Training for Translators

Classes for translators and interpreters

Freelancing


Corinne McKay

Reverse-auction job boards: is there a better way?

The concept of online job boards is great. Clients who need a translator (writer, graphic designer, etc.) can post their project and get a bunch of bids, then pick the person they like best. Translators (etc.) can connect with pre-sold clients: clients who already know what they need and are ready to pull the trigger once they find the right person.

In reality, the situation is more complicated. The standard job-board setup encourages a race to the bottom. Clients get tons of bids, or don’t really understand the service they’re buying, and thus latch onto factors that they understand. Typically those are price and speed. Factors on which experienced professionals really don’t want to compete. But yet, the phenomenon continues, with typical job-board rates going lower and lower. To be clear, I’m not conducting a finger-pointing exercise here: when you take a soup pot and throw in ingredients such as:

  • The language industry (in the US, at least) having no barrier to entry
  • Clients needing/wanting a fast and easy way to connect with translators
  • Clients seeing a way to potentially find a good translator who’s not expensive
  • More and more people seeing freelance work as a viable “real” career path
  • More clients needing more content translated on tighter deadlines
  • Beginning translators needing a point of entry into the industry
  • More part-time and hobbyist translators who don’t want or need to earn a full-time living from translation
  • More translators using productivity enhancements such as TM, MT, and speech recognition, and figuring that they can charge less per word and earn the same hourly rate

It’s not hard to see where the perfect storm comes from. And despite each new job board’s assurance that it’s going to do things differently, we have yet to see a real sea change in that market. I definitely hear from freelance translators who have found good clients on job boards, but I feel like that’s the exception rather than the rule. But my question in this post is, is there a better way? Is there a way to connect clients with translators online without creating a reverse auction situation? Answer: I think so.

I think so, because the freelance writing world seems to be moving in that direction. Here’s a recent post from one of my favorite non-translation blogs, Carol Tice’s site Make a Living Writing. In this post, Carol looks at four “content mills” that seem to be focusing more on quality, value for money, and best-fit-for-the job, rather than “how low can you go.” After I read this post, I poked around and saw other freelance writing job sites like this, using strategies such as:

  • Having the site’s staff select a small number of writers (like five) to quote on each job, based on their backgrounds and profiles. This frees the client from sifting through hundreds of proposals, getting overwhelmed, and just going with the cheapest/fastest person.
  • Pre-screening the writers who are allowed to have profiles on the site; not taking beginners or people who do not freelance full-time. Translation job boards could do this by having a “premium” section, taking only translators who are certified, have a Master’s in translation, or at least X years of experience with references, for example.
  • Requiring clients to meet a minimum rate in order to post their jobs. Some of these writing sites explicitly say, “no jobs below X dollars per hour.” Some translation job boards could easily do this, because they already know the average rate that translators on their sites charge (no jobs below the average rate, for example).
  • Making it totally clear that they exist to connect quality-conscious clients with professional writers.  Showing that they add value by screening the writers, or by selecting specific writers who would be good for the client’s job. This is more of a mindset shift than a tangible factor, but I think it’s important.
  • Requiring clients to name their price up front, rather than seeing how little someone will bid on the project.

This is a thorny issue. I tell students on a regular basis, “You’re not going to put the globalization genie back in the bottle, so you need to find a way to compete on quality, service, specialization knowledge, and a personal relationship with your clients.” The fact that clients can shop worldwide for translators is not going away anytime soon. But I think that it’s time to look at the job board model and ask if there’s a better way to do things.

Readers, over to you!


Corinne McKay

“I get too much work from one client”: problem?

“I get too much work from one client. Should I be worried?” This is a question I often hear from freelancers, especially those who work for agencies. Is a client that/who provides 50%, 60%, or even 80% of your income a problem?

On the one hand, someone with a full-time salaried job earns 100% of their income from one “client,” their employer. And, these days, many salaried jobs are not much more stable than a freelance client. That employee could be let go with minimal notice and minimal severance pay, and be left with no income at all. In an ideal world, we’d all have 20 clients, each providing 5% of our income so that we’re nice and diversified, but the real freelance world doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes you have a client who sends you tons of interesting work, and pays well, and is easy to work with; letting them become dominant in your client portfolio might make sense. Additionally, fewer clients generally means more billable time. You get to know the client’s processes, so you spend less time negotiating rates and turnaround times, figuring out the client’s preferred style, etc.

