easier, for instance, thinking: what can I do to promote this brand? Does this brand look professional enough? Would I hire this person if I were a direct client/agency? Etc. This makes a barrier between private and business, and helps in marketing, among other things.