Marketing

This time of year is one of the best occasions to follow up with potential clients who expressed an interest in working with you, but never sent you any work. Summer is winding down, and the busy fall season is coming up, so it’s a great time to nudge those clients who might have some work in the pipeline for you. Here’s a simple system that can help:

-When a potential client expresses an interest but doesn’t offer an assignment, save their e-mail in a folder called something like, “Follow up on these marketing contacts.”
-At an appropriate time (such as now!), send a quick followup e-mail. Here’s an example of one that I just sent: “Hello (name), I hope that you’re doing well and that you had/are having a great summer! I’m writing to follow up on the e-mails we exchanged in June, about some potential French/English conference interpreting assignments for the fall. I wondered if you’re looking to confirm any of those; if not, I hope that we can work together on another assignment in the future!” This isn’t perfect, but it’s simple, and to the point, and doesn’t create weird tension if the client doesn’t want to work with you.
-Move that e-mail to a new folder, called something like, “Followed up once.”
-The chances are at least 50/50 that the client will respond; I just sent out a few of these e-mails, and more than half responded within an hour or so. However, bonus points if you then go through your “Followed up once” folder, following up again with anyone who didn’t respond, and moving those e-mails to a “Followed up twice” folder.

Having a simple, relatively painless system really helps me follow through with following up. I don’t love following up and nudging dormant clients, but it’s the easiest, most effective marketing strategy that most people completely ignore! Hopefully this system helps you as well.

When you’re prospecting for new clients, whether you’re looking for agencies or direct clients, it’s always good to find a human connection. It’s easy enough to go through the “front door”:
-Apply via an agency’s website
-Send an e-mail to a company’s info@ address

It’s not impossible to get a response that way, but it’s unlikely. You can increase your chances of success with new clients by using LinkedIn as a back door. Here’s how that works:

1. Identify a potential client. It doesn’t really matter if the client is an agency or a direct client; this technique works for both.
2. Search the client on LinkedIn, and on the search results page, click People. This will give you the profiles of people on LinkedIn who have that company in their profile, and the current employees are usually listed first.
3. Start by just connecting with a few employees. You can add a 300-character message to your connection request. You can say something like, “Hello Melissa, I hope you’re doing well! I’m an English to German translator specializing in patents, and I’d love to connect.” This strategy is particularly effective if you do an in-demand language, specialization, or service. If you’re a…patent translator, conference interpreter, transcriptionist, if you do Indonesian, anything like that, mention it in your initial connection request.
4. Particularly if you are that person with an in-demand skill, some people will immediately direct you to the next step: “Send your CV to freelancers@…” “I actually think we’re going to translate our annual report into Japanese this year, e-mail… and tell them I referred you.”
5. If that doesn’t happen, wait a day or two after the person accepts your request, and then message them (you can do this once you’re connected on LinkedIn). I like to keep this message direct, low-key, and friendly. “Hello Melissa, and thanks so much for connecting. Would you happen to know if (name of entity) is recruiting for English to Japanese translators right now?” or “Hello Melissa, and thanks so much for connecting. I noticed that you recently expanded your operations into Senegal, and I can imagine that there might be a need for a French to English translator. Would you be the correct person to speak with about offering my freelance services?”

The key here is to frame your marketing efforts as: Who should I be serving? Where could my skills be most useful? Who needs me but doesn’t yet know about me? This helps you avoid feeling pushy, and instead feel like you’re reaching out in a low-key way to people who might benefit from what you have to offer. This strategy was one of the key pieces of my conference interpreting marketing strategy this Fall; it didn’t take much time and produced good results. I’d recommend it particularly for anyone who has a specialization, language combination, or service offering that is likely to grab a potential client’s attention in the initial, short message.

One of the most common marketing questions I get (from beginning and experienced freelancers alike) is about followup:

• Should I follow up on marketing contacts?
• If so, how often?
• If so, by what method?
• If not, then what?

My personal followup method

I hate following up. There, I said it. I hate following up because I hate feeling like a nag, and because I tell myself that if the person were really interested, they would respond without me following up. But…the problem is that followup works. It’s pretty rare that a potential client responds to your first inquiry, even if they are interested in or could use your services. Followup works on agencies; it works on direct clients; honestly it works on me. Followup just plain works.

