Training for Translators

Classes for translators and interpreters


Corinne McKay

Keeping track of client preferences

If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to avoid asking a client “How much did I say I was going to charge you?”, you need a client preferences file. The client preferences file (which could take the form of a spreadsheet, a text file, index cards, a notebook, just as long as you keep the records!) is especially crucial if you experiment with different rates or if you work with clients who have specific/unusual requirements for their translations.

Personally, I think that rate experimentation is a very useful way to test what the market will bear without risking your relationship with existing clients. Say that your base rate is X cents per word and you’re very busy at that rate. The next time a new client approaches you, try X+10% or X+20% and see if the client bites. If so, you’ve got a new, higher paying client, but you need your client preferences file to help you keep track of this. Then, you can simply refer back to it and say “We had talked about a rate of Y cents per word, can you confirm that this is acceptable?”

For my client preferences file, I use a three-column OpenOffice.org document; in the first column I put the client’s name, in the second column the name of the person who contacted me and in the third column information about rates, stylistic preferences, etc. Obviously you don’t want to paste the client’s entire style sheet into that cell in your table, but for example I have one client that uses the European floor numbering system in English (i.e. ground floor, first floor, etc.) and I include that information in the preferences file because it comes up a lot and is totally different from any other client’s style preference. Or, if a client sends me a reference document such as a list of company-specific abbreviations, I’ll just note that fact in the preferences file so that I remember to look at the reference document when I’m translating.

I also find that the preferences file helps me avoid asking “Who are you again?” with a client that surfaces only once in a great while. When the client contacts me initially, I’ll make a short note about who they are, i.e. “Writing and editing company expanding into translation, specifically mentioned that they want people to work on marketing documents” or “Referral from X colleague who does German, mentioned that they might need French in the future” so that I don’t look completely clueless when the client pops up again in a year and references our previous contact.

Any other systems out there for keeping track of client rates and preferences?


Corinne McKay

Some coffee break links

Here in the U.S. it’s an honorary Monday, since most of us took yesterday off to celebrate Labor Day (by not laboring!). So, in the spirit of easing back into the work week, here are some (admittedly not translation-specific) links to enjoy on your coffee break:

  • The U.K. Telegraph on 50 things that are being killed by the Internet. How timely; just the other day I was commenting on my own guilt when it comes to #27, not knowing telephone numbers by heart once they’re on speed dial.
  • Get Rich Slowly on The war on stuff. The Thoughts on Translation household has been in purge mode lately (anyone want a broken salad spinner, the pot to a coffee maker that broke 5 years ago or a set of dishes that’s too large to fit in our dishwasher?) so I really enjoyed this post on cutting the clutter.
  • Maybe I’m easy to impress, but I just love Wordle, the website that makes artistic “word clouds” out of text that you submit. It’s fun to use it to make a word cloud out of your blog (or any other website), but I also like to use it to make personalized greeting cards for friends. I’m totally un-artistic, so I type words that remind me of that person (things we like to do together, their favorite movies/books/foods, etc.) into the Wordle box and let it create a nice picture that I can put on a birthday card.


Corinne McKay

Using a sample translation as a sales pitch

One of my main business goals for this year is to work with more direct clients. Although I have a number of agency clients who pay well, have interesting projects and are very easy to work with, I find that I really enjoy the greater degree of autonomy and higher income that direct clients usually offer.

So far, most of my direct clients have found me through word of mouth; one was a hand-me-down from a friend who closed her freelance business, another found me through the Colorado Translators Association directory, another came through a friend who now works in-house for the client. Now, I’d like to expand my marketing efforts to clients in Europe and specifically in Paris, partially because a colleague and I are planning a marketing trip there at some point this winter.

The marketing technique I’m considering is the sample translation/free trial offer (as described by Chris Durban and other translators who work exclusively with direct clients), whereby you find either a poorly done translation or something that isn’t translated at all (i.e. a page from the potential client’s website, their brochure, advertisement, etc.), translate or improve it, and send it to the client along with an offer of your services and some other informational material such as a copy of ATA’s brochure Getting it Right.

