Training for Translators

Classes for translators and interpreters


Corinne McKay

Is it better to market by e-mail or on paper?

Over the past six months or so, I’ve been experimenting (sometimes with my translation partner and sometimes on my own) with cold-marketing to potential direct clients. Because a great deal of our work is in a very targeted subject area (international development), it’s not hard to find potential clients but it’s often hard to know how to contact them. Here are some thoughts on whether you’re better off making the initial contact by e-mail or on paper; I’m not even going to touch cold-calling because I am the worst phone salesperson ever. Ever. Really. But if you’re interested in low-stress cold calling, The Freelancery has some excellent scripts that you can work from.

The great thing about e-mail marketing is that:

  • It’s fast. If you’re reading a business news article and see a tidbit that shouts “potential client” to you, you can fire off the e-mail right there.
  • It’s less formal. You can get away with “Just wanted to tell you that I loved staying at your inn this summer; if you’re ever inclined to translate your website/marketing brochure/menu into English, I’d love to talk,” whereas it would seem a little weird (at least to me) to print out a paper letter with that sentence and pop it in the mail.
  • The recipient can easily forward the message. I’d say that at least half the time I cold-contact, I don’t hit the right person on the first try. Especially with larger entities, it can be hard to tell who hires freelancers for the kind of work we do. But your prospect can quickly forward your message to the right person.
  • It’s cheap. If you’re looking at a paper marketing campaign to a few hundred prospects, the paper, envelopes, business cards, stamps, etc. add up over time.

But then again…

  • Unsolicited marketing e-mails always feel a little spammy. The person might just delete the message, or might receive so much e-mail that they just don’t have time to respond. In some countries, sending unsolicited marketing e-mails may be technically illegal, and it’s never fun to break the law to find new clients.
  • If you don’t personalize your e-mails in some way, the recipients may assume that they were auto-generated, or that you’re just sending the same blanket e-mail out to thousands of potential clients. And if you do personalize them, it takes time.

So what about good old paper? On the plus side:

  • In an era when most people’s postal mail is 95% ads and bills, a lot of people respond really favorably to something fun or personal in the mail. I know I do when I’m on the receiving end; a client recently sent me a “thank you” postcard for a large rush project, and I pinned it on my bulletin board to inspire me when I sit down to translate.
  • It shows a classy touch. A marketing letter with a little handwritten note at the end and a business card enclosed is kind of the anti-spam.
  • The recipient has something tangible to keep. If the person needs your services months or years later, it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to locate an e-mail, but if they keep a file of business cards in their desk, you’re probably still in there.
  • You can write more. Not many people want to read a 400-word e-mail, but you can get away with a 400-word paper letter because it’s still one page.
  • Nice postcards and brochures appeal to people who are visual. You really don’t want to send a massive PDF to someone you don’t know, but you can send them a cool postcard and they’ll love it.

But then again…

  • Paper marketing campaigns are time-consuming. In the time it takes to personalize a paper letter, print it, sign it, stuff an envelope with it and your business card, put the stamp on and mail it, you could probably send out five quick e-mails.
  • Paper marketing campaigns can get expensive, at least compared to e-mail. Sending out marketing letters doesn’t cost much, but if you get into fancy postcards or brochures, you could be spending as much as a dollar per potential client just for the printing, not to mention graphic design.
  • Paper marketing campaigns also require more research; it’s pretty easy to find an e-mail contact on someone’s website, but sometimes you have to search for the right mailing address.

I don’t really have a verdict on this one. My translation partner and I did a modest (maybe 150 potential clients) direct client marketing campaign in the winter and spring and we did get some business from it, but it took a lot of time to put together. Now I’m experimenting with shorter, punchier marketing e-mails to see how that works. Any thoughts?


Corinne McKay

Coping with e-mail overload

In planning for our recent seven-week trip to Europe (of which I worked for four weeks and took three weeks off), I spent some time reconfiguring my e-mail setup to make it easier to manage, and I think that I was at least somewhat successful. Here are some thoughts, and feel free to share your own tips!

These days, I think it’s a given that we’re all in e-mail overload. The sources are almost too many to count; I receive e-mail from my clients, colleagues and friends (thankfully), from every professional association that I belong to, from Google Groups and Yahoo Groups that I’ve joined, from my daughter’s school, from Facebook and Twitter, from all the schools I went to, from the yoga studio I haven’t been to in six months, and so on and so on, to the point that even our garbage collection and electric companies send me e-mail newsletters every month. Part of an e-mail coping strategy has to be logistical (setting up better ways to deal with your e-mail) and part of it has to be conceptual (having the right mindset about e-mail).

First, logistics: If “checking e-mail” means that you’re deleting 90% of what’s in your inbox, you need to do some unsubscribing and filtering. This was step #1 of my pre-trip e-mail plan. Whenever I checked my e-mail during the month before we left, I took a look at each message and tried to assign it to one of three categories:

  1. I want/need to read this as soon as it comes in (messages from clients and colleagues)
  2. I want/need to read this at some point, but it’s not urgent (groups, some e-mail newsletters)
  3. I don’t want/need to read this at all

If a message fit category 2, I created a filter for it that bypassed my inbox. If you use the Gmail interface, here’s the Gmail support page on creating labels. Gmail also allows you to “bypass the Inbox” when you label something, so that you never see that message until you want to. If a message fit category 3, I unsubscribed from it. I tried to be merciless, because I really needed to slash my e-mail volume. This triage system cut my inbox volume by about 60%.

Now, concept: I’ve found that for me, the best way to cut the amount of time I spend on e-mail is to answer messages right away. I’m not great about this if something requires further thought or research before I can reply to the person. But a few years ago I read The Personal Efficiency Program, which promotes the concept of “processing” e-mail rather than “reading” e-mail. PEP advocates an e-mail strategy that’s similar to the “one touch” rule for dealing with paper; you only touch something once, either to deal with it or to toss it, and I think this is a good concept.

I’m efficient about replying to urgent e-mails, but I’m less good at replying to e-mails that are not urgent but need a reply. I feel like these strategies are helping, because I was able to get through my vacation backlog of 200+ e-mails in only one day. Any other thoughts on e-mail management?


Corinne McKay

On hiatus

Thoughts on Translation is on hiatus until mid-August. Feel free to browse the archives in the meantime, and happy summer!


Corinne McKay

Upcoming session of "Getting Started as a Freelance Translator"

If you’d like to launch or improve your freelance translation business this fall, I’ll be offering my four-week online course Getting Started as a Freelance Translator starting on August 15. This class has already helped over 250 freelancers take their first steps in the industry or achieve new goals in their existing businesses, and the new course format includes at least four interactive conference calls to make sure that all of your questions get answered. At the end of the four-week session, you’ll have a totally redesigned resumé and cover letter, a marketing plan, a rate sheet and a plan for your online presence (website, association directory profiles, LinkedIn profile, etc.). Total beginners are welcome, as are experienced translators who want to earn more money, enjoy their work more or find new clients.

The course fee is $250 which includes a copy of my book How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator, individualized feedback on all four course lessons and recordings of the class conference calls. The past three sessions of the course have filled up, so feel free to read the course description and join us!