Before you follow up

Before you think about contacting new clients and following up, promise me that you’ll use the world’s easiest marketing technique: nudging your dormant clients. A form of followup in and of itself, checking in with clients you haven’t heard from in a while is honestly the fastest and easiest way to get some work coming in if business is slow or if you see some blank space in your schedule. Every year when I run my March Marketing Madness challenge group, lots of participants are reluctant to nudge dormant clients (“I don’t want to bug them/They’ll contact me if they need me”), then some people try it, with results such as “They sent me a $1,300 project the next day,” “They booked me for a four-day interpreting assignment right after I nudged them, when I hadn’t heard from them in a year,” etc. Those are actual examples, and they’re the reason why I think nudging should come before followup.

To follow up, or just drop it?

Although I hate following up, there are a few situations in which I force myself to do it, and to continue following up until I get a straight yes or no from the client: if I know that the client needs me, I follow up until I get some sort of response. This applies particularly to agencies: an agency may not need me specifically, but agencies need translators and interpreters. Therefore, if there’s an agency I want to work with, I’ll follow up with them approximately every two weeks until I get some sort of answer from them. I’m about to start marketing for conference interpreting work, and this is my plan: contact every agency I can find that does conference interpreting, and follow up with them until I get some sort of response.

This particularly applies to agencies where you’ve applied, been approved, and been added to their roster but haven’t received any work. Follow up with them approximately every two weeks until they either send you some work or tell you that they don’t in fact need you. The same goes for direct clients who contact you about a specific project: you really want to follow up with them until they either assign you the project or tell you they don’t need you.

To be honest, when I contact prospective direct clients using a warm e-mail or LinkedIn connection request, if they don’t respond, I usually just move on. Partially, this is because I am mainly marketing for international development translation work, and there are tons of clients out there for French to English. I find that if I contact 100 potential clients, I’ll probably get two to three new clients out of the effort. If there’s not such a plethora of potential clients in your language/specialization, or if you simply want a more targeted approach, followup becomes really important. For example, Sarah Silva teaches a course on direct marketing for Training for Translators, and she wrote a blog post about her experience landing three new clients out of a list of 10 prospects, (no kidding: like 10x the results I usually get), because she uses a multi-step marketing campaign where she plans from the start to contact each potential client three to four times. If you’re interested in Sarah’s September 2021 course on this topic, you can read more here.

How to follow up without being annoying

I feel like there are a few keys to following up without being annoying:

• Personally, I would avoid fake-sounding excuses to follow up (“Not sure if you received my first message”), and I would avoid anything remotely pushy (“I’d appreciate a response either way”). Accept that people may simply not respond no matter how much you nudge.
• Always directly offer to stop contacting the person (“If my services aren’t what you need right now, just let me know and I won’t contact you again”).
• If you’re following up with an agency, just cut to the chase. Of course they need translators and interpreters, so stick with something like, “Hello Melissa; just checking in about my application for German to English patent translation work. Do you anticipate anything in the pipeline that I might be helpful with? I passed your patent translation test in November and would love to work together. If you’d prefer that I stop contacting you, just let me know.”
• I think it’s a matter of personal preference whether to include “hooks” in your followup e-mails (here’s an article I thought you might be interested in; I’m attending this conference and wondered if you’re going to be there, etc.).
• Yet another option is to follow up via a different method (this is what Sarah does, as described in the blog post above): for example contact the person first by postal mail, then by LinkedIn, then by e-mail.
• In all of your marketing efforts, make sure to comply with the European Union’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and other, similar e-mail privacy laws. This is an argument for using LinkedIn, since it seems to be the consensus that messages sent on the LinkedIn platform aren’t subject to the GDPR.

Readers, any other thoughts on following up?

If you’re marketing to direct clients, setting up a “touch point” system –where you “touch” them in multiple ways, on multiple platforms — can help you contact them in a structured way, while gathering information about them, and without feeling like you’re pestering. Here’s an example:

–Let’s say my dream client is a large NGO. First, I’d go to their website and learn a bit about them and where they work. I’d also see if they have a blog or a news section, and if you can comment on their posts. Do they include the authors’ names? If so, that’s a good “hook” (connect with the authors on LinkedIn and mention that you enjoyed the post).