On the other hand, a dominant client puts you at risk. Here’s a situation that happened to me last year. I started out in about 2010, translating small projects for a direct client, and over the years the work increased into the five figures. They weren’t a dominant client, but they were a substantial client. And then one day (can you hear the ominous music playing the background?), they e-mailed me to say that in the course of hiring an employee for a half-time position, they had found a native English speaker who had also worked as a translator. They decided to hire that person full-time and include translation in the job. So, literally overnight, that client dropped from five figures to a couple of hundred dollars a year (when the in-house person is away or overloaded).

Other risks of having a dominant client include:

  • Being asked to lower your rates, and worrying that your income will decrease if you say yes, but you’ll lose the client if you say no.
  • A sudden decrease in work volume, if the dominant client is an agency and they lose the major end client you work for.
  • Becoming overly comfortable with that one client; not updating your marketing materials or plan, because the client feels so secure.
  • Losing the client entirely, if they go out of business, retire, your main contact leaves, etc.

So, what to do? Here are some suggestions, and please add your own in the comments.

  • If you have a dominant client, make sure it’s a deliberate decision, not a passive one. If you’re intentionally saying, “I choose to earn 80% of my income from this client for reasons X, Y, and Z,” that’s a lot different than “Holy… How much did I earn from them last year?? And now they’re going out of business?”
  • Build up a rainy day fund for your business. When I lost my substantial client, I actually didn’t panic. It was a bummer because I really like their work, but I knew that I could draw money out of my business savings account if I needed to (because I force myself to pay into that buffer fund for just such an occasion). The rainy day fund can save you from the dilemma I mentioned above, where you feel trapped in a bad situation with a client who won’t pay your rates.
  • Have a plan B. If your dominant client dropped you tomorrow, what would you do? Are your marketing materials in order? What kind of client would you want to replace them with? If you were rebuilding 80% of your work flow from scratch, what would you want to be doing?
  • If the dominant client is an agency, pay attention to where your work is coming from. Is it from one end client, or from multiple end clients? If it’s from one end client, you’re in a doubly risky situation, because you’re subject not only to the agency’s vicissitudes, but to their potential loss of that end client. If you work for multiple end clients, things are little safer.

In sum, I’m not totally opposed to the idea of a dominant client. But it needs to be a purposeful decision, not a passive one, and you need a) some buffer money to tide you over if you lose that client, and b) a plan for how to find new work when/if that happens.

Readers, over to you? Any dominant client stories to share?


Corinne McKay

Reader asks: “Is this whole freelance thing worth it?”

“Is this whole freelance thing worth it?” It’s a somewhat pessimistic question, but one that I hear with some frequency from readers and students. Corollaries include “I worry about machine translation putting us out of business.” “I’m 57 and only plan on working for another 8-10 years.” “I’m working too hard for the amount of money I’m making.” “I thought I wouldn’t need to market this much.” “Between self-employment tax and paying my own benefits, I have to charge so much more than I thought.”

I’ve been there, grasshopper. When I started freelancing in 2002, I had the “is this worth it” conversation with myself about three times a day. Fourteen years in, here’s my take on some of these concerns.

On the negative side, just to get it out of the way:

