I need to update the look of my website and marketing materials; it’s a task I really struggle with because I’m just not a very visual person. Read me a sentence and I can tell you right away if I like it or not, but show me an array of colors, shapes and layouts and I’m paralyzed. After listening to me obsess over various design decisions (“New professional photograph: smiling or not smiling; if smiling, teeth showing or not showing? New marketing postcard for local clients: Colorado theme, French theme or neither; if French theme, classic or edgy?”), my husband showed me this for perspective. It’s from BoingBoing, and features the late designer Paul Rand’s own business card. While Rand designed some of the most iconic logos of our time (IBM, ABC, UPS, Westinghouse to name a few), his own business cards are exuberantly unremarkable. So maybe the marketing material design is less important if you’re really good at what you do!
Marketing
Theories about direct clients
Recently, a reader posted this comment on my Wrapping up 2009 post: “I just wonder how one goes about getting direct clients. It seems ideal, but it also seems like a hurdle to get over, that many of us have not learned how to do.” I think that a lot of translators feel this way: they’d love to work with more direct clients but they struggle to find them. So, here are a few of my theories about working with direct clients, feel free to add your own:
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- You’re not going to find direct clients all in one place. Or as I heard someone else put it, “You need to think of ten ways to find one direct client, not one way to find ten direct clients.” I think that many of us who started out working with agencies did so by applying to many, many agencies that we found all in one place. For example, during my first year in business I applied to over 400 potential clients and I found the bulk of them by using just a few sources, such as association directories. See this post for more information about applying to agencies. So, first of all, I think it’s important to restrain yourself from looking for that gold mine of direct clients and accept that you are probably going to find them one at a time.
- Many direct clients will find you, rather than the other way around. Think of it this way; when you receive marketing materials from professional service providers (accountants, web designers, etc.), do you most often save them because you might need them in the future? Do you click on the links in most of the marketing e-mails you receive? I don’t either. So, you have to make sure that you’re easily findable when clients need you. I would say that 90% of the initial contacts I get from direct clients are in a moment of crisis; they have the opportunity to bid on a big contract but the RFP response has to be in English and it’s due next week, they’re exhibiting at a trade fair and just realized that they need their handouts in English, etc. So, make sure that you’re easy to find. Have an engaging and updated profile in the online directory of any associations you belong to; write articles for translation industry websites; get on LinkedIn and similar websites for your non-US countries; write a blog; have a good-looking professional website; join associations related to your specializations. I receive a lot of cold contacts from direct clients because if you Google “freelance French to English translator,” I’m on the first page: this really helps when direct clients are panicking and need a translator.
- You need to be the kind of person colleagues refer clients to. Quite a number of my direct clients have come to me through colleagues. One colleague closed her business to take an in-house job and gifted me a couple of clients; one colleague who works in English>French refers her clients to me when they need the opposite direction, and I receive a lot of referrals through people I meet at conferences and seminars. I know, this involves talking to people and potentially even putting on nice clothes and leaving your house, but it really works.
- Consider putting up a website that is only in your source language. Personally, I think that potential clients are attracted to a website that is exclusively in their language, because it makes you seem more approachable to them. For example, my colleague Eve Bodeux and I invested a very modest amount of money into putting up an exclusively French website. We picked a French domain name and the content is in French only (translated by our trusted colleague Marianne Reiner) and we have gotten excellent feedback on it from potential clients. Just for reference, this site cost us just a few hundred dollars to put up.
I don’t think that direct marketing to direct clients is worthless; personally I like postcard ad campaigns because they’re inexpensive and if you put a nice image on the card, clients may keep it just because they like it. However I do think that for most direct clients, “pull” marketing (where the client comes to you) is much more effective than “push” marketing where you go to the client.
End of year gifts for clients and colleagues
It’s that time again… the gift basket catalogs are arriving by the armload, reminding us that it’s time to thank our clients and colleagues for their business and support over the past year. What’s the best way to do this? Better to go traditional or creative? High-end or fairly basic? The answer depends on your budget and who your clients and colleagues are, but here are some tips to get the discussion started.