–Next, I’d go on LinkedIn, and search for their name in the categories “People,” “Jobs,” and “Companies.” When you type their name into the LinkedIn search box, you’ll see a series of bubbles above the search bar that allows you to filter on those categories.

–First, I’d choose “Companies,” and follow their company page if they have one. I’d also see if they post frequently, and if you can comment on their posts.

–Then, I’d choose “Jobs,” and see if they have any jobs posted that might indicate the need for a translator. For example if I translate English to Spanish and they’re hiring for a Latin America regional manager, or a Honduras country director, then I know that they might need a translator.

–Then, I’d go to “People,” and see who I find. Anyone who might work with my language? Anyone in communications? Anyone who’s a regional or country director for an area that speaks my language? Anyone who’s a staff translator and might know if they need freelancers?

–Finally, I’d search them on other social media platforms: are they on Twitter? Facebook? Instagram? TikTok (no kidding: lots of NGOs and even private-sector companies are starting to have a presence on TikTok).

Now, I’m ready to implement my touch point system. You should make your system your own, but here’s an example.

Week one: Send LinkedIn connection requests to three to five of their employees, always including a note, such as, “Hello Melissa, I hope you’re doing well. I’m an English to Spanish translator specializing in the development sector, and I really enjoyed the recent post on (name of organization)’s blog about your polio vaccination project in Honduras. I’d love to connect!” Try to incorporate a detail that you found in your research: I enjoyed your blog post; I noticed you’re hiring a Honduras country manager–might that project need a translator?; I was impressed by the interactive map on your website; I loved your Instagram post, etc.

Week two: Comment on one of the organization’s posts on any platform: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, their own blog, etc. Something like, “As a translator specializing in the development sector, I really enjoyed this post and your attention to the issue of (xyz).”

Week three: If any of the organization’s employees accepted your LinkedIn connection requests, send them a message and directly ask if you could be of service to them. Something like, “Thank you so much for accepting my connection request! Would you happen to know who at (organization) handles translations for your Latin America projects?” or “Would you happen to know if my English to Spanish translation services might be useful to any of your colleagues?”

Week four: Write a post of your own on LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. and reference one of the organization’s own posts, such as, “As a translator specializing in the development sector, I really enjoyed this article on the issue of girls’ education in Honduras. Thanks to (organization) for the excellent overview!”

And now, you’ve got a system, instead of just throwing the spaghetti against the wall! Contact some more employees; comment on some more blog posts; write some more quick followup messages. The other nice thing about LinkedIn is that the messaging can be very casual; you can write less, and less formally, than you would in an e-mail.

If you try this system, I’d love to know how it works for you!

When things fall apart

Since the pandemic began, I’ve heard from a number of translators and interpreters who’ve had a sudden downturn in their work volume. In some cases–such as conference interpreting–their work volume went literally to zero overnight. What’s the best way to handle this very stressful situation? I have a few ideas, and I’d love to hear yours in the comments.

As I’ve mentioned before, my work volume during the pandemic has followed this pattern:

• Translation work from direct clients never dropped off, and is stable so far (just signed a new book translation contract!)
• Translation work from agencies has dropped off completely, and two agencies I worked for sporadically have told me that my rates (not raised in years) are too high for them (so I’m not working for them anymore). I’m essentially down to zero regular agency clients at this point.
• Interpreting work has slowed to a trickle (mostly minimum charge phone interpreting assignments for the Colorado courts). This isn’t a financial disaster because interpreting was about 15% of my income before the pandemic, but it’s disappointing since I love interpreting and was hoping to expand that side of my business this year.
• Online course registrations are booming

First: Don’t try to create demand where there is none

This is basic but really important. If there’s no demand for in-person interpreting where you live, lowering your rates isn’t going to help. If you translate for hotels, you probably need to target another specialization, not do more marketing. In the current economic climate, it’s important to make sure that the possibility of work exists before you start chasing after it.

If your clients’ own business has taken a huge hit, and here I’m thinking of sectors like travel and tourism, hotels and restaurants, live entertainment, brick and mortar retail, etc., don’t try to get blood from a stone. It’s time to move on to some new sectors or specializations.