  • I don’t lose sleep over machine translation. When computers are writing great books, I’ll worry. In terms of the effect on my business right now, I don’t worry. And for the record, I’m not an MT hater. I use Google Translate myself (when is that museum in Italy open and closed?). But I do think that at some point, we’ll feel MT eating into the lower end of the translation market. And inevitably, that will have some disruptive effect on the rest of the industry. Again, this is not keeping me awake, but I think we’ll feel it at some point.
  • Freelancing is really, really not for everyone. And if it’s not for you, it’s OK. It’s not a defect. You can have a salaried job and still be smart, and driven, and even entrepreneurial.
  • As independent work becomes more of a viable career option, more people are doing it. That causes its own disruptions. When I started freelancing in the early aughts, “I’m a freelancer” was about half a step above “I’m basically unemployed and don’t want to say it.” But in 2016, that’s not the case. Lots more people see freelancing as perhaps more stable than traditional employment. As compared with my early freelance days, I see more competition at the high end of the market, and more of a struggle to make a living at the low end. Personally I think that most “word professions” have followed a similar trajectory. Freelance writers deal with this too: lots more people pitching to the high-end clients, and “are you serious???” rates at the low end.
  • You probably have to earn more than you think. If you want to be a “forever” freelancer, you need a similar level of financial security to someone with a traditional job. That means a few things. It means you’re re-investing in your business (conferences, courses, computer upgrades, memberships). It means you’re saving for retirement. You have a rainy day fund so that you won’t be destitute if you can’t work for a few months. You can take enough time off to recharge and enjoy life. You’re not in perpetual overtime mode to make ends meet. And in order to do that, you’re looking at a pretty big number.
  • Freelancing is a (freaking) lot of work. Let’s say we rank people in most salaried jobs on a scale of 1-10. Some companies will only retain the 9s and 10s, but a lot of companies out there are doing the opposite. They’re only getting rid of the 1s and 2s. They’re promoting the 9s and 10s, and everyone else (3-8) is warming the chair and drawing a salary. In the freelance world, your tail is on the line every single day that you go to work. If you’re not a 9 or a 10, clients may just move on and find someone else. Being the director of marketing, IT person, customer service rep, accountant, bookkeeper, office cleaner, general admin person, AND doing the actual translation work puts a lot on your plate.
  • You will never be able to stop marketing. Unless, I guess, you work for big agencies that will always need you, and you never raise your rates. Otherwise, you always need to replenish the client pipeline. This year I lost a big direct client (literally) overnight, because they hired an employee who took over the translation work. Agencies will go out of business, or shift their own focus. If you cannot make yourself market, freelancing isn’t the right job.

But on the other hand (phew…I was waiting for this point, because I love my job and I want you to love it too!):

  • Pretty much any index you read will rank translation and interpreting as in-demand, fast-growing careers. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 29% increase in the demand for translators and interpreters through 2024. If my own teenage daughter wanted to become a translator or interpreter, I would wholeheartedly encourage her. Overall, I feel very positive about our industry and our job prospects.
  • Translation is a just plain awesome job if you love languages, writing, and learning new things. Translation has made me realize that I could never do a boring job. I can do a hard job, or a stressful job, or a job that requires ongoing professional development. But to me, boredom at work is death. Translation is a good job if you share that sentiment.
  • Your income potential may be higher than at a salaried job. For example, there are few to no in-house jobs for French to English translators here in Colorado. And I have just about zero desire to move to a major city. But by freelancing, I can run a thriving business from basically anywhere. When people comment that, “it must be hard to make ends meet when you’re self-employed,” I actually see the complete opposite side of that coin.
  • The freelance quality of life is an enormous factor. Don’t ignore it. This depends on your situation. Some people don’t mind, and even enjoy, the 9-5 culture. But I’ll use my own example: what would it take for me to accept an in-house job? Well, it would have to replace my freelance income (perhaps not in terms of cash, but including benefits and other compensation). It would have to let me leave work in time to be home when my kid gets home, so that I can take her to her after-school activities. I’ll make up the hours at other times, but I need a break at 3:00. It would have to let me reshuffle work when other members of my family (husband, parents) need me. It would have to give me 6 weeks of complete vacation (no paying work), plus another 2-3 weeks of “paid vacation,” when I’m working part-time from another location. And realistically, those factors are very, very unlikely to happen. At least not without a significant hit to my career advancement potential. So for those reasons alone, freelancing is very, very worth it for me.

    I’ll also say: the classic work/life balance example is kids. People who want to be home with their kids, or be home when their kids get home, etc. But as my own daughter gets older, I can see that the work/life factor doesn’t end there. For example now that I have a shred of free time, I’ve gotten into playing the lute. Then I found two (very patient) retired women who were willing to incorporate me into a little music group. We play together one morning a week, which I could never do with a salaried job. So, I also think it’s time to broaden the work/life focus beyond kids, and into “having a life outside work.”

Readers, thoughts on this? Advice on how to assess the “is it worth it?” factor for newbies?