- If you can’t afford or don’t want to send a gift, a really well-composed note is a good substitute. Personally I like to send at least a modest gift to my main clients, but I think it’s equally meaningful to write a holiday card to a client or colleague and really say something nice about why you enjoy working with them. Often, good clients don’t realize what sets them apart from the crowd and will really appreciate something like “I always look forward to working with you because your projects are interesting, your instructions are clear and I know that I can always count on you to provide me with the reference materials I need to produce a good translation” or “You are one of my most valuable colleagues because your eagle-eyed editing makes me look great; I know that when you’ve gone over one of my translations, it’s absolutely publication-ready.” I think that many clients and colleagues would appreciate a note like this more than a token generic gift.
- If you want to give a tasteful but not bank-breaking gift, think about locally made products. Especially if your clients are agencies, they probably receive many “mass market” gifts from big retailers. It can be a nice touch to send something from the region where you live, and it reminds your client about you as well. Your local food and gift companies may also have factory stores where you can purchase their products at a discount. For example here in Colorado we have the Celestial Seasonings tea factory, Chocolove candy bars and Allegro coffee, and some local specialty food stores even sell “Made in Colorado” gift boxes.
- If you want to go higher-end, do something creative. Post-it notes, calendars, paperweights and the like are useful but a little tired as a gift idea. After the ATA conference, Judy Jenner at Translation Times featured this post about two Dutch<>English translators whose premium client gift is a USB stick embedded in a tiny Dutch wooden shoe. Judy later reported that these cost 12 euros each if you order 50; a fairly hefty up-front investment but definitely classier and more memorable than a ballpoint pen.
- When you are giving a gift to a company, whether it’s an agency or a direct client, it’s worth considering whether to give a group gift to the whole team or individual gifts to the people you work with closely. On the one hand, it’s nice to recognize the people who send you a lot of work; on the other hand, you don’t want to look as if you’re bribing the individual in question. I would advise making gifts to individuals small and accompanying them with a personalized note; no iPod, Tiffany key ring or extravagant restaurant gift certificate. However, I do give individual gifts when I really only work with one or two people within a company and it would seem a little odd to send a gift to the whole department.
Other thoughts on end of year thank-yous?
Why you need your own domain name
What’s in a domain name (corny, I know, but too obvious to pass up…)? A lot, as it turns out. As freelancers who are dependent on e-mail to keep our businesses running, domain names are very, very important. The three basic options when it comes to e-mail are:
- Use a domain name provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), for example yourname@comcast.net, @earthlink.net, etc.
- Use a domain name provided by a free or fee-based e-mail service, for example yourname@gmail.com, @yahoo.com, etc.
- Use your own domain name, for example yourname@yourdomain.com
Having your professional e-mail attached to a domain that you don’t own has a few disadvantages:
- You are at the domain owner’s mercy. When I first started freelancing back in the days of dialup Internet, I learned this the hard way after moving cross country. I kept the ISP I had used in Boston and several months later, they stopped offering dialup access in Colorado *on one day’s notice,* and there went a good bit of the effort I had put into my nascent freelance business. As cable companies merge, similar things can happen if your cable provider changes its name and thus its domain names.
- Your own domain looks more professional. Not to point fingers, but when I receive a professional e-mail from a Hotmail address, I have the same reaction as when I see the “Get your free business cards at…” imprint on the back of someone’s card. It makes me think that this person will not even invest $25-$50 in their business to create a professional image.
- You risk having to change your e-mail address at some point. When you work in a business where probably 90%+ of your contact with clients is by e-mail, having to change your e-mail address is something you want to avoid at all costs, especially if the old address becomes inactive at some point
After doing some unscientific research, I’ve come to the conclusion that many freelance translators just don’t know how easy it is to purchase and use your own domain. So, here’s a short lesson (now you have no excuse to keep using Hotmail!).