Second, if you can afford it, invest in your business

Lower work volume isn’t always a crisis. How many projects (updating your website, learning a new piece of software, taking an online course, attending a client-side conference…) have you put on the back burner due to lack of time? Well, when you don’t have a lot of work, you have something else: time. And if you had a decent business savings account before the pandemic, then you can use that time to put some of those projects on the front burner.

This is the exact situation I’m in. Due to the loss of most of my interpreting income, my overall income will probably be down a bit this year over last year. But at the same time, I’m spending a lot less money. My total “meals out” spending since March 15 totals $13, and that was only because my husband and I went on a camping trip and an animal stole our food bag overnight, so we bought coffee and muffins on the way home. Other than that, I’ve eaten every single meal and snack at home or at my parents’ house for four months. I’ve also put my co-working office membership on pause; a significant savings at $500+ a month (although truth be told, I get much less done while working from home and can’t wait to go back). For those reasons, I’m not doing a ton of marketing, but rather using the extra time to have a new website designed for Training for Translators, and to do a two-week conference interpreting course in August. It’s actually nice to have some wiggle room to do those things without dipping into my sleep or free time, and it’s a strategy I recommend to other freelancers as well.

Next, nudge

Nudging dormant clients (again, if there’s the potential that they have work for you) is probably one of the most effective and least-used marketing techniques. Why don’t we do more of it? I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s because everyone loves new beginnings rather than reviving something old. Perhaps it’s not sexy. But every year in my March Marketing Madness challenge group, I’m consistently surprised by how much work people can bring in, simply by checking in with every client they’ve worked for in the past two years but haven’t heard from in at least three months (for example).

Here’s a blog post I wrote about it; and Madalena Sanchez Zampaulo wrote a great article about how to do this during the pandemic, in a way that is sensitive to your clients’ situations.

Think about what thrives in a pandemic

Back in November, I wrote a blog post about preparing your freelance business for a recession. That post, in turn, was inspired by a podcast about preparing for a recession. And the truth is that some things thrive in a recession. And even in a pandemic. Things like:

• Videoconferencing software: For example, Zoom’s stock price has gone from about $68 in January to a close of $248 yesterday. And they’re not alone in the sector that serves the now-here-to-stay armada of home-based workers. The Zoom interface is currently available in 10 languages other than English.
• Virtual event platforms. Here in the US at least, I think we’re looking at a looooong time until in-person conferences rebound to 2019 levels. My guess is that we’ll see few to no large-group gatherings until at least mid-2021. And people are starting to expect a full-scale virtual event, not a bunch of webinars patched together with a chat room. I’m guessing many of these virtual event platforms are, or should be, looking to go multilingual.
• Medical supply companies that make COVID-related items. For example, the leading manufacturer of the swabs used to take samples for COVID testing is Copan Diagnostics, whose parent company Copan Italia is headquartered in Brescia, Italy. US-based companies that make PPE and other medical supplies are probably expanding the range of countries that they sell to. Same with companies that make things like sanitizing wipes, disinfectants, plexiglass shields, and so on.
• Online sales of any type. By any metric, there’s been a “drastic increase” in online shopping. Statistics on this vary, but I looked at numerous articles saying that for the first time, online shopping has accounted for more than half of all non-essential purchases. Like online conferencing, I’m guessing this trend is here to stay, and all of these online outlets would probably love to capture customers in multiple languages.
• Online learning. Whether their students are professionals improving their skills, or K-12 students trapped at home, online learning companies are also scrambling to keep up. Even within the US, I’m guessing there could be a demand for online learning interfaces in at least Spanish, and perhaps other languages.

Right now, don’t be afraid to aim high

A final thought. The pandemic really is a unique situation, in that we’re all in the same boat. People who would never have the time or inclination to talk to a translator might have that time and/or inclination now, because they’re home, and bored, and either really lonely if they live alone, or really sick of their families, just like the rest of us (as much as I adore my family…). So take a chance: send a high-ranking person a LinkedIn message, or offer a webinar and invite your dream clients, or anything else bold that you might not do in the in-person world. The other day I was talking to a consulting client about an online conference they were thinking of attending, and the associated fear of online networking, especially one-to-one, and I said, “Look, if it gets weird, just pretend to be having connection problems (“you’re breaking up a little!”) and log off. No one but you will ever know what really happened.

And on that note, I’d love to hear your ideas about looking for work if your work has dropped off, or what industries might be thriving right now.