I’ve found that it’s not at all difficult to find potential targets for the free trial offer. Many high-level entities in France have beautifully designed, splashy websites with a much-promoted English version that reads like a machine translation post-edited by someone who took about two weeks of high school English. It seems to me that the key issue is how to draft a successful letter pitching your translation services. My sense is that it’s best to start with a compliment (“Congratulations on reaching out to potential visitors/clients/residents who don’t speak French…”) and then cut to the chase (“During a recent visit to your website, we noted that the English version of your website does not convey the quality of your products and services as well as it could…”). I think it can also be helpful to include some statistics that show how a good translation can benefit the potential client’s bottom line; for example the fact that France is the world’s number one international tourism destination.

Readers, any ideas on this? Has anyone else used the sample/free trial offer with success?


Corinne McKay

Upcoming session of Getting Started as a Freelance Translator

The next session of my six-lesson online course Getting Started as a Freelance Translator starts on Monday, September 14 and there are still a couple of spots open if any readers are interested. I’ve taught this course for about four years and it’s directed at people who want to learn the practical aspects of starting and running a successful freelance translation business. We cover topics such as writing a translation-targeted resumé and cover letter, developing a marketing plan for your services, identifying translation specializations and setting up a functional home office and computer system. I give everyone individualized feedback on their assignments and you’re welcome to contact me with other questions during the class. You can read what past students have to say about the course, and registration is open here. Students have 12 weeks to complete the six lessons, the tuition is $350 and includes a copy of my book How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator.


Corinne McKay

Reader question: developing translation specializations

To start the week off, here’s a great question that I received from reader Dorota Krysinska. She asks:
“…could you explain in your blog how it happened that you started specializing in legal, corporate communications and public health/international development translations? Did you have any background in these fields? I have been wondering how someone like me, who has done her degree in linguistic studies can begin to specialize as a translator in areas that she hasn’t studied at all. Also, how do I go about sending out my resume to translation agencies and not having any particular field of translation specified there?”

The issue of specializations seems to come up a lot in our industry, so I’ll offer my answer here and I hope that other readers will contribute their thoughts. When I started translating, I was in pretty much the same boat as Dorota; I had a Master’s in French Literature and had used French in my job (teaching high school) for eight years so I was reasonably confident about my language skills. In addition, I’ve always loved to write and I had done sideline work writing for magazines and had even worked in the editorial department of a book review publication in the summer. However, I didn’t have an obvious area of specialization. I think that this be a plus and a minus: in one sense, I really envied (and still sometimes do!) people who become translators after having worked in banking, law, pharmaceuticals, engineering, etc. because they are immediately able to jump in to a very specialized field. On the other hand, I think that someone who starts out as a generalist has a lot more opportunities to experiment with various specializations than someone who is fairly locked in to a certain field.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard about specializations came from Jill Sommer, who said “Pick an area that you enjoy researching.”  In that vein, I’ve always had a secret (or now not so secret) desire to go to law school. For whatever reason, I just love reading legal documents and deciphering the jargon in them. Party of the first part…pursuant to…notwithstanding…aforementioned… I don’t know, I just enjoy it. Similarly, I enjoy reading the business news so corporate communications was a good fit for me, and I read a lot about health topics as well, hence my translation focus on public health. On the contrary, hard science has just never been my thing. I like science as an idea, I like listening to science stories on NPR, I enjoy translating “lighter” science documents about health and wellness, but give me a chemical patent and my eyes glaze over almost immediately.

So, I think the number one rule if you start out as a generalist is to pick documents that you enjoy reading and researching. Also, I think it can be helpful to identify some of your non-specializations as well. When I work with direct clients who have a wide range of documents, I sometimes tell them what I don’t do (patents, anything having to do with engineering or technical specifications, heavy financial documents) so that they know if I am a good fit for them.

When it comes to contacting translation companies, I think it’s best to be completely honest and differentiate between specializations in which you have experience and specializations in which you are interested. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with telling the client that although you’ve never translated in the area of X, you are very interested in X topic in your own language and you know a lot about the terminology (this once landed me a job translating the script for a promotional video about rock climbing ropes). Also, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying “I’m just starting my business so I’m open to working in a variety of specializations; some of my areas of interest are…”