- Do your homework *before* you determine whether your desired domain name is available. Do not assume that just because there is no website at a given web address (URL), that means that the domain name is available. First, read this article on Important Precautions to Take When Buying a Domain Name from The Site Wizard. Be a little paranoid and follow the advice there: make a list of domain names before you ever log on to a registrar; pick the registrar you want before you search for your domain name; never run your potential domain name by anyone you don’t trust completely and when you find out that your desired domain name is available, purchase it immediately.
- Buy the domain name from a domain name registrar. Thanks to The Site Wizard for another excellent article on How to Register Your Own Domain Name. This doesn’t mean that I endorse the domain registrars that are listed there, but they’re a good place to start. Your ISP may also provide domain name registration services (just make sure you really trust the ISP!). Domain name registration should cost you about $10 a year; don’t go with a fly-by-night registrar just to save a dollar or two. In my case I register my domain through my ISP because I trust them more than I trust myself, and they will automatically renew my domain name and bill me for it (more on domain name renewals below).
- If necessary, purchase an e-mail hosting package so that you can use your domain name for e-mail. If you want to put a website at your domain, e-mail access will probably come with your web hosting package. If you just want to use your domain name for e-mail, you need an e-mail hosting package. For example (and again, I’m not endorsing them, this just gives a good example), GoDaddy has e-mail hosting packages for as little as $1.19 a month. Even the most expensive package, which gives you 10 e-mail addresses and unlimited storage is $2.50 a month.
- Don’t forget to renew your domain name. Of anything you need to remember about having your own domain, this is the most important. Especially if you purchase your domain for only one year at a time, make sure you’re clear on how the domain name registrar is going to contact you to ask you to renew; a cut-rate registrar may “forget” to remind you to renew, then one day you go to check your e-mail and you’re locked out. You can semi-circumvent this problem by purchasing a multi-year domain name subscription, but you should still make sure you don’t forget to renew it.
- Follow the domain name registrar’s instructions on how to use your e-mail. If you purchase a hosting package with unlimited storage you can probably use your registrar’s web mail if you want to, or you can use an e-mail program on your computer. Your domain name registrar should be able to give you instructions on how to do this.
Now, what are you waiting for? Go to it!
Avoiding feast or famine by marketing consistently
Ever since the current recession hit, the economy has been doing strange things. While most freelancers I know are at or above their overall income goals, I’ve talked to numerous people who have gone longer than usual with little or no work. In my own case, my usual holiday slowdown (normally lasting from about Christmas Eve to January 2 or 3) morphed into almost no work from mid-December to mid-January. Another translator I talked to had absolutely no work for the month of July; yet another said that she had been going about one week a month with no inquiries at all.
For those of us who are usually as busy or busier than we want to be, a short-term slowdown can be more of a blessing than a curse. However, there’s a point where the feast or famine phenomenon gets problematic, especially when it motivates us to accept sub-standard projects or low rates out of a fear that no one will ever hire us again. Or, we start contacting our current clients out of desperation, trying to find a way to sugar-coat “Do you have any work for me?” so that it doesn’t sound so pleading.
The Wealthy Freelancer just ran an excellent post on this very topic, in which the author (Ed Gandia) stressed the importance of marketing consistently. Ed advises that every freelancer block out 10% of her or his time and spend it on marketing in order to even the work flow out. He makes the excellent point that “…even when you’re slammed, getting leads you can’t pursue is good for your self-confidence, which helps you keep your fees where they should be (and even raise them in some cases).”
Lately I’ve been trying to spend 30-45 minutes a day on marketing; I find it’s a task I can do even when I’m physically or mentally tired, so a small chunk of time in the evening works well. I have a spreadsheet where I jot down marketing ideas as they pop into my head, i.e. “xyz is marketing to Americans but website is only in French” or “Look for more clients in same niche as xyz current client,” then I take action on them during my marketing time.
Has anyone else tried methods to even out the feast or famine cycle?