Insider tips for working with individual clients

I love working with individual clients, and in 2020 I earned about 15% of my income from translating for individuals. Lots of freelancers hate working with individuals, so I’ve assembled some tips that might help you work more successfully with these types of clients.

My one-liner advice for working with individuals is: set up e-mail templates to respond to inquiries, and make individual clients pay in advance. Those two things go a long way toward making this kind of work appealing.

I enjoy working with individuals because it’s lucrative and rewarding. It’s gratifying to work with people who really need a translation for immigration, education, or family purposes, and it’s some of my most lucrative work in terms of a per-hour rate. I generally charge US $50-$75 per page for official document translations, and because I have templates for a lot of common documents from French-speaking countries, a one-page translation often takes half an hour or less. I wouldn’t want to translate birth certificates and educational transcripts 40 hours a week, but I really enjoy it as a smallish component of my freelance business. Here’s what I’d suggest if you’d like to do the same:

Be easy to find

The vast majority of my individual clients find me through my website or a personal referral from someone I’ve already worked with. A few years ago, I had my web designer do some SEO work on my site, targeting the search term “certified French to English translator.” Most days, I’m the first result after the ads for that search, so it’s a big boost in terms of findability. I also recommend telling every translator know that you like working with individuals, because a lot of freelancers don’t want to work with individuals at all.

Another good source of individual clients is credentials evaluation agencies. My most lucrative official document jobs are for people from French-speaking countries who are trying to transfer their professional credentials to the US system. So they went to veterinary school in France, or nursing school in Senegal, or physical therapy school in Quebec, and they’re trying to obtain the corresponding professional certification in the US. These projects can be very lucrative, because often, the person has to have not only their transcripts translated, but their course descriptions as well. It can be a good idea to get in touch with some credentials evaluation agencies and ask whether they maintain a list of translators for their clients to use, and if so, how you can get on that list.

It’s also good to remind your happy clients that referrals are always welcome. Expats from a certain country or region tend to know lots of other expats who came from the same place, and everybody needs translations!

Have a streamlined process

Earning $50-$75 for a project that takes half an hour is appealing, but that hourly rate can quickly go downhill if you spend an hour on the phone with an anxious client. And a lot of individual clients are anxious, because something important: a university application, a Green Card, an adoption, a marriage, etc. is riding on the translation. French to English translator Sam Mowry also does a lot of official document translations, and I’ve heard her say, “Official document translation clients ask a lot of questions, but always the same questions,” which I completely agree with. It’s easy to set up e-mail templates to respond to general inquiries (“I need something translated; how much do you charge, and how long does it take?”) and specific questions that individual clients tend to ask. I find that many specific questions are about certifications, and submitting the translated documents. My official document clients commonly ask:
-Can you (the translator) submit the translations directly to a university, credentials evaluation agency, etc. for me? Answer: Yes, no problem there.
-Will this translation be accepted by…(the Maryland Department of Motor Vehicles, the University of Nebraska, etc.)? Answer: The client needs to research the certification requirements of the entity to which they’re submitting the translation and send them to you (the translator) so that you can review this.

Taking payments

I use PayPal for all of my individual clients, and most people are fine with it. PayPal charges a commission, but it’s a percentage of the fee, not a flat rate, so it’s often less expensive than something like a bank transfer, and I refuse to take checks from individuals. I allow international clients to pay by Transferwise (now changing its name to Wise) because it’s free. You could also accept Square, Stripe, Venmo, or any other similar electronic payment service.

A word about certifications

In the US, there is no standard definition of “a certified translation,” partially because we don’t have the “sworn translator” designation that many countries have. I always tell clients that I’m ATA-certified, and many official document clients prefer that, but it’s not an absolute requirement for many jobs. Interestingly enough, basically anyone can certify a translation that’s submitted to USCIS, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. They state that, “USCIS requires that the translator certify that they are competent to translate and that the translation is complete and accurate. The certification language must include the translator’s name, signature, address, and date of certification together with a statement of fluency and accuracy.” Not only do you not have to be certified, you don’t even have to be a professional translator: you just have to certify that you’re “competent” and that the translation is complete and accurate.

Lots of clients ask about notarized certifications. I find them problematic, for two reasons:
-They can be a bit of a pain to obtain; notaries tend to prickle at the mention of notarizing a translation, so you need to clearly state, “it’s just to notarize my signature on the certificate of accuracy.”
-The client may not be able to use the translation after the notary’s commission expires, something over which you have no control.

I recently ran into a situation where a client absolutely had to have a notarized certification; both of the banks in my neighborhood were closed (sadly, because they’re in the shopping center where a mass shooting recently occurred), and the individual notary I’ve used in the past had let her commission expire. So I experimented with notarize.com (after explaining the situation to the client and getting their OK) and was pleasantly surprised. The whole process took about 15 minutes; you upload your documents, then you’re immediately bumped to a video call with the notary (who is located in Nevada, one of the only states that allows online notary services). It cost $35 to notarize two documents ($25 for the first, $10 for additional ones) and was very easy and painless. I would definitely use this service again, as long as it meets the client’s requirements.

Readers: any other thoughts on translating for individuals?