After a fantastic week in San Diego at the 53rd annual conference of the American Translators Association, I'm back at my desk, catching up on backlogged e-mail and work. I know, I'm by nature a positive person and I say this every year, but this conference was really wonderful. The location (the … [Read more...] about ATA conference wrapup
Freelancing
Torn between two cultures
I'm guessing that most people in the translation industry are used to this question: "Which do you like better...(insert the name of your native country) or (insert the name of your "adopted" country/ies)??" I often get asked "Which do you like better, the U.S. or Europe?" It's not an easy question … [Read more...] about Torn between two cultures
I love TracFone…there, I said it!
For someone who doesn't love talking on the phone, I seem to talk and write about phone service quite a bit. My 2011 post about options for home office phone service generated a lively discussion, so now let's talk about cell phones! And for what it's worth, I'm still quite happy with my Vonage … [Read more...] about I love TracFone…there, I said it!
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 … [Read more...] about Is it better to market by e-mail or on paper?
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 … [Read more...] about Coping with e-mail overload