Freelancing

Sep 22 2011
Corinne McKay

The ten essentials of freelance translation

There’s something about the number 10. Not just the connotation of “perfect 10,” but the number has an undeniable appeal. This year’s American Translators Association Translation Company Division conference was focused on the number 10 (10 sessions that each featured 10 tips on a certain topic), and people really seemed to enjoy the manageable scale of the presentations.

In my non-translation life I spend a lot of time in the mountains, so I’ve long abided by the guideline of The Ten Essentials that everyone should take into the backcountry. Outdoor enthusiasts are advised to equip themselves with a map, compass, sun protection, food/water, extra clothes, headlamp, first aid kit, fire starter, matches and a knife. This got me thinking about The Ten Essentials as applied to other areas of life, specifically freelance translation. What 10 must-have items would you recommend that every freelance translator arm herself or himself with? I’ll go with (in no particular order):

Business cards; the kind without a “Get your free business cards at…” imprint on the back
A reliable computer
A computer backup system and potentially a backup computer
A good office chair, yoga ball or treadmill desk
A separate business bank account to keep business and personal finances separate
A membership in at least one association for professional translators
A high-quality computer keyboard; it sounds like a minor thing, but it’s important when you’re tap-tap-tapping away at those keys for 30-50 hours a week!
A few good dictionaries in various flavors; print, online, general, specialized, etc.
A thesaurus; some days I use mine more than my French-English resources. For those times when you just need another way to say it!
At least one trusted colleague. I realize these aren’t available at Office Max, but I do think it’s hard to reach your full freelance potential without a good network of colleagues.

Readers, over to you! What 10 items should go in every freelance translator’s survival kit?

Sep 09 2011
Corinne McKay

The second half

International Translation Day is coming up at the end of this month; this year’s theme is Translation: Bridging Cultures (I like it!). Karmically enough, ITD is also my (and my husband’s…is that karmic enough for you?) birthday, and this year it’s a big one. Although I don’t think I’m in mid-life crisis mode over turning 40, it has occurred to me that at least from a statistical point of view, I’m knocking on the door of the second half of life. And I do think that any big milestone is a good opportunity for reflection, so I’d like to solicit some input from readers who are past the halfway point themselves. Specifically, what changes have you made in your work life (or what changes would you like to make) now that you’re in mid-life? What have you re-evaluated and what have you kept the same? Here are some thoughts that have popped into my head so far:

As I get older, I love translation more and more. Being a better translator is more important to me all the time. However, I find that I also get less tolerant of job stress; clients who needed the project yesterday are less and less appealing and rush work is more and more stressful.
Translating stuff that hangs around for a while and that people actually read is more important to me. This is why I’ve always loved international development translation, and it’s why one of my goals for this year is to take a literary translation course.
I find myself thinking more about my future work life. In part, this is because I had my daughter at what’s considered a relatively young age here in Boulder (30). As compared to some of my friends who are in their mid-40s and have preschoolers, I’ll be 48 when my daughter graduates from high school. That opens up lots of possibilities; teaching translation, getting an in-house job, going back to school, and so on. Right now I can’t say that I’m hankering for a radical departure from what I do now, but it’s interesting to think about.

Mature readers, any tips from you?

Jun 20 2011
Corinne McKay

What types of incentives work best for you?

Especially when you work on your own, incentives can be an important part of succeeding in business (and in life, for that matter!). It’s important to figure out what kinds of incentives work for you, so that you can use them to advantage. For example, you might encounter some of the following types of incentives in your business (and, disclaimer, I’m not a social scientist, so I’m sort of making up names for these!):