Corinne McKay

Six things every beginning translator needs to know

Last week’s ATA conference reminded me how very intimidating and scary one’s first few years as a freelancer can be. What’s stressful? Basically everything. Everything you write or say to a client or a potential client; every translation you proofread and re-proof and re-proof, worrying that there’s a horrific error hiding in there somewhere; every marketing effort you make, worrying that it will fail, or that it will succeed and you’ll have too much work. So, as a small step toward decreasing that anxiety, here are six tips (based on past blog posts) for those starting out in our profession!

You need to know, #1: How to find good agencies to apply to. That link leads to a post I wrote in 2015, and there are also some excellent comments on it. In a nutshell: use Payment Practices or a similar tool to vet the agencies before you apply to them, follow up on all responses you receive, and ask other translators for referrals.

You need to know, #2: Whether it might be viable for you to work with direct clients right away. That link leads to a post I wrote earlier this year, and the comments include lots of first-hand advice from translators who took the direct client route, or who decided not to.

You need to know, #3: How to decide how much to charge, other than by using fear, or vague speculation about what other people are charging. This post dates back to 2008 (not that I’m feeling old…), but the information in there is still the information I give students and consulting clients today, minus the part about the euro breaking the $1.50 barrier!

You need to know, #4: What not to include in your marketing materials. This post is from 2014, and again, make sure to read the comments. It’s really hard not to fall back on a) your life story, and b) the same marketing pitch every other translator uses, but this post includes some tips on where to start.

You need to know, #5: What might cause you to fail at this. This post is still one of the most-read on my blog, and its 112 (!!) comments are well worth browsing as well. Whether you’re just considering freelancing, or whether you’re in “failure is not an option” mode, it’s important to look at the pitfalls that swallow a lot of people.

You need to know, #6: How to break out of the low rate market if you’re stuck there. Lots of translators start out working for low rates; there are valid reasons for doing that in certain, time-limited situations. But you’ll definitely burn out if you stay in the low rate market for too long. This post and its comments offer some ideas on how to move on to better work.

I hope these are helpful to the newcomers who follow this blog!


Corinne McKay

How to fire a client

Numerous students have asked me: “I motivate myself to work on marketing by looking at my bottom-rung client, and thinking that I wouldn’t have to work for them anymore if I brought in a better client to replace them. But once that happens, how do I actually fire the bottom-rung client?” Definitely worth discussing, so here are some thoughts.

First, if a client acts unethically, repeatedly harangues you to take on work you’ve told them you don’t want, does something really egregious or is highly unpleasant to work with, just fire them. “Please remove me from your list of available freelancers,” or something like that. But here we’re talking about something more nuanced: this is the client you’ve been holding onto only because you really needed their work, and now that situation has changed. For a lot of translators, I think that anxiety about this kind of situation is wrapped up in fears about their business overall: what if I cut the cord and then my work volume from other clients decreases, and I really need that client again? In my experience, that rarely happens, but that’s why the situation is stressful.

If you’re really and truly done with this client but you don’t want to burn a bridge with them, take the “firm but kind” route. “I’ve really enjoyed working with you over the years, but over time I’ve also started working with other, higher-paying clients. In order to save your time, you don’t need to contact me for work that pays less than X cents; but if you ever have projects with that type of budget, definitely keep me in mind.” That lets the client know that the issue is purely money, not that you don’t enjoy working with them. If the client still sends you low-paying work, with a request that you consider it “just this once,” you may need to get firmer. “As I mentioned, my minimum rate is now X cents per word. If you contact me for future projects, I will be happy to consider them, with the assumption that that rate is fine with you.”

If you want to leave a crack in the door, try something like this. “I’ve really enjoyed working with you over the years, but over time I’ve also started working with other, higher-paying clients. In looking over my accounting, I noticed that the majority of my clients now pay X cents per word, so I am prioritizing my work with them. I may be available to work with you occasionally when I have breaks in my work with other clients. If that works for you, feel free to continue sending inquiries, and if not, of course I understand.”

Or, if you really don’t want to get into the specifics of the situation (which, as a freelancer, aren’t really the client’s business), just become “too busy” whenever the client contacts you. “That project looks interesting, but unfortunately I’m busy with something else right now.” “Thanks so much for contacting me, but unfortunately I’m not available.” Try just leaving it at that, and I can tell you from experience that sometimes the client will never ask for more information. For example I recently spoke with two translators who took extended (months) periods of time off, and successfully used the “not available” explanation the whole time.

Readers, any thoughts on this?