Getting out of the translation/interpreting echo chamber

Greetings, subscribers! About a year and a half ago, I decided to try an experiment: getting more business strategy input from people who know nothing about translation and interpreting. 

I did this for a few reasons:

• I feel like I’ve maxed out many of the “traditional” ideas for business development in the language world and wanted a fresh perspective. 
• To be totally honest, the LinkedIn feed (especially when it comes to “pure” translation) is pretty depressing these days. Nearly every time I log on, someone is quitting, someone has no work and is “open to absolutely anything,” etc. etc. 
• I surmised that “outsiders” might see possibilities in my business that I don’t see (and this turned out to be correct). 

How I got out of the echo chamber

Here are some things I did. You don’t have to do these things, but maybe they’ll give you some inspiration:

• It’s true that translation and interpreting are pretty unique/specific lines of business, but they do have a lot in common with other freelance knowledge work. In my case, I decided to tap into resources for freelance writers: people who do content marketing writing, ghostwriting, and similar things. I think there’s a lot of overlap with what we do, and it doesn’t hurt that a lot of writers earn significantly more than a lot of translators and interpreters do. 

In no particular order, I:

• Worked with a business coach who had never worked with a translator or interpreter before (that’s Treasa Edmond; I love her!) 
• Joined a Facebook group for content marketing writers (that’s The Freelance Content Marketing Writer) 
• Volunteered to head up a sub-group of The Freelance Content Marketing Writer, for people making around 10K per month and looking to increase 
• Subscribed to a couple of freelance writer newsletters, including Jen A. Miller’s Notes from a Hired Pen, and Lizzie Davey’s Freelance Friday Tips
• Signed up for a SCORE mentor (he’s great!) which then gives you access to SCORE’s business development webinars which are free or very low cost
• Attended Austin Church‘s Advanced Freelancers Summit 
• Started listening to some non-translator/interpreter podcasts, including Lizzie Davey’s It’s Fine, I’m a Freelancer, and Amelia Hruby’s Off the Grid

How has this worked out?  

For me, this “advice diversification” effort has been very successful on a few fronts:

• Last year was my highest-earning year in 22 years of freelancing (details here) and this year is on a similar track although I’m working less than last year
• I’ve embraced new things; through some new marketing strategies I landed a large writing client in the translation industry, which is a goal I’ve had for a while 
• I feel like I’m doing better work, feeling more engaged in what I’m doing 
• I feel a lot more positive about the future of my freelance business and the future of wordy freelancing in general 

Important note on taking advice from other people 

Here’s one of the most important things I learned: When you solicit advice from someone outside your “usual suspects,” you’re not going to agree with everything they say. In fact, you may vehemently disagree with some of what they tell you. 

Cases in point: When I did business coaching with Treasa, she suggested that I think about starting a translation company (never in a million years). Jen Miller is vehemently, vocally anti-AI and refers to ChatGPT as “the lying plagiarism machine” (I love the expression, I respect people who want nothing to do with AI, and I’ve actually found some really helpful uses for it). I enjoy Amelia Hruby’s stuff even though I don’t want to completely quit social media. I find Austin Church’s newsletters really interesting, but also long and rambling so I tend to skim them. 

I point this out because I think we have a tendency toward black/white thinking when we take advice from someone new. Like, “I was with her, until she mentioned that she’s vegan, and I could never take advice from a vegan.” We feel that if we don’t agree with 100% of what someone says, their way of thinking isn’t for us. 

My take: Many people who give good business advice, do so in an extreme way. “You should ALWAYS do X. You should NEVER do Y. No successful freelancer would ever do Z.” Take those statements with a grain of salt. Personally, I feel that if I get one good nugget from someone, I’ve gotten a lot of benefit from what they have to say, and I’m allowed to filter out what I find valuable and what I don’t. 

You can get out of the echo chamber in lots of ways: start going to an in-person networking group, follow new people on LinkedIn, listen to new podcasts, join a new online community, just get some new voices in your head! I hope these tips are helpful if you need some new energy in your freelance business.