I've noticed a trend, or at least a micro-trend, among the students who take my classes for beginning freelancers: more and more of them are interested in working with direct clients right off the bat. Typically, these are students who know that their language skills are solid; for example they … [Read more...] about The direct-to-direct client route: can it work?
Clients
Sub-optimal rates: "better than nothing," or not?
"The rate isn't ideal, but it's better than nothing." "It's not what I'd like to be earning, but you have to start somewhere." "I wasn't thrilled about the rate, but working is better than not working." Stop me if you've heard this before... But the real question is: is this a valid way of looking … [Read more...] about Sub-optimal rates: "better than nothing," or not?
How to retain freelance clients
Conventional business wisdom tells us that it's a lot easier to retain an existing client than to find a new one. Retaining clients (as opposed to finding new ones) allows you to amortize the time you put into finding the client in the first place, the time and effort you put into learning a new … [Read more...] about How to retain freelance clients
To break out of the low-rate market, change these three things
Stop me if this sounds familiar: I really needed work, so I decided to take whatever came through the door. I decided that applying to mega-agencies/advertising on Fiverr/racing to the bottom on translation job boards was the fastest way to get full-time freelance work. But now I'm stuck; I have to … [Read more...] about To break out of the low-rate market, change these three things
Negotiating on factors other than price
There are a lot of reasons to avoid negotiating on price: Once you take on the lower-paying project, what happens when a higher-paying project comes in? Lowering your rate shows the client that, at least some of the time, you're willing to work for less than your stated rate. Lowering your rate … [Read more...] about Negotiating on factors other than price