Lots of translators (beginning and experienced) wonder if it's a good idea to create a portfolio. Something with excerpts of your translations that you can show to potential clients as a marketing tool. My take: a portfolio probably isn't worthwhile in the way that most translators envision it, but … [Read more...] about Do translators need portfolios?
Marketing
Free webinar Wednesday: Three ways to find your first translation clients
This Wednesday (April 12), I'll be giving a free webinar through SDL's professional development series, on Three ways to find your first translation clients. Inspired by my blog post on the same topic, I'll describe how to: work the local market apply to translation agencies that base their … [Read more...] about Free webinar Wednesday: Three ways to find your first translation clients
Thoughts on e-mail subject lines
E-mail subject lines are just a few words, but they generate a lot of angst. Especially if you're a beginning translator looking for clients, you're going to be sending out a lot of cold e-mails. You want those e-mails to be read, but you're selling language services, not no-prescription Viagra. … [Read more...] about Thoughts on e-mail subject lines
Handwritten notes: a secret business weapon
Here's an environmentally-incorrect confession: I love paper. I live in a little house, we have one car, I ride my bike to work, I'm a vegetarian, and we don't have a clothes dryer. But I'm clinging to paper with all I've got: the little house is full of paper magazines and books, I take meeting … [Read more...] about Handwritten notes: a secret business weapon
The LinkedIn “foot in the door” strategy
This is a guest post by Maryam Abdi. Maryam is a registered Somali court interpreter and the owner of Expert Somali Translations, a boutique firm offering Somali > English translations and cultural consulting services to legal and government sectors. She is the creator of Translators Academy … [Read more...] about The LinkedIn “foot in the door” strategy