The appeal of getting something you want once you reach a goal. This kind of incentive could be intrinsic; for example the feeling of accomplishment and success that you have when you finish a big project. Or it could be extrinsic; for example you might create small rewards for yourself like taking the evening off if you finish work early or large rewards such as taking 50% of the money from a large project and spending it on a weekend away.
The fear of losing something you already have if you don’t reach a goal. I recently read an interview with “Four Hour Work Week” author Tim Ferriss about his new book The Four Hour Body. Although I’m a bit skeptical about the book’s claims (and as someone who loves to sleep, I’m not even trying the two hours of sleep a night plan!), I thought that Ferriss had an interesting point about “Puritanical” (as he calls them) incentives. For example, Ferriss ponders why more health clubs don’t operate on a payback plan, where you pay a certain amount of money at the start of the month and then every time you work out, you get some money back. So if you don’t work out at all, you lose $400 a month; but if you work out 16 times or more, your membership becomes free. In the business world, you could put this into action by taking a chunk of money and putting it into an escrow account (which could be a separate bank account or an envelope in your desk drawer). If you achieve a certain goal by the deadline you’ve set, you get to spend the money on whatever you want. But if you don’t reach the goal, you have to scatter the money in a park near your house, donate it to charity, etc.
Public humiliation or social pressure. Ferriss also talks about this type of incentive, and suggests that the money-back health club could take photos of its clients in their underwear, and if they don’t work out often enough, post the photos on the health club website (!). I doubt that many people are dying to see photos of scantily clad translators, but public humiliation is a really good incentive. When I delayed and delayed in finishing the second edition of my book, I was so mortified by the number of people who kept asking about it (including in public forums) that the social pressure was a really good incentive to finish!

I think that the key here is figuring out what types of incentives or reward systems work well for you. For example I’m not very materialistic or very competitive, but I am very motivated to follow rules and to feel good about myself. When I’ve tried to come up with something to buy myself if I achieve a certain goal, I have a hard time even thinking of anything I want that much. But (and I admit that this sounds kind of juvenile!) when I did the Get Clients Now program, I found that just the thrill of completing all 10 of my daily marketing actions and checking them off on a goal sheet was a huge incentive. Also, I find that feeling a certain way (less stressed, more productive, etc.) is a big incentive for me, whereas getting a physical item is not so tempting. I’ve been able to use these observations to help design incentives that really mean something for me! Any other thoughts on incentives for freelancers?

Apr 22 2011
Corinne McKay

Staying comfortable in the office

One of the appealing aspects of working from home is that you’re free to configure your work environment however you want, especially if you have a dedicated office room in your house. Readers, what are some of your favorite strategies/configurations/products for staying happy and comfortable in your office? I recently gave my office a thorough cleaning and used the occasion to evaluate the ergonomics of my setup. Here are what I think of as some critical elements of feeling good and being productive at home:

Good light is absolutely essential. I love this about my office: my desk is centered between two north-facing windows and two west-facing windows, so I have lots of natural light without a lot of glare. I use an overhead light but I find that a desk lamp creates too much direct light for my taste.
I’m addicted to two large monitors. This used to require a second video card in your computer, but most late-model computers will now support two monitors without a lot of reconfiguring. With two 21-inch (or larger) monitors, you can have a pretty good view of four documents at once: for example I often translate with the French and English documents side-by-side on one monitor and an online dictionary and the project glossary side-by-side on the other. The only downside is that I’ve lost the ability to translate using only one monitor!
For your hands’ sake, invest in a keyboard that you really like. It seems like a small thing, but if your hands are going to be striking this thing 40 hours a week, you want the experience to be pleasant. I cannot speak highly enough of Unicomp keyboards; they are the descendant of the legendary IBM “buckling spring” keyboard which gives you a very audible “click” when you strike the keys. I have the SpaceSaver 104 model ($79) and I love it so much that I clean it with rubbing alcohol on Monday mornings to keep it grime-free (seriously; just don’t tell too many people!).
What you sit on has a lot to do with your in-office comfort too. I’m not a huge fan of the traditional office chair because I often end up sitting sideways with my legs crossed which is obviously not great from the circulation or posture point of view. I’ve thought about trying a kneeling chair, but my favorite office chair is actually a $20 fitness ball that I’ve had for years. I like fitness balls because it’s physically impossible to sit on one with your legs crossed, and they encourage you to sit in a neutral (non-hunched) position.
I’m not a neat freak, but I do think that a relatively clutter-free office is key to productivity. I find that if there are piles of stuff around me, I think about cleaning them up rather than what I should be working on. I also like to keep some of my favorite family pictures and pictures of my favorite vacation places where I can see them from my desk.
Sound is a big contributor to workplace comfort as well. I listen to music only if I’m doing something totally mindless like entering receipts into my accounting program. Once in a while if I’m working very late at night, I’ll listed to disco music on my iPod just to stay awake. At the same time, I don’t like a totally quiet environment when I’m working during the day. I’ll admit this is a weird behavior, but my preferred sound environment is to leave the radio in the kitchen on NPR (news/talk radio) so that I can hear the sound of voices but I can’t make out what they’re saying. For some reason this is just enough background noise for me to focus and not enough noise that it’s distracting.

Any other tips for feeling good in the home office?

Apr 13 2011
Corinne McKay

The importance of aiming low

…well, maybe not “low.” Maybe “The importance of setting realistic expectations” is a better way to put it.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that many translators fail to reach their long-term goals because (paradoxically) they aim too high. Typical case scenario: a translator who has been in the business for a few years wants to move into the direct client market. Instead of marketing to small consulting companies, other solo entrepreneurs or small professional associations, the translator targets Fortune 500-size companies and is disappointed in the lack of response. Following are some tips on how aiming low/setting realistic expectations can help you achieve your long-term professional goals.

Break daunting tasks into smaller chunks. Sandra Smith, the multi-award-winning translator of Suite Française and many other titles, told me that she finished her first book-length translation by translating two pages every morning. This is a great strategy: rather than waiting for that big block of time that is never coming (“I’m waiting to translate this book because I need a month with nothing else to do”), pick a daily chunk of work that you will actually do.
Stop waiting to be completely ready. I’m currently reading C.J. Hayden’s Get Clients Now, and really loved her tip- “You will never be completely ready. Start from where you are.” This relates to a post I wrote last year on the tyranny of the sub-goal. Don’t let the elusive goal of complete readiness hold you back. If you’re avoiding doing e-mail marketing because your website is out of date, go to some in-person networking events instead. If you feel like you need 100 prospects in order to market in a new specialization, find one prospect a day and contact each prospect as soon as you find them.
Focus on building critical mass. Especially if your goals relate to marketing, focus on how many contacts you will have made if you persevere over time. One contact a day doesn’t sound like much, but if you contact one potential client a day for three months, you will have made 60 contacts. And I’m guessing that if you wait until you have time to contact 60 potential clients at once, you will probably never get there.
Aim at the appropriate level. Over time (and through a combination of success, failure, frustration and elation!) I’ve learned that in order to land a new client, you need to be able to get to the person who can actually hire you. Hence, in the Fortune 500 example at the start of the post, the translator likely failed because he/she did not have the level of contacts to get to the person who actually procures translation services for IBM or Sanofi-Aventis or the World Bank. But if you focus on organizations where you can make a direct contact with the person who can write a purchase order for your services, you’ll be a lot more successful. Some freelancers are at the level of the aforementioned organizations and some are at the level of contacting small consulting firms. Either way, if you aim at the appropriate level, you’ll get some interest!
Aim in accordance with your personality. Case in point: I hate cold-calling. I’m actually not a big phone person in general, even with my own friends. So I don’t even think of cold-calling prospective clients. E-mail works if you do it correctly and really target your messages. In-person networking works, because you learn to ask people about themselves so that you don’t have to talk about yourself so much. People love getting handwritten notes because it shows an investment of time and attention on the part of the person who wrote the note. So regardless of what you think of the potential effectiveness of a marketing technique, focus on what you will actually do and what will actually work for you.

Readers, anything